FL9 F-10 Metro-North / CtDOT / Amtrak Discussion

[trainspot]

Thanks Dutch, I meant when?

[DutchRailnut]

whenever CSX accepts it and whenever they feel like picking it up.

[Jeff Smith]

That''s the unit painted in NYC, right? The one that was never NYC heritage?

[DutchRailnut]

that be it...

[trainspot]

Off the Loconotes group:
Ex-MNCR FL9 2012 is on the move out of Croton, NY on CSX Q704-31 and into Selkirk.

Moving under LTEX reporting marks and rumored to be eventually heading to Missouri
according to a report sent to me off another list.

[Ridgefielder]

So the last FL9 has left Metro-North property, 62 years after the first ones arrived.

However, at least 2 of them are still in operation elsewhere in ex-NH territory: at the RMNE's operation on the Naugatuck, and on the Cape Cod Central.

Are there any other 1st generation cab units about which one could say the same? That they're still in service on tracks they roamed when delivered new to the original owner?

[shadyjay]

That's not bad at all, considering they were an experimental type of locomotive.

I believe the Cape picked up 2, and another is up at the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum in Lenox, MA. If they get trackage rights again over the Berkshire Line, that would make 4 total still running in their original ex-NH territory (including the one on the RMNE).

[A first generation, but not a cab unit, Rutland RS-1 #405, built around 1950, is still on its as-built-for home rails today on the Vermont Rail System.]

[ConstanceR46]

Alco Class 44 units still run in Australia as leasers years after the NSWGR imported them.

[DutchRailnut]

That's not bad at all, considering they were an experimental type of locomotive.

I believe the Cape picked up 2, and another is up at the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum in Lenox, MA. If they get trackage rights again over the Berkshire Line, that would make 4 total still running in their original ex-NH territory (including the one on the RMNE).

[A first generation, but not a cab unit, Rutland RS-1 #405, built around 1950, is still on its as-built-for home rails today on the Vermont Rail System.]

The FL9 or FL9m are not experimental in any way , the FL-9ac was as it was first production/prototype of AC propulsion locomotive in north America.
now can we drop all not Metro North discussions ?

[Jeff Smith]

The topic is about FL9's... they were NH, then PC, then Amtrak and CR, and finally MNRR. It's fine. I've moved the topic around the various forums as it makes sense. Their last hurrah has been museums, but almost back to Amtrak.

Thanks for the moderation, though. (that's sarcasm for a guy complaining in his own group about the forum).

[shadyjay]

Just for the record, by an "experimetal type of locomotive", I was referring to the fact that they were the first locomotive produced to run off both diesel power and electric third rail. The prototypes were 2000-2001 and then the remaining 58 production units, all built for the NYNH&H. Not to mention the fact that a good fraction of the units survived well into the 1990s, in daily service.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but prior to the FL-9s, were there any locomotives built that were diesel/electric hybrids? I don't recall any. And development of the FL-9 set the stage for GE's later P32AC-DM and the the DM30s on the LIRR. Since none of those were around until the early/mid 1990s, the FL-9s had to hold on, which was accelerated by the development of the "push pull" era and through service from NYC to non-electrified points (POU, ALB, Danbury).

[DutchRailnut]

several but in UK.

[ConstanceR46]

Not really any in the UK (The Class 73 came on the scene in '62), but GE did make tri-mode Boxcabs for the NYC (Battery, Diesel, 750DC). They were all scrapped.

[Tadman]

The 73-class is still running, too. There is probably 10-20 owned by GB Railfreight and most are used to haul the Caledonian Sleeper north of Edinburgh. They are straight diesel now.

[Graeme Salt]

The 73-class is still running, too. There is probably 10-20 owned by GB Railfreight and most are used to haul the Caledonian Sleeper north of Edinburgh. They are straight diesel now.

Actually all operable 73s (29 in total I think) are still 650/750V 3rd rail capable, it's just that the heavily re-engineered 73/9 sub-class used on CS services to Aberdeen, Fort William and Inverness don't get within 400 miles of the 3rd rail network... these particular 11 units are fitted with an MTU V8 1600 HP engine, but most of the others retain the original English Electric 600 HP unit. For any railfans visiting the UK, I recommend seeking these locomotives out - they are quite quirky (if somewhat box-like.)

If I can legitimise my contribution by dragging the thread back to the subject of FL-9s - having missed these fantastic looking machines in service (I passed 2012 at Croton Harmon the other week and what a sad sight it was) - I really hope this Boston Surface Railroad thing gets of the ground; I realise it's probably a bit of a fantasy but the day they announce their inaugural service I will be booking my flight...