All scrapped. An attempt to have one of the trains preserved at the Canadian Railway Museum in Delson, Quebec, didn't work out.
Jason Shrom of Rapido Models has just released a new book on the Turbos. Bet there are a ton of pictures there. Their website might be a good place to start.
Dayliner All scrapped. An attempt to have one of the trains preserved at the Canadian Railway Museum in Delson, Quebec, didn't work out. Jason Shrom of Rapido Models has just released a new book on the Turbos. Bet there are a ton of pictures there. Their website might be a good place to start.
Al - in - Stockton
I envy you Al! I only got in one trip on the Turbo--would have been in 1979, I think. I was impressed with the train and glad to ride it, but in those days I was more interested in the old FPA4s which VIA was still running. Didn't take any pictures of the Turbo because I wanted to save my film for the "old stuff". File this under "lessons we learn too late".
The New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad historical society published an in-depth 2 part series about the Turbo's development and history in their SHORELINER quarterly about 2-3 years ago.You can order the issues through their website. There were a number of interior shots. I also seem to remember coming across an old (late 60's) issue of TRAINS at a show a few years back that had an in depth article (try the online index for the magazine)..
"I Often Dream of Trains"-From the Album of the Same Name by Robyn Hitchcock
Dayliner I envy you Al! I only got in one trip on the Turbo--would have been in 1979, I think. I was impressed with the train and glad to ride it, but in those days I was more interested in the old FPA4s which VIA was still running. Didn't take any pictures of the Turbo because I wanted to save my film for the "old stuff". File this under "lessons we learn too late".
I had one trip on a Turbo, from Back Bay to Grand Central, in September of 1969. (I do not recall why the train originated and terminated at Back Bay instead of South Station). It was quite an experience, sitting behind the fireman, and taking in everything the engine crew saw, including dipping down into the Park Avenue tunnel.
Johnny
The Jason Shron book seems to indicate that those Turbos required an inordinate amount of maintenance. Everything was modular -- you could swap out turbines from the engine bays with a forklift truck, you could swap out the guided-axle trucks, but it seems they were doing those swaps all the time. CN/Via seemed willing to do the maintenance, Amtrak kind of gave up on it and let their units "go to seed" to the point that Via wasn't interested when Amtrak tried to sell them.
Much as a I think the Turbo is cool, they didn't seem to hold up well in the way that an Amcoach keeps running year after year.
What I think is the most unique and interesting part of the Turbos is the guided-axle pendulum-tilt suspension. Come to the ProRail exhibit Feb 21 or Feb 22 at the Madison, WI Model Railroad Show and see a working demonstration of the Turbo guided-axle linkage and learn more about the suspension system than you may care to know.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
The MLW cab units seemed to be used in preference to the GMD FP9s, since they had slightly higher gearing (95 vs 89mph) and probably accelerated faster too. If the trainset was replaced by conventional coaches, again an FPA-4 was the power of choice., and sometimes it would come very close to meeting the schedule. Of course, this was the era before event recorders and the crews knew where and how to go a little faster than legal.......
More fun came when the Turbo needed to be rescued on line. One time, as I left Toronto Union Station on my homebound GO (commuter) train, there was the incoming Turbo, pulled proudly by an SW1200RS (or maybe a pair). I suspect it was grabbed from the yard serving the GM car plant at Oshawa.
John
This is also being discussed above in the General Discussion. Jason Shron has even posted some comments.
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An excellent exchange on gas turbine power can be found in "Turboliners for Sale" in an earlier Passenger forum if you missed it. Jerry Pier in particular wrote about efforts for more efficient gas turbines.
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