100 Year Old Fairbanks Morse Light Plant Still Running Granbury, Texas

2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the Fairbanks Morse powered light and power plant at Granbury, Hood County, Texas. Small by today's standards, it's 300kVA electricity capacity served well until 1956 when retired from regular service.
Saved through the efforts of a few Granbury citizens that would form the inspiration for the Granbury Flywheelers EDGETA Branch 43.
Please Like and Subscribe. Notifications are good too. Thanks

[@JayYoung-ro3vu]

My late father told the story of his grandfather starting a small Fairbanks-Morse engine. He would start it sometime during the day and let it charge the battery bank for the farm. This was pre-rural electrification or grid connectivity that we have now. Around dinner time, his grandfather would turn off the engine and they would enjoy electric lights at dusk and listen to the radio until the batteries ran low. Then, it was bedtime.

[@alcopower5710]

Fascinating story. Thank you for sharing

[@xlerb2286]

Similar story from my dad. His parents had a windcharger and a Fairbanks-Morse engine that kept the batteries charged. They had one of the first automated milking parlors in the state, all running off that I think it was a 32 volt system. I don't know if they had electricity in the house from that system or not. They were pretty frugal, I'd guess not as that would have been extra cost. ;)

[@steevethekitty759]

THAT SIR IS TO COOL A STORY!!!!!!

[@able880]

​@@xlerb2286more than likely the had 32 volts in the house also - 32 volts was the equivalent of 110 AC in city's - you get 32 volt fridges and water pumps also in 32 volts DC - I knew of some that stayed with there farm Light plants into the 70 in the south - with farm gas at 15 cents a gallon they could generate there power for 5 cents a kw - pole power from grid was $500 to run to a home and 30 cents a kw so it was far cheaper for them to generate there own power for a long time -

[@thomastaylor6699]

Simple times back then, and a hole lot better than the rat race we have today.

[@PeopleAlreadyDidThis]

My dad is in this video, watching the single-cylinder F-M running. He’d be 102 now-and he was 2 years old when that engine was installed! I must have been elsewhere in the building shooting VHS video or film stills. I have footage of all three engines running, but it isn’t digitized. Always loved the story of the three-cylinder being pulled on a block of ice from the train, then settled into place on its foundation as the ice melted. It’s been years since we drove out for the engine show. Glad to hear it’s still happening.

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

Nice story. I've probably got another 100 hours of undigitized 8mm, Hi8 and Digital 8 video. Perhaps there's some of the 3cyl running. Unfortunately all of my video equipment is defunct.

[@georgen.8027]

Word to the wise... old VHS and Hi8 videotape degrades with time and will eventually become only static. I suggest buying some used equipment off ebay to transfer it before it is too late. @@lineshaftrestorations7903

[@scrotiemcboogerballs1981]

@@lineshaftrestorations7903hope you and the other gentleman who commented can get your video put on digital so it can be seen and saved before something happens to the film

[@RWebster325]

Do you know Casper?

[@able880]

Many of those engines had to be assembled on sight - they were just to heavy to transport assembled - The generator I use after hurricanes pas over is a stationary eng/ generator - It only puts out 1.5 kw but weighs about 2 or 3 tons - I use it because it has a fuel efficiency of 23:1 - were as high speed air cooled engines only have a 3:1 fuel efficiency

[@mrblond750]

The cool thing is that with proper maintenance this would still be running in another 100 years. Something you can’t say about equipment produced today.

[@paulbfields8284]

I got tears in my eyes when that flywheel started rotating..that’s better than good

[@marksommers6764]

.... sex ?

[@ThePrairieDogChannel]

Head?

[@paulbfields8284]

You two have the same things in mind.. you should watch the movie Fury then you’ll understand

[@simplyamazing880]

What a beautiful old rig. Built to last.

[@308dad8]

That’s what needs to make a comeback, built to last. Everything is built to replace before you even leave the store anymore. Buy a new truck don’t even pay it off before you agree to the next one. Same with cars now. Same with appliances, furniture, and don’t get me started on PCs and phones, built to be outdated before they reach the shelf.

[@deborahchesser7375]

@@308dad8damn, so true. These old motors ran for years with no maintenance whatsoever

[@garysiebring2438]

I operated 2 of these Fairbanks in the plant in our small town. The 3 cyl would put out about 95 KW and the 6 cyl about 240 kw. It was a 2400 volt delta system. We had electric glow plugs in the 3 cyl and the 6 cyl started without glow plugs. During WW2 we burned Bunker oil #4 and preheated it in a water fuel heat exchsnger. Plant was demolished in 1974. Also had a 8 cyl Curtis Pnumatic with 900 kw capacity. All were scrapped except the 3 cyl fairbanks. It is a museum in Mount Pleasant Iowa.

[@Jay-fb2lv]

The place in iowa has a twin but no 3

[@Pro1er]

If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?

[@paulbfields8284]

Old enough to buy a beer I’ll bet…

[@austinjames3525]

I imagine you’re talking about Old Threshers. I live just 40 minutes from there. I’ve seen many of the diesel and steam engines running in that building.

[@able880]

The engines that need an out side heat source like glow plugs or heated to running temperature are low compression engines - there called hot surface ignition engines - I have a old GW gen set it used transformer oil for cooking - it's a hot surface ignition engines - it has to be preheated to 200° to start - it's only 9:1 compression - you only need compression for cold starting - lower compression engines are more fuel efficient - mine runs well on tar crude or #6 bunker - at 250°

[@toddfraisure1747]

There's a beauty in the beast with these old engines.

[@richardangelini7296]

I ran FM 5 1/4 and 8 1/8 engines in the Navy. One of the few jobs I loved doing.

[@richardangelini7296]

P. S. --- and they don't make them like that anymore, for sure.

[@josephpadula2283]

They Still make that engine on special order!! 38 F 8 1/8

[@RustyClam]

Thank you for keeping history alive ❤

[@paulcallicoat7597]

I used to have to put heaters on the generators and drive motors on the old ferry boats in Puget sound about 20 years ago. They were open faced and F-M as well. They would ground out from the humidity if not kept hot. They Nisqually class of ferries were built in the early 1920's for San Francisco Bay to Oakland before the Golden Gate Bridge was built and completed in 1936.They were sold to Washington State Transportion and served in the Puget Sound for almost 50 years. The hulls were so thin that they would spring leaks if they were blown against the piers in high wind conditions and the repairs would cost more than to build new ferries with turbine engines and more car capacity. They were all sold for scrap about 10 years ago after spending the last 3 years mainly as backups and used only in good weather while construction replacement ferries.

[@Rocketman88002]

Back when machines were made to last. What a treat to see this industrial age machine operate. That flywheel could toss a car through a wall!

[@dbmartin60]

Me and my brother are In the Granbury flywheelers engine club we will be there with some of our stuff to show as well.Some of the guys that live in that area that are part of that club are the ones that maintain it and keep it going.I should be a good weekend!

[@dustinzimmerman8291]

When is the next show?

[@adriaanboogaard8571]

Wonderful Old stuff. We have two well over one hundred years old Hydro Electric power plants in Salt Lake County still providing Power in Utah in Big cottonwood canyon before the water goes into my employer's water treatment plant for the potable water system. There is no public access inside for Safety and security reasons. I've been lucky enough to have seen them from inside. They are in the original brick building's you can see them from Google . They have been in cooperation since the late 1800's. Built to last.😁

[@michaelguerin56]

Thank you. Interesting video. There is an old diesel municipal power plant here in New Zealand, that used to power the city of Blenheim in Marlborough and which has also been saved by enthusiasts.

[@scrotiemcboogerballs1981]

Awesome they built things to last with a little care they ran for years and years thanks for sharing

[@gormenfreeman499]

What American entrepreneurs where doing 100 years ago is pretty amazing. I don’t know today, I’m not really impressed. Stuff is being made off in China and imported. Amercians business today are chinese import resellers. What their doing is dogshit.

[@bobmoroney3643]

Cool old machine. Thanks for the video.

[@davida1hiwaaynet]

Beautiful machines. Thanks for sharing this video with us! I hope to see this place one day.

[@johnnyfreedom3437]

That was just cool as all get-out! I'm a retired boilermaker that felt like I was working in the Stone Age when I started. But I was 3rd Generation, I can only imagine the units my grandfather worked on!

[@leonardhirtle3645]

Fairbanks Morse made some great engines back in the day. I worked on a number of opposed piston models that dated from the 1950’s and 1960’s.

[@paulmaxwell8851]

I still have a 1947 Fairbanks Morse generator I bought off an old farmer in the 1980s. It's a twin-cylinder opposed piston engine, and turns a 3.5 kW generator. It starts and runs well.

[@Kevin.7.]

Hello there! Would you please help me with some information? I took some pictures of a fairbanks morse generating set/alternator, model 33. Series NO. 218168, and would appreciate information about it like main purpose, important aspects, and power generation range. @leonardhirtle3645, @paulmaxwell8851

[@able880]

.in the offshore oilfields there are tons of op engines on rigs and tugs - Many were military surplus engines off of subs from WW2 into the 80s

[@bobmeginnes324]

Simply marvelous!

[@johndeere772002]

My favorite part of this video was reminiscing about the 90’s style gas can (@ 2:00 mins), when gas cans where just a simple can and spout…

[@whosonfirst1309]

Let’s be real here. Who doesn’t like messing with 3 safeties to fuel a lawnmower.

[@HunterShows]

I was just thinking "they were using plastic then too??"

[@MrJeep75]

Very awesome stuff, love old engines

[@melkiorwiseman5234]

There's an old Fairbanks-Morse 3-cylinder engine sitting in a park as a decoration in my town. It was used to power a local factory in days long past. I always felt that it was somehow disrespectful to the old engine not to preserve it and keep it running.

[@danielmartin531]

The way those things were built it would probably run with some oil and beating the rusty moving parts loose

[@chrisjarvis4449]

vary cool thanks for keeping her going

[@quagmiredavis4117]

Hopefully this can still be used online as back up power .. we have one almost as old running our ranch when big ice storm froze Texas we ran our plant 3 weeks non stop It was smart keeping ours on the ready .. grandad was smart keeping everything Going when it was used for ice plant as well .. is this one used as back up power? Awesome video thanks for posting

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

It was last used in the 1960s for power when the Granbury grid connection was being worked on. Since then all isolation transformers were removed. The insulation on the alternators is not very good. If it were a 440vac instead of 2300vac system you probably could put it online.with suitable transformers.

[@quagmiredavis4117]

@@lineshaftrestorations7903basically main line is disconnected in our power house to avoid any problems plus any downed lines But our plant can run whole ranch ,, no issues with our machine shop keeping 25 employees working during Texas freeze plus bunk house 2 buildings working on farm equipment and others plus main house. That exhaust drone those 4 cylinders put out can be heard from a distance Also back up to the fairbanks in 1951 great grandfather installed in another building a WW2 surplus navy caterpillar gen set its massive Even has pony engine to start or air start as back up .. and wood stoves and buck stoves to keep warm we could stay off grid for long time While this communist green energy Bullshit freezes people... awesome video thanks again

[@claudedoane6009]

Great video. I miss those old Fairbanks-Morse engines.

[@kyleb3754]

This is great! Never knew it existed. I would love to see it, touch it, and donate to it's well-being.

[@jonathanraven5939]

Absolutely fantastic

[@frisk151]

This is so cool... Thanks for sharing

[@kentsibille6850]

My family has one similar to this that once powered a cotton gin. It’s a later model that uses the rope cigarettes to start ignition. It’s still here.

[@williamgunter6801]

Hello branch 43 folks. Former branch 3 member here!😊

[@brenohighland1168]

what a beutiful noise

[@SteamCrane]

There were several of these engines in a light plant on an island off the Carolinas. Several eastern US engine clubs worked together to rescue them, and each club got one. I believe all of the clubs have them in running condition now.

[@powderb2009]

Im going to have to check this out, since i live in granbury it will be great to see

[@markwatson3135]

My dad was in submarines during WW2 Fairbanks Morse were the most reliable engines. The submarine he surged on is in Michigan they start and run the engines often.

[@cassandrajoiner9933]

USS Silversides?

[@johnmcnaught7453]

Love seeing old iron come to life !

[@rconger24]

Nauvoo Illinois has many brick ended buildings with excellent upkeep and some new replicas as well. You ought to see the museum they have for the Jonathan Browning rifle shop!

[@bigtupholsterygardeningbee4170]

That is awesome

[@gus473]

5:49 Start that dance track, boys! What a sound! 😎✌️

[@frankgonzalez3822]

I am picturing the factory that made all those large components.

[@genefisher1064]

Can someone get this on Harry's old engine website?

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

www.smokstak.com/forum/threads/granbury-texas-light-plant-100th-anniversary-october-14-2023.231305/

[@KC-sb2sm]

Especially that flywheel

[@davidcisneros1429]

Local power generation is going to be a thing sometime in the near future.

[@blc6464]

Hats off

[@Cutter-jx3xj]

There's also a very large one kept and maintained in Coleman Texas

[@dbmartin60]

Where at?They tore down the building and scrapped everything in it long time ago,I can't remember if they had one this old as these.

[@johnbewick6357]

Good to see them still running, but would have been better to hear a bit more about the generators, ie power output etc.

[@sondrayork6317]

There was also for years a Fairbanks Morse plant stationed right here in Beloit Wisconsin. I think it might still be in operation yet but I don’t know now that ABC trucking and 😢supplies owns part of that land. Ken Hendricks wife owns that entire company so it’s basically a multibillion dollar empire now because they also helped build a baseball stadium for the Beloit sky carp baseball team which is a minor league baseball team and club.

[@stanwilliams1642]

Nice video.

[@danodamano2581]

Big dreams, hard work, dedication and effort bring big results! Good news, fairy dust and unicorn farts are the dreams of the future! Should be good....right! Uh....right?

[@of-Israel]

I work for Fairbanks scales, neat history behind the Fairbanks name

[@jamesgeorge4874]

The only place to warm up when the winter storm hits in Texas.

[@stevenphillips3466]

When the EMP goes off and the grid fails ....that Texas town has its own power...never get rid of it

[@TexasRailfan21-RailfanRyan]

With the Fairbanks Morse plant in Weatherford torn down I’m glad to see that this one is still here in Texas where in Granbury is that located?

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

It's adjacent to Lambert Park across the street from the Granbury post office.

[@TexasRailfan21-RailfanRyan]

@@lineshaftrestorations7903 nice very cool

[@lucmarchand617]

Lots oil company here alberta use fm genset due remote location we have dealer cochrane near calgary they said tough engine some are 30 to 50 years old still work.many use pipeline station oil&gas.😊

[@johngranata5515]

we have a big 2 cylinder version at the Antique Gas and Steam Engine museum in Vista Ca..

[@308dad8]

That’s some cool stuff. So how efficient is it in terms of power output verses fuel spent to start and run it?

[@bazzer621]

Really must take a speed reading course 😊

[@georgerenton965]

Back in the early 80’s when I was hauling produce from the “ valley “ back up to Toronto Canada I used to top ice the load at an ice plant in old downtown McAllen TX. They had a bank of 4 large industrial diesels powering open winding large generators. Does anyone know if this place still exists?

[@frequentlycynical642]

So, is that start aid a "glow slug?" Bad humor, I know. In my travels in the mountains of northern Mexico there are a number of old diesel powered municipal power plants, now idled with regular power coming into those isolated towns.

[@bobflatman278]

How vool is that👍

[@drlegendre]

You describe a "copper slug" that requires preheat to start the engine. So is this a hot-bulb ignition or something else? Does the slug continue to provide a source of ignition after startup, or is it a true compression ignition diesel? I know that FM switched from semi-diesel to full compression ignition diesel around 1923-24, so which type is this?

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

Once started, the torch is extinguished and a valve in the head is closed slightly raising the compression pressure.

[@CATech1138]

copper slug = low temp glow plug or hot spot?...

[@MrKeithsplace]

So am I figuring correct? That gen would power approximately 1000 average homes in 1950?

[@stevejohnstonbaugh9171]

SO why don't you fella's throw your hat in the game and tell the texas PUC that you want to operate this plant as a "peaker plant"? You've got everything in place to make it happen. I wonder how many more local "CoOp" plants could be put into operating condition. There is a heck of a lot of money to be made with peak demand electricity, especially when the sun starts to go down and the solar contribution drys up. While that is happening, homeowners weant more cooling from their AC and the demand goes up. There's the sweet spot. 👍 AND you are in an area where you can claim the benefit of "distributed generation" (power generated close to the end user so there is less energy lost transmitting over long distances. Convert the engines over to run on local CNG and you'd have a grand slam home run. I'll bet the local folks wished you could feed into the grid when the big freeze happened a couple winters ago. It can happen again 😊

[@DavidJones-me7yr]

I wonder if this was activated when Texas had that ice storm a few years ago??

[@newviolets8489]

Wow, this is so nice. Do you need ear plugs around this machine.

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

It's not too bad but would help if you were around them for an extended time.

[@davidelliott5843]

Judging by the side mounted exhaust pipe - it’s a two stroke.

[@beerggls]

How are light and power two different products of the same plant? It’s not like you can have light without first having power… I don’t get it. Awesome restoration though!

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

Light and power is really the same thing. As it implies, electricity for lighting such as incandescent bulbs and electricity for power such as single or three phase motors. This plant had a dedicated output circuit that fed street lighting. These were typically series circuits where the full 2300v plant output was applied to strings of 40 bulbs.

[@jamesspash5561]

We had a similar light plant in our service area. The plant ran 3, y32 3 cylinder engine from the 1920's until the 1960's. Each unit was only 250 kw. I only saw them a couple of times back in the 90's. The plant was long out of service and abandoned by that time and in major disrepair., roof leaking, basement area flooded. Around, 2000 the machinery was sold and removed, the building demolished and the sight reacclimated. No evidence it even existed now. I do however have the original installation/operators manual for them. I wish I could have seen them run.

[@Fred-kz5xh]

There are other Fairbanks Morse engines that I saw in operation a few years ago running generators in Baldwin City, Kansas . They may be operating this month during the town's Maple Leaf festival.

[@billscobie1]

​@@Fred-kz5xh2

[@marksommers6764]

Did these run around 1800 RPM ?

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

257.14 RPM with 28 pole alternators.

[@marksommers6764]

@@lineshaftrestorations7903, Thank you !

[@paulbfields8284]

@@lineshaftrestorations7903 amazing amount of inertia created the bigger a flywheel is. Watching this is poetry in motion.

[@jackflash6377]

Wish I had a dollar for every engine I barred over during my life.

[@josephpadula2283]

Wish I had a dollar for every dollar I wasted in a Bar getting hung Over….

[@joostderidder]

Do I see this wrong, or are all the generators missing, leaving only the "coil-field-gen" in place? Just a pity if so.

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

The alternators and exciter are all in place. The belted exciter have their belts removed.

[@joostderidder]

@@lineshaftrestorations7903 super. Thanks for this answer.

[@rickburris6164]

But do they still produce electricity?

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

They probably could if the electrical insulation was tested good.

[@realvanman1]

Of course those engines are super neat, but, what about the GENERATORS??

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

An insulation test was performed a few years ago that indicated it wasn't up to full 2300v performance. Really disappointed as I'd love to see power generated again.

[@chickenwing111]

A one-lunger.

[@Beechnut985]

NO load on the generators?

[@dbmartin60]

NO.

[@dbmartin60]

The only one running that day was the single cylinder engine.

[@n5ifi]

Are they running these on natural gas?

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

Fuel oil.

[@64wbryantex]

Ah the 90's when men were men and shit got done!

[@able880]

Those generators were made by the 1000s up till 1980 or so there were many that were still feeding the grid - My guess is that plant was fed by natural gas - they used a fuel injector that ignited the natural gas - those were piloted ignition engines - they used 7% fuel for ignition or as a spark plugs when natural gas or coal gas was the fuel they burned - There were air injection oil engines also - look up air fuel injection engines - Most of the towns in the early days that had power were supplied 110 DC - they had very large battery banks that they used and charged them a few hours each day - Hybrid 110 DC power plants often burned 1/6 the amount of fuel oil that 2300 AC power plants burned - In our money fuel oil was equal to $15 a gallon - My grandfather started working on gens in the early 1900s - I worked on those also when I was young in the 70s - then worked on gens in the offshore oil fields for decades - A small rig gen puts out 600kva today -

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

Actually it was operated on fuel oil. There's a 10000+ gal above ground tank outside the building. Each engine is fitted with a fuel tank of about 15 gal capacity for demonstration purposes.

[@able880]

@@lineshaftrestorations7903 many did run on fuel oil - remember working on Worthington air fuel injections engines down here in the deep South - They had two 100 KVA AC 2500 volt gens that ran on diesel crude - it had a 10000 gallon fuel tank - generally the was a barge of fuel tied to a dock with a few 100000 gallons of fuel also - In marsh country they have dug canals every were so fuel is barged to were it's needed - Down hear diesel crude was dirt cheap for decades -it was a few cents a gallon or around $1.25 a barrel for raw crude - So AC power was very affordable in the deep South in many areas -

[@able880]

@@lineshaftrestorations7903 I remember as a kid every one has power "but" not a lot of power - There were homes that only had transformers for 500 VA service - That meant the max load of a house could not exceed 480 watts - they used refrigerators with belt drive compressors with a repulsion induction motor so there was no surge on starr up - If they used a larger fuse and blew the fuse on the transformer - they were charged a linemen fee when a transformer fuse had to be replaced - I live in the rural south and only have a 7.5 KVA transformer - I can only run a certain amount of electrical appliances - I'm limited to 6 kw of grid power

[@yixnorb5971]

May be les expensive than being a part of a large power grid.

[@oldSawyer]

That's Pretty Cool that yours has the Hot-Bulb ignition for Starting. Our Clubs 60hp uses a piece of cloths-line rope as a Glowing Wick to start with. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2q8e5SaaspljJo

[@josephrogers5337]

Hope the generating plant is still in operation. If the grid goes down, then electric for the town.

[@ralfie8801]

It’s not connected to the grid and the town is so big now the generators would fry from the load put on them if they were put in service. The area has 3 power plants within 20 miles anyway.

[@saginaw60]

For corn sakes show name plates!

[@jett3332]

What? You mean it’s not Solar or wind powered? 😢. Surprised Sloppy Joe and company let you do this.

[@ManiacRacing]

You wipe shit on bathroom walls too huh

[@richranchernot]

I admire these volunteers for keeping this beauty running, but they are not working in a safe manner. No safety eyewear and no hearing protection, loose fitting clothing, shorts, etc. Additionally, they were dispensing gasoline with an open flame burning within the room. Finally, in my opinion, the children should not be in the room during start-up. That is the time when unexpected things can happen.

[@jd70HJ19]

Built to last centuries ...by people who were trained to maintain them .