FAIRBANKS MORSE ENGINE TIMELINE
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
First successful
marketing
of a gas engine:
the FairbanksCharter.
1900
1910
The Fairbanks-Charter
branded combustion
engine name is changed
to Fairbanks Morse.
1920
Wind mill Production
John Charter receives a
patent that leads to the
first commercially
successful gasoline.
Thaddeus Fairbanks sets up a small
iron foundry in St. Johnsbury, VT;
with brother Erastus, he establishes
the E. & T. Fairbanks Company
The Baltimore & Ohio becomes
the first Steam railroad
to carry passengers
and freight.
Samuel F.B. Morse patents
the telegraph.
The Battle of the
Alamo. Texas gains
independence from
Mexico after
winning the Battle
of San Jacinto.
Morse moves to Chicago
and becomes a partner in
Fairbanks, Greenleaf & Co.
(Greenleaf shortly dies
thereafter.)
Civil war begin
Following the Great Chicago
Fire, Morse hangs a new sign
on the remains of the office:
Fairbanks, Morse & Company.
First transcontinental railroad.
Morse acquires a
controlling interest
of Eclipse Wind
Engine Company.
Diesel engine patented.
Williams Engine
Works and Eclipse
Wind Engine Works
formally become the
property of Fairbanks,
Morse & Company.
Spanish - American War.
Manufactured Train Master
diesel locomotive.
The Quarter Century
Club is formed,
recognizing that F-M
employees commonly
spend their entire
careers at the company.
W W I en d s.
Penicillin
Discovered.
Great Depression Ends.
U.S. gets involved in WWII.
Civil war ends.
Six daily newspapers band together to operate a
telegraphic relay system to receive news from around the
world - beginning of The Associated Press.
X-rays discovered.
Liberty
Statue of
dedicated.
WWI begins.
Wright brothers
first flight.
Mt. Rushmore
monument
dedicated.
Great Depression begins.
WWII ends.
Space race begins
with launch of
Sputnik satellite.
Ray Kroc starts
McDonalds.
2010
Fairbanks Morse Engine
selected to supply
16-cylinder PA6B STC
diesel engines for the latest
generation of U.S. Navy
warships, the Littoral
Combat Ship (LCS)
Celebrating 70 years
of O-P technology
Fairbanks Morse Engine
selected to supply FM-MAN
B&W model 48/60 engines
for the U.S. Navy’s Lewis and
Clark Class T-AKE underway
replenishment ships.
Acquired FM/ALCO diesel engine
product line; Enviro-Design® dual
fuel technology is introduced,
which dramatically reduces NOx
emissions by reducing the
volume of pilot diesel fuel
required for ignition.
Colt-Pielstick engine line proves
capable of nine-second start and
load acceptance for nuclear power
plant standby applications.
Fairbanks Whitney is
composed of Pratt &
Whitney machine tools,
Chandler Evans precision
aircraft control systems,
Colt’s Patent Fire Arms, and
Sterling Die, in addition to
the scale, engine, and
electrical divisions of F-M.
First digital
computer created.
2000
ASME Class III Section 3 qualification
is completed for emergency diesel
generator sets in nuclear service.
Fairbanks-Morse merges with
Penn-Texas and is renamed
Fairbanks-Whitney.
F-M purchases Pomona
Pump Company, in
Pomona, CA, which
produces water-lubricated
turbine pumps and Westco
peripheral-type pumps.
1990
US History
Successful completion of 200-start nuclear qualification
test in accordance with IEEE 387 requirements.
First Opposed Piston
engines enter commercial
nuclear service to
provide standby power
at the H.G. Robinson
nuclear plant.
Fairbanks renamed Fairbanks-Morse after
Charles Morse Jr. gains complete control
over the manufacture and distribution of
Fairbanks Scales.
1980
Manufactured
Colt-Pielstick PC4.2
engines, the largest
engine built in the
United States.
F-M leases the former Stover Manufacturing
Company factory, in Freeport, IL, and
produces 5-1/4 horsepower engines for the
U.S. Military.
C. H. Morse dies at
88 years of age, on
May 5, 1921. He had
worked for Fairbanks
Morse for 71 years
Henry Ford's Model T
car went on sale.
1970
Manufactured first Colt-Pielstick
PC2 engine.
By this time, the Fairbanks-Morse company was producing not
only scales but diesel engines, electric engines and pumps for
industrial use.
L. H. Wheeler & Son is organized in
Beloit, WI, producing Eclipse windmills.
Charles Hosmer (C. H.) Morse
joins Fairbanks as an apprentice.
1960
Production of the high horsepower
Opposed Piston (OP) engine, to
power submarines and
locomotives, begins.
Dual fuel engines
developed.
Charles Hosmer Morse, a Fairbanks distributor
acquires controlling interest of Fairbanks Scales.
Morse acquires 50 shares and exclusive
sales rights for the Eclipse Wind
Engine Company.
1950
Marine diesel
engine construction
begins.
Eclipse steel mill introduced;
meanwhile, Williams Engine
Works is founded.
Eclipse purchases the former
Beloit Wagon Works, which later
becomes the nucleus of the
Fairbanks Morse Engine Works.
1940
Type Z engines
built, and F-M
enters the
magneto
business.
"Hot Bulb," or
semi-diesel
engine,
developed.
Fairbanks Morse (F-M) develops
a complete line of pumping equipment for
all purposes. During the latter years of
the decade, electrical machinery is added,
introducing the concept of supplying a
complete F-M package to the
customer—only one place to look for
complete service and repairs!
E. & T. Fairbanks Company produces
the first platform scale, for weighing
agricultural products.
1930
Company
Nuclear
Product
Fairbanks-Whitney re-brands
itself Colt Industries.
A license
agreement is
forged with the
French Company
S.E.M.T. to
manufacture and
sell its Pielstick
engines in the U.S.
North American commercial
nuclear fleet reaches 97
diesel generator sets after
successful installation of an
OP engine at the Crystal
River nuclear plant.
Colt Industries sells
the Weighing Division.
Colt Industries
sells the F-M
Pump Division.
Colt Industries sells
the electric generator
business, which
becomes Beloit
Power Systems.
The Viking I lands on Mars.
Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin become the
first humans to walk on
the moon.
Letter of Intent is
announced to supply
16 diesel generator
sets to AREVA to
support the next
generation of nuclear
plant construction.
Goodrich spins off its
Engineered Industrial
Products division (EnPro
Industries Inc. (NYSE: NPO),
which includes Fairbanks
Morse Engine.
Colt Industries
sells its firearms
division and
changes its
name to Coltec
Industries.
BF Goodrich
Corporation merges
with and acquires
Coltec Industries.
Internet (conceived in 1962) takes off.
Berlin Wall is torn down,
marking end of cold war.
First commercial three-person spacecraft
makes it 100 km above the earth twice in
a two-week period.