MP-54 retirement

When did they start retiring the MP-54s?

The M1s arrived in 1968 and were placed on display at several terminals (i.e. Hempstead, Port Washington) and the plan was to eventually replace the aged MU equipment with the new cars.

I'd have to say that the MP54s, etc. were slowy replaced starting in 1968-69 when the M1s started to see commuter use.

The old equipment was all gone by the mid 1970s: either scrapped (MP54) or converted (MP72) to "Push-Pull" diesel-hauled service.

Dave Keller

Dave Keller wrote:The M1s arrived in 1968 and were placed on display at several terminals (i.e. Hempstead, Port Washington) and the plan was to eventually replace the aged MU equipment with the new cars.

I'd have to say that the MP54s, etc. were slowy replaced starting in 1968-69 when the M1s started to see commuter use.

The old equipment was all gone by the mid 1970s: either scrapped (MP54) or converted (MP72) to "Push-Pull" diesel-hauled service.

Dave Keller

Where there any 1908 MP-54s still surviving by the late 1960's?

There were no MP40's, if that's what you mean. Dave's memory for the MP54 retirements is spot on. I took pictures of strings of them lined up for scrapping, as an art class project for Nassau Community College. I retirement, many had their windows smashed out and severe rusting apparent. Consider this however; they ran more than half a century in all kinds of weather, under grinding loads of passengers. It's pretty remarkable that the shops kept the P54's and MP54's running in such good order for so long. People complained endlessly about equipment, and yes, it was antiquated for it's time, but considering the mission that had been handed over to the LIRR and the duration of service, these cars did pretty well.

My question is, although they were destroyed "in preservation", why did the "preserved MP54's fair so badly? Also, what criteria was used to select the survivors? And why all monitor roof cars, with only one doomed arch roof car. The arch roofed MP54's were so identifiable with our railroad.

Richard Glueck wrote:There were no MP40's, if that's what you mean. Dave's memory for the MP54 retirements is spot on. I took pictures of strings of them lined up for scrapping, as an art class project for Nassau Community College. I retirement, many had their windows smashed out and severe rusting apparent. Consider this however; they ran more than half a century in all kinds of weather, under grinding loads of passengers. It's pretty remarkable that the shops kept the P54's and MP54's running in such good order for so long. People complained endlessly about equipment, and yes, it was antiquated for it's time, but considering the mission that had been handed over to the LIRR and the duration of service, these cars did pretty well.

My question is, although they were destroyed "in preservation", why did the "preserved MP54's fair so badly? Also, what criteria was used to select the survivors? And why all monitor roof cars, with only one doomed arch roof car. The arch roofed MP54's were so identifiable with our railroad.

Wheren't there any MP-54s built in 1908? I wasn't talking about the MP-41s, I was talking about the first MP-54s that were built. If there were any 1908-1914 MP-54s still surviving until the late 1960's, then that would be amazing!

Interestingly, the MP-54's ended their days at NYCTA's Coney Island Yards. I've seen photos of them cut in halves and piled high next to BMT 'A-B' Standards that were awaiting a similar fate sometime between 1968 and 1970.

What I REALLY would like to see are the delivery photos of the MP-54's coming down McDonald Avenue (under the Culver El) via the South Brooklyn Railway. Now that would be something completely different*!



(Borrowing dialogue from 'Monty Python')

BMT:

Nudge, nudge

Wink, wink,

Say no more, say no more


Frank: I'll check my roster. I think there were MP54's built in 1908.

Dave Keller

Alot of great photos here of MP-54s operating and in Coney Island scrap yard :
http://206.103.49.193/lirr/lirr.htm

Does anyone have a photo of the MP-54 that wore the "Ladies Day" advertisment? I haven't seen that one anywhere on the web.
Thanks!

Thanks for the link to the shots, Trainspot!

Trainspot:

It was car #1639.

Get a copy of my new book!

It has a roster shot of the car taken at Jamaica in 1964 wearing the almost full-car-length sign!

(plus 208 other terrific shots as a bonus!)

Dave Keller

Trainspot:

Oops . . . . There goes the mind again!

The car with the "Ladies Day'" sign is actually 4153. (Don't know where I got that other number from. Sorry about that!)

The shot that appears in my sequel book was photographed in 1962 at Jamaica. (This is what I get when I work from memory and do not have my facts before me!)

There may have been other cars with the sign, but I have not idea about that.

Frank:

The MP54s that were built in 1908 were as follows:
1005:2
1017:2
1400:2
1401-1450

The following were built in 1909:
1451:2
1452-1499

The rest were 1910 and later.

Dave Keller

Nice photos on that link given above. Depressing though to see the pile of cut up cars. But a good modeling project maybe...

Oh man; talk about travelling back in time! Do those photos from the above link bring back memories! My first two summers commuting were 1969-70. Those brand new shiny M-1's were the best. For those of you who've only experienced the worn-out M-1's in more recent years, you can see why they were a great experience when they were new. The MP-54's bring back lots of nostalgia too, but in 1970 we couldn't wait for them to be scrapped, much like many people feel about the M-1's now.

Given the way everything else looked, the M-1s must have looked futuristic in the late 60's. Ditto for the metroliners. I've seen pics of M-1s next to '54s - it must have been a shock to a LOT of people at first.

IMHO, it's *still* a good looking design today, even though it's getting dated looking by now. But they don't look darn near 40 years old in terms of styling...