NEW BOOK: Flight of the M-497 (jet-powered RDC)

We have no idea how this didn't pop up when researching France's Aérotrain but during the 1960's, New York Central was up to its own gee-whiz tricks in the form of the M-497 experimental. Searching for ways to attract passengers in the post-freeway era of dwindling train ridership, Central was investing in several projects, including high speed rail. One of the questions that hung over the prospect was the whether or not the existing rails could handle high speeds. To answer that question, they built a high speed train - on the cheap.

Hi Otto

As soon as I got the word that there was a LuLu edition out on the "Flight Of The M-497," by Hank Morris and Don Wetzel I put the order in. It came in Friday's delivery. I must tell you that this book is EXCELLENT. The photos and the text are fantastic, and I enjoyed reading it for about the third time.

As you probably know, two of the most outstanding photos of the M-497 were in my book, FOCUS-The Railroad In Transition. Through the cooperation of the NYCRR Public Relations Department, they were contributed for the book, and they are on pages 239-240 along with text that they supplied. Since FOCUS was published in 1968 or thereabouts, these were bell-ringers on where we thought the passenger train might be headed. As you also have read in the book, the mock-ups and early models of Metroliner on the Pennsy and later on, the PCRR became the fastest trains we had, even though NECIP had a ways to go before completion. Even at that, the M-497 still held the record for speed, even though it would not see revenue service. NECIP and Acela still would not exceed the M-497's 183.85 miles per hour in North America.

Your work on putting together "Flight of the M-497" is a knockout. The book is absolutely beautiful, and if literary critics still operate, this book should definitely rate five stars. There are a few nice surprises in the book. I did not know that AEP was the co-pilot on the record setting run of the M-497, but there it is, plain as plain can be. It even mentioned he ordered ham sandwiches, a clear violation of Rule G (Jewish dietary laws for religious fanatics).

The typesetter for the book scored mightily. If one looks at the Table of Contents and all the page numbers, a trained NYCRR follower such as myself will recognize that the numbers have been set in NYC style typeface. This is EXACTLY the numbering used on the cabs of all locomotives and some later day rolling stock. This is a real nice touch to a very commendable book.

Cheers,

Bob Carper