Preservation of UA Turbo-trains

TomNelligan wrote:To answer the original question, Amtrak's UA Turbos were retired in the fall of 1976 as the Amfleet era was beginning. They were fun to ride because of the mini-domes that provided a cab view, but I certainly respect Mr. Weaver's perspective that they were miserable to operate... apparently just about everyone who ran them felt that way.

It's ridiculous that they couldn't preserve at least one in a museum somewhere, though!

Edited by a Moderator (to start a new thread) 11-1-07 8:01AM CDT

<i>It's ridiculous that they couldn't preserve at least one in a museum somewhere, though!</i>

Interestingly, I don't think there are many museums of failed technology out there. People like to forget what doesn't work, which might explain why the US DOT keeps trying the same stupid idea of cramming a turboshaft into a locomotive every few years....

hsr_fan wrote:It's ridiculous that they couldn't preserve at least one in a museum somewhere, though!

There's still Turbos at the Bear, DE Railroad Museum . It would be interesting if any of the ANF turbos are still in existance in France. It's possible, there were a lot more of them there then there were here.

Those are the RTLs, the original poster was talking about the UA Turbos, of which there are none left.

There's supposedly a few pieces of an RTG or two out west in some field. I don't think even the French run those things anymore, and they never really did make much use of them.

hsr_fan wrote:It's ridiculous that they couldn't preserve at least one in a museum somewhere, though!

I am very glad that they all got the torch, if one of them scrap piles was
in a museum somewhere, no doubt somebody would be trying to get it
to run again and that would not have been a very good idea.
Noel Weaver

Nasadowsk wrote:I don't think there are many museums of failed technology out there. People like to forget what doesn't work

McMinnville, Oregon's most popular (and practially only) tourist attraction.

Noel Weaver wrote:I am very glad that they all got the torch, if one of them scrap piles was in a museum somewhere, no doubt somebody would be trying to get it
to run again and that would not have been a very good idea.
Noel Weaver

Plenty of experimental aircraft are preserved in museums. They're a part of history, successful or not! The UA Turbo was a very unique piece of machinery, and had some features that were ahead of their time, but can be found on other high speed trains today!

Amtrak Forum Moderator's Note:

Split from the UA Turbo Memories thread, as this deal with equipment preservation selection.

The turbos (not UA) that are sitting in a field out west are in Dugger, Indiana. And yes, I think it would be neato to pull a cab car out, paint it, and sit it on static display at IRM or the NYC museum. I say this because they operated over the MC to Detroit for a while, making them appropriate for the NYC museum.