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

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.

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.

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.

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

What a beautiful old rig. Built to last.

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.

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

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

Thank you for keeping history alive ❤

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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!

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.😁

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

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!

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…

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.