Welcome to Vintage Diesel Design!

After spending the last few years working in, around, on and near several styles of old iron, I felt it was time I sat down and start doing some documenting.

Over the last 12 years, my main job has been working on the former Lehigh Valley Railroad tugboat Cornell.   Cornell is powered with a WWII vintage Cleveland Diesel 16-278A engine.   It was from here that led me into the Maritime industry where I met several amazing people whom I now call good friends, sharing with me vast tracts of knowledge on many areas, but specifically surrounding old engines – A lot of which I hope to cover here. 

Working on the Cornell sparked my interest into doing research on the Cleveland Diesel Engine Division of General Motors – One of WWII’s largest suppliers of diesel power.   Cleveland has been gone since 1961, and so little has been written about it over the years.   That’s where I started collecting manuals, tracking down old boats, documenting various engines, and the list goes on.   But that has since spurred into other manufactures, other designs and other uses of big engines outside of the maritime industry.

Cornell has led to another interest – Tugboats.  I always was a railroad enthusiast, having spent a few years in the preservation world around trains and locomotives.  Well, as it turns out, the railroads were a major player when it came to tug design, starting in the 1920’s, so that led me into spending copious amount of time doing tugboat research – railroad and non-railroad.   In fact, I am even writing a book on railroad tugboats!  One day it will be finished…

  So, while the maritime industry will play heavily into all of this, it won’t be limited to.   I have plans to address many areas of Vintage Diesels – Stationary, Marine, Railroad…. And lots of other uses. 

A few ideas I am hoping to cover in the future:
-Fairbanks-Morse’s other OP’s
-Cleveland Diesel Engine Division (Lots to cover here! 498 engines, 358H engine, non magnetic engines, 567ATLP Repowers……)
-Engines that look like toasters
-Fairbanks 31A18
-Multiple diesels on one shaft
-Early Turbocharging
-Grey Marine 64HN9 repowers
– Engine lists: Winton, Cleveland, Fairbanks
-Vintage advertising
Something I do NOT plan on covering, are things like EMD engine development, and things of that nature, that have been done already.

Please do excuse this first post – I am still getting everything figured out here and how it all works.

Header photo – Cleveland 16-278A stationary gen-set at the Sturgis, Michigan power plant. More on this engine in the future.