The F3 was EMD’s 1,500 horsepower follow-up to the FT, built between 1945 and 1949. It was the third in the F-unit family and proved a major success, with more than 1,800 locomotives delivered: 1,106 cab-equipped A units and 694 cabless B units. Power came from a 16-cylinder model 567B engine through a D12 generator and four traction motors. The F3 could be geared for freight or passenger service, and with the right gearing was capable of more than 100mph.
Visually the F3 is remembered for its “chicken wire” grilles and porthole sides, details that shifted across four recognised production phases. Phase I machines resembled the earlier F2 with three portholes and wire mesh; Phase II had two portholes with mesh between; Phase III simplified things further; and Phase IV replaced the wire with stainless steel grilles. Some late F3s were so close to the F7 in equipment that EMD engineers informally labelled them “F5s,” though this never became an official model.
For railroads across the United States the F3 was a workhorse of the dieselisation era. They handled heavy freights, prestige passenger trains, and everything in between. For the Maine Central they marked the beginning of large-scale diesel freight power.
Maine Central
On 20 November 1947 the Maine Central ordered its first diesel freight locomotives: “two 3000 HP Diesel Freight Locomotives” priced at $645,300 each. Delivered the following month, sets 671A/B and 672A/B were early Phase III “chicken wire” F3s. With low roof fans, dynamic brakes and steam generators fitted in all four units, they could in theory handle passenger trains. In practice they worked the overnight State of Maine between Portland and Worcester, and heavy symbol freights between Portland and Bangor.
A second batch followed in late 1948. Classified by the MEC as DF-4, these were equipped with the later F7-style grilles and are often called F5s. Together the two classes established the F3 as standard freight power on the main line and Mountain Subdivision.
Although built with steam generators, passenger work was limited. By the time green paint began to appear in 1956, passenger service on the Maine Central was almost gone and it is believed the generators were removed. Pilot stripes were added to some units during the late 1950s and early 1960s, giving the class a further variety of appearance.
Retirement came quickly once new GP38s arrived. One by one the F3s were traded in through 1966. Unit 682 was the last to carry the original maroon paint, albeit with pilot stripes added late in its career. Unit 686 was wrecked and scrapped that same year, bringing an end to Maine Central’s F-unit fleet.
| No. | Built | Serial | Livery | Notes | Photographs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 671A | Dec 1947 | 4494 | Red until at least 1952; Green by May 1957 | DF-3 class, dynamic brakes and steam generator; traded for GP38s in Dec 1966 | RR Pictures Archive |
| 671B | Dec 1947 | 4496 | Red until at least 1952; Green by May 1957 | DF-3 class; traded for GP38s in Nov 1966 | |
| 672A | Dec 1947 | 4495 | Red until at least 1954; Green by Aug 1961 | DF-3 class; worked State of Maine; traded for GP38s in Nov 1966 | RR Pictures Archive, RR Pictures Archive |
| 672B | Dec 1947 | 4497 | Green by May 1957 | DF-3 class; traded for GP38s in Dec 1966 | RR Pictures Archive |
| 681 | Nov 1948 | 5695 | Green by Apr 1958; pilot stripes by Oct 1958 | DF-4 class (F5); traded for GP38s in Dec 1966 | RR Picture Archives |
| 682 | Nov 1948 | 5696 | Red until at least Jun 1966; later with pilot stripes | Last F-unit in maroon; only one with maroon + pilot stripes; traded for GP38s Dec 1966 | RR Picture Archives |
| 683 | Nov 1948 | 5697 | Red until at least Jan 1955; Green by Aug 1961 | DF-4 class; traded for GP38s Nov 1966 | RR Picture Archives |
| 684 | Nov 1948 | 5698 | Green with pilot stripes by Aug 1964 | DF-4 class; traded for GP38s Dec 1966 | RR Picture Archives |
| 685 | Nov 1948 | 5699 | Red until at least 1951; Green by Jul 1962 | DF-4 class; traded for GP38s Jul 1966 | RR Picture Archives |
| 686 | Nov 1948 | 5700 | Green by May 1957; pilot stripes by Apr 1964 | DF-4 class; wrecked and scrapped 1966 | RR Picture Archives |
Allagash Railway
The Allagash was an early buyer of cab units, taking delivery of six F3s in 1949 to supplement its first road switchers. Numbered 400–405, they were geared for freight service but fitted with steam generators to protect the last of the passenger turns between Madrid and Kennebec Junction. Like their Maine Central cousins, the Allagash F3s were outwardly standard La Grange products, delivered in steam-era black with gold lettering and carrying no nose heralds.
In time the units migrated into the Spruce Green and Deluxe Gold “green dip” scheme, though usually without nose logos, and became a familiar sight on heavy freights across the system. They were gradually displaced during the 1960s by GP7s and GP9s, and later by GP38s. By the late 1970s most had gone, traded or retired, but one survivor — unit 400 — lingered into 1980. Worn, patched, and carrying a hastily applied modern Allagash herald on its battered nose, it was the last F3 on the roster before finally being struck off.
| No. | Built | Serial | Livery | Notes | Photographs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 | 1949 | – | Black & gold → Spruce Green dip → patched black with modern herald | Delivered with steam generator; last F3 in service; retired c.1980 | |
| 401 | 1949 | – | Black & gold → Spruce Green dip | Standard F3A; traded in mid-1960s | |
| 402 | 1949 | – | Black & gold → Spruce Green dip | Steam generator fitted; retired 1970s | |
| 403 | 1949 | – | Black & gold → Spruce Green dip | Standard F3A; retired 1970s | |
| 404 | 1949 | – | Black & gold → Spruce Green dip | Standard F3A; traded in 1970s | |
| 405 | 1949 | – | Black & gold → Spruce Green dip | Standard F3A; retired 1970s |
Sources
- Marre, Louis. Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years – A Guide To Diesels Built Before 1972 (Railroad Reference Series No. 10). Kalmbach Books, 1995, pp. 90-94
- Melvin, George F. Maine Central in Color Volume 3. Morning Sun Books, 2008, pp.9,15.
- Robertson, E. B. (1978). Maine Central Diesel Locomotives. Westbrook, USA: Edwin B. Robertson, pp. 54-59.
Epilogue
Maine Central’s F3s had short lives but made their mark. From maroon “chicken wire” units on the State of Maine to green-liveried veterans with pilot stripes on the Mountain Sub, they carried the railroad through its first great wave of dieselisation. By 1966 they were gone, traded for GP38s, their time already consigned to history.
For the modeller they remain an evocative subject: brand-new in La Grange maroon, well-travelled in green, or marked by the striped pilots of the early 1960s. However shown, they speak of a transitional moment when the diesel age was still young, and the F-unit was its unmistakable face.