Non-Reading
Norfolk Southern Slug, former FM TrainMaster #9905
Background & History
Our Norfolk Southern Trainmaster slug began life as a Fairbanks Morris Trainmaster locomotive. It eventually was merged into the Norfolk & Western Railroad. At the end of its life as a locomotive, the unit was turned into a slug. Norfolk & Western being a coal hauler much like the Reading, it had a need for large heavy duty three axle locomotives. Using a slug with a locomotive increased the pulling power but kept the operating costs down by powering only one of the units.
What our slug looked like when it began life as a Fairbanks-Morris Trainmaster on the Virginian Railway
Not the best picture of 9905 but it shows the profile of the unit without cab or prime mover.
Slug 9905 sits at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, PA, hoping for a new life.
What is a “slug”? A slug is usually made by stripping off the cab and prime mover to create a locomotive with no engine, but a full set of traction motors on the axles. The original frame is used along with much of the lower half of the body along with stairs and railings. In order to make the unit heavy enough to get traction, concrete ballast is added on to the frame. The only catch here is that with no prime mover, it must rely on another engine to supply power to its traction motors. The slug was often mated to another heavy duty three axle locomotive to get its power.
With the big merger programs occurring on the east coast, our 9905 was absorbed into the great Norfolk Southern System. The unit was used on the Norfolk Southern for a number of years until replacement parts became difficult to acquire. Norfolk Southern donated the 9905 to Reading Company Technical & Historical Society.
With only one trainmaster saved from the cutting torch, and the Reading having had a number of Trainmasters, it would be great if we could turn back the clock and put a cab and body back on our slug to represent a Reading Trainmaster.
Big dreams and high hopes, but not impossible. Maybe some day…