Return of the Fl 9

[ROBERT WILLISON]

Wow, Amtrak is considering returning the Fl 9 to service. I think thier about 22 surviving units, none of which Amtrak owns. Cdot may own 6 units. When they last operated, they doubled them up because they were no longer reliable. The remaining units are scattered around the North East and most are out of service. Do they plan to operate them Thur to Albany/ Ren or cut them off the trains at Harmon/ Croton? 

Any thoughts?

[Firelock76]

Gee, I don't know.  There's only a bare handful of FL-9's owned by museums still operational, and to restore the rest to operation would cost a fortune, to say nothing of equipping them with PTC.

Would be cool as hell though! 

[ROBERT WILLISON]

Firelock76

Gee, I don't know.  There's only a bare handful of FL-9's owned by museums still operational, and to restore the rest to operation would cost a fortune, to say nothing of equipping them with PTC.

Would be cool as hell though! 

 

Be like back to the Future,but cool.

[kgbw49]

Here you go, Marty McFly!

These two are operational in Morristown, NJ.

It’s a start...

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/643714/

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/640625/

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/642002/

The only thing is, Amtrak needs to hold their speed under 88 MPH or they will drop passengers off in Grand Central Station in 1956, just in time to catch a Chuck Berry concert or a Brooklyn Dodgers baseball game.

Roll over, Beethoven!

 

[NorthWest]

There are 6 CDOT locomotives that have been stored in New Haven for a few years. They likely will only be cab cars if they make it, and probably will be restricted to 75MPH.

They may also get the MARC II cab cars that SEPTA and the LIRR have borrowed in the last couple years. I'd love to see FL9s on the Park Avenue Viaduct again, but this would be a much better option.

[pajrr]

The article says they will NOT be used for propulsion, only as cab cars.

[ROBERT WILLISON]

NorthWest

There are 6 CDOT locomotives that have been stored in New Haven for a few years. They likely will only be cab cars if they make it, and probably will be restricted to 75MPH.

They may also get the MARC II cab cars that SEPTA and the LIRR have borrowed in the last couple years. I'd love to see FL9s on the Park Avenue Viaduct again, but this would be a much better option.

 

Would be great to see them back out on the road.   The Hudson valley line is very photogenic.

[oltmannd]

Cab cars?  Really?  Yuck.  They were pretty poor riding locomotives even when they were in good condition.  90 mph is kind of the high end for them.  

They are pretty, but Flexicoils front and rear are not a great arrangement...

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The Flexicoil trucks were used for a few reasons.  The rear truck was used to reduce the axle loading for the Park Avenue elevated section.  The front truck was used to provide a place to mount a third-rail shoe.

[Overmod]

To fill in a couple of blanks for people who didn't find the original coverage, the "FL9" solution is very time-limited, only for the expected duration of the planned Empire Connector shutdown to repair Sandy damage to the Spuyten Duyvil bridge - perhaps 3 to 6 months even with New York contract feather bedding? - and is floated only because nose-door escape access is needed in parts of the Park Avenue tunnels to GCT.  The cab-car 'alternative' was mentioned for the same reason.

It is interesting to consider what might be done to the CDOT units to fit them for operation as remote cabs instead of pushers.  I do not know if the two 'blue-carded' units can operate reliably with their prime movers shut down as I do not think restoring the third-rail shoe system is a very good solution and these units may not have a full set of trainline connectors for current equipment (with a DM on the west end). 

[ROBERT WILLISON]

Overmod

To fill in a couple of blanks for people who didn't find the original coverage, the "FL9" solution is very time-limited, only for the expected duration of the planned Empire Connector shutdown to repair Sandy damage to the Spuyten Duyvil bridge - perhaps 3 to 6 months even with New York contract feather bedding? - and is floated only because nose-door escape access is needed in parts of the Park Avenue tunnels to GCT.  The cab-car 'alternative' was mentioned for the same reason.

It is interesting to consider what might be done to the CDOT units to fit them for operation as remote cabs instead of pushers.  I do not know if the two 'blue-carded' units can operate reliably with their prime movers shut down as I do not think restoring the third-rail shoe system is a very good solution and these units may not have a full set of trainline connectors for current equipment (with a DM on the west end). 

 

. It's going to interesting.

[NickP]

Not true. The Trains article stated " Use of a cab car, with the locomotive pushing at the rear of the train, is also a possibility." The words "locomotive pushing" tells me that they will be running.

[NorthWest]

Nope. The consists are likely to be MARC cab+Amfleets+P32AC-DM+FL9. The problem is that the Amtrak P32s cannot lead in the Park Avenue Tunnel, so the FL9s will be used as cab cars.

[Overmod]

That makes the most overall sense -- cab car at 'far' end, FL9 in MU with dual-mode with all hoses connected and effectively set to isolated? 

Would an F40 'cabbage' not fit?  Or have the wrong signal or control gear to run there?

 

[NorthWest]

I'm guessing that they're too tall as that would be a far easier option.

[zugmann]

NorthWest

I'm guessing that they're too tall as that would be a far easier option.

 

F40s don't have nose doors, so they couldn't lead in that tunnel.  I was wondering if they could use smaller road diesels, but I guess the FL9s will allow faster running further up the line.

[NorthWest]

Good point.

There has to be a reason why the GP38-3Hs/other Amtrak NEC MOW power can't be used, and I'm guessing height restrictions.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Clearances in GCT are incredibly tight.  Remember that overhead third rail was installed in places to allow S-motors to bridge the gaps at puzzle switches by using their mini-pantographs.  The Hancock air whistles on the FL9's were mounted on a bracket in front of the windshield post for clearance reasons.