Here's an interesting photo. This is listed as Amtrak 15152, a wire repair car. It appears to have been rebuilt from a New Haven MU commuter car. My question is, does anyone know whatever happened to this unit? Is it still in service on the Northeast Corridor, or perhaps some other section of electrified territory?

Sorry, not New Haven, but a PRR "doodlebug" made into a wire train car. A sister car is at Black River & Western (PRR 4666) and is operable. The work train yellow paint is pure PRR, as are some of the details on the car. New Haven's gas-electric cars were all gone (to scrap) by 1953-54.

hpincus@mindspring.com

Several of the PRR Doodlebugs were converted into self-propelled wire cars in that fashion. at least a couple, with or without prime movers, survived into Amtrak, and a sister to 4662 (Wilmington & Western), 4666 (BR&W), and 4668 (St. Louis, is it?) was scrapped at Odenton, Md. in the 1990s after an unsuccessful rescue attempt. I remember climbing into it to ascertain what was left--the lower half of the engine block, and that was about it. I think they had auxillary gas engines in them to power the lift mechanisms after de-engining.

LNER4472@gateway.net

I'm sure you're right. However, if this thing's a doodlebug, why does it have a pantograph??

> I'm sure you're right. However, if this
> thing's a doodlebug, why does it have a
> pantograph??

The pans were added as a means to circumvent the current on that particular section of catenary, or as a safety measure in case of an accidental power turn-on. Power flowing down the wire would stop at the pan and return via the rails, keeping the section of catenary isolated. As far as I know, no doodlebugs anywhere were converted to run off the wire. Why would they? They were often going to repair defective wire anyway!


LNER4472@gateway.net

> I'm sure you're right. However, if this
> thing's a doodlebug, why does it have a
> pantograph??

In a wire train, one of the cars had a pan on it, so that if the power was inadvertently turned on, the juice would go right thru the pan to the rails and be "grounded", hopefully before zorching any poor wireman working on top of the tower car. The NH wire trains had old baggage cars as tool and shop cars, one of which had a pan on top. When PC came along, the old wood NH wire cars were replaced by 1954 MU combines, which already had the pans in place.

hpincus@mindspring.com

When PC came along, the old wood NH wire cars were replaced by 1954 MU combines, which already had the pans in place.

There are two of these surviving at the Danbury Railroad Museum www.danbury.org/drm . Are they the only surviving NYNH&H MUs?

Below is a linked diagram of the car, or one similar to it, that was pictured earlier. This is a great source for answering many PRR equipment questions.

Also, does anybody have a roster of Amtrak work equipment on the Northeast Corridor? Many HW pullmans, RPO's, baggage cars, remain - and may be possible candidates for preservation.

prr.railfan.net

rrhistorian@hotmail.com

There is one of the four MU club cars, NH 5111, in RMNE's collection. Another MU combine, which had been stripped of its interior in the late 70s and used for a classroom/office at Stamford, was in RMNE's collection, and was sold in 1991. Those four are the only survivors of the 100 MU cars NH bought in 1954.

hpincus@mindspring.com

> There is one of the four MU club cars, NH
> 5111, in RMNE's collection. Another MU
> combine, which had been stripped of its
> interior in the late 70s and used for a
> classroom/office at Stamford, was in RMNE's
> collection, and was sold in 1991. Those four
> are the only survivors of the 100 MU cars NH
> bought in 1954.

Who did RMNE sell this other combine to? Is it still around? If so, is it a body or does it have trucks and/or at least some equipment?