I ran across this while looking at Sikorsky Aircraft Archives.

http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/train.html
greg.radler@parsons.com

> I ran across this while looking at Sikorsky
> Aircraft Archives.

That was fascinating. Would make a good Flimsies entry too.

So, what happened to the Turbo Trains?


Flimsies
hkading@rypn.org

Weren't these units plauged with fires?

I think they are all scrapped now.

Joshua

joshua@joshuakblay.com

> Weren't these units plauged with fires?

> I think they are all scrapped now.

> Joshua
Wrong! New York State just financed the resurrection of these beasties. They rebuilt either five or six (I can't get an answer to this). They're going to run in New York State and were rebuilt in Milwaukee.

hankmorris@earthlink.net

> Wrong! New York State just financed the
> resurrection of these beasties. They rebuilt
> either five or six (I can't get an answer to
> this). They're going to run in New York
> State and were rebuilt in Milwaukee.

Wrong again. The Turbo Trains refernced at the start of this thread are all scrapped. The ones in New York State are being rebuilt by a company called Super Steel ????? (can't remember the whole name). I beleive they were originally manufactured in France but I could be weong.


davelecount@juno.com

Some or all of the CN United Aircraft turbos were scrapped in the mid-1980's at Met-Recy Ltee of Laval, Quebec, after having been offered by VIA at auction with no takers. Members of the Bluewater Chapter, NRHS and Project 1225 watched them get squashed by earthmovers for recycling into Molson cans, while scavenging ex-VIA cars for parts. This scrap yard was very easy to deal with, and a lot of parts and whole cars came out of it, but no Turbotrains.

- Aarne Frobom

Geeze, don't ANY of you guys have a "Second Diesel Spotter's Guide Update" on your shelves?!?

Long and short of it: The units referred to in the Sikorsky website are TurboTrains from United Aircraft, built in 1967-1968--two sets for the US Dept. of Transportation and five sets for Canadian National. Amtrak got one of the two UA sets (the other destroyed in a wreck en route to sale), and VIA got three of the five CN sets. My notes specifically say "Amtrak Set sold to Naporano Irin & Metal, Newark NJ for scrap early 1981; VIA units sold NIMX scrap early 1984." At least one VIA set did make it to Naporano; it's possible the ones scrapped in Montreal were remnants of the CN sets that didn't make it to Naporano.

The OTHER "turbos" mentioned were six French-built (1973-75) and seven American-built (1976) gas-turbine trainsets, of an entirely different appearance and design. The New York set recently rebuilt by Super Steel Schenectady was a remaining US (Rohr) set--and possibly the last one still intact.

lner4472@bcpl.net

> The New York set recently rebuilt by
> Super Steel Schenectady was a remaining US
> (Rohr) set--and possibly the last one still
> intact.

Are you stating that it's possibly the last US set or last of the combined US and French sets? There was a picture over at Trainorders last summer of the rebuilt set sitting next to a set that was rebuilt several years ago. It was a nice comparision of the stock look versus the "Acelaized" look of the most recent rebuild. The way people talk over at Trainorders is that New York is planning on rebuilding 3-4 of these sets. And that doesn't include the set sitting in someone's junkyard somewhere in Indiana.


davelecount@juno.com

The Business Review (Albany) - November 8, 2002
http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/st ... ily58.html

DOT accepts first turbotrain for Empire Corridor

Eric Durr The Business Review
State Department of Transportation officials accepted the first of seven
turbotrains being rebuilt for service on Amtrak's Empire Corridor by
SuperSteel Schenectady Inc. in Glenville. on Thursday.
Acceptance of the first five-car trainset came after overnight tests
conducted on the night of Nov. 6, said DOT spokeswoman Melissa Carlson.
State and SuperSteel officials ran the train from Rensselaer to Penn Station
during the late night and early morning hours when no regularly scheduled
Amtrak service is on the route, Carlson said.
The late night/early morning run, was the final shakeout in a series of tests
that began in September, Carlson said.
"We didn't find any problems. We figured out what needed to be fixed and
fixed it," she said.
SuperSteel is refurbishing seven turbotrains dating from the 1970s for $98.5
million from the state. The goal is to put the seven trains into high speed
service on the Empire Corridor that runs from Niagara Falls to New York City.
As part of the agreement, Amtrak is to upgrade the rails to accept high speed
trains and to finance the installation of a second track from Schenectady to
Rensselaer.
As far as the DOT is concerned, now that the train has been accepted for
service, it can be turned over to Amtrak and begin regular runs, Carlson
said.
Amtrak spokesman Daniel Stessel, said there was no date set yet for putting
the turbotrains into service. They can't be used for high speed travel until
the tracks are upgraded and that hasn't happened yet, he said.
Amtrak is facing a budget crunch that could delay its part of the deal with
the state.
New York will turn the turbotrains over to Amtrak to provide additional
service on the Empire Corridor, but it will be up to Amtrak to man and
operate them, Carlson said.
While Stessel, who works in Amtrak's Washington D.C. headquarters said there
was no target for putting the new turbotrains in service.
It is possible the train accepted Thursday could be in revenue service before
Thanksgiving, Phillip Larson told the Daily Gazette.
edurr@bizjournals.com | 518-437-9855

Also, check out Trains, they recently had a photo of the first UA-built/rebuilt consist heading for trials/qualification. There's supposedly either five or six consists that were rebuilt.

hankmorris@earthlink.net

Can we set some kind of record for bringing a thread back from the dead (nine years or so)?

This RTL-II Super Steel/Rohr/M-K Turbo set is STILL languishing in Schenectady, awaiting either the scrapper's jaws or a savior:

www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=379648

I think the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum should get it. It would make a nice backup for their trolley.

The Sikorsky Archive URL was a dead link for me, so if anyone does not know what we're talking about with the UA ones, here's a photo of the USDOT set in Parkersburg, WV of all places in April of 1972. This was the turnaround point for the train's then tri-weekly run from Washington, DC (conventional equipment kept the opposite schedule for daily service), courtesy of then WV Congressman, and Surface Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Harley Staggers, who made sure that his district had the best possible service from the then-fledgling national rail passenger service.

UA-Sikorski = TurboTrain. All gone.

French design RTG & RTL (later ones built here by Rohr) were called Turboliners to distinguish from the earlier trains.

I believe some of the French RTG's were later upgraded; at the very least they got the very sleek looking RTL noses (the originals were very European looking and rounded). The ones involved in the Super Steel / Amtrak / New York State controversy are RTL's.

There is a (French-built) RTG power car and two coaches in a scrap yard in southern Indiana.

Steve

The 5 CN/Via TurboTrains were made into 3 longer trains. The leftover 4 power cars and some coaches were made into 2 shorter trains and sold to Amtrak, who wanted the coaches to lengthen their train. One of those trains was damaged while still in Canada, and might be what was scrapped up there in the 1980s. I don't know what Amtrak did with the extra power cars,

The set destroyed in a wreck before delivery was to be Amtrak 54/55, and the other set became 56/57. All Amtrak sets, after several years of storage at Ivy City in Washington DC, were sold to Naparano Iron & Metal in New Jersey for scrap in early 1981; the surviving three VIA Rail sets were sold to Naparano for scrap in early 1984.