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| (1500128) | |
50 Years Ago |
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Posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 06:21:48 2019 Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first revenue run of the Penn Central Metroliner service between Washington and New York. The single round trip was carded at 2 hours 59 minutes and made 5 intermediate stops. By the time I got to ride them in the 80s they were demoted to the Harrisburg/Philadelphia route and renamed Capitaliners. Any memories anybody wanna share?
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| (1500135) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Bill Newkirk on Wed Jan 16 08:39:06 2019, in response to 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 06:21:48 2019. Location, date and photographer unknown  #829 in the bowels of Penn Station (September 1978)  #817 at Harrison, NJ (November 1978)  #851 blasting through Trenton, NJ. Notice the front where the Pennsy "keystone" logo once was. (January 1979)  #860 at Elizabeth, NJ (April 1980)  Also at Elizabeth, NJ. IMO, the best paint scheme ever. (April 1980)  The "Metroliner" commemorative coin   |
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| (1500139) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by chuchubob on Wed Jan 16 09:08:46 2019, in response to 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 06:21:48 2019. southbound approaching South Street, Philly; April 24, 1976
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iPhone 6 (4.7 Inch) Premium PU Leather Wallet Case - Red w/ Floral Interior - by Notch-It |
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| (1500141) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by TransitChuckG on Wed Jan 16 09:14:39 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Bill Newkirk on Wed Jan 16 08:39:06 2019. I recall riding a Metroliner in the early '80s. I had a steak dinner on the train, coming back from WAS to PHL, the dinner was so -so...... |
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| (1500157) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by George Foelschow on Wed Jan 16 10:58:36 2019, in response to 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 06:21:48 2019. I rode the Metroliner only once on a vacation trip between Philadelphia and New York and remember being very impressed. Seeing the Penn Central logo again reminds me that a friend considered it very suggestive - of two beings in an intimate embrace. |
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| (1500162) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Jackson Park B Train on Wed Jan 16 11:18:55 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Bill Newkirk on Wed Jan 16 08:39:06 2019. cool. It was a fun ride from Penn to DC. A Budd VP had keys to the cab, so part of the time I was in the rear cab watching the digital speedometer. IIRC we hit 124. Impressive for back then. Don't know where my 'coin' is. |
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| (1500167) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by chuchubob on Wed Jan 16 12:14:48 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by George Foelschow on Wed Jan 16 10:58:36 2019. Seeing the Penn Central logo again reminds me that a friend considered it very suggestive - of two beings in an intimate embrace.That's why it was known as "mating worms". |
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| (1500170) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 12:24:13 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by chuchubob on Wed Jan 16 12:14:48 2019. Or worms in love.BTW there is a Metroliner cafe car preserved at the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg. Are there any other as built cars out there? |
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| (1500171) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jan 16 12:28:41 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Bill Newkirk on Wed Jan 16 08:39:06 2019. JFTR, the location you cited as "Elizabeth" is the former location of the PRR South Elizabeth station, at South Street; the Elmora tower indicates that as well as where the platforms are. |
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| (1500173) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jan 16 12:35:57 2019, in response to 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 06:21:48 2019. About 7˝ years ago I posted a link to (and some excerpts from) a PDF of the March 1969 Penn Central Post, advertising the inaugural run of the Metroliner MUs.Originally, they were indeed planned to run at 160 mph, which would have made them the fastest trains in the world of their era—if they had achieved that (they were held down to 110 mph). Also mentioned is an endpoint-to-endpoint one-way fare of $12.75 in 1969 dollars, which is $88.73 in today's dollars. Try finding a one-way Acela ticket for that price. |
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| (1500174) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 13:06:57 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jan 16 12:35:57 2019. They did touch 160 twice on the test track between Trenton & New Brunswick. IIRC the ride quality at that speed was reportedly nothing short of scary! |
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| (1500176) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by MainR3664 on Wed Jan 16 13:56:18 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Bill Newkirk on Wed Jan 16 08:39:06 2019. That's pretty awesome- long-distance MU cars in the USA!! And yes, that 1980 paint scheme, with "Amtrak" across the front was great. I'm sorry I never got to ride them. |
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| (1500177) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Bill from Maspeth on Wed Jan 16 14:09:34 2019, in response to 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 06:21:48 2019. I rode them once in the early years between NYP and 30th St. |
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| (1500179) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jan 16 14:39:33 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by MainR3664 on Wed Jan 16 13:56:18 2019. I thought it garish myself. |
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| (1500181) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jan 16 14:48:35 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 13:06:57 2019. Pity no work was done to improve them.I sometimes imagine the Metroliner MUs with this nose as the cab end. (This was on a Budd SPV2000, however; photo taken in Philly by Kermit Geary Jr. on February 1, 1978.)  |
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| (1500182) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by chud1 on Wed Jan 16 14:50:21 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Bill Newkirk on Wed Jan 16 08:39:06 2019. 5 drooling stars out of 5 drooling stars for these pictures.chud1. :)..... |
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| (1500190) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Bill Newkirk on Wed Jan 16 15:56:20 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jan 16 12:28:41 2019. JFTR, the location you cited as "Elizabeth" is the former location of the PRR South Elizabeth station, at South Street; the Elmora tower indicates that as well as where the platforms are.Actually, I cited the location as Elizabeth, NJ where the South Elizabeth station was. So both are correct. Bill Newkirk |
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| (1500213) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by aaron on Wed Jan 16 19:52:44 2019, in response to 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 06:21:48 2019. In 1983, I rode one between NYP and PHL when it was a Capitoliner. Then, the train went on Harrisburg, so it platformed at the Upper Level at 30th Street and went back out the way it came in. The Engineer let me stay up front with him so I got to drool the whole trip. We hit about 125 mph between Princeton Jct. and Trenton. It is one of my top 5 railfan highlights of my life!!! |
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| (1500238) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Jackson Park B Train on Thu Jan 17 02:31:27 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by aaron on Wed Jan 16 19:52:44 2019. a sad example of bad engineering, poor production. When service started there were parlors and coach snack lounges only--GE guts; the Westinghouse straight coaches sucked too many KW anmd blew substations. The original design was for Pioneer trucks, PRR insisted on the drop equalizer traditional stuff.As to speed, the track couldn't sustain 125 until much work was done. I can't explain why the dynamics had to be put up top. Bottomline EMUs which should have been superior were replaced w/ Swedish engines and "Metroshells" as Amfleets were called when first announced. Too bad. As to pricing, if the current Acela and regionals were priced at the inflation adjusted fares, Amtrak would demolish the competition IMHO. |
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| (1500240) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by BILLBKLYN on Thu Jan 17 05:25:31 2019, in response to 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 06:21:48 2019. I love these pictures! I regret not having a chance to ride these cars. |
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| (1500246) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by kp5308 on Thu Jan 17 06:31:08 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Jackson Park B Train on Thu Jan 17 02:31:27 2019. I can't explain why the dynamics had to be put up top.Too much dirt at track level plus better ventilation for the resistor grids on the roof. |
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| (1500247) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Jersey Mike on Thu Jan 17 07:00:35 2019, in response to 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 06:21:48 2019. Shame the cars were pulled from service so quickly. They were a bit too ambitious with the control systems. |
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| (1500250) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by Bill Newkirk on Thu Jan 17 07:56:41 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Wed Jan 16 13:06:57 2019. Scary !What ever became of this beast ? Bill Newkirk |
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| (1500265) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by kp5308 on Thu Jan 17 13:09:42 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Bill Newkirk on Thu Jan 17 07:56:41 2019. I don't quite understand that question Bill. What I know is they had to reach 160 to comply with the government stipulation of speed to qualify for Federal funds to be released for the project. |
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| (1500274) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by MainR3664 on Thu Jan 17 14:15:27 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jan 16 14:39:33 2019. It is that as well. That's part of what makes it so great- it's just so bad that it's unforgettably great!!! |
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| (1500275) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by MainR3664 on Thu Jan 17 14:16:46 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jan 16 14:48:35 2019. I like that El-like structure in the background. I see it every time I pass through Philly on my way to DC. Is it still used? I seem to remember another post o here to the effect that it's not... |
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| (1500293) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by kp5308 on Thu Jan 17 17:17:50 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by MainR3664 on Thu Jan 17 14:16:46 2019. That is known as the West Philadelphia Elevated and is used mostly by CSX as a bypass around 30th St. Station to reach Greenwich Yard in South Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad built it back in 1904. In 2014 the Amtrak Autumn Express was one of the few passenger trains to cross the viaduct in recent times. Photo by Dave Homer:
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| (1500294) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by nasadowsk on Thu Jan 17 17:41:35 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by kp5308 on Thu Jan 17 06:31:08 2019. A year or so ago, I met up outside Philly with a guy who's doing a technical history of the Metroliner, so he could go through my GE maintenance manual on the propulsion system (I don't have the companion Westinghouse one - nobody seems to).Among the interesting things he had found out - one popular failure mode of the Metroliners involved the brake grids cooking the electronics after stopping. The heat would just kill the cards. I've been told the trouble with the Westinghouse cars had to deal with the impedance of the transformer... |
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| (1500347) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by 3-9 on Fri Jan 18 06:17:57 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by MainR3664 on Thu Jan 17 14:15:27 2019. Eh, why be shy about your high-speed service? :-) |
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| (1500349) | |
Re: 50 Years Ago |
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Posted by MainR3664 on Fri Jan 18 07:22:29 2019, in response to Re: 50 Years Ago, posted by 3-9 on Fri Jan 18 06:17:57 2019. :) |
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