FM Erie Built A Unit MILW Phase 1

These are N scale 3D printable files for the Fairbanks-Morse Erie Built A Unit in Milwaukee Road markings — the Phase 1 configuration, specifically modeled for units 5A–9A and 5C–9C, featuring the distinctive stainless steel fluting that was unique to the Milwaukee Road's Erie Builts and found on no other railroad's examples. Designed to fit on a Kato PA frame.

The Erie Built was Fairbanks-Morse's entry into the postwar passenger locomotive market, produced between 1945 and 1949 in partnership with the General Electric Company at GE's Erie, Pennsylvania plant. Powered by FM's unique opposed-piston engine — in which two pistons share a single cylinder moving in opposite directions, eliminating the cylinder head entirely — the Erie Built offered exceptional power density in an elegant streamlined carbody with the distinctive "shark nose" profile.

The Milwaukee Road was the largest single buyer of Erie Builts, ultimately rostering 14 A units — more than any other railroad — along with B unit boosters. What set the Milwaukee Road's Erie Builts apart from every other railroad's examples was a road-specific customization ordered by the MILW: stainless steel fluting applied to the carbody sides, giving the locomotives a corrugated, gleaming appearance that no other Erie Built operator specified. This detail — visually echoing the stainless steel passenger cars the Milwaukee Road operated on its famous Hiawatha streamliners — made the MILW's Erie Builts immediately and unmistakably distinctive on any platform or in any consist, and is the defining prototype feature that separates this model from the generic Erie Built body.

The Phase 1 units — 5A–9A and 5C–9C — represent the Milwaukee Road's Erie Builts in their original delivery configuration, before later renumbering and updates produced the Phase 2 variants. These locomotives worked the Milwaukee Road's premier passenger services across its network stretching from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest and the Twin Cities, hauling trains such as the Olympian Hiawatha and Morning Hiawatha in the railroad's striking orange, maroon, and gray passenger livery.

A perfect companion to the FM Erie Built B Unit also available from Out of the Box Models.

After purchase, your digital files will be available for immediate direct download from your order confirmation. These files are for Personal Use Only — if you are interested in a commercial license, please contact us.

Please allow a few weeks for 3D printing and shipping. Decals are shipped separately — please allow some additional time for decal printing and shipping after ordering.