Just a few more pictures from the past, and not a tourist railroad, either! This is July 24, 1970. Three of us rode to New Haven to catch the Turbo Train back to Grand Central.



The young lady's dress says more about the time period than does anything else in this photo.



The "suits" get ready to judge the technology.



The railfans do the same.







It was very uneventful, but the train was fast. The crew was extremely helpful and enjoyed chatting with us.

Next stop: Grand Central.

Ah, "The Flying Blue Beer Can"!!!

That's what the NH & PC guys called it, for the mostly blue and purple paint job. How we all mocked it; I wish I had done what you did and ridden it!!

How different Stamford and New Haven look today.

Howard P.

Is that a broken down train of MUTs being hauled by the RS-1? If so, I assume the pans are up so you have door control and lighting.

No, just the Stamford yard switcher moving stuff around. By 1970, there were no operational NH RS-1s left.

There was a train of these "old Mutts" as the NH guys called the MUs, that was painted in PC green, given new dark green Plexiglass windows, and sent to New Jersey to be hauled by a GG-1 between New Brunswick and Penn Sta. New York.

Howard P.

Wonderful photos!

That third shot captures what I recall most about the Turbotrain. The "Head Chopper" illusion of approaching bridges like that one at high speed and feeling like you needed to duck, LOL!

Another thing your photos helped me recall is just how big those turbine exhausts really were. As somebody wrote in one of the railfan mags, these things felt like a jet and the interior looked like a jet. So you're roaring down the track at 100 mph and you get the feeling of "We're going to hit the end of the runway any second, why isn't this thing taking off?!?"

Wonder how much some of us would pay to get another "Cab Ride" in that mini dome?

I rode the United Aircraft Turbo a few times when CN was running them between Toronto and Montreal. Riding in the Power Dome Car behind the 2 engineers at 100mph was quite an experience. On the negative side, I also recall the smell of exhaust in the dome and that they pitched wildly from side to side going through switches, especially in the Montreal Terminal area.

They were not reliable, were generally disliked by mechanics and in later years were often seen being pulled by an MLW FPA-4 in service. Personally, I felt the articulation was a huge mistake, any problem with an individual car and the whole train was out of service.

Gord

Amtrak's Talgo train suffers from the same concern. It doesn't seem to be an issue, or if it has it hasn't been publicized much. Another concern is the lack of flexibility in capacity. The size stays constant, though I think it is possible to add or remove segments.

In spite of those issues, the Talgo does well. So well in fact that it is sold out regularly, which gets back to the whole capacity issue.

Thanks, Dick, for posting these pictures - and for recalling the memories! If ever there was the "wrong example" (articulation, turbos, etc.) of the "right idea" (higher speed rail), this was it! I worked in Boston as Amtrak's representative for maintenance/operations during the early '70's when all the crews and other work was done by Penn Central. The Turbo maintenance was handled by UA at Fields Point, RI.

These Turbos were introduced at the time when the Eastern roads were "in the ditch" - literally - as a result of many years of deferred maintenance. Battered, surface-bent stick rail was the rule, and tie conditions were scandalous.
The wheelbase of the articulated cars appeared to create a harmonic rocking action on acceleration, at its worst between 30 - 50 MPH, progressively smoothing in the higher speed ranges. The best (or worst, depending) place to see this was in the rear dome, looking forward.

In the forward dome, there was a glass partition behind the engineer, so it was posssible to observe every aspect of the train's operation. In those days, the enforcement of operating practices was inconsistent, compared to today's environment. I recall a passenger returning from the forward dome, dismissively sharing his opinion the equipment was cheaply built. Asked "How so?" he replied, "The control console is propped up with a stick!"

Returning to the forward dome, I discovered a flagsitck was being used to nullify (hold down) the dead-man pedal, which was on the floor, under the console. As I said, you could see EVERYTHING. Of course, the vast majority of Engineers in those days were respected professionals, working at times under extremely difficult conditions. That matter was referred to PC management for their handling (the flagstick, of course, was immediately taken out of service).

When the Connecticut River Bridge was out of service for a week, the Turbos "held down" the service between New London and Boston, meeting the bus shuttles operated between New Haven and New London. Operating at authorized higher Turbo speeds, a great deal of time was recovered, and the operation worked well, as planned, except...

Food service facilities were limited, so supplies were often carried at a doorway (which operated with an inverted carriage step stowed inside). On a train deadheading to New London someone forgot to "isolate" the doorway loaded with the "panic box" supplies, and... (you can visualize the mess on the New London platform)...

During that week, the Turbos were cleaned and fueled by PC at South Bay in Boston, with UA mechanics handling everything else (or "supposed to"). The turbines had a three stage starting sequence which had to be followed in strict order, as posted.
A well-meaning but unqualified railroad mechanic, not seeing the UA mechanic at the appointed time, made a valiant effort to get things running for an on-time departure, not quite exactly following the prescribed sequence, and...

Fortunately for all, the fire was quickly extinguished with "minimal" time out of service!

Howie,

By the time 1970 rolled around a lot of the old "Mutts" propulsion systems were so unreliable that on the New Haven side as well PC had several sets of them being hauled by pairs of FL-9's.

It was strange sight to see these trains with a pair of diesels up front and the MU's with pans raised to supply heating and or light to the train.

Hal Reiser
MP30 Hudson Division

Hal,

I have shots of them as well-- double and single FL9s pulling those rolling tenements of cars.

One of these days, when I get that 4x5 neg scanner operating...

Howard P.

There are those "better than new" rebuilt Amtrak Turbo Trains up for grabs, I am sure at this point they would donate them as it is costing them money to have them sit there. I really don't see why no organization is stepping up to take something that most likely runs and doesn't need any restoration. Hey Howard how about we offer express scenic train service.

Why don't you write a letter and ask for them?

They were sold at auction, for scrap, about 2 months ago.

Howard P.

The "better than new" rebuilt Amtrak Turbo Trains are at Bear, Del. The ones sold at auction, for scrap, about 2 months ago in New York State had not completed the rebuilding process.