Dan'l Webster (train)

Promotional photo standee of the train.

The Dan'l Webster was a named train of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, between Grand Central Terminal, New York, New York, and North Station, Boston, Massachusetts. The Dan'l Webster was an attempt by the New Haven to modernize rail travel and lure people out of their cars. The train was built by Pullman to their lightweight Train-X design,[1] and was powered by two Baldwin RP-210 diesel-hydraulic locomotives (one on each end of the train), connected by multiple unit control, through the train.

The train, introduced in 1957,[2] consisted of nine, short, all-aluminum cars articulated together. The center car had two axles (one at each end), with the remaining cars having a single axle each, being supported by adjacent cars at the end opposite the axle. The ride was rough, as with most of the other lightweight trains of the period, and the train was not a success.[3][4]

The train was retired in 1960, and was sold in 1964 to Jones Tours (owned by the Pickens Railway), for excursion service. After a long period of storage in South Carolina, the train and locomotives were scrapped around 1970.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ Associated Press (July 14, 1957). "Futuristic Train Slow in Arriving". Miami Sunday News. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Dan’l Webster and the Xplorer". Streamliner Memories. March 4, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  3. ↑ Doughty, Geoffrey H. (July 1997). New York Central and the Trains of the Future. Motorbooks International. ISBN 1-883089-28-X.
  4. ↑ http://www.kelseypub.com/ct-guide/railroad/danlfire.shtml
  5. ↑ http://yardlimit.railfan.net/baldwindiesels/rp210/
  6. ↑ http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/penney_vanderbilt/Trains/Alpert.html&date=2009-10-26+00:25:04