Budd Garrett experimental gas-turbine M-1 cars

JamesRR wrote:Did those shoes automatically retract? I imagine it would be a pain to have to manually fold them in.

Yes, if you look to the left of the shoe, you see the actuator cylinder and hoses. How that apparatus was isolated from 3rd rail is interesting I bet.

LongIslandTool wrote:Mac, I think it was kerosene; sure smelled like it.

When we got out to Greenport, we had to get a local dealer who hadn't be screwed out of money by the railroad yet to deliver us more fuel, so I doubt it was rocket fuel or anything too exotic. Heck, maybe it was regular heating oil, but it smelled more like kero.

You can get a gas turbine to run on just about anything from bunker oil to whiskey... (check out the Chrysler Turbine car). I would assume that they either used diesel or heating oil since they would have been readily available in a truck for delivery.

An M1 with a gas turbine in it? There's got to be a story to this. Except that from what I read online, the experiment didn't last very long.

BM: Thanks again for these pictures - I will note:

1-Good picture of the front east end of one of the Garrett cars at Republic.
Interesting that the Engineer had the headlights turned off...
This actually made for a better picture without the light glare...
They do resemble M1 cars - with these noticeable differences:
The U.S. DOT logo on the stripe below the front door window.
M-Metropolitan instead of M-Long Island on the upper right.
The covered over "vent" on the upper right corner up above.
No third rail at Republic - note the third rail ties already in place...

2-A typical off-peak Ronkonkoma Branch train with a consist
of five cars, power pack and diesel. What time of day was the
special waiting to continue east? The base service was on the
average of every two hours back then...

3-Not much of a souvenir ticket from the ERA trip.
The actual date in full - November 13, 1977 - helps
for any research...

PB: The eight experimental GT/E cars were *NOT* M1 cars.
They were of an M1 based design type that lead to the development
of the experimental fleet of 8 cars (two pairs each) from two car builders.

There is plenty of discussion about these cars over the last 16 years in the
LIRR Forum Archives...MACTRAXX

MACTRAXX Wrote: What time of day was the
special waiting to continue east? The base service was on the
average of every two hours back then...

On the trip itinerary, the photo stop was stated for Pinelawn Cemetery. I guess we were running late at opted for the Republic stop instead.

(Pinelawn) Arrive: 10:58 Depart 11:09

Bill: what is the photo date on Item #1: 1) Republic Station - Waiting here for push-pull train to clear single track?

Thanks,

nyandw wrote: Bill: what is the photo date on Item #1: 1) Republic Station - Waiting here for push-pull train to clear single track?

Thanks,

November 13, 1977