Nostalgia & History > Long Island Alco Cab Cars

Several scenes from 1975-76. 
First Port Jefferson, NY
Second Oyster Bay, NY
Third Hunters Point Ave Station

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Next Patchauge, NY and Port Jefferson (1971)

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Great look back Dale.  I grew up within sight of the LIRR Port Jefferson branch and watched these go buy for most of my youth and adolescence.  Here is a clip from the Diesel Shop that shows the lineage of these units.  From the site https://www.thedieselshop.us/LIRR.HTML

Table A - Data, Lineage & Disposition for Alco-built F-units rebuilt by GE into Control Cabs

• 600    79301  10/51   Ex-PC 1302/1102 < nee NYC 1102
• 601    81964  06/56   Ex-LN 317
• 602    80903  05/56   Ex-LN 309
• 603    81087  06/56   Ex-LN 315 To LI 598
• 604    81086  06/56   Ex-LN 314
• 605    80904  05/56   Ex-LN 310
• 606    81968  06/56   Ex-LN 321
• 607    78606  01/51   Ex-WM 303 to WVC 303 > GCK 303
• 608    78607  01/51   Ex-WM 304 to LI 3100
• 609    78494  01/51   Ex-WM 301
• 610    78495  01/51   Ex-WM 302
• 611    76672  02/49   Ex-BN 4102 < SPS 857-856A-2
• 612    76671  02/49   Ex-BN 4100 < SPS 856-856A-1
• 613    78286  12/50   Ex-BN 4120 < SPS 866-866A-1
• 614    76673  02/49   Ex-BN 4104 < SPS 858-858A-1
• 615    76838  04/49   Ex-BN 4116 < SPS 864-864A-1 < GN 442A
• 616    76674  02/49   Ex-BN 4108 < SPS 859-858A-2
• 617    75425  10/47   Ex-PC 1333 < NH 0428
• 618    75276  05/47   Ex-PC 1330 < NH 0401

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/19 12:24 by stevelv.

A great group of photos, what diesels would the LIRR have had on the opposite ends of these trains in the 70's - GP38-2s and MP15ACs?

I was wondering if these cab cars started out with the Long Island, but Steve's helpful post gives all the details.

Thanks to both,

Rich



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/19 12:57 by PasadenaSub.

Thank you, that is very helpful

Posted from iPhone

When they first got the FA's the C420's ruled the LIRR passenger fleet with an occasional RS3 at the other end.  Then they got the GP38-2s and MP15ACs which were used.  Photo 1 shows a GP38-2 on the end while photo 3 has a C420 on the other end. 

PasadenaSub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A great group of photos, what diesels would the
> LIRR have had on the opposite ends of these trains
> in the 70's - ?
>
> I was wondering if these cab cars started out with
> the Long Island, but Steve's helpful post gives
> all the details.
>
> Thanks to both,
>
> Rich

They only had four Cab Cars built from EMD F-Units.
#619 from MILW #128A
#620 from MILW #85A
#621 from B&O #4599
#622 from B&O #4524
They had planned to build a #623 from B&O #4535 but instead
scrapped it for parts.
ALLEN  

The 604 is at Illinois Railway Museum, slowly being re-animated and returned to its previous state as L&N 314, a fully-operational FA. The electrical cabinet is in the process of being rebuilt and a former SR slug unit was acquired from NRE to provide a set of AAR Type B trucks with traction motors.

Fortunately, 604 retained its Alco prime mover and main generator for the LIRR's unique 600VDC HEP system, making this restoration possible.

NZ

Thats interesting I a;ways thought they where all just cab control units with no prime movers, I too live near Port jefferson,little east of it.

600 thru 604 plus 1 or two others all retained their 244 engines when they were retired from the Long Island.
RWJ

Thats interesting , I live next to PJ and have watched the changes for 65 years Ugh . I really did not know that I always thought they removed the PMvr when GE did the work . Good job nice pics. 

Great stuff!!  As stevelv is my brother, I too grew up seeing these beauties go back and forth behind our house for many years.  These pictures also capture IMHO the best color scheme these engines had during their time as LIRR power packs - later they would get all kinds of different paint jobs, some hideous, some okay, but nothing compares to the "classic" schemes shown here.

Also, these pictures capture the FAs before the LIRR took a hatchet to most of them, putting squared-off sliding windows in the cab, which looked ridiculous and really detracted from the classic FA lines.  Below is an example of what they did to most of them (not my shot - photographer noted on pic).  

NebraskaZephyr, I assume your team needed to fix this hideous modification during your restoration of 604, correct?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/19 08:11 by rbenko.

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In my time on the Santa Fe/bnsf, I rode & ran a lot of engines with basicaly that same truck. U-23-B, U-25-B, B-23's. A bouncy, harsh, uncomfortable ride. It's hard to imagine those at passenger train speeds.