Whatever happened to the jet-powered RDC (M-497)?

Otto, I think it was the other way around-- some of the Cleveland Tech Center people formed Megtrans after the PC/CR decimated Collinwood. One Megtrans product is/was ditch light housings, offered in the mid-late 1990s. The Megtrans logo is cast into the aluminum light housing, and is....a copy of the NYC "cigar-band" logo! Megtrans evolved into Quest Corp., located in Northern Ohio.

Other Cleveland Tech people formed "CTC" (Cleveland Tech Center) Labs, to perform lube oil analysis. I recall the NH's oil test spectrometer was removed from New Haven (they knocked out a cinderblock wall at Lamberton St. Shops to get it out) within weeks of the PC takeover of the NH in 1969, and sent to Collinwood. The NH was ahead of its time in doing oil testing, and that machine was in demand at Collinwood.

The Perlman-era NYC was indeed "The Road To The Future", and while some stuff (like M-497) was grandstanding, lots of other stuff was not-- the freight marketing dept, Cleveland Tech Labs, etc. Lost of NYC talent left within months of the arrival of the Red Tide from Philly, and went on to careers at other roads (UP, WP, etc.).

Cleveland Technical Center, Inc. (CTC) was formed as a subsidiary by NYCRR itself before the Penn Central merger. They had the spectrometer for analyzing lube oil, and CTC marketed the service to other railroads and non-railroad customers including trucking companies and airlines. I remember AEP telling us one day in 1965 that CTC was a prominent performer of blood analysis for Cleveland area hospitals. They also had a NYC instrumentation car, and were able to use that on other railroads for a profitable fee, so we were told.

I can understand why they would want the New Haven RR spectrometer at Collinwood if they had enough business to keep it working, but it was not the first one on the NYC.

Gentlemen; concerning "Megtrans"- Hank Morris is correct. It was an acronym for Megalopoliton Transportation. However, in November of 1994. I incorporated "Meg Trans Corporation", to serve as a vehicle for my consulting work to the railroad industry. For example, I had been retained by The Cleveland Technical Center (more about that later) as an expert witness in a patent matter that ended up in court. I was the inventor (and patent holder) of the jet snow blowers. Therefore CTC used my expertise to assist in prevailing in the litigation.

During that time I also designed and patented the system that automatically pulses locomotive ditch lights when the horn is sounded. I saw the need for inexpensive ditch light housings and added them to the Meg Trans product line. That's how the ditch light housings with the Meg Trans logo came about. Mr. Malone is also correct, Meg Trans has been folded into Quest Corporation (which I founded) and is now owned and operated by my son Kurt. Kurt manufatures (along with engineered electronic weighing systems) the ditch light pulsers as well as constant voltage power supplies for locomotive headlights. This improves headlight lamp life.

Cleveland Technical Center was formed by a number of New York Central upper management people to market the products and services developed by the NYC Technical Research Department, Collinwood. Mr. Glenn Kamp was the on-site finacial person and also Administrative Assistant to J.J.Wright, the Director of the Lab. I ws Special Assistant to Mr. Wright and served as the technical/marketing person for CTC. The primary product was an air-operated locomotive cab drinking water cooler- the Vortacool. It had been developed at the Lab. The primary service was physical and spectrometric analysis of in-service lubricating oil removed from engines to detect incipient failures. (I served as Chief Lube Oil and Spectrometric Analyst for a period of time) Oil labs were located throughout the NYC system. Mr. Perlman was directly responsible for implimenting the Baird-Atomic Direct Reader for oil analysis. in the late 1950's I accompanied the instrument from New England to the Lab on a special rail move. For a period of time the NYC was the acknowledged originator of diesel engine lube oil analysis and was named in the ASTM standard.

Since I was the pilot for the NYC, I concluded the service might be applicable to the smaller aircraft engines. I began "bootleging" samples of oil from aircraft engines at Cleveland Airport and had them analyzed to determine what we could learn. One of the analysts approached me and told me that one of the samples I had "obtained" showed a distressed engine. I telephoned the fixed base operator, Sundorph Aeronautical, and told the manager of my concern. He told me that the airplane in question had just lost the engine on takeoff from White Sulfer Springs- the C & O resort. The airplane was the C & O Twin Bonanza! (They made a safe landing and- WE WERE IN BUSINESS!) The service was named "Spectra-Check". We went on to serve Trans World Airlines, U.S.Navy stationary power plant engines at Adak, Alaska and many others. The service is marketed today by CTC Analytical Services with labs around the country.

Insofar as the New Haven spectrometer is concerned, that happened after I left the NYC and joined the N & W in Roanoke. I have no specific knowkedge of those details.

The Lab's instrument car was used by others on a contract basis in a variety of projects.

The NYC/CTC relationship was truly unique in the railroad industry.

If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them- IF I know the information.

Donald C. Wetzel

Wasn't the m-497 a combo RDC? If it's the car I'm thinking of I rode it many times on the hudson line.

The M-497 was, indeed, used on the Hudson line during its last days.