Turboliner in CT

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Dec 28, 2020 4:18 pm

RCD wrote:

Well they could run off of third rail so a museum with trolley power should be able to run one. My main question is can it be hauled with traditional power? Does it have the standared conections and couplings and could you cut in and out cars like a standard train? If it is all standard just use a few of the coaches on your regular train for first class service.

Overmod · **Joined:** Thu May 24, 2012 1:37 pm **Posts:** 2492

To be honest, of course it could be locomotive-hauled; in fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find adapter plans still in the archives somewhere. Tapping into the electrical supply from the turbine powerplant for shore power or some approximation of "HEP" as currently practiced shouldn't be rocket science, either. Just bring a checkbook and a couple of letters of credit...

I sympathize, though, that the point of such an exercise would be comparatively expensive and comparatively not much fun. You'd get about as far by building a "mobile powerhouse" the way the Italians did (and a couple of streetcar 'projects' perhaps not in the strict realm of preservation as we know it) to connect up to the electrical system and power it as though onboard ... the problem being whether the train has full third-rail running capability or it was built (like the TurboTrain and, I think, some of the New Haven lightweights) only to use the 3rd rail on the viaduct south of 96th St, at 20mph, to circumvent the Kaufman law. Now 20mph is probably just fine for a preservation outfit, but not for justifying an expensive conversion of a now-orphan train...

RCD · **Posted:** Mon Dec 28, 2020 5:37 pm

The main question is can you just disconnect the power cars hook up a locomotive that has HEP and haul it like a regular train? If the answer is yes then you'll have some nice coaches which are much better than the beat up crap I see on most tourist / museum railroads. If it is designed to be semi-permanen fixed train with custom wiring and air connections than saving one doesn't make much sense.

Overmod · **Joined:** Thu May 24, 2012 1:37 pm **Posts:** 2492

Quote:

"The main question is can you just disconnect the power cars hook up a locomotive that has HEP and haul it like a regular train?"

Oh HELL no. I don't know the Rohr/Super Steel detail design, but all I've ever seen has the connections between the cars very, very proprietary.

That said, I don't see any great pain in hooking up one of the nose couplers with an appropriate adapter, as with so many transit consists, and rigging some sort of adapter if you want HEP -- that might include tethered HEP-compatible cables, too, to preserve the existing 'historic fabric' of the train's electrics. Make the noses into Crusader-style observation lounges... or adapt them into 'cab car' positions...

But no, there won't be that easy answer like hooking up to Constitution Liners...

NS6770fan · **Joined:** Sat May 19, 2018 10:03 am **Posts:** 195

Not sure if this is the turboliner that’s in Connecticut, but the guys at Rapido Model Trains visited one of the sets to get some dimensions for their upcoming HO models. I’ll send the youtube link below.

https://youtu.be/Bs9cU0xIIqU

EJ Berry · **Posted:** Wed Dec 30, 2020 5:04 pm

It appears RTL Turbo 2162 is at Amtrak's Adams Maintenance Base outside North Brunswick NJ. Note the NJT train passing at 4.13 of the video.

Phil Mulligan