Why MP15's for passenger power?

MPI5AC with Power Pack #605 at Montauk. 7.5.1982.

Oyster Bay train at Mineola. MP15AC in "power pack mode". Another MPI5AC on east end for traction.

LIengineerBob wrote: The MP15's modified were numbers 161 to 172.

Did'nt they also add a "P" in front of the number at onetime? I seem to recall seeing that...

I have to say, the thought that went into doing this, and the engineering behind it was quite creative.....something the LIRR, sadly, no longer has, or cares to utilize.

Yeah, it was a neat setup. Too bad they didn't do the same thing with the M-1s - turn them into diesel push pulls. Would have made for a very nice upgrade to diesel service (just imagine the performance with 4 or 5 M-1s with no motors/traction gear being moved by a standard off the shelf diesel...). The C-3s are nice, but thy don't solve a fundamental issue with diesel territory: it's too *#$%ing slow.

by time you change all couplers, add HEP wiring wire control receptacles etc etc etc there would not be much of economic advantage.
add to that the brake system/control, cab equipment etc is incompatible and it will look like a loosing idea.

Did'nt they also add a "P" in front of the number at onetime? I seem to recall seeing that...

168P at Mineola.

when i ran those power packs(1500 type) years ago.they vibrated because of always being throttled up which seemed to make everything rattle which made for a lot of noise.also the heat didnt always work well,we would sometimes crack open the door forward of the firemens side on the outside to stop the draft of heat out of the cab.i thought boy when we get new engines there will be no more of this.the dm/de's are much louder(osha swears theyre not)and it took years to get the heat working on the new equipment.and no more toasting your sandwich on the heater.i was wrong

With all the cooling fans blowing for all of the computers in the cab, it's a noisy constant buzz. Add the sound of the blowers for the a/c, it's very loud in the cabs of the de/dms. Plus yes, they are VERY drafty during the cold days. The added side wall heaters work well, but once you get up to speed it gets very cold in there.

With the modified p 1500s, when they were being moved around the yard, would the hep be shut off and the engine
moved under it's own power, or would it be moved using another horse?

there was a mode selector switch on the front wall of the control stand.you could use the engine in loco mode or in (as we called it then) hotel power,once in awhile on q trains you might switch over to give a good move,of course if your crew agreed, to answer your question it would be moved under its own power

I remember seeing an OB train consisting of three PP-72s (converted MU cars) with a bar-generator car for hep, and an MP-15 AC on each end, MU'd together. So that's 3,000 hp to move four cars (which probably didn't have a full passenger load). Doesn't seem very efficient to me, just to get the benefit of double-ended operation. That train ran up and down the branch for days.

But then, I've seen a dual mode train consisting of three C-3 cars with a DM-30 at each end. So that's 6,000 hp for three cars. Maybe they ran it on one engine to save fuel?

even if train is short and you got two engines does not mean it has 6000 hp.
yes it has it available, but unless the engineer is in 8th noth entire way and at max speed it would not produce 6000hp.
it will produce the same HP as a train with one engine, it may accelerate better but you still use same total horsepower, just more for shorter lenght of time.
so fuel use will remain about same.

I think he's trying to say 2 engines to do the work one can is a waste.

with the DE/DM history its not a waste but redundancy

And in most of the cases you see the two engines on a short train, it's because of a cab car issue. It's easier to couple another engine on the front than to switch out the coach in most cases.

Can anyone provide some good close-up photos of the jumpers and receptacles that were a key component of LIRR's unique 650 VDC HEP trainline circa 1975-2000?

I'd really like to see a close-up of the trainline receptacle on the car or locomotive, with the cover plate opened, to show the arrangement of the interior connectors.

I'd also like to see a close-up of the connector/plug at the end of the jumper cables, used to connect locomotive to car, and car to car. These are the jumper cables for the power trainline, not the jumper cables for the locomotive MU trainline.

I am interested to see how much the LIRR design for their old 650 VDC HEP trainline varies from the more or less USA/Canada "standard" for 480 VAC three phase HEP used by Amtrak, Via Rail Canada and other major commuter operations, including MTA Metro North RR.

While it is a separate yet related topic, this also make me wonder if LIRR's current HEP trainline system is compatible with Amtrak's.

DutchRailnut wrote:with the DE/DM history its not a waste but redundancy

The engines reliability issues are no longer an issue anymore dutch.. The real problem these days are the cabcars...

break the seals wrote:

DutchRailnut wrote:with the DE/DM history its not a waste but redundancy

The engines reliability issues are no longer an issue anymore dutch.. The real problem these days are the cabcars...

And that also goes along with why they have 2 locomotives for the short trains, cab car issues.