LONG ISLAND RAILROAD M1s | ||||
M1 eastbound 10 car Train #426 crossing Manhasset trestle 7/02/1974 (Votava-Boland) |
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50 years ago, the first M-1s debuted in service on the LIRR on December 30, 1968. Designed as an ultra modern high speed commuter car, the M-1 was rushed into design shortly after the MTA took over the Long Island Rail Road in 1965 under Chairman William Ronan and designed by Sundberg-Ferar (also doing the modified R40/R42s at NYCT). The first 16 M-1s rolled out of the Red Lion Road, Philadelphia, PA assembly plant in October 1968. A large order of 620 units from Budd was approved, then followed with 150 option cars in 1973, the latter which allowed all MP72 and MP75 MUs to be converted into diesel coaches. MTA also ordered M-1As for the Hudson and Harlem lines. The M-1 design was adapted into the Cosmopolitan M-2s (AC/DC voltage for New Haven Line) and the late 1960s design continued in production all the way through 1994, with the bodyshell/interior used on the M-3, M-4 and M-6. Info: Kevin Wong |
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LIRR-MTA M1 Budd Co. ad 1969 |
M1 "The Metropolitan" Inaugural Run pass 10/28/1968.The first 16 M1s rolled out of the Red Lion Road assembly plant in October 1968.Archive: Bill Mangahas
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LIRR #9002 Budd M1 public relations 8"x10" photo release Archive: Gary Doster |
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The 1968 M1 black/white brochure (below) was cut to emphasize the car side. The original M1s had the painted blue stripe and the original car order total was 620 units. The 150 car add-on order was exercised in 1972 increasing the fleet total to 770 cars. With the completion of high level platform construction on the West Hempstead Branch all of the LIRR's electrified territory were then equipped with high level platforms for the M1s. Today only two pairs are preserved: 9547-9548 at RMLI in Riverhead and 9745-9746 is being held for the MTA Transit Museum. Info: Gary Farkash |
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LIRR/MTA M1 Flyer Archive: Brad Phillips |
LIRR/MTA M1 Flyer reverse Archive: Brad Phillips |
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M1 Brochure Front Archive: Brad Phillips
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M1 Brochure page 2 Archive: Brad Phillips |
M1 Brochure Back Archive: Brad Phillips |
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LIRR
M1 #9003 on DISPLAY at HEMPSTEAD 1968 Photos: Jules P. Krzenski Archive: Dave Keller |
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M1 #9003 engineers compartment |
M1 #9003 interior seating |
M1 #9003 Hempstead 1968 sign |
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June
24, 1968, Car 9002 made first appearance in Budd's production line -
at the station where assembly of the underframe began. (9002
was produced ahead of 9001, perhaps because they wanted to start with an
"A" car). I don't think the cars were displayed more than a day or two at any one location; they were probably moved from one spot to another frequently.
(Hempstead, Port Washington, Long Beach, Penn Station, and Babylon) Info:
Matt Kobel [October 17, 1968 1st M-1 Pair displayed at Sunnyside; October
28, 1968 1st M-1 public displays] 1968 PRR Chronology Report. Cars 9017 and 9022 were shipped from Budd’s Red Lion plant, where all the M-1’s were built, to Budd’s test lab at the Hunting Park plant, where one was used for the specified compression (“squeeze”) test and one for the climate room test (see below). When the tests were over, they were shipped to the LIRR as a miss-mated pair. Because of the routing to and from Hunting Park, this pair arrived at the LIRR with 9017 at the east end, not conforming to the other M-1’s (even number east, as in track and train numbers). Shortly after arrival, this pair was turned on the wye of the Belmont Park branch. While these cars were at the lab, cars 9018/9019 and 9020/9021 were shipped from Red Lion to LIRR also as miss-mated pairs. Some time later, the LIRR gathered all three of these pairs together and correctly mated them. Compression (“Squeeze”) and Climate Room tests: The specifications required
that one car in the order be tested to resist a buff (longitudinal
compression) load of 800,000 lbs without permanent deformation. This
had become a general crash worthiness standard for passenger cars,
and at the time of the M-1 project it was an I.C.C requirement for MU
cars. This test requires a very large rig, a
strength testing machine placed in a horizontal position. For
the test, the car (without interior lining) is brought into the rig, and
ballasted to the weight of a completed car. A large number of
strain gauges are applied to record strain at locations all over the
structure. The load is applied to the car at the draft
stops by a hydraulic cylinder. Under the full
800,000 lb load, the car is actually squeezed a couple of inches shorter,
but when unloaded, it returns to its original shape and size, as
required.
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LIRR M1 1st Revenue Service | ||||
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The first revenue service M1 departed Babylon at 5:52 AM. As a Babylon local, it arrived at Penn Station at 7:10AM. Info: Matthew Kobel Second
row right: Fourth
row right: |
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The December 30th interior picture was absolutely on a regular revenue service train, making the usual stops from Babylon to Penn Station. I don't remember exactly which train, but it was one of the first trains of the morning out of Babylon, somewhere around 6:00AM. Most of the officials stayed the night before somewhere near Babylon.
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LIRR M1 1st Revenue Timetable | ||||
1966 ETT Train #93 Archive: William Gilligan |
LIRR Employee Timetables (ETT), unless there is an "S" next to the time, the train did not stop there. These are reference times listed when the train would be expected to pass control towers/interlockings so the crew can maintain schedule. This means that the 5:52 from Babylon did not stop at Valley Stream (Valley Tower), WIN (Winfield Tower), or Harold (Harold Tower). Info: William Gilligan BABYLON: Departs at 5:52 AM
and is scheduled to arrive at Penn at precisely 7:05 AM
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LIRR M1 1st Run December 30, 1968 - Babylon to PENN via Montauk Branch | ||||
LIRR M1 "Welcome Aboard the Metropolitan" letter, William Rowan, Chairman, MTA 12/30/68 Archive: Gary Doster |
Interesting facts
about the M1 maiden voyage of December 30th, 1968:
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3.) My grandfather was part of that history as he boarded that train at
Bellmore at 6:12 AM.
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LIRR M1 1st Run December 30, 1968 - via Port Jefferson Branch | ||||
The picture of the first M1
at the crossing in Syosset, is the first revenue run returning westbound
from Huntington. I was at work and was able to catch this shot, having
seen them go up the Port Jeff earlier in the day, but unable to catch that
train. It was the culmination of a lot of work, a huge investment in
high level platforms and electric lines along the Port Jeff. It was a
bitter-sweet triumph in my mind however, as the new fixtures and platforms
desecrated the old step-down, homey, railroad architecture we had grown up
with, and reminiscent of a slower paced life, steel coaches, and potato
fields extending eastward.
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Harry Glueck on the far right. |
G5 pilot on M1 #9055 |
George Winter inspecting the front truck. |
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The M1
#9055 derailment, late Spring 1969, was one I attended with my father. Nobody was supposed to
take pictures of anything "bad" happening to the LIRR, but my
father asked his boss if I could take pictures, provided they were for my
own collection, and wouldn't wind up in Newsday. The M1's had just
arrived and weren't fitting in too well, due to growing pains and
dissimilar equipment. Then, in a new batch, two burned to the floors
in a fire and the press went crazy over it. Anyway, George Winter
(in the shorts), my Father's peer agreed to allow the pictures based on my
word of honor. I kept them squirreled away for almost thirty years!
The M1's are still new equipment in my mind, even though they are now as
rare as MP70's! The M1's in this case, split a switch in Babylon
Yard. It was going to require a great deal of shuffling to get the
commuters out the following morning, but as was the case more often than
not, the LIRR came through. These brand new MU cars went into the
backshop and required some rebuilding. Photos/Info: Richard Glueck |
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LIRR M1 Public Brochure | ||||
M1 brochure - Archive: Gary Doster
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M1 brochure front Archive: Gary Doster |
M1 brochure back Archive: Gary Doster |
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M1s in Action | ||||
M1 #9040 leads a 10 car train laid up at Jamaica 4/13/69 (Votava-Boland) |
M1 eastbound Railfan Extra at Mineola Station 4/20/69 Archive: Dave Keller |
M1 Railfan Extra Long Beach 04/20/69 (Grotjahn-Keller) |
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M1 #9121-#9120 coupled A-B set Corona Yard Flushing Meadows 8/18/1969 (Votava-Keller) |
M1 cars at Corona Yard 8/18/1969 (Votava-Boland) |
M1 #9127 Corona Yard 8/21/1969 (Votava-Boland) |
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M1 #9116 door Port Washington 1969 Archive: Dave Keller |
M1 #9121 Corona Yard 3/18/1969 (Votava-Boland) |
M1 cars at Mineola 1970 Photo/Archive: Richard Glueck |
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M1 cars at Valley Stream 1970 Photo/Archive: Richard Glueck |
M1 #9065 Babylon - Summer 1970 (Votava-Boland) |
M1 westbound approaching Jamaica 12/05/71 Archive: Dave Keller |
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M1 westbound approaching Jamaica 12/05/71 Archive: Dave Keller |
M1 #9181 westbound 4 car Train #4741 (Hempstead to Brooklyn - weekends only)) at Stewart Manor 8/08/1971 (Votava-Boland) |
M1s laying up Dunton Tower 12/25/71 Photo/Archive: Dave Keller |
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M1 # 9581 6-car Train #1527 westbound after eastbound run as Train #1526 (Votava-Boland) |
M1 Train #459 Great Neck Interlocking 01/18/72 (Makse-Keller) |
M1 #9113 westbound 6 car Train #1519 at Mineola 3/27/1972 (Votava-Boland) |
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M1 trains laying up at Babylon electric yard view E 4/29/72 (Votava- Keller) |
M1 #9341 Hempstead train #751 westbound at Floral Park 09/10/73 (Votava-Keller) |
M1 #9351 Huntington train #1651 westbound Floral Park 09/10/73 (Votava-Keller) |
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M1 train- #426 eastbound Manhasset viaduct 7/02/74 (Madden-Keller) |
M1 eastbound passing HALL Tower Jamaica 1/1976 Archive: Dave Keller |
M1 #9717eastbound 10 car Train #1620 (Penn to Huntington) at Bellerose 5/12/1977 (Votava-Boland) |
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M1 eastbound on Alley Creek, Douglaston 10/07/77 (Madden-Keller) |
M1 eastbound at Syosset - “AMOTT” interlocking 10/10/1977 (Madden-Keller) |
M1 westbound at Syosset - “AMOTT” interlocking 10/10/1977 (Madden-Keller) |
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“AMOTT” Interlocking east of Syosset; remote controlled from “DIVIDE.” In service: 10/7/1961. Named in honor of retired LIRR engineers: Joseph H., Jr., Charles A. and James A. Amott, per the Long Island Railroader: 10/11/1961. | ||||
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M1 westbound at temporary Massapequa Park station 12/30/77 (Madden-Keller) |
M1 at Old Mail Dock, Advance Yard, Jamaica 09/02/78 (Madden-Keller) |
M1 #9509 westbound at Central Islip view NE 03/08/01 Archive: Dave Keller |
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M1 11/04/2006 Farewell Trip
Pamphlet Archive: Bob Bender |
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M1 Surviving Pair #9547 and #9548 | ||||
The LIRR M1 surviving pair at the Railroad Museum of Long Island, in Riverhead. LIRR M1 cars #9547 and #9548 are a familiar face to many Long Islanders. 770 of these cars ran in commuter service from December 1968 to January 2007 - hauling hundreds of thousands of commuters. Historically, this married pair of LIRR M-1s are significant as they are the only known M1s to have ever traveled to Grand Central Terminal, Manhattan. On October 1, 1998, #9547 and #9548 were LIRR's Ambassador to the grand reopening ceremony of the restored terminal and were placed on view at track level to promote the future MTA East Side Access project. Photo/Info: RMLI |
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M1 History - Numbered 9001 thru 9770 by Ben Jankowski | ||||
Cars #9001-9016 built in 1968 Virtually all of the M1 fleet would get the
reflecting yellow front end striping by the late 1980's and the M3s would receive them
also...MNCR's M1s would keep their blue striping even though they had cars that had the side paint removed (8220-8221 come to mind)
their M3s would basically remain the same - with the exception of the blue/white zebra front stripes that some M3 cars would eventually get...
The LIRR overhauled some MNCR M1s under contract during the 80s - their blue stripe sheeting was a spotting
feature. The last LIRR M1 pair to have painted stripes was #9175-9176 in the late 80s which was a replacement pair (they would have equaled #9771-9772), built extra during the 150 car 1972 add-on order ( #9621-9770) to replace the original pair which was written off early on after a fire.
Then of course, on the "Farewell to the M1" fan trip on November 4th, 2006 all the M1 cars on that fleet had their reflective yellow bumpers and fully, boldly, painted blue stripes on the sides.mattamity90 Alcohol/Sandite
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M1 COUPLER INFO | ||||
LIRR M1 #9001 front coupler showing electronics box below coupler for M1-M3 running. Photo: Robert Anderson
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When first delivered, the M3's could not be coupled with the M1's. The electronics in the couplers were different. There was originally no plan to run them together. Then the RR saw the shortsightedness of this plan, to say nothing of the M3's blowing out substations, because they were drawing too much power. It became a game during the
Morning Rush hours. Someone would Go... 1, 2, 3!! on the Radio, and
everyone would go to P4 on the M3s at the same time. Substations would
blow, and had to reset themselves. Photo left/above is M1 #9001 with the coupler view. As the trains couple up, that door below the coupling pin, is pushed open by the trains as those green Buttons hit each other. The equipment with coupling pins instead of "traditional knuckles" were called, via slang, the "Bull's Prick", unless there were ladies around. The door drops down out of the way, and the cars
plug into each other. The M-3's will never run with the M-7's,
as they have a completely different coupler, design, and the pin is much
larger. |
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M1 MISCELLANEOUS | ||||
Gabon Scott 992c - LIRR M1 issued as part of a railway set on 1/14/2000 |