Rail Diesel Cars

[Dave Keller]

Nasadowsk:
I didn't say the old MUs didn't have accidents. Yes, they had some wrecks. And they had an occasional BAD wreck, such as Rockville Center.

I said that the ratio of accidents to the number of cars and trains in service over ALL the years they were in service was minimal. (First electric MU cars used on the LIRR in 1905. That's a 60+ year service record at the time of the RDC accident.)

The LIRR only had 2 Budd cars, in service for 12 years and one was wrecked totally with a fatality.



De402:
The crossing gates at the Blue Point Road crossing were installed in 1969 (after the grade crossing accident).

Dave Keller

[fafafooey]

When the LIRR disposed of the RDC cars my dad was able to obtain the number boards off the side of the car. any bidders?

[Richard Glueck]

Yeah! What are you considering to be a minimum?

[krapug]

Also, the company has placed 'jersey' barriers along the row in Cutchogue, Peconic, Jamesport, and Riverhead. I think RDC's would do fine.

-e[/quote]


As my house is within sight lines of the Greenport Branch in Peconic, when were "jersey barriers" ever used????. They are NOT in place along the branch now.

Ken

[de402]

there is one on Mattituck just before the Rt 25 RR Trestle.

[Nasadowsk]

Dave - if you look at the aftermaths of MP-54 accidents, there really wasn't much in the realm of 'minor' accidents with them. Even at 15mph, they'd easily demolish 1/2 the lead car hitting something. And, they couldn't stop very well, either. Besides the two 1950 ones, there were a few pre and post war ones that occurred at low speed (which any MP-54 wreck was - they simply didn't go very fast) that were quite nasty.

I love the looks of those cars, but they were a truely horrid design even by 1950's standards, and their followons weren't much better.

As for the RDCs? they were probbably better in crashes than the '54s - stainless is quite a bit stronger than regular steel, and doesn't corrode and degrade with age (though it will eventually crack). Any accident that wrecked an RDC would have likely demolished a '54....

[Dave Keller]

Nasadowsk:

Thanx for your input!

Dave Keller

P.S. Did you work on the MP54 cars?

[Doc Emmet Brown]

From Long island places that are no more, via arrts arrchives
supposed to be the creedmore spur east of the cross island.
Must have been a fan trip.

[baileyjet2000]

It was a fan trip back in 1955 if I recall. I was on that trip and still have the brochure for it. I'll have to dig it out. The trip covered quite a few destinations including the Creedmoor branch as well as belmont park. I'll have to find the trip brochure adn look them up.

Ray J
Ft Myers, FL

[keyboardkat]

As I've mentioned in other posts, the LIRR's two RDCs were originally supposed to be the first of a proposed fleet of twenty. That's why they were numbered 1101 and 1121. I've often wondered why the decision was made not to go forward with the purchase. From what I understand, on other commuter railroads, the use of RDCs cut operating costs in half. Plus they were comfortable, fast and, with their large windows and stainless steel exteriors, they were very impressive to the public of the time. We would have seen more off-peak RDC service on the OB branch and possibly other lines. The Babylon-Patchogue scoot would have been handled by RDCs all the time, not just some of the time. They would have freed up more air-conditioned P-72s for rush hour service, and permitted scrapping more of the old nonairconditioned fleet.

[Backshophoss]

A single RDC had a habit of "disappearing" from model boards at interlockings and not "shunting" signals due to
being too lightweight,a couple of RDC's was the "fix" for that habit along with rules/special instructions on handling single RDC's.

[nyandw]

Backshophoss: Great material. Yes, all the material on my webpage below shows the double configuration. Thanks. Folks:Any further details about this trip?

http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirr_rdc.htm
RDC page


http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/Budd/R ... 0Shore.jpg
RDC1 #3101 RDC2 #3121 Bay Shore c. 1960's Photo: Steve Hoskins perhaps never seen before.

[nyandw]

RDC-2 #3121 did operate as a one-car train the entire first 2 years it was on the property. After the 2nd unit arrived several months later, they were then paired, but occasionally the #3121 ran independent.

Did the RDC-1 #3101 run independently? There are 1955 images from Votava's collection dated them dated month, day and year. Research/Info: Dave Keller


Budd RDC2 # 3121 "East Ender" at station Riverhead 1956
Archive: Dave Keller
http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/Budd/B ... d-1956.jpg

[keyboardkat]

You may have noticed that sometimes the LIRR RDC-2 was on the east end of the pair, and sometimes it was on the west end, always with the baggage end first.
LIRR dispatcher Bill Fauser told me years ago that the reason the LIRR turned them was to equalize wheel wear. That makes no sense to me. If the cars ran the 95 or so miles, say, LIC to Greenport, and then returned, the wheels ran the same number of revolutions, or miles, whatever you will, in both directions! So why turn them? And if it was necessary to turn them, then why wasn't it necessary to turn electric MU cars for the same purpose? Locomotives, of course, in those days, were almost always turned because they had no dual controls. And the C-Liners, of course, being cab units, always had to be turned.

[keyboardkat]

As I've mentioned in other posts, the LIRR's two RDCs were originally supposed to be the first of a proposed fleet of twenty. That's why they were numbered 1101 and 1121. I've often wondered why the decision was made not to go forward with the purchase. From what I understand, on other commuter railroads, the use of RDCs cut operating costs in half. Plus they were comfortable, fast and, with their large windows and stainless steel exteriors, they were very impressive to the public of the time. We would have seen more off-peak RDC service on the OB branch and possibly other lines. The Babylon-Patchogue scoot would have been handled by RDCs all the time, not just some of the time. They would have freed up more air-conditioned P-72s for rush hour service, and permitted scrapping more of the old nonairconditioned fleet.

Sorry, I got the numbers wrong. Doing this from memory and it was 60 years ago. 3101 and 3121.