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[quote user="CSSHEGEWISCH"] At the risk of being tarred and feathered, I am going to suggest that the FL9 was overrated and undermaintained.  It was proposed as a way of replacing both aging diesels (DL-109's) and aging electrics in one fell swoop.  NH was quite short of operating electrics at the time the FL9's were ordered and the original plan was to operate them in the electric zone in peak periods only to take some of the load off the power plant.  Remember, they were not equipped to run off of the AC catenary.  The dual-power provision was only to allow them to run into GCT, and as the years progressed and proper maintenance lagged, some of them were running into GCT on diesel power.The FL9 was offered to both PRR and NYC, but neither road purchased them.  Both roads continued to change power at the end of the electric zones.Currently, both Amtrak and Metro North operate dual-power locomotives but it would be useful to know how much time they actually operate off the third rail.  I would suspect that they cut over to conventional diesel-electric operation as soon as they reach open air, even within the electric zone.  Additionally, Amtrak's dual-powers don't operate west of Albany on the Lake Shore Limited, so a change of power is still involved.[/quote]Now, now, no one is going to tar and feather anyone on this thread!Paul, What is your opinion of the Fairbanks-Morse P-12-42...?<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_P-12-42">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_P-12-42</a>It seems this FM product was superior to the FL9 in many ways - better fuel economy in diesel mode, higher max speed (117 mph vs 70 mph for the FL9) - but was overlooked (or undersold) vs the EMD product.For what it's worth, I feel any locomotive that lasts 50 years should be given respect, despite the misgivings!
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