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

Wanna make a bet

I don't think they were deregulated to work motors right away either. I remember them running on the Wassaic branch for quite awhile after, and the other F-Units worked the CT branches before the Brookvilles came fully online. The Amtrak P40's that eventually ended up going to SLE were the interim replacements for the F-Units before the Brookvilles showed up.

As far-fetched as Amtrak's plan seems for the Summer, there's plenty of well-regarded railroaders who have posted in this thread that I'm inclined to believe this is actually going to be a thing. The Amtrak employees who work the Hudson Division have never come off as distrustful or misleading to me in my travels out of Rhinecliff, I have no reason to disbelieve them now. I think this is a situation of trying to see the forest through the trees. It's easy for us to immediately shoot down the idea, because yes, there are several legitimate reasons why this plan couldn't/shouldn't work. However, people experienced at Amtrak, who have skills in doing what they do, and do it for a career, must see something that the rest of us posting on a railfan forum do not. Personally I'm happy that Amtrak's looking into various options instead of just going "¯\_(ツ)_/¯ sorry, Poughkeepsie's only ninety minutes from Albany, just take Metro-North from there".

Well this whole FL9 thing died fast....

Uncle Cheapo wrote:Well this whole FL9 thing died fast....

Yep, what ever happened to that so called ferry move to Albany-Ren??

Believe another Nor'easter and more snow may have delayed the move.

or was it April fools that delayed them ...

ConstanceR46 wrote:Pretty sure they were Work Motors by the end, deshoed. A farewell tour that early makes sense as they'll probably never see GCT again.

At the end they needed 2 or 3 of them for a mini-bomb...they were not work engines. De-shoed, yes...but work service? No.

GirlOnTheTrain wrote:

ConstanceR46 wrote:Pretty sure they were Work Motors by the end, deshoed. A farewell tour that early makes sense as they'll probably never see GCT again.

At the end they needed 2 or 3 of them for a mini-bomb...they were not work engines. De-shoed, yes...but work service? No.

Yes, I believe their last assignment was on the Danbury shuttle. Can't see a cab unit being much use in work service.

no good for work service , no direct release setting on brakes and CAB/speed control is set for passenger speeds .

I stand corrected then; however AFAIK they're not entirely estranged from freight; NH used to run a TOFC service from The Bronx to NH with FL9s or an EP-5

correct but these units were rebuild and no longer had freight braking .

I recall a couple of the Amtrak FL-9s were used for work train service towards the end, around the time of the NH-Boston electrification project.

AMTK822401 wrote:Story I last heard with the Amtrak FL9 thing, may or may not be true..... 2 are going to Rensselaer, the remaining 4 will be scrapped. Heard it from a Genesee and Wyoming employee who will supposedly have a part in hauling them

Wow, sad if true, but i guess that was inevitable.!

From what I have heard Connecticut will not come to a deal with New York State/Amtrak for the use of six long retired FL-9's that are collecting rust in New Haven. What a waste, no wonder the State of Connecticut is literally broke. OH WELL, It is no skin of my rear end or anybody else's on here for that matter. Connecticut is a loser on this one.
Noel Weaver

How does the state of Connecticut's potential revenue from renting a few old rust buckets compare to the costs of potential disruption from those rust buckets breaking down in the middle of one of the busiest commuter railroads in North America and impeding travel from Connecticut by rail to and from the nation's largest metropolis?