I wound up looking up a US Coast Guard cutter on Google the other day, and found that some (or all?) of the 210 foot cutters were built in the 1960s with Cooper-Bessemer FVBM-12 engines. I know that GE had a long history of using C-B engines, going back at least to some of the larger center-cabs and the 70 tonners. The 7-FDL (locomotive) and 7-FDM (marine) designs were purchased from C-B.
I'm just wondering if these FVBM-12 engines were really a GE engine? I looked at an online history of the present-day Cooper Industries, and it appears they no longer make engines, concentrating on electrical products. They did own Gardner-Denver (as in air compressors, used on EMDs-) but Gardner-Denver was spun off some time ago.
Did GE buy Cooper's entire engine line (and plant), or just the 7-FDL and 7-FDM designs? What makes this even more interesting is that the 210s all had their C-B diesels replaced with 16-251s in the 1980s. Do we have a case of Alcos replacing GEs here? (Sorry, but I couldn't resist-)
Too bad there isn't a Steinbrenner or Kirkland type book out on GE; there are lots of books with pretty pictures, but very little with "nuts and bolts, amps and volts" information.
I'm just wondering if these FVBM-12 engines were really a GE engine? I looked at an online history of the present-day Cooper Industries, and it appears they no longer make engines, concentrating on electrical products. They did own Gardner-Denver (as in air compressors, used on EMDs-) but Gardner-Denver was spun off some time ago.
Did GE buy Cooper's entire engine line (and plant), or just the 7-FDL and 7-FDM designs? What makes this even more interesting is that the 210s all had their C-B diesels replaced with 16-251s in the 1980s. Do we have a case of Alcos replacing GEs here? (Sorry, but I couldn't resist-)
Too bad there isn't a Steinbrenner or Kirkland type book out on GE; there are lots of books with pretty pictures, but very little with "nuts and bolts, amps and volts" information.