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Fairbanks-Morse

From Alfawiki
Fairbanks, Morse and Company
Company typePrivate (historical)
IndustryManufacturing
Founded1823
FounderThaddeus Fairbanks
FateBecame part of Penn-Texas conglomerate in 1958
Headquarters
Chicago
,
United States
ProductsWeighing scales, pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, tractors, feed mills, locomotives, industrial equipment

Fairbanks, Morse and Company was a U.S.-based manufacturing enterprise founded in 1823, originally focusing on the production of weighing scales. Over time, the firm broadened its product range to include pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, tractors, feed mills, locomotives, and various industrial equipment. In 1958, the company became part of the Penn-Texas conglomerate.

Currently, three distinct organizations trace their origins to Fairbanks Morse:

Founding and early history

The origins of the company date back to 1823 when inventor Thaddeus Fairbanks established an ironworks facility in St. Johnsbury, Vermont to manufacture his patented cast iron plow and heating stove. By 1829, he had developed equipment for hemp processing but achieved greater acclaim with his platform scale invention patented in 1832. Alongside his brother Erastus Fairbanks, they founded E. & T. Fairbanks & Company, which marketed scales throughout the United States as well as internationally in Europe, South America, and Imperial China. Over time, Fairbanks scales were awarded 63 medals at global exhibitions.

After the Civil War in Wisconsin, former missionary Leonard Wheeler engineered the robust Eclipse windmill designed for water pumping. Approximately 500,000 units were installed across the American West and abroad. During this era, Fairbanks employee Charles Hosmer Morse established a Chicago branch to broaden the company's operations and product offerings. Morse incorporated Wheeler’s Eclipse Windmill pumps into the company’s lineup and became a partner. By the late 1800s, the business was operating as Fairbanks Morse & Company with headquarters in Chicago and multiple branch dealerships throughout Canada and the United States, including a manufacturing plant opened post-1876 in Montreal.

Market expansion

During the late 19th century, the firm extended its reach into the Western United States while diversifying its product catalog to encompass typewriters, hand trucks, railway velocipedes, pumps, tractors, and various tools for warehousing and shipping. It evolved into a comprehensive industrial supplier providing full "turn-key" solutions including tools, plumbing fixtures, gauges, gaskets, components, valves, and piping systems. By 1910, its product catalog had grown beyond 800 pages.

In the 1890s, Fairbanks Morse began manufacturing oil and naptha engines following its acquisition of the Charter engine line—the first commercially available gas engine. These engines gained popularity among farmers as auxiliary power sources for Eclipse windmills and were also utilized in electricity generation and oilfield operations. The company’s power generation equipment advanced from kerosene-fueled models (1893) to coal gas (1905), then semi-diesel (1913), culminating with full diesel engines introduced by 1924. The Model N engine was especially favored for stationary industrial use.

Fairbanks Morse ventured into radio manufacturing by acquiring Audiola Radio Co. in 1934 but withdrew from this market after a factory fire in 1939. The company also briefly produced automobiles, tractors, corn shellers, hammermills, cranes, televisions, and refrigerators; however these product lines remained limited in scale.

After Rudolf Diesel’s American patent expired in 1912, Fairbanks Morse expanded its production of large engines. The Model Y semi-diesel became widely adopted in sugar mills, rice mills, timber operations, and mining facilities; it was available with one to six cylinders delivering between 10 to . In 1924, the Y-VA engine was launched as the first high-compression full diesel with cold-start capability developed independently without foreign patents. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the company broadened its marine and industrial engine offerings to support diesel-powered locomotives, tugboats, and ships—an essential factor driving its growth and strengthening its position within the market.

"Z" Engine Series

In July 1914, Fairbanks Morse rebranded their headless engine model as the "Z" series. This design featured a gasoline tank built directly into the base. By 1917, the product range grew to include additional sizes; however, by 1918, headless versions were phased out as engines were upgraded with cylinder heads and adapted for kerosene use. The fully enclosed "Z" style "D" model was launched in 1928. Spanning from 3 to , the Z series saw production exceed half a million units over three decades. This line provided Fairbanks Morse with a strong foothold in the agricultural machinery market until the early 1980s when it was sold to Bell. Today, the model Z stands as a collectible emblem of the company's heritage.

Marine Diesel Engines

Fairbanks-Morse introduced a marine diesel engine with a distinctive opposed piston (OP) layout in 1939, drawing inspiration from German Junkers aircraft diesel designs. The most prevalent version, the 38D 8-1/8, was offered in configurations ranging from 4 to 12 cylinders and became widely utilized by the U.S. Navy, particularly powering fleet submarines during World War II. Typically equipped with 9 or 10 cylinders, these engines played a vital role in U.S. naval fleet operations well into the early 1960s.

Following failures of the EMD 16-338 "pancake" engines on the , Fairbanks-Morse OP engines were adopted as replacements and continued as standard propulsion systems on U.S. diesel submarines through the 1990s. They also functioned as auxiliary power sources on nuclear submarines up to the class. During World War II, Fairbanks-Morse ranked 60th among American companies for military production contracts, underscoring its prominent position and leadership in defense propulsion technology.

In addition to OP models, Fairbanks-Morse produced licensed versions of SEMT Pielstick engines (used in and classes), Alco designs (employed in ), and M.A.N. engines, reflecting a broad product lineup catering to diverse naval vessels.

Among other World War II-era offerings was the 875 hp five-cylinder Model 37E16, installed in select T1 tanker ships, illustrating Fairbanks-Morse’s extensive marine diesel engine portfolio within its commercial strategy.

Railroad Locomotives

After securing its initial contract with the U.S. Navy, Fairbanks Morse introduced an opposed piston diesel engine with a bore by stroke dimension tailored for rail applications, initially installed in self-propelled railcars. Due to reliability issues, this engine was replaced by a larger five-cylinder unit with bore by stroke measurements delivering 800 hp, which powered the OP800 railcars starting in 1939.

In 1935, F-M embarked on a strategic initiative to manufacture locomotives internally, recruiting electrical engineer John K. Stotz from Westinghouse Electric Corporation to design both a 1,000 hp switcher and a versatile 2,000 hp road locomotive. Although production readiness was achieved by 1940, wartime constraints imposed by the War Production Board delayed manufacturing approval until 1943 due to priority allocations and existing supplier commitments. Subsequently, production commenced with the 1,000 hp switcher H-10-44 in 1944 and followed by the 2,000 hp cab unit Erie-built in 1945. Early units encountered operational challenges under demanding rail conditions, prompting a reorganization of F-M’s locomotive division in 1947 and establishment of a dedicated manufacturing facility.

That same year marked the debut of two road switcher models: the 1,500 hp H-15-44 and the more powerful 2,000 hp H-20-44. By late 1949, Fairbanks Morse introduced its Consolidated Line cab units as successors to Erie-builts; however, these locomotives struggled against competitors such as EMD and Alco, partly due to declining demand for cab units among American railroads. In 1953, F-M released the robust 2,400 hp H-24-66 Train Master, which at that time was the most powerful locomotive on the market but failed to secure substantial sales.

In 1956, the Santa Fe commissioned three specialized H12-44TS terminal switchers for operation at Chicago’s Dearborn Station, which remained active until early in the following decade. Fairbanks Morse ended locomotive production within the United States in 1958 and completed its last delivery to Mexico in 1963. Over its tenure in this sector, F-M sold a total of approximately 1,460 diesel locomotives.

Post-war power products

Following World War II, Fairbanks Morse maintained production of diesel and gasoline engines, alongside its pump and engine division, which manufactured Canadian Fairbanks Morse-branded equipment for agricultural, industrial, and mining applications. The company expanded internationally by establishing export offices in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, while a manufacturing facility in Mexico continued producing model Z engines into the 1980s. An Australian subsidiary, originating from Cooper Sheep Shearing Machinery Ltd founded in 1902, provided services to remote sheep stations in a manner comparable to the Canadian operation.

In North America, the company marketed and modernized Eclipse windmill pumps until rural electrification during the 1940s diminished their relevance. The availability of affordable grid electricity led to a decline in demand for small to medium-sized diesel power plants. Although numerous Fairbanks Morse engines remained operational well into the late 20th century, factors such as technological advancements, regional plant shutdowns, and competition from automobile manufacturers, tractor producers, and locomotive builders gradually diminished the company’s market presence. A family dispute in 1956 further destabilized the firm, culminating in its 1958 merger with Penn-Western and subsequent divestitures and branch closures.

Corporate disposition

In 1958, Fairbanks Morse combined forces with Penn-Texas Corporation to create Fairbanks Whitney Corporation, which later restructured as Colt Industries in 1964 following its acquisition of Colt Manufacturing. The Fairbanks Morse Pump division was sold to private investors in 1988 and subsequently purchased by Pentair in 1997 as part of the General Signal Pump Group. That same year, the scale business was divested and became an independent entity known as Fairbanks Scales.

Colt Industries divested its firearms segment in 1990 to C.F. Holdings Corp under the name Colt's Manufacturing Company and then transformed into Coltec Industries, eventually becoming a subsidiary of EnPro Industries. EnPro retained ownership of Fairbanks Morse Engine until January 21, 2020, when it was acquired by Arcline Investment Management.

Currently, three separate companies operate under the Fairbanks or Fairbanks Morse names—Fairbanks Scale and Fairbanks Morse Pump trace their origins back to E & T Fairbanks Company—demonstrating a complex corporate lineage shaped by decades of mergers, acquisitions, and asset sales.

Modern descendants

  • During the 1990s, Fairbanks Morse merged with ALCO to create the FM | ALCO product line. In October 2013, FM entered into a joint development and licensing partnership with Achates Power aimed at improving emissions control and fuel efficiency for its proprietary dual-fuel opposed-piston engines. The opposed-piston (OP) diesel engine originally developed by Fairbanks Morse remains in production as of August 2019. Moreover, Fairbanks Morse continues to manufacture large four-stroke diesel engines such as the FM 48/60 CR series, delivering power outputs between 7,200 and 19,200 kWm as of November 2021.
  • Fairbanks Scales has removed "Morse" from its brand name to reflect updated branding across its scale product lines.
  • Fairbanks Nijhuis focuses on manufacturing pumps.

See also

Bibliography

Additional resources

External links

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