M-1 Railfanning curtain continues to fall

Speaking of the M1s, did they have teething problems when they were first put in service?

They sure as heck did! There were extensive problems with the first few hundred M-1's. They were rushed into service without much testing in 1969-70 in a desperate effort to replace the rattletrap MP-54's that were falling apart daily. Within the first year various problems developed causing large numbers of them to be laid up for months pending modifications to their propulsion systems, and other problems.

Added to that was a labor dispute involving the LIRR car maintenance workers re: who was going to do the warranty work; LIRR workers or the manufacturer's (Budd Co.) personnel. After Governor Nelson Rockefeller finally intervened a settlement was reached and the work finally got done. By about 1973 the entire LIRR M-1 fleet was delivered and up and running.

BTW, the M-7's on LIRR have broken in much more successfully than the M-1's did, partly because LIRR tested them at length before starting them in revenue service. And they had more time to do it, as there isn't quite the replacement crisis with the M-1's now as there was with the 1920's era trains in 1970.

Head-end View wrote:They sure as heck did! There were extensive problems with the first few hundred M-1's. They were rushed into service without much testing in 1969-70 in a desperate effort to replace the rattletrap MP-54's that were falling apart daily. Within the first year various problems developed causing large numbers of them to be laid up for months pending modifications to their propulsion systems, and other problems.

Added to that was a labor dispute involving the LIRR car maintenance workers re: who was going to do the warranty work; LIRR workers or the manufacturer's (Budd Co.) personnel. After Governor Nelson Rockefeller finally intervened a settlement was reached and the work finally got done. By about 1973 the entire LIRR M-1 fleet was delivered and up and running.

BTW, the M-7's on LIRR have broken in much more successfully than the M-1's did, partly because LIRR tested them at length before starting them in revenue service. And they had more time to do it, as there isn't quite the replacement crisis with the M-1's now as there was with the 1920's era trains in 1970.

What was wrong with the MP-54's in their last days in service?

Well Frank, I guess you had to be there. The old 1920's era trains were totally shot from 50 years of daily service. They were not air-conditioned, many of the windows were hard to open. They were breaking down every day. In that infamous summer of 1970, a half-dozen trains were being canceled every rush-hour due to shortage of operable cars. The LIRR had become the laughing stock of the transportation industry. The poor service was written about in the newspapers every day. The public pressure and media attention finally motivated Governor Nelson Rockefeller to intervene. This led to his famous proclamation that "within 90 days the LIRR would become the best commuter railroad in the country!"

Well, not quite; but by a year later hundreds of new M-1's were finally modified and in-service and the Huntington branch electrification was complete and better days had arrived.

Nice recolition

i was born when the M3's came to the scene, so i missed all that.

Long Island 7285 wrote:Nice recolition

i was born when the M3's came to the scene, so i missed all that.

What did the M3s replace anyway?

The M-3's were bought to expand the electric fleet for the Ronkonkoma electrification of 1987. I guess they actually replaced some of the old diesel-hauled coaches from the 1950's which were used on that line up 'til the electric service began.

Yes they did, and it was 63 of them. They were stored for a brief time on the Brookhaven National Laboratory Spur (Upton). I saw them there when my father used to work there. Very interesting sight!

7 Train wrote:Time to shoot railfan videos from the front cab window!

Already have.

http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=A-ri ... -Republic-

Ah the ride on an M1 from Farm through New Highway crossing, nice.

Farm - coastal, nice video.

i just shot the montauk branch today with the head out view. sound will be muffled due to wind hitting mic but i tired to keep it at bay.

i got several segments from sayvill to jamaica. what a job now if i can only pull it off in an M1