Railroading as it Once Was: A CR Locomotive So Ugly That it Actually Looked Quite Good to Me

This is just a roster grab at Collinwood in Cleveland in June 1978.

If I’m going to see a rag-tag unit, I like ‘em like this – history showing through layers of paint.

This GE U25B started its career on the New Haven Railroad, became a Penn Central unit when the NYNH&H was folded into that losing cause, and eventually became property of Conrail.

So it’s all here with the New Haven orange stripe showing through, some PC black over the NH stripes, the CR on the nose, and yes, a Conrail blue battery box cover.

It’s so ratty that she looks good in my humble opinion.

Article and Photograph by Roger Durfee

Amtraking East in Search of Trolleys and Other Delightful Railroad Museum Pieces in Connecticut

A Rail Diesel Car wearing New Haven markings pauses at the station in Thomaston, Connecticut.

I recently traveled to New Haven, Connecticut, for the annual Cabin Fever outing hosted by the Shoreline Trolley Museum this year.

It’s a gathering of volunteers from many of the streetcar museums to swap lies and drink beer.

I traveled via Amtrak using the Capitol Limited, the Pennsylvanian and Northeast corridor Regionals.

Norfolk Southern offered us a two-hour delay in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, due to track work and deciding that five westbound freights were a higher priority.

That messed up my connection to a Regional train in Philadelphia. Then the Philly Fire Department provided an hour-plus delay.

My return via Washington worked out better. It was my first time on the Corridor and cruising between 115 and 125 mph was impressive.

The reduced consist of the westbound Capitol Limited felt like a milk run in comparison.

On Feb. 19, we had an RDC excursion on the Railway Museum of New England in Thomaston that included several photo stops and a tour of their shops.

Among the notable pieces in the collection are a Canadian Pacific sister to Jerry Jacobson’s No. 1293, a New Haven RS3, a Central Vermont wood caboose and a GE C40-B.

Other pieces include New Haven FL-9 and a U25B. Unfortunately, their yard is too crowded for good photos.

We spent Friday night and all day Saturday at the Shoreline Museum riding and operating cars from their fleet as well as exploring many barns full of quite interesting pieces from along the East coast and elsewhere.

All in all, I had a great time getting together with old friends and making new ones.

I recommend you plan a vacation to the Northeast. There’s a lot of railroading to experience up there.

Article and Photographs by Alex Bruchac

A mid-‘20s vintage car at the end of the line in front of the Frank Sprague visitor center.

A New England 1906 Railway Post Office car.

A turn of the century New York City Third Avenue Brill-built car.

This Connecticut Company emergency car (wrecker) was a ery noisy car to ride with all the tools hanging on the walls and crashing about.

A sad home town boy is RTA No. 27, a former Newark, New Jersey, and
Minneapolis PCC.

No. 745 was part of a seven car train trapped in the World Trade Center and only two to survive. The other is in a museum in Kingston, New York.

What Was that FL9 Doing in Ohio?

FLNX 484 and Orrville Railroad Heritage Society No. 471 are shown backing onto the Medina Loop excursion train on Saturday (October 10) at Spencer. (Photograph by Richard Jacobs)

If you were out on Saturday chasing the Orrville Railroad Heritage Society Medina Loop passenger excursion, then you saw a critter that we don’t see much of around these parts. For much of the trip, FLNX 484 trailed ORHS’s No. 471.

But at Spencer, the power ran around the train and the FL9 was the lead unit from Spencer to Orrville.

FL9s are better known for their work on New York City commuter and intercity passenger trains running in and out of Grand Central Terminal, although some also served Penn Station.

The ORHS now has the use of FLNX 484, a former New Haven Railroad FL9 that also served Penn Central and Amtrak. The unit is owned by Ohio Railway Supply (R.P. Flynn, Inc.), hence the initials FLN with the X denoting that it is not owned by a railroad company.

FL9s were notable for being able to operate in diesel and electric mode. Small pickup shoes were located on the trucks so that the locomotive could operate from third rail electricity in and out of Grant Central in compliance with a New York City anti-smoke ordinance.

The FL9 were ordered by the New Haven to pull Boston-New York passenger trains. Their dual-mode capability eliminated the need to switch out diesels for electric locomotives for use in New York City.

The locomotives served a similar function for Amtrak, although by the late 1990s the last Amtrak FL9s had been replaced by P42AC-DM locomotives in the Genesis series.

The Heritage of FLNX 484 is a long one. It began life in 1957 as New Haven No. 2029. Along the way it became Penn Central 5029, a number it carried into the Conrail era.

Amtrak acquired it and renumbered it 484. It was rebuilt in 1979 by Morrison-Knudsen in Boise, Idaho. After retirement from Amtrak, the unit apparently spent some time at the Morristown and Erie Railroad in New Jersey before being purchased by R.P. Flynn.

He contracted with the Florida East Coast Railway to have No. 484 rebuilt. It arrived at the FEC shop in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, in fall 2007 in rather poor condition.

During the rebuilding, it was given its current cream and green livery, which is reminiscent of “Grinstein” livery once used by the Burlington Northern executive train.

FLNX 484 was sent north on Norfolk Southern in late June, arriving in Ohio on June 30. After testing on the Wheeling & Lake Erie at Brewster, it was declared fit for service.

The Medina Loop train of this past Saturday is thought to be No. 484’s first revenue service trip for ORHS. The Orrville group plans to use FLNX 484 in excursion service in 2010.

Although FL9 sightings in Ohio are unusual, they are not unheard of. FL9s occasionally worked on the Lake Shore Limited at times and some Metro North and Connecticut Department of Transportation-owned FL9s were ferried through northern Ohio by Conrail en route or returning from the M-K shops in Idaho.