Turboliner

Amtrak's RTG (above) and RTL (below) Turboliner trainsets

The Turboliners were a family of gas turbine trainsets built for Amtrak in the 1970s. They were among the first new equipment purchased by Amtrak and represented an attempt by Amtrak to update its fleet with faster, more modern trains. The first batch, known as RTG, were built by the French firm ANF and entered service on multiple routes in the Midwestern United States in 1973. The new trains led to ridership increases wherever they were used; the fixed consist proved a detriment as demand outstripped supply. The high cost of operating the trains led to their withdrawal from the Midwest in 1981.

The second batch, known as RTL, were of a similar design but manufactured by Rohr Industries, an American company. These entered service on the Empire Corridor in the state of New York in 1976. The RTLs remained in service there through the 1990s, supplemented by several rebuilt RTGs. In the late 1990s and early 2000s New York and Amtrak partnered to rebuild the RTLs for high-speed service; this project failed and the last RTL trainsets left revenue service in 2003. After the settlement of legal issues New York sold the remaining trainsets for scrap in 2012.

RTG

Design

The RTG (abbreviated from the French Rame à Turbine à Gaz, or gas turbine train)^[1] model was an Americanized version of the French ANF T 2000 RTG Turbotrain (related to the prototype precursor to the very first TGV trainset, the TGV 001). The RTGs used European-style couplers (buffers and turnbuckles) between their cars, due to having been built in France by ANF for use on French railways.^[2] Another change was the installation of top-mounted Nathan P1234A5 horns, a variation of the standard Nathan P5 horns.^[3] Each trainset consisted of two power cars (which included seating), two coaches and a bar/grill. The trains were powered by a pair of 1,140 horsepower (850 kW) Turbomeca turbines.^[1]

Service

Amtrak acquired the Turboliners with multiple goals in mind. The Turboliners were expected to cost less to operate than a comparable diesel locomotive while having a higher operating speed, though this would be constrained by track conditions. Amtrak also hoped that introducing new equipment would generate favorable publicity. Two years into its existence, Amtrak was fighting the perception that it was making "cosmetic changes to hand-me-down equipment." New gas turbine trainsets could change that perception and generate favorable publicity.^[4]

The first two RTG trainsets arrived in September 1973. These were based out of Chicago, and initially served the Chicago–St. Louis corridor. Amtrak ordered an additional four trainsets which entered service in 1975. Amtrak assigned these sets to its other two Midwestern corridors: Chicago–Milwaukee and Chicago–Detroit.^[5] Between 1975 and 1976 Amtrak experimented with formally renaming these services "Turboliner" after the equipment before returning to traditional names (e.g. Wolverine).

Amtrak established a separate maintenance facility for all six trainsets in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago, on the site of an ex-Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad coach yard.^[6] This facility closed in 1981 after the withdrawal of the RTGs from service; according to Amtrak the trainsets were too expensive to operate compared to conventional equipment. The trainsets were mothballed at Amtrak's main maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Indiana.^[5][7]

In 1985, three RTG trainsets (numbered 64 to 69) were retrofitted with RTL style noses, and third rail capability to enable operation into New York.^[8] Renamed RTG-IIs, they were retired from service after one caught fire in Pennsylvania Station in New York on September 11, 1994.^[9][10]

St. Louis

The St. Louis corridor was the first to receive the new Turboliner equipment, with the initial run occurring September 28, 1973, amid great fanfare. The two daily frequencies were branded Turboliner, replacing the individual names Abraham Lincoln and Prairie State. Amtrak would repeat this experiment with the Detroit and Milwaukee corridors. Track conditions limited the new trainsets to 79 mph (127 km/h), but they were clean, comfortable, quiet and reliable. In the first year the Chicago–St. Louis running time dropped from 5.5 to 5 hours. The Federal Railroad Administration refused a request from Amtrak to raise the speed limit to 90 mph (140 km/h), citing inadequate signalling along the route. The new equipment had fallen out of favor by the end of 1974: food service was inadequate, and the five-car fixed consist could not handle demand. Amfleet coaches and new conventional diesels replaced both of the Turboliner trainsets in 1975.^[11]

Detroit

Turboliners arrived on the Detroit run on April 10, 1975. Additional equipment allowed Amtrak to add a frequency in late April; the arrival of a third trainset in May made Chicago–Detroit the "first all-turbine-powered route." One year into operation ridership on the corridor increased by 72 percent. The fixed capacity of 292 passengers on an RTL trainset proved an impediment; Amtrak could not add capacity when demand outstripped supply. Amtrak replaced one of the trainsets with a conventional locomotive hauling then-new Amfleet coaches in 1976; Turboliner service ended altogether by 1981 as more Amfleet equipment became available.^[12]

Milwaukee

Turboliners debuted on the Hiawatha corridor began on June 1, 1975, with additional trainsets operating in 1976. As with the St. Louis and Detroit corridors, Amtrak dropped individual names in favor of the Turboliner in branding in 1976, but resumed these names in 1980. Turboliner equipment was withdrawn altogether in 1981. Their withdrawal was the end of Turboliner service in the Midwest.^[13]

RTL

Amtrak ordered an additional seven Turboliner trainsets which were delivered between 1976 and 1977. These were manufactured by Rohr Industries and were known as RTL Turboliners.^[15] They were based on the earlier RTG series trains but had American-style Janney couplers throughout^[2] and a different design power car cab.^[16] The standard configuration of each set was five cars: power cars at either end, a food service car, and two coaches.^[14] At times Amtrak operated Turboliners with an additional coach cut into the consist.^[17] The sets operated in revenue service throughout upstate New York from the 70s into the 90s. One of these original sets were rebuilt into an RTL-II set.

The RTL Turboliners were capable of third rail operation, allowing them to enter Grand Central Terminal and, later Pennsylvania Station in New York City.^[18] As it had with the earlier RTGs in the Midwest, Amtrak set up a separate maintenance facility in Rensselaer, New York. This facility opened on November 30, 1977, and cost $15 million.^[19] As built the RTLs carried 2,560 US gallons (9,700 l; 2,130 imp gal) of fuel, permitting a cruising range of 950 miles (1,530 km).^[14] The seven trainsets cost $32 million.^[20]

The official inaugural run of the RTLs took place on September 18–19, 1976. Regular service on the Empire Corridor began on Monday, September 20.^[20] Initially the two trainsets were mostly confined to the New York–Albany shuttle, with a single round-trip each on Saturday and Sunday to Buffalo.^[21] The New York–Montreal Adirondack received Turboliners on March 1, 1977, replacing conventional equipment.^[22] By April 1977 Turboliners had displaced conventional equipment on most routes in upstate New York. Exceptions included some New York–Albany trains as well as the long-distance Lake Shore Limited and Niagara Rainbow.^[23]

RTL-II

In 1995 Amtrak and the state of New York collaborated to rebuild a single RTL trainset at a cost of $2 million. This rebuild included a pair of new Turbomeca Makila T1 turbines, each capable of developing 1,600 horsepower (1,200 kW). The interiors were also to be renovated and the exterior paint scheme changed. Morrison-Knudsen rebuilt the power cars while Amtrak overhauled the coach interiors at Beech Grove. The rebuilt trainset was designated RTL-II. In test runs on the Empire Corridor and Northeast Corridor it reached a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h) all the while consuming less fuel than previously.^[24]

RTL-III

In 1998 Amtrak and the state of New York began the High Speed Rail Improvement Program, a $185 million effort to improve service over the Empire Corridor. A key component of this program would be the reconstruction of all seven RTL Turboliner trainsets to the RTL-III specification. New York selected Super Steel Schenectady to perform the work, and the first two trainsets were to enter service in 1999. Numerous delays pushed the start of service to April 2003. Of the five additional trainsets, originally scheduled to enter service in 2002, only one was completed and it never entered revenue service.^[25][26] All seven trainsets were renumbered in 2001 to prevent duplicate numbers with the new GE P42DCs and were painted in new Acela-style livery.^[27] One of the rebuilt RTL-IIIs was tested on the night of February 15, 2001, reaching 125 mph (201 km/h).^[28]

The agreement between Amtrak and New York provided that New York would take ownership of the rebuilt trainsets once Amtrak had "fully accepted" them for regular revenue service. Amtrak withdrew all the trainsets from service in June 2003 after problems developed with the air-conditioning systems and refused to operate them. In 2004 New York sued Amtrak in federal court for $477 million, both for not operating the trainsets and for failing to complete track work in the Empire Corridor to permit regular 125-mile-per-hour (201 km/h) operation. Amtrak mothballed the equipment at its maintenance facility in Bear, Delaware. Joseph H. Boardman, then Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation (and a future president of Amtrak), accused Amtrak of "stealing" the trains and threatened to find a new vendor for the state's intercity rail service.^[29] Conventional Amfleet equipment replaced the trainsets in revenue service.

In April 2005, New York reached a settlement with Super Steel to completely close the rehabilitation project for $5.5 million, to stop work on the project, cover any remaining costs, and move four unfinished trains into storage at a nearby industrial park. This settlement, when added to the $64.8 million previously spent, brought the total amount spent on the project—the results of which were three rehabilitated trainsets and four others in various states of repair—to $70.3 million.^[30] In 2007 Amtrak and New York settled their own lawsuit, with Amtrak paying New York $20 million. Amtrak and New York further agreed to commit $10 million each to implement track improvements in the Empire Corridor.^[31] New York auctioned off its surplus Turboliners in 2012 for $420,000, including spare parts.^[32]

See also

• Bombardier JetTrain
• New York high-speed rail
• Turbine-electric transmission
• Turbotrain
• United Aircraft TurboTrain

Notes

References

• Amtrak (2011). Amtrak: an American story. Washington, D.C.: National Railroad Passenger Corporation. ISBN 0-87116-444-2. OCLC 731030633. 
• EuDaly, Kevin et al. (2009). The Complete Book of North American Railroading. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2848-4. OCLC 209631579. 
• NTSB (1976). Railroad/highway accident report: Collision of a Crown-Trygg Construction Company truck with an Amtrak passenger train Elwood, Illinois November 19, 1975 (PDF). OCLC 45567906. 
• NTSB (1981). Railroad accident report: head-end collision of Amtrak passenger train no. 74 and Conrail train OPSE-7, Dobbs Ferry, New York, November 7, 1980 (PDF). OCLC 7530396. 
• Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34705-X. OCLC 61499942. 
• Simon, Elbert; Warner, David C. (2011). Amtrak by the numbers: a comprehensive passenger car and motive power roster, 1971-2011. Kansas City, MO: White River Productions. ISBN 978-1-932804-12-9. OCLC 837623640. 
• Solomon, Brian (2004). Amtrak. Saint Paul, MN: MBI. ISBN 0-760-31765-8. OCLC 56490949. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amtrak Class RTG.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amtrak Class RTL.

• Turboliners on Amtrak's History site