Detroit Tunnel Locomotives

In my collection of railroad photographs I have two pictures of NYC R-1s’ which served the Detroit River Tunnel. The first photo shows an early shot of No. 7500 and the second of No. 167 (from 1940’s?) with the addition of four large tanks on the roof. I am assuming these units contained compressed air for a braking system. Why were these tanks added later? Had trains loads become larger requiring greater breaking capacity or did these tanks serve another purpose?

Yes, trains became larger and heavier. Increased air capacity enabled the engine to recharge the brake line quicker following an application, making a safer operating environment. The engine's air pump can only supply so much air at a time. And a train that's run out of air is a train that can't stop in time. Adding additional air tanks solves the problem.

Thanks Statkowski for that confirmation.
For those mechanically inclined, here is a well drafted cross section of an air compressor found in the early NYC electric locomotives, most likely S-1 units. It’s interesting that the large “booster tanks” shown on the Detroit locos were not used on switching units on the East Coast. I assume the NY area yards handled smaller trains and the tracks had less severe grades or slopes.

The S-1s handled passenger trains while the R-1s handled freight trains. Big difference in tonnage and air requirements. And yes, the grades involved in the New York City electrified zone were far less than dragging a string of freight cars up and out of the Detroit River tubes.

I photographed both the R1 and R2 class in Detroit in the mid-1950s.

Dr. Leonard, those are great photos.
I found an early drawing of the R-1 showing the general configurations ( minus the scuba tanks!).

Thank you all for the great pictures!
CHNHRR, do you know the original source for the drawings? It looks as if they don't quite match the as-built appearance of the locomotive: the side windows are shown in the drawing as having arched tops, but all the photos (early and late) show straight tops. ... Many steam locomotive cabs in the era when the R-1 was designed had arch-top cab windows, but evidently the builder (I'm guessing that Alco built the carbodies for these GE locomotives?) went for the simpler and more modern straight top: perhaps after issuing drawings to the trade press.

There is a 1946 NYC Locomotive Book posted in pdf format on the Fallen Flags website. In the 2nd pdf file of the three, there are diagrams for the R-1 and R-1b. Both show square windows and the R-1b diagram has the roof tanks.

http://gelwood.railfan.net/nyc/nyc-46lb-d.pdf

Allen

The drawing came from the publication “Railway master Mechanic, Volume 32 (1908)”,
Page 132. Here is a link to Google Books. The series is available on-line.

http://books.google.com/books?q=edition ... YOAQAAIAAJ

The drawing does show first version of the R-1 with the bell and whistle. I can’t say how accurate it is, but I do see some differences. It may have been a preliminary design drawing.

There are books on the Google site that have some copies of the original design or fabrication drawings of other electric locomotives including those from the NYC and New Haven. There are also some great interior cab shots.

Chuck Crawford
AKA chnhrr

When was electrification discontinued in the Detroit River tunnel? One source says 1956; another says the tunnel was ventilated in 1953 so diesels could run through, and electrification was discontinued then. I took a photo (posted above) of the R2 motors in Detroit and I thought the date was 1954 (would have to be at least May or June since trees are leafed out), but unfortunately that photo wasn't logged in my record so I can't confirm that. We lived in Detroit from September 1953 till around August 1954.