Railroad Forums 

Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.

Moderator: Liquidcamphor

 #7438  by bagpiper516
 
What exactly were these turbos? I've seen pictures, but what made them so special other than the bubble on top? What years did they run? And why did they stop? Thanks!

Tom

 #7561  by DutchRailnut
 
based on M1 body the cars had either Garret or GE turbines. the cars also had low level steps were the Crew controlled side door is.. the experiment was for a train to get to last electrified station leave the electric M1's and continou with the dual mode turbo units.
the cars were not a great success. they did not have a bubble on top your confused with the UA turbo of Penn fame.
the M1 turbo's looked same but had a huge air intake at both ends of car near roof.

 #7585  by RRChef
 
Although both the Garret and GE gas turbines were based on the M-1, there were major differences in the cars. The GE set had it's turbines set on a sliding mount that was behind the engineer and had a large air intake on the roof. It was much easier to spot this set than the Garret as the Garret set had a series of air intake grills near the top of the car that were set into the car giving the appearence of a more standard M-1. This could be why the Garret set went to Metro North as M-1's after it's turbines were removed. The GE set sat around in Richmond Hill for years in a badly cannibalized state. I have pictures that I took of them around 1986-87 with a telephoto lens after spotting them sitting there. (Don't ask me to post them, I have to find them)

 #7829  by KFRG
 
Dutchrailnut,
Are the Ex.Garret cars still operational on MN, if not when were they taken out of service? Any pic's of them on MN?

-Tom

 #7833  by DutchRailnut
 
no I never took pictures of them they went back to LIRR in 1984 I believe.
the turbines never worked on MNCR and in electric mode they never realy took power over 2 or 3 steps on cam so the experiment stopped soon.

 #7841  by RRChef
 
That is a picture of the Garret set. You can clearly see the air intake as I described above. There is a good picture of the GE set in Scala's Deisels of the Sunrise Trail.

 #7843  by Nasadowsk
 
Didn't at least some of those units have the turbines up near the roof? Also - were the motors truck or body mounted, I've heard both ways on these things...

 #7865  by DutchRailnut
 
Think I remember the turbine housing near roof but as far as trucks they rode on standard M1 trucks with gearbox mounted Traction motors. they always ran in middle of train so other than outside inspection and doors we did not realy look at anything. wow I forgot that post I placed with those pictures.
 #8138  by de402
 
how far east did these junkers operate? did they ever come to Riverhead or Pt Jeff? What was their excelleration like?

 #8208  by KFRG
 
Sidenote,
Were the Garrett Turbo's designated as the "GT-2's"?
Also, there was an earlier experimentation on LIRR property with Budd Pioneer, or "Silverliner" type cars, which ran between Bethpage, and KO. 1960's? Did the LIRR and USDOT want another shot at it with the M1 based Turbo's?
Anyway, DE AFAIK, the Turbo's did run up to OB.

-Tom

 #8209  by 9C1LT1
 
The M-1 Turbo's needed to be refueled after a round trip to Oyster Bay. So I don't how far east they got... It was a good idea for the Oyster Bay Branch, the riders would have had new looking equipment.

 #8217  by DutchRailnut
 
for some pictures of the GTE's see:
http://community.webshots.com/album/319 ... lPRKGgiJ/1
they were on a daylong excursion wiuth them.

 #8680  by RRChef
 
The GT-1 and the GT-2 were one and the same. It was based on a Budd Pioneer III. The GT-1 appeared in 1966 with a Garret turbine. In 1969 it was outfitted with a electric shoe beam for third rail and was renamed GT-2.

 #8689  by lirrmike
 
I remember waiting at the Commack Rd crossing in Deer Park with the Turbos went through.

Mike