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THE LIRR "EXTRA" LIST |
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THE LIRR "EXTRA" LIST |
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 Here's
the List!
CHAINING MEASURING
EXPLAINED 10/10/11 |
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CHAINING MEASURING |
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| Robert Emery hand-drawn map 08/1958 which covers "500' east of Hillside Station to MP12" and at the top of the map there's a rough-written addition saying "MP 584+62. |
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58462 feet, a little over ten miles would be just about right for that location, measuring from Long Island City via the Montauk Branch. Jamaica is 9.3 miles. If i remember right, mileposts East of Jamaica are measured via the Montauk Branch, not via Woodside, which would be a little further. Coincidentally, the distance from Flatbush Ave to Jamaica is also shown as 9.3 miles. Info: Henry Raudenbush |
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Chaining in the US is done
in increments of 100 feet. Every 100 feet from the starting point
is a location called a (survey) "station". So
station 582 would be 58,200 feet from the starting point. It
would be referred to as 582+00. The number after the plus is the
distance in feet from the previous station; so 582+36 would be 58,236
feet from the starting (zero) point. "Chaining"
refers to the fact that in early days, the distances were measured
out with an actual chain. In early days, a distance of 66 feet
was a "chain"; this is still used by British railways.
You will see references in British fan publications to a distance such
as "6 miles, 11 ch." The zero station might be the actual beginning of a line, or it may be an arbitrary point. Most of the chaining of the IRT and BMT begins from actual points where lines (or segments of lines) began. For historical reasons, usually outward from downtown Manhattan. As a result sometimes chaining runs in opposite directions on different segments of the same line. The Lexington Ave. IRT from City Hall to 40th St is chained northward from a zero at City Hall. But the extension to South Ferry and Brooklyn is chained southward from about the same point. To avoid having chaining run in opposite directions, the IND picked an arbitrary point, probably about in the West 4th St station, and called it Station 1000. This way, whether they extended south (numbers going down) to Coney Island or north (numbers going up) to the top of the Bronx, the numbers could run in a continuous series. They did not foresee the Rockaway line, which might have gone below 0, but in the event, they acquired the LIRR drawings, etc of that line, so used the LIRR chaining, which comes from a zero at Long Island City. Railroads seem to have used chaining for their civil engineering, but mile posting for operational activities. Most railroads have been worked over many times since they were built, with relocations and cutoffs changing the length of the line. If they tried to keep the mileposts spaces 5280 feet apart, the MP at the far end of the line would have to be on wheels! Instead, after any relocation, there will be two mileposts at an irregular spacing. For example, the original PRR line between Trenton and Philadelphia swung through the middle of Bristol, with many grade crossings. About 1909, the PRR built a cutoff bypassing Bristol, with grade separation, and shortening the line. Mileposts 66 and 67 are 4000 feet apart. The chaining in such a case will have what is called an "equation". At some point on the drawings there will be a line drawn across the line with two chaining numbers listed, one for the chaining up to that point, a different one for the chaining going forward. Research: Henry Raudenbush |
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LIRR ELECTRIFIED ROUTES |
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Main Line to Ronkokoma Port Jefferson to Huntington Montauk/Babylon branch to Babylon Hempstead (entire branch) West Hempstead (entire branch) Long Beach (entire branch) Far Rockaway (entire branch) Port Washington (entire branch) Oyster Bay is electrified to East Williston. Hunterspoint Ave. Long Island City, but the LIC yard station tracks are not. However, there are four tracks in the yard that do have third rail. LIC "yards" one electric train in the AM rush hour (discharges passengers at HPA) that then extras back as an equipment train to Jamaica or Hillside after the rush hour is over. In the afternoon, one electric equipment train comes out of Jamaica with no passengers gets yarded and then goes up and picks up passengers for Ronkonkoma later. The potential to yard four MU trains in LIC is twofold. One, if there is a disabled train that is barely limping along they will divert it to LIC rather than risk sending it through the East River Tunnel and jamming up the rush hour. The other benefit to that is that gets it out of the way of busiest track section of the LIRR. The other reason for those four electrified tracks is if there is a large diversion from Penn Station for whatever reason LIC can yard four electrics and store another two in HPA if conditions warrant. The other way in and out of LIC is the lower Montauk and that is not electrified. |
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LIRR NAMED TRAINS |
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Advanced Cannon Ball Beachcomber Cannon Ball  Parlor
1st Jamaica Cannonball at Easthampton 09/1962Collection: Dave Keller
East Ender
Shinnecock Express
South Shore Express Sunrise Special (1922–1942) which ran from Pittsburgh to Montauk via Penn Station, New York. Joint PRR and LIRR train that operated during the summer. Trains ran eastbound on Fridays and westbound Mondays. During 1926 summer season trains were run daily. After 1932 there was an additional eastbound trip on Thursdays. Complete first class train from 1932 to 1937.
Wall Street Special |
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LIRR ARCHIVE LOCATIONS |
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Ron Ziel’s collection is at the Queensboro Public Library’s Long Island collection in Jamaica, NY. George Brainerd’s 1870s-1880s era glass plates are in the LI collection at the Brooklyn Public Library. Robert Emery’s collection is in the LI collection at the SUNY @ Stony Brook. Charles B. Chaney’s collection is in the Smithsonian Institution. Fullerton’s collection is split between glass plate negatives in the collection at the Suffolk County Historical Society in Riverhead and Ron Ziel’s collection (see above). Vincent Seyfried’s collection has been sold via e-Bay. |
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LIE CONSTRUCTION BEGINS QUEENS 1954 at 57th Ave LIRR |
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 Eastbound passing 57th Ave. 1954 Photo: LIRR Archive: Jim Gillin
This photo depicts early construction of
the LIE. The concrete pad in the foreground is for the relocated high
tension line to the original Woodhaven Junction substation. Note that
Rockaway 2 and 1 are still both in service.
The row homes immediately to the right of the
head end of the eastbound train on ML4 are on 57th Avenue; that's a
public school in the background of those homes and the footbridge
across the tracks is 55th Avenue. When I was first married, we lived
at the foot of 53rd Avenue on the north side of the right of way. The
building is still there. Richard F. Makse
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LESTER C. TICHY, Architect 1905 – 1981 |
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Lester C. Tichy, Architect
1905 – 1981 Employed by the PRR and influenced by the renowned
PRR designer Raymond Fernand Loewy
A
representative example
of the moderne style favored by Tichy that he designed. LIRR Tichy Paint Scheme 11/1/49 through 1955
Applied to all passenger cars, some DD1 electric locos, electric shop switchers, and ALCO RS1 units. RS1 units repainted up until 11/1/52.
LIRR holds press run of 5 new air-conditioned P72 cars to Greenport. Tichy scheme abandoned in favor of dark gray body with orange end doors and dark green roof (all psgr. cars) per Keystone magazine 1955-1961. 5/23/55 |
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LIRR Stations: Closed/Reopened/Removed/Replaced |
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LIRR Stations that Closed and Reopened as the same
Structure
BLUEPOINT QUOGUE
WORLD’S FAIR LIRR Stations that closed and reopened as different names but on same site: Research: Dave Keller |
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| HUNTINGTON STATION LOCATION | |||||
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LIRR TRAIN NUMBERS |
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00-100 Trains out of Babylon
200 Scoots east of 300 Great Neck/Little Neck 400 500 600 Port 700 800 900 1000 Trains that start making stops Amityville-Merrick 1100 1200 1300 Jamaica-Penn 1400 Jamaica-Atlantic Terminal 1500 1600 Huntington/Cold Spring Harbor 1700 2000 2100 Ronkonkoma Extra trains during the holidays 2300 Farmingdale/Bethpage 2700 Montauk Branch diesel trains (Montauk/Speonk/Pachogue) 2800 Far Rackaway 6000 Weekend 6100 Weekend 6200 Weekend Greenport Scoots 6400 6500 Weekend 6600 6700 Weekend 6800 Weekend 6900 Weekend 7600 Weekend 7700 Weekend 8000 Weekend 8700 Weekend Montauk Branch Diesel Montauk branch: trains that terminate/originate at Speonk are 273, and Patchogue trains are 276 1900 Belmont Park |
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This is the current numbering sequence that was placed into effect in more recent years as posted via the net: April 2010 Train numbering from the 1980's,
and earlier, had some different designations; i.e. Montauk and Speonk runs
had one and two-digit train numbers, as well as The current listing really
breaks down trains into much more detail, i.e. trains to Hicksville
or trains to Years back, trains to Hicksville usually went straight on to Huntington, if electric or to Port Jeff if diesel, or went on to Ronkonkoma or along the Central branch to Babylon and points east, also for diesel and therefore were assigned the train number of the branch upon which they terminated (i.e. 600 = Port Jeff or 200 = Ronkonkoma/Greenport) I can’t recall that ANY
trains terminated at When the Hicksville-Ronkonkoma
push-pull diesel shuttle ran prior to electrification out to |
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SILL'S FARM, GREENPORT |
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 Sill's Dairy Farm at milepost 93
was nearing the end of its useful life when I took this photo
of LIRR train #4210 with two parlors on Labor Day, 1967 across the
Farm's pond. Sills was an established dairy that supplied the North Fork. Happily, I own a quart milk bottle embossed Sills' Dairy, Greenport, NY.
09/04/1967 View E
Photo/Info: Richard F. Makse
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 08/11/1968
View NEPhoto: Richard F. Makse |
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 The
decaying remains of Sills bing.com aerial photo. View N. 2009 |
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 Sill's Dairy Farm located near LIRR MP 93 just south of NY State Route 25 (Main Rd, Front St.)
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1910 EAST RIVER TUNNEL PASS to FAR ROCKAWAY 08/30/1910 |
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 Long Island Rail Road 1834 Corporate Seal |
 Tunnels Under East River to New York 1910 Seal |
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| This was a special invitation run for all the invited big whig guests of the PRR and LIRR (also politicians and probably the press as well.) It was not open to the public. Hence the specially printed invitations. The big fanfare happened on September 8th, 1910 when it WAS opened to the public and the first train left Pennsylvania Station, NY for all points east.. Info: LIRR Historian, Dave Keller | |||||
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NEW YORK - EAST RIVER - NEWTOWN CREEK - DUTCH KILLS - Bridge Closure |
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LIRR EMPLOYEE RECORDS |
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I'm sure that the LIRR made attempts to gather hiring data, promotion data, etc. from employees who were in current service to update a new employee database and that database was transferred to Jamaica when it was opened in 1913 and became the main railroad offices, housing the employee department as well. (I have a seniority roster of engineers and firemen dated 1947 and the top dogs on the list have hiring dates from the 1890s, so this lost data must have been re-recorded by word of mouth) However, what happened to those records is unclear, probably dumped over the years along with the valuation glass plate negatives from 1919-1921 by order of Thomas Goodfellow. The current LIRR employee department is of no help in providing employee records that are "old" from what I've been told. Dave Keller, LIRR Historian 12/30/2008 |
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LIRR MILEPOST CALCULATIONS |
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 LIRR
mileage WAS calculated from LI City until Penn station opened in 1910.
mileage is ALWAYS from L. I. City they are correct, but only as of
1942-43.Then, mileage was calculated from Penn with the exception of the Montauk branch which, surprisingly enough, was STILL calculated from LI City and the Atlantic branch whose mileage was calculated from Flatbush Ave. While the LIRR calculated their mileage from LI City, the SSRR calculated theirs from their terminal in Bushwick. As a result, their route varied slightly from the LIRR’s later Montauk branch , AND, due to many track realignments over the years, their mileage varied from the LIRR’s mileage between the same two points, but only, on average by about ¼ to ½ mile or so. It wasn’t more than ¼ to ½ mile different at that point. I'm sorry to say that I have absolutely NO idea as to when the mileposts were put in place. |
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AGENT, AGENCY, & TICKET CLERK |
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 An
"AGENT" was the representative of the railroad.A "Ticket Clerk" was NOT an agent and, as a result was not THE official representative of the railroad in all business thereunto pertaining. Yes . . . he or she was recognized as a railroad employee, but did not have the authorization to handle any paperwork other than ticket sales without the permission of his or her next-in-command . . . . . the Agent.
That is why stations had multiple ticket clerks but only ONE Agent. In later years, when freight and express
business ended on the LIRR, and as many of the older agents retired and
were not replaced, remaining agents were placed in charged of multiple
stations and head ticket clerks were assigned to many of the outlying
ticket offices, with extra ticket clerks coming in to assist during busy
days for sales of commutation tickets. Of course, this was not the
case for the major terminals, who always had a bank of ticket clerks
assigned. |
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BICENTENNIAL HERITAGE CARS |
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 No, the Coney Island cars weren't the ones that were saved for the Bicentennial. Any that went to Coney Island were scrapped, unless they are still hidden away there. These are probably the cars restored for the Bicentennial in 1976. Cars #1900 and #921, non-electrified, made up the "Suffolk County Bicentennial Heritage Train" and were pulled out east by diesel. Cars #1632 and #1391, electrified, made up the "Nassau County Heritage Train." I have shots of both trains taken in 1976. Afterwards, #1632 went on display at one of the platforms at Flatbush Avenue Station. I have a shot of it there in 1978. After the bicentennial celebration wound down, one of the cars went to the LIE rest area in Brentwood. I believe the combine wound up at the corner of Rt. 112 and Nesconset Hwy in Port Jefferson. (Not sure if the combine was the same one or not . . . . too many years ago for my mind to be working efficiently.) The ones chosen for repainting and a quick renovation were taken from the set that the Long Island- Sunrise Trail Chapter of the NRHA had chosen for preservation. They were a representative selection of the different types that were on line in the mid '70's. |
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TRACTION BLVD |
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Traction Blvd. has always been named thus as the
storage battery cars of the Suffolk Traction Company ran down the center
of the street on their way to and from the LIRR station at Holtsville. It branched off OLD North Ocean Avenue at the southeast corner of Canaan Lake and headed in a northwesterly direction, stubbing out at the woods at the end of the paved road and a dirt trail (old ROW) continued on to Holtsville station. The dirt trail was visible where it crossed Woodside Avenue and then disappeared entirely at the latter-day site of the town dump where it was completely obliterated. It picked up again in the woods on the east side of Waverly Avenue just south of Katz's Farm which was located directly south of the LIRR station in Holtsville. The ROW ran along the edge of Katz's Farm so was not discernible. But Traction Blvd. was always just that . . . . . it was NOT Ocean Avenue or North Ocean Avenue or anything else. Dave Keller, LIRR Historian 01/13/09 |
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STEAM ENGINE SPEEDS |
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During the late forties and early fifties, there were occasional unofficial "speed records" set westbound between PARK and HOLLIS. With no grade crossings west of Floral Park, the temptation was great to open-em-up. The train sheets maintained at PARK, QUEENS and HOLLIS would likely give-up-the-ghost on G-5s and K-4s powered trains. 75 MPH and 80 MPH would occur from time to time. The C-LIners would sometimes strut their horses and be worthy of a stopwatch. As you may recall, the lead time on the "circuit was much greater on the manned crossings than it is with the automatic gate/signal protected crossings of today. The circuit was usually tripped about a mile from the crossing which offered approximate one-minute protection at 60 MPH. The whistle posts ('W') were set 1/4 mile from the crossing. At 60 MPH, it took 15 seconds to travel that distance and to get out that ---- ----- 0 ---- on the whistle or horn. At 70 MPH, that distance (1320') would be covered in 12.8 seconds. These "highball" trips were usually run in this fashion in the later evening hours during the hours of darkness. Pappy, St. George, UT
Fastest LIRR schedules Jamaica to Speonk, from
Timetable review: |
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BAY RIDGE YARD WAS A LIRR SWITCH JOB |
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 During the years the BAT (Brooklyn Army Terminal) was in operation they used
their own motive power and possibly some LIRR as far as I know.
I've seen photos of Army engines down there. I do believe Bush just ran through or maybe just up to the BAT with interchange cars.
Bay Ridge yard was a LIRR switch job. LIRR handled all the floats, drilling, etc. NH ran the road trains. LIRR assembled them in the yard for NH power to get and run up the connecting. (NYCRR)
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FARMINGDALE AGRICULTURAL ROOTS PHOTO |
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Farmingdale's agricultural roots are reflected in this circa 1940 scene looking north on Merritt Road near the intersection of Conklin Street (Hempstead Turnpike). The LIRR Central Branch crossing is in the foreground, and that of the Main Line is north of the intersection. Farmingdale Feed Co.
is also seen at the northeast corner of this intersection. |
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CONTINENTAL BAKING COMPANY - HISTORY OF JAMAICA LIRR SPOT #16 |
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The history of Jamaica spot #16!
1. The cross street is 170th St. |
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NEW GONDOLA ORDER 2009 |
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 "Ebenezer Car Company - Buffalo, NY".
Built date on the side of the car is 9/2008. It's a 66 foot car with cushion couplers on each end.
I was advised by one of my LIRR connections that these will be used in work train service, mostly for hauling ties.
They were shot on 1/3/2009 at Holban Yard. Here is the first of fifteen to twenty new gondolas the LIRR will be receiving for work train service, mostly for ties. To my knowledge, this is the first new work equipment the LIRR has ordered in my lifetime. |
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LIRR G5s #50 FM C-Liner 2004 at Port Jefferson Station October 02, 1955 Photo: Robert Emery
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END OF STEAM CEREMONY DEFINITIVE LIST October 8th, 1955 |
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10-8-1955,Hicksville (See sign). Engine #39 and car #2924 facing east & engine #35 and car #2923 facing west. Later, Alco diesel #1555 replaced #35 & #1556 replaced #39. #1555 operated back to Riverhead with car #2923 but returned to Jamaica at 6:00 PM with a different car of the same type. |
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GE TURBINES |
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These cars did look like the M1s but had a different configuration along the roofline, probably due to whatever special equipment the unit contained. They also had "DOT" logos on the cars (Dept. of Transportation). I have a shot of #4001, 4002 and two other GTE cars, making up 4-car Oyster Bay train #515 at Mineola in June of 1977. I have individual roster shots of 4 of the cars (4002, 4003, 4004, 4006) taken at Oyster bay in May and July, 1977, each with the DOT logo. I guess that 1977 was the test year. Don't know if they stayed around longer than that. Info: Dave Keller Yes, there were two competing vendors and they were paid for with DOT funds. I believe Garett made four and GE (Budd) made four. The two sets were not compatable and had significant differences. They all looked similar to M-1's with different details. They had the two tone "M" logos with a Federal or DOT logo on the end doors and the sides. For a few weeks one set made regular trips to Greenport in overnight testing. They were horribly noisy, sounding like a 747 at takeoff. You'd watch the lights go on in the farm houses enroute as you passed. They used trememdous amounts of fuel -- kerosene, as I recall and they stunk up the entire North Fork. I had the opportunity to operate one of them and they had M-1 type controls, but with a weard turbine-induced lag to the throttle response. They had to be compatable with low level platforms, and each vendor came up with its own solution. One had a "trap door" in the vestibule that slid open to reveal stairs. Anyone on the trap door would fall out. The other had folding stairs that dropped down under your feet -- another unnerving option. As Otto said, they had cool roll signs; I'm lucky enough to have grabbed one off the Garett set before they were scrapped. The GE set was converted for MetroNorth into M-1's (maybe M-3's?) by the Long Island Rail Road in Hillside Shops. They are probably still running today. The Garrett sets had "drop in" turbines that took a substantial part of the car and were deemed too much trouble to convert to electric. Before those cars came, the LIRR had another experimental turbine car they kept in a shed on the old wye in Ronkonkoma. That was also a DOT funded project that, I believe was made from a converted Budd coach in the early 1970's. Clem These were Gas-Turbine powered cars which were also Dual-Mode, and found their ways on diesel lines for a very brief time. The problem with that was they were break down prone, they found themselves out quickly. And a few made their way onto the Metro North lines before Metro North took over, and were converted to straight electrics.. They were taken out of service shortly thereafter. Some were made by Garret, and some by I believe GE. M1 9147 Actually, what looks like a ventilation system on the top of the car actually is where the Gas Turbine engines were. They took up a significant amount of the roofline and were located opposite of the motorman's cab.
Gas turbines really ARE that small. The one on the stillborn JetTrain was like the size of those garbage cans you see out on the curb on trash day.
And 5000 HP. Not much else packs that kind of power into such a tiny space....
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SUNRISE HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION |
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Sunrise Highway construction began around 1925 from Queens to Massapequa. It was extended to Great River in 1940 and Patchogue in 1953. On the 1925 Freeport Aerial it looks as though Olive Blvd was the name of the east/west road where Sunrise is approximately today. It seems Merrick Road was the main east/west route along
the south shore until Sunrise was constructed. 
Merrick Rd., Freeport 9/26/1946 view SE NYS
Archives
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W SIGNS ARE CALLED WHISTLE POSTS |
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The pattern for blowing the horn remains two long, one short, and one long. This is to be repeated as necessary until the lead locomotive fully occupies the crossing. Locomotive engineers retain the authority to vary this pattern as necessary for crossings in close proximity, and are allowed to sound the horn in emergency situations no matter where the location RULE 14 (l) * – – o – Trains or engines approaching public highway grade crossings shall sound the horn for at least 15 seconds, but no more than 20 seconds before the lead engine enters the crossing. Trains or engines traveling at speeds greater than 45 mph shall begin sounding the horn at or about, but not more than, one-quarter mile (1,320 feet) in advance of the nearest public crossing. Even if the advance warning provided by the horn will be less than 15 seconds in duration. This signal is to be prolonged or repeated until the engine or train occupies the crossing; or, where multiple crossing are involved, until the last crossing is occupied. 2. Approaching tunnels, yards, or other points where railroad workers may be at work. 3. Passing standing trains Info: Bob Anderson 09/30/2008 |
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LIRR EAST - WEST RULES |
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A train is superior to another train by right or direction. Right is conferred by train order and is superior to direction. Eastward regular trains are superior by direction to westward regular trains, unless otherwise specified. Extra trains are inferior to regular trains. Those are Rules S-71 and 73. Class is not included in the LIRR rules any more, only right and direction. Look at superiority this way: A regular train's authority is its timetable schedule. An eastward regular in the timetable is superior to a westward regular, unless otherwise specified. That unless otherwise specified would be a train order for instance, swapping superiority (Westward has right over eastward A to B). Another premise to remember is that there is no superiority between two extra trains, though at a meet between two extras, the extra in the westward direction would take the siding, unless otherwise specified in the train order. A work train for instance, that needed to run to Montauk would get a run order from SK2 to Montauk. All opposing westward regulars would not be concerned about that extra since the extra is inferior (it doesn't have a schedule in the timetable either). A meet order would have to be issued between a regular train and that extra OR the extra would have to clear the time and block of any opposing regular trains by not less than 5 minutes (that extra's crew would have to check out the timetable and look up the times of opposing regular trains). Rule S-87 is also known as the "5 minute rule". It's a safety net that permits an inferior train to clear a superior train's time by not less than 5 minutes, if no meet order is issued. In other words, if Train A was a superior train and Train B was an inferior train, if no meet order was issued between the two and they are both regular trains (they have a timetable schedule), Train B would have to clear Train A's time 5 minutes in advance of Train A's time at C Block Limit. That's a real simple way to look at it. There's more information that's needed to fully understand the way things work in 251 manual block territory, but it sort of gives you a basic knowledge of the operation. Info: Joe Tischner |
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EARLY DIESELS OF THE SUNRISE TRAIL |
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 In
February of 1925, the LIRR briefly tested Ingersoll-Rand diesel
demonstrator number 8835 at the request of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Impressed by its thermal efficiency (30% versus 6%-8% from a steam
locomotive), the PRR contracted a team consisting of representatives
from General Electric, Ingersoll-Rand, and ALCo to produce diesel
locomotive serial number 6605, which would become LIRR #401. The
locomotive was completed in 1926 right around the time that the LIRR was
due to receive a trainload of spare parts from the GE plant in Erie, PA.
For reasons lost to history, there would have been some significant
delay in getting the locomotive and parts to Long Island if the LIRR
waited to receive the train at an interchange, so they opted to dispatch
their own crew to Erie to bring back the parts behind the new diesel. By
doing this, the LIRR became the first railroad in the world to operate a
diesel in road service.LIRR #401 was not an ideal road service locomotive, however. As a boxcab locomotive, the first point of contact in a collision would be the engineer's control room (to call it a cab would be a stretch!). As a result, the next few years saw the development of three other kinds of diesel locomotive: the switcher, the road switcher, and the cab unit (or carbody diesel). The ALCo S-1, a switcher type locomotive, was the first locomotive order in bulk for the LIRR. The first S-1 was delivered to Long Island in 1945. They were numbered 413 through 421 and delivered wearing the standard black Pennsylvania paint. The S-1 boasted a 660 h.p. engine and claimed a tractive effort rating of 29, 200 kN. The LIRR would own other switchers, including several Baldwin units, but in terms of appearance and performance, they were much the same as the S-1. What distinguished the S-1 and these others as switchers was the long hood situated in front of a cab with a flat panel behind it. This gave the engineer an ideal view of cars behind him for coupling to and then switching cars. Running the locomotive "glass-out," however, did not offer much, if any, protection in the event of a collision. Partly in response to this, ALCo developed its road switcher series, which was suited for switching cars but also boasted the motive power and safety specifications to work in main line service. The road switcher situation an additional short hood behind the cab that, according to ALCo, offered an equivalent amount of protection to the long hood. The practice, however, was still to run these locomotives long hood forward because several of the LIRR units had a Vapor-Clarkson steam generator, for heating coaches, installed in the short hood. The RS-1s, first delivered to the LIRR in 1948, brought a 1,000 h.p. engine and a tractive effort of 34,000 kN. Numbered 461 through 469, they were delivered in the same Pennsy-style scheme as the S-1s. These would be complemented by the purchase of the RS-3s (numbered 1551 through 1560) in 1955, which featured 1,600 h.p. and a tractive effort of 46,000 kN. Then, the LIRR made some mistakes. 1951 saw the purchase of the Fairbanks-Morse H16-44, a road switcher type locomotive that brought 1,600 h.p. and a tractive effort of 36,600 kN to the already impressive LIRR fleet. These were followed by the purchase of F-M's C-liner locomotives, which were carbody diesels. The design, pioneered by EMD in 1939 with its FT-series of locomotive, situated the engine behind the cab such that running this locomotive in reverse operation for road service was impossible. The CPA20-5s, numbered 2001 through 2008, combined 2,000 h.p. with 36,000 kN of tractive effort. They were followed by the CPA24-5s, which featured 2,400 h.p.. These were numbered 2401 through 2404. All of the F-M locomotives were notorious gas and oil guzzlers and featured still-unproven locomotive technology. The "revolutionary" opposed-piston engine F-M installed was not well-tested in locomotives and, in part because of this, the C-Liners were essentially the DMs of the 1950s, requiring bail outs more often than they completed their trips. F-M ceased locomotive manufacture in 1958, which is a large part of the reason that the LIRR sold off or traded all of these locomotives by the early 1960s. Several went to ALCo to cover part of the cost of the C420s and others were sold off to various places. The most interesting home a C-Liner would find was a merchant marine ship - at least one of the engines from a CPA24-5 found a new home powering a small merchant marine vessel, which was (and still is) the ideal home for an F-M opposed piston engine. Something tells me the DMs won't find such interesting homes after LI is rid of them... P.S. more to come on the modern diesels in coming weeks. Info: Kyle Mullins 12/18/2007 Photo Archive: Dave Keller AA4 #403A No. 4th St Yd-Brooklyn c.1937 |
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BARNEY or MULE at SUNNYSIDE YARD, LI CITY SHOPS |
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The “Multiple Unit Repair Shop” and
"Multiple Unit Inspection Pits" indicated on the Sunnyside
Yard Rendering c.1905 later became the engine
house, ash pits(?), and Barney locations respectively. |
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LIRR M1 TESTING in BRIDGEPORT, CT |
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 The
location is at Jenkins Curve, Bridgeport. This is the curve south of the station and the underjump the to former freight yard; also the location where the "Federal" once came to grief. It is a 6 degree curve, and about the sharpest on the line. Like most of the curves on the line, it was laid out when the line was 4-tracked about 1895, reflecting the rolling stol of that time, and boxed in forever when the catenary bridges were built in 1914. The track centers are very tight for such a sharp curve, with the required
superelevation!Some time in 1970, when LIRR had received about 100 M-1's, the M-2's were on order, and the M-1a's were just being ordered, four pairs of LIRR M-1's were sent to what was then the Metropolitan Region of Penn Central. This was to give Metro an advance look at these cars, and also for some clearance tests. Two pair of M-1's were towed to Bridgeport by a pair of FL-9's, and parked at this location. After a couple of P-C trains went by, the FL-9's uncoupled one pair and ran it by at track speed (30) on the outer track, while the other pair stood on the inner track.
This way they would be rolled toward each other. The Penn Central clearance engineer (Greenlee?) had a set of small feelers, 6 inches long, which he taped to the widest point on the standing cars. They were not touched, so he was satisfied. Of course, while the M-1's had the same shape as the M-2 they didn't have the same truck and suspension. When the M-2's came, they had too much roll and the tip of the pan almost touched the arm of one semaphore near "Peck". That was why a few M-2's were sent to the Shea Stadium test site on the LIRR, so that
GE. could work on modifications to the suspension. They hardly had room at their South Norwalk site for that work. |
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