Passenger Trains > Porter tower operator checks out Turboliner!

CR tower operator watches as Turboliner passes at Porter Ind in 1976.

---

Also like the boattail Riv in the foreground.

Fast but not real safe for the crews. I rode in head end of a later Turboliner in the early 90s from Albany to NYC at speeds occasionally in excess of 100 MPH.
You could hear that turbine whining away from right behind the cab, and as we occasionally went through an at grade vehicle crossing, the thought crossed my mind that if we hit something big that turbine would probably come through the back of the cab and join us all.
It was a great experience, which I never repeated...but I came away with great respect for the crews who did this on a daily basis.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/15 07:04 by hazegray.

Was there really a danger of that? Here's the view from the other side of the firewall in business class power car #2135, ready to depart NYP for Albany. This was the first RTL-III that entered revenue service in April 2003. And that's my friend and fellow Turboliner enthusiast George in the photo. :)

---

hsr_fan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Was there really a danger of that? Here's the
> view from the other side of the firewall in
> business class power car #2135, ready to depart
> NYP for Albany. This was the first RTL-III that
> entered revenue service in April 2003. And that's
> my friend and fellow Turboliner enthusiast George
> in the photo. :)


Don't know. A body in motion tends to stay in motion, so in a rapid stop that turbine would tend to move forward (toward the cab), not aft toward the business class folks. The turbine was not all that large compared to some marine applications (the Navy has used GE turbines since the 70s to power destroyers and cruisers), but large enough.
Plus I don't think the original RTL Turboliner power cars were ever equipped with collision posts or subjected to the 400 ton "squeeze test" that was once a standard for US passenger cars, e.g. Budd Heritage or Amfleet cars.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/15 14:23 by hazegray.

hazegray Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Don't know. A body in motion tends to stay in
> motion, so in a rapid stop that turbine would tend
> to move forward (toward the cab), not aft toward
> the business class folks.

Well, keep in mind there was a turbine at each end of the train! :)

Posted from Android