Alphabet soup...
The VRE former RDCs were dehumped by M-K for the MBTA which inherited them from the B&M...
Before they were rebuilt the motors were disconnected from the trucks and they ran with various GP and F locomotives in push-pull service. MBTA shop crews developed an MU jumper that allowed control of the pushing engine from an RDC cab.
rcdrye 1964 B&M ETT has 50 mph max speed between Springfield and Greenfield. Now being rebuilt for 79 mph.
1964 B&M ETT has 50 mph max speed between Springfield and Greenfield. Now being rebuilt for 79 mph.
rcdrye: you know I'm talking about railroaders and railroads when they knew how and were allowed to get things done. I don't think the speedometer was broken but I know one who's spirit was that night.
RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.
The last RDC I rode was the Lewis & Clark 200th anniversary service that ran from Portland to Astoria, OR, from 2004 to 2006. It had 3 cars: 2 powered cars at either end,and a de-powered car in the middle used as a diner. It was fairly informal, and the engineer opened the cab compartment to passengers for the cab view. I think the equipment came from BCR.
Another great RDC ride for me was in the late 80's out of Brewster North (now Southeast) on MNRR's Harlem division. As I've noted before several times this is one of my seminal Ridewithmehenry trips. The day after Christmas while visiting the family I decided to take a train ride from Denville, NJ to Hoboken then up to Grand Central and ride to Dover Plains. This meant electric MU's to Brewster North and the RDC from there north to Dover Plains. This snowy day after Christmas was full of snow. And railfans. The RDC was so packed that the vestibules at both ends of the car were open for standees while the regular passengers used the seats wondering about the rest of us who rather stand next to the engineer or in the rear vestibule rather than fight for a seat. In both directions. Great ride.
In the 1960s I rode NYC's "Miami Valley Beeliner" which went by itself from Cleveland
to Cincinnati and returned on the rear of #16, the "Ohio State Limited".
I wish I could have ridden these many histiric lines. feeling old and not enough time or money to complete bucket lict. while it is hell getting old at least i am not dead yet
SNAFU and who cares aslong as every one arrives alive?
1oldgoatI was wondering if BC Rail operated the last RDCs, but if the train you rode had cars from BCR, that answers my question. Are those cars still run in Oregon?
The cars in Oregon are ex Alaska. I think the BCR units went to Texas, where they are backups for Stadler GTWs.
1oldgoatVia operated RDCs north out of Victoria on the former Esquimalt and Nanaimo (part of Canadian Pacific). Last I heard that service was suspended. Has it been restored? Last I heard they were talking about doing so.
Service hasn't been restored, last I heard they were still quibbling over the costs to restore service.
When I visited the Vancouver Worlds Fair, after an Electric Railroaders' Convention in Edmonton and Calgary, I also rode the BCR RDC service to Lillooet and back. I opted for the delux seating with the meal service, and was glad I did. I also opted for the optional tour in Lillooet.
I had ridden from Edmonton on the CN Super Continental. Bruce Russell and Jack May were with me. We were dusk photographing the CN business car at the rear of the train, with its open platform. The steward came out, and we took pictures of hiim with the car. Jack or Bruce volunteered to send him a print. He then said the car was on a ferry move and was not occupied, but we could ride with him if we wished to keep him company until we wanted to turn in for bed in our roomettes. The weather was balmy ehough for us to enjoy the open platform and thus had some idea of the ewonderful scenery despite the darkness. Lasr call for diner in the diner was 8:30, and we wanted to eat, and afterward went back with a few drinks for ouselves, but the steward of course refused, and said he had plenty of soft drinks aboard and we shouldn't worry about his eating or drinking. We finalliy went to bed around midnight.
In addition to BCR, Skytrain intreagued me, and I rode it several times. Very clever use of the single-rack high-clearance CP freight tunnel to the harborfront, doubldecked for two tracks for Skytrain's only "subway" portion.
daveklepperVery clever use of the single-rack high-clearance CP freight tunnel to the harborfront, doubldecked for two tracks for Skytrain's only "subway" portion.
Skytrain is a very interesting system. The former CP tunnel was also used to make their main station a through station, unlike the stub station it is now. The system is clean, well used, expanding, and well constructed. The stations are light and airy, yet closed off enough that in bad weather it isn't an issue. The beams are designed to have a limited effect on the area.
The use of LIM gives two of the lines a distinctive sound. The new line uses incompatible trains, don't even get me started on the poor decision that was!
There was a single ended RDC that ran on 2 RR's but was lettered for only one. Its service was at least two distinct, separated scheduled pairs of schedules. and nobody's mentioned it.
By single- ended, I mean that there was no vestibule, no engineer's controls, no passenger entryway on one end, the other was nearly conventional but it was adorned with somethings on the cab roof.
One More Ride, Way Out There....
ride,
efftenxrfe By single- ended, I mean that there was no vestibule, no engineer's controls, no passenger entryway on one end, the other was nearly conventional but it was adorned with somethings on the cab roof.
SP #10, used on the Senator from Oakland to Sacramento, then leased to the Northwestern Paciic for Redwood service. The "B": end got tangled with a truck and was rebuilt as a baggage compartment (more or less). Tha "A" end had number indicator boards for the train numbers. (225 and 226 for the Senator, 3 and 4 for the Redwood). In service until 4/30/1971.
This was one of several cars bought on the "suggestion" of regulators to see if ridership would go up or costs down on particular services.
Right on, rcdrye.
Did you get to ride it?
I made the Willets-Euraka round trip in the 60's....memorable
It was one of two trains I rode as a passenger with SP power regularly assigned that was west of Yuma and not dissolved into SP, the railroad had a legitimate different name, and Pacific Electric already was an LA MTA passenger obligation....not PE.
It's a question; the time: was between fall of '58 and spring of '60, An SPT Div Supt was the President and a division RFE was the Trainmaster-RFE. of the RR.
The only real SP train I got to ride was the Del Monte #126, between Castroville and Monterey on April 30, 1971. My earlier train riding was all in the midwest. I didn't ride an RDC until 1979, on the Springfield shuttle in Massachusetts.
Glad you got to ride maybe the grandest. finest, most enjoyable engine crew jobs. That's a period back there.
On duty 4:15PM, off duty about 8:30PM, check in to a reserved room at a good hotel, eat in it's dining room go to bed...,, rest, if you hadn't met a sociable woman....
Then a call, you did not need to arrange for,which allowed in the morning,....enough time to get the engines warm, after you've had a full nourishing and comfortable breakfast, made the trip...go off duty in SF around 10:00AM. You went on duty at 645AM,
Money?
Day's pay, one each SF to Watsonville Jct and return. Between, another day's pay Wats Jct to Monterey and return, eleven hours pay, straight time, eight within nine hours union agreement.
Repeat, 3 times a week. SF to Monterey and back. One day off a week. cou.dto it?
At home in the Bay Area 4 nights, 3 nights at a really good hotel in Monterey Let mel.....suggest this.... is one of the best...
Repeat, 3 times a week. SF to Monterey and back. One day off a week. could
At home in the Bay Area 4 nights, 3 nights at a really good hotel in Monterey? Let mel.....suggest this.... is one of the best places... over 300 miles a trip?
nyc#25 In the 1960s I rode NYC's "Miami Valley Beeliner" which went by itself from Cleveland to Cincinnati and returned on the rear of #16, the "Ohio State Limited".
Also in the early 1960s, when as a college student I was traveling Cleveland-Chicago several times a year:
One time I routed myself via Galion, O., expressly to ride the Beeliner and the Erie Lackawanna. Alas, the Central substituted conventional equipment for the RDC that day -- and I missed what turned out to be my only opportunity to ride one of those critters.
However, I wouldn't trade my experience of the beautiful old Erie depot at Galion or my one and only ride on the Lake Cities!
What was the consist of the substitute train? Boiler GP-7. bag and coach?
Was this before or after the Lake Cities sleeper operated only east of Youngstown and the diner only east of Huntington?
As far as I can remember, the "Lake Cities" sleeper operated east of Youngstown beginning sometime prior to 1965. The diner was turned around at Huntington beginning sometime in 1967 or 1968.
daveklepper What was the consist of the substitute train? Boiler GP-7. bag and coach? Was this before or after the Lake Cities sleeper operated only east of Youngstown and the diner only east of Huntington?
Dave, I'm ashamed to say I can't remember the NYC consist, altho I surely would have taken note of it at the time. Of the Cities consist, all I can swear to is at least a lounge section, set up parlor-car style, no doubt part of the "Diner-Lounge" advertised in my 1962 Guide. The Guide shows the diner-lounge turning at Huntington.
The other thing I remember for sure is that the Cities was running late and my connection with the Rock Island was in danger. There wouldn't be enough time for me to get from Dearborn to LaSalle Street. I proposed to the conductor getting off at Englewood ... and was disappointed to learn that E-L's Englewood was a different one than the Rock Island's!
They were "only" five blocks apart...
Long blocks, I gather. Did you make the connection?
No, I had to wait about 5 hours for the next RI, nominally the westbound Corn Belt Rocket but by that time a glorified mail train. I used some of the time well, however, watching a lot of Dearborn arrivals and departures thru that wonderful picture window in the waiting room upstairs.
RC, if I had known the Englewoods were that handy to each other, I might have tried to make things interesting, but probably not. I was a poor college student, and my meager pocket money was for beer on the train, not for taxi cabs.
You mntioned that the Lake Cities diner was set up as half a lounge. When I rode it in 1968, a few months before dicontinuence, it was a (nearly?) full diner for later diners leaving Hoboken, and then half a lounge in the morning and on to Huntington. I had dinner, breakfast, and lunch, and all were excellent.
Dave, DPM (and others) always sounded as if EL treated passengers right -- as well as it could afford -- right up to the end. I believe that was the doing of the president, William White, during whose administration Nos. 1 & 2 were renamed for the former Lackawanna's most-famous train, the Phoebe Snow. That would have been a tough swallow for old Erie hands, whose Limited handle had seniority of its own.
Memories!
daveklepper Long blocks, I gather. Did you make the connection?
5/8 of a mile. Of course, 63rd street wasn't the best neighborhood in those days...
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