Any known footage of the RTL-IIIs?

There aren’t even that many *pictures* of the rebuilt Turbos as this was long before the age of smartphones with built in cameras and only people “in the know” who had a proper camera would have known where the trainsets would be at a given time. The earliest photos I’ve seen on the interwebs were taken in 2000 in South Boston and considering they were gone by 2004 they clearly spent much more time at Super Steel and in testing than “out on the road”.


I did happen to see a rebuilt set pass by while riding the LSL back in September 2003 which was pretty neat. And I can recall just a few months later the whole program being cancelled and the lawsuits between Amtrak and NYS filed.


Considering their age prior to rebuild I’d ask why on earth Amtrak and NYSDOT opted to refurbish them vs. buying new equipment (such as dual mode “JetTrain” locomotives?), but knowing the politics of NYS just enough I think I know the answer..

Moved to New York State Railfan.

Matt Johnson wrote: ↑Sun Jul 28, 2024 4:07 pm

Galey wrote: ↑Sun Jul 28, 2024 10:50 am
Well that's unfortunate that no video evidence exists of them running, but I'm glad I was at least able to meet a driver/conductor of one of them! Thank you for your help! Also might I ask if this was your buddy?

Haha, no that's my brother, photo taken by me! There was a video clip online once upon a time, but it was on a site other than youtube (vimeo perhaps, not sure) and I think it is not longer online. It was just a short clip of the RTL-III slowing down and coming to a stop, but the power car did sound cool! In the absence of actual video footage, here is how I picture the typical startup sequence.

Sorry that is not

jonnhrr wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2024 12:10 pm I got to ride these turbos once, from Croton-Harmon to NYP (I was connecting to a Regional to PHL). As I recall they had some problem deploying the 3rd rail shoes before the entrance to the tunnel to NYP which delayed us 20 minutes or so. Otherwise it was a comfortable ride.

I also rode the UAC turbos that ran from Boston to NYP in the late 1960s and into the Amtrak era a couple of times, always in the "dome" section behind the cab where you could see out over the track. I wonder if there is any footage of them also.

Not surprising they were the only train that traveled with a tech to trouble shoot problems. Third rail being most common

Update I did find a photo of it running! Photo by: Joseph Testagrose [email protected]

Even photos of it running are hard to come by, so this is definitely a treat!