FT 567U to 567V transition

This transition was very simple. The original EMC FT demonstrator #103 which was built as a pair of cab booster units linked by a drawbar were all built with the 16-567U deck engines. These four units were the only ones built with the cast U shaped deck between the cylinders. See page 58 of Eugene Kettering's "EMD 567 History and Development 1951 paper presented to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
https://utahrails.net/pdf/EMD_567_Histo ... t_1951.pdf

Kettering states that twelve of these 16-567U deck engines were built, but only four were used for railroad service. The four original engines in #103 were replaced with 16-567V engines before sale to the Southern Railway in May 1941.

Ed in Kentucky

When did Southern finally retire its FT fleet? I'd like to know if a later 567A or B was installed later in their careers.

The Southern FTs would have reached full depreciation between 1956 and 1960. The Southern roster in an old Railroad magazine shows all were off the roster by 1/1/1960. A safe bet is that they were sold off to shortlines or traded to EMD on the SD24s. The first FT A unit went to the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, Missouri.

I don't know what kind of engine changeouts Southern did with its FT fleet. The 16-567A became standard on FTs built from May 1943 on. Southern did upgrade a number of their F2 and F3s to an F7 rating.

Ed in Kentucky