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84-543: The Turboliners were a family of gas turbine trainsets built for Amtrak in the 1970s. They were among the first new equipment purchased by Amtrak to update its fleet with faster, more modern trains. The first batch, known as RTG, were built by the French firm ANF and entered service on multiple routes in the Midwestern United States in 1973. The new trains led to ridership increases wherever used, but

168-474: A VL15 electric locomotive in 2006 and introduced in 2007, runs on LNG and has a maximum power output of 8,300 kW (11,100 hp). One section carries the LNG tank and the other houses the turbine with electric power generation, and both sections have traction motors and cabs. The locomotive has a B-B-B+B-B-B wheel arrangement, and up to three GT1 locomotives can be coupled together. On 23 January 2009,

252-418: A hot air engine using a turbine instead of a piston. Robertson shows a diagram that confirms Sampson's information but also refers to problems with erosion of turbine blades by ash. This is strange because, with a conventional shell and tube heat exchanger , there would be no risk of ash entering the turbine circuit. Working cycle There were two separate, but linked, circuits: the combustion circuit and

336-567: A $ 185 million effort to improve service over the Empire Corridor. A key component was the reconstruction of all seven RTL Turboliner trainsets to the RTL-III specification. New York selected Super Steel Schenectady to perform the work, and the first two trainsets were to enter service in 1999. Numerous delays pushed the start of service to April 2003. Of the five additional trainsets, originally scheduled to enter service in 2002, only one

420-472: A GTEL with a 1,620 kW (2,170 hp) of maximum engine power from Brown Boveri . It was completed in 1941, and then underwent testing before entering regular service. The Am 4/6 was the world's first gas turbine–electric locomotive. It was intended primarily to work light, fast, passenger trains on routes that normally handle insufficient traffic to justify electrification . Two gas turbine locomotives of different design, 18000 and 18100, were ordered by

504-421: A boiler. At the front of the casing is the compressor, which Mennons calls a ventilator. This supplies air to a firebox and the hot gases from the firebox drive a turbine at the back of the casing. The exhaust from the turbine then travels forwards through ducts to preheat the incoming air. The turbine drives the compressor through gearing and an external shaft. There is additional gearing to a jackshaft which drives

588-563: A comparable diesel locomotive with conventional cars while having a higher operating speed, though this would be constrained by track conditions. Amtrak also hoped that introducing new equipment would generate favorable publicity. Two years into its existence, Amtrak was fighting the perception that it was making "cosmetic changes to hand-me-down equipment". New gas turbine trainsets could change that perception. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw several countries experimenting with gas turbine trains. The UAC TurboTrain had been in revenue service in

672-481: A different design of power car cab . The standard configuration of each set was five cars: power cars at either end, a food service car, and two coaches. In that configuration, each trainset could carry 264 passengers. At times, Amtrak operated Turboliners with an additional coach cut into the consist. These were the final gas turbine trainsets purchased by Amtrak; conventional diesel locomotive-hauled trains proved cheaper to operate. The RTL Turboliners were wider than

756-474: A failure following testing. The sources for the following information are Robertson and Sampson. In 1946, a Northrop - Hendy partnership launched an attempt to adapt the Northrop Turbodyne aircraft engine for locomotive use, with coal dust rather than kerosene as a fuel. In December 1946, Union Pacific donated their retired M-10002 streamliner locomotive to the project. However, the project

840-550: A few have seen any real success in that role. With a rise in fuel costs (eventually leading to the 1973 oil crisis ), gas turbine locomotives became uneconomical to operate, and many were taken out of service. Union Pacific's locomotives also required more maintenance than originally anticipated, due to fouling of the turbine blades by the Bunker C oil used as fuel. In 1939, the Swiss Federal Railways ordered

924-425: A fleet of 55 turbine-powered freight locomotives starting in the early 1950s, all produced by Alco-GE. The first- and second-generation versions shared the same wheel arrangement as the prototype; the third-generation version were C-C types. All were widely used on long-haul routes, and were cost-effective despite their poor fuel economy, due to their use of "leftover" fuels from the petroleum industry. At their height

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1008-519: A hinged silk lid, the trapdoor. In theatrical use, "star traps" allowed explosively fast appearances on stage, such as jinn appearing in a puff of smoke. Trapdoors are occasionally used as hidden doors in fiction, as entrances to secret passageways , dungeons , or to secret tunnels . They also appear as literal traps into which a hapless pedestrian may fall if they happen to step on one. Other types of doors or other objects are also sometimes used as hidden doors. A trapdoor figures prominently in

1092-481: A lower standard set by the International Union of Railways . Each trainset consisted of two power cars (which included seating), two coaches and a bar/grill. The trains were powered by a pair of 1,140 horsepower (850 kW) Turbomeca Turmo III turbines. The cars rode on Creusot-Loire trucks . The bar/grill, located at the center of the trainset, had table seating for 24. The vestibules between

1176-478: A maximum power output of 2,200 kW (3,000 hp), and a hydraulic transmission. Unlike other locomotives, it was not in regular service. In 2006, Russian Railways introduced the GEM-10 switcher GTEL. The turbine runs on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and has a maximum power output of 1,000 kW (1,300 hp). The GEM-10 has a C-C wheel arrangement. The TGEM10-0001, which uses the same turbine and fuel as

1260-452: A maximum power output of 2,600 kW (3,500 hp). Another soviet gas turbine–hydraulic freight locomotive type GT101 was developed and produced in 1960 by Luhansk Locomotive Works . Like the G1 locomotive, it was intended to consist of two sections of a C-C wheel arrangement, but only one section was built. This section was equipped with four free piston gas generators and gas turbine with

1344-634: A settlement with Super Steel to close the rehabilitation project for $ 5.5 million, requiring them to stop work on the project, cover remaining costs, and move four unfinished trains into storage at a nearby industrial park. This settlement, when added to the $ 64.8 million previously spent, brought total project expenses—the results of which were three rehabilitated trainsets and four others in various states of repair—to $ 70.3 million. In 2007, Amtrak and New York settled their own lawsuit, with Amtrak paying New York $ 20 million. Amtrak and New York further agreed to commit $ 10 million each to implement track improvements in

1428-606: A significant rise in fares between the two cities, and the United States Department of Transportation blocked the proposal. Amtrak established a separate maintenance facility for all six trainsets in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago, on the site of a former Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad coach yard. This facility closed in 1981 after the withdrawal of the RTGs from service; according to Amtrak,

1512-424: A trapdoor, usually with two flaps. The condemned was placed at the join. The edge of a trapdoor farthest from the hinge accelerates faster than gravity, so that the condemned does not hit the flaps but falls freely. In 1784, the reusable economy coffin was mandated by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor . The coffins had a trapdoor in their base. The coffin would be lowered into the grave and a lever operated that opened

1596-485: Is used to power traction motors . This type of locomotive was first experimented with during the Second World War , but reached its peak in the 1950s to 1960s. Few locomotives use this system today. A GTEL uses a turbo–electric drivetrain in which a turboshaft engine drives the electric generator or alternator via a system of gears . The electric current is distributed to power the traction motors that drive

1680-621: The Blue Goose , also using the B-B-B-B wheel arrangement. The locomotive used two 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) turbine engines, was equipped for passenger train heating with a steam generator that utilized the waste exhaust heat of the right hand turbine, and was geared for 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). While it was demonstrated successfully in both freight and passenger service on the PRR , MKT , and CNW , no production orders followed, and it

1764-561: The Great Western Railway (GWR) but completed for the newly nationalised British Railways . British Rail 18000 was built by Brown Boveri and delivered in 1949. It was a 1840 kW (2470 hp) GTEL, ordered by the GWR and used for express passenger services. British Rail 18100 was built by Metropolitan-Vickers and delivered in 1951. It had an aircraft-type gas turbine of 2.2 MW (3,000 hp). Its maximum speed

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1848-683: The LRC . In 2002, Bombardier Transportation announced the launch of the JetTrain , a high-speed trainset consisting of tilting carriages and a locomotive powered by a Pratt & Whitney turboshaft engine. Proposals were made to use the trains for Quebec City–Windsor, Orlando–Miami, and in Alberta, Texas, Nevada and the UK. One prototype was built and tested, but no JetTrains have yet been sold for service. However, nothing ever came of any of these proposals, and

1932-652: The TGV 001 ). The RTGs used European-style couplers ( buffers and turnbuckles ) between their cars, because they were built in France by ANF for SNCF . Another change was the installation of top-mounted Nathan P1234A5 horns, a variation of the standard Nathan P5. Amtrak obtained a permanent waiver from the Federal Railroad Administration which exempted the RTGs from the buff strength requirement of 800,000 pounds-force (3,600 kN). The RTGs met

2016-563: The power-to-weight ratio is much higher. A turbine of a given power output is also physically smaller than an equally powerful piston engine, so that a locomotive can be extremely powerful without needing to be inordinately large. However, a gas turbine's power output and efficiency both drop dramatically with rotational speed , unlike a piston engine, which has a comparatively flat power curve. This makes gas turbine–electric systems useful primarily for long-distance high-speed runs. Additional problems with gas turbine–electric locomotives include

2100-403: The 1920s but the first locomotive did not appear until the 1940s. High fuel consumption was a major factor in the decline of conventional gas-turbine locomotives and the use of a piston engine as a gas generator would probably give better fuel economy than a turbine-type compressor, especially when running at less than full load. One option is a two-shaft machine , with separate turbines to drive

2184-475: The 1990s, supplemented by several rebuilt RTGs. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, New York and Amtrak partnered to rebuild the RTLs for high-speed service ; this project failed, and the last RTL trainsets left revenue service in 2003. After the settlement of legal issues, New York sold the remaining trainsets for scrap in 2012. Amtrak assumed control of almost all private sector intercity passenger rail service in

2268-411: The Empire Corridor. New York, which was paying $ 150,000 per year to store the unused trains, auctioned off its four surplus Turboliners in 2012 for $ 420,000, including spare parts; scrapping began in 2013. Gas turbine train A gas turbine offers some advantages over a piston engine . There are few moving parts, decreasing the need for lubrication and potentially reducing maintenance costs, and

2352-417: The GEM-10, is a two-unit ( cow–calf ) switcher GTEL with a B-B+B-B wheel arrangement. The slave unit of this locomotive is used as a fuel tender with compressed natural gas (CNG) and does not have a prime mover , so its traction motors are powered by the main section. The turbine of this locomotive also has a maximum power output of 1,000 kW (1,300 hp). The GT1-001 freight GTEL, rebuilt from

2436-600: The GT1-001 conducted a test run with a 159-car train weighing 15,000 metric tons (14,800 long tons; 16,500 short tons); further heavy-haul tests were carried out in December 2010. In a test run conducted in September 2011, the locomotive pulled 170 freight cars weighing 16,000 metric tons (15,700 long tons; 17,600 short tons). In 2012, the helper diesel engine used for shunting operations was replaced with an accumulator, and

2520-605: The JetTrain essentially disappeared, being superseded by the Bombardier Zefiro line of conventionally powered high speed and very high speed trains. The JetTrain no longer appears on any of Bombardier's current web sites or promotional materials, although it can still be found on older web sites bearing the Canadair logos. The first TGV prototype, TGV 001 , was powered by a gas turbine, but steep oil prices prompted

2604-640: The Northeast Corridor where electrification was not economical. Bombardier Ltd, at the Plattsburg, N.Y. plant where the Acela was produced, developed a prototype ( JetTrain ) which combined a Pratt & Whitney Canada PW100 gas turbine and a diesel engine with a single gearbox powering four traction motors identical to those in Acela. The diesel provided head end power and low speed traction, with

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2688-918: The RTG Turboliners (10 feet or 3.05 meters versus 9 feet 5 + 1 ⁄ 2  inches or 2.88 meters) to accommodate more seating. The floor height was raised for use on the high-level platforms of the Northeast Corridor . Although the RTGs continued to operate under a waiver from the regulation, the RTLs were built to meet the Federal Railroad Administration's buff strength requirement of 800,000 pounds (362,873.9 kg). The RTL Turboliners were capable of third rail operation, allowing them to enter Grand Central Terminal and, later, Pennsylvania Station in New York City. Under third rail operation

2772-666: The RTG-IIs after one caught fire in Pennsylvania Station in New York on September 11, 1994. The two daily round-trips were branded Turboliner , replacing the individual names Abraham Lincoln and Prairie State . Amtrak repeated this experiment with the Detroit and Milwaukee corridors. Track conditions limited the new trainsets to 79 mph (127 km/h), but they were clean, comfortable, quiet and reliable. In

2856-655: The RTLs took place on September 18–19, 1976. Regular service on the Empire Corridor began on September 20. Initially, the two trainsets were mostly confined to the New York– Albany shuttle, with a single round-trip each on Saturday and Sunday to Buffalo . The New York– Montreal Adirondack received Turboliners on March 1, 1977, replacing conventional equipment. By April 1977, Turboliners had displaced conventional equipment on most routes in upstate New York. Exceptions included some New York–Albany trains, as well as

2940-616: The Soviet Union. The test program began in 1959 and lasted into the early 1970s. The G1-01 freight GTEL, produced by Kolomna Locomotive Works , was intended to consist of two locomotives of a C-C wheel arrangement, but only one section was built. The GP1 passenger locomotive was a similar design with body of TEP60 diesel locomotive , also with a C-C wheel arrangement, introduced to the test program in 1964. Two units were built by Kolomna Works, GP1-0001 and GP1-0002, which were also used in regular service with passenger trains. Both types had

3024-618: The Turboliner trainsets in 1975. Turboliners arrived on the Detroit run on April 10, 1975. Additional equipment allowed Amtrak to add a round-trip in late April; the arrival of a third trainset in May made Chicago–Detroit the "first all-turbine-powered route". After one year of operation, ridership on the corridor had increased by 72 percent. The fixed capacity of 292 passengers on an RTL trainset proved an impediment; Amtrak could not add capacity when demand outstripped supply. Amtrak replaced one of

3108-656: The United States and Canada since 1968, with mixed results. British Rail began testing the APT-E in 1972; for a variety of reasons, British Rail did not pursue gas turbine propulsion. The RTG (abbreviated from the French Rame à Turbine à Gaz , or gas turbine train) model was an Americanized version of the French ANF T 2000 RTG Turbotrain (related to the prototype precursor to the very first TGV trainset,

3192-508: The United States on May 1, 1971, with a mandate to reverse decades of decline. Amtrak retained approximately 184 of the 440 trains which had run the day before. To operate these trains, Amtrak inherited a fleet of 300 locomotives ( electric and diesel ) and 1,190 passenger cars , most of which dated from the 1940s–1950s. Amtrak acquired the Turboliners with multiple goals in mind. The Turboliners were expected to cost less to operate than

3276-550: The ability to run on electric third rail as well. In 1977, the LIRR tested eight more gas turbine–electric/electric dual mode railcars, in an experiment sponsored by the USDOT . Four of these cars had GE -designed powertrains, while the other four had powertrains designed by Garrett (four more cars had been ordered with GM / Allison powertrains, but were canceled). These cars were similar to LIRR's M1 EMU cars in appearance, with

3360-462: The addition of step wells for loading from low level platforms. The cars suffered from poor fuel economy and mechanical problems, and were withdrawn from service after a short period of time. The four GE-powered cars were converted to M1 EMUs and the Garrett cars were scrapped. In 1997 the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) solicited proposals to develop high speed locomotives for routes outside

3444-569: The body of the 2ES6 electric locomotive. This serial type has a maximum power output of 8,500 kW (11,400 hp). Both GT1h locomotives are in operation in Egorshino in the Ural region . Canadian National Railways (CN) was one of the operators of the Turbo , which were passed on to Via Rail . They operated on the major Toronto–Montreal route between 1968 and 1982, when they were replaced by

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3528-432: The cars were partitioned by sliding doors: one at each end of the car, and a double set between the cars themselves. A passenger moving between cars thus had to pull open three sets of doors. The trains were not intended for use with high-level platforms, and there were no traps covering the steps down to platform level. A five-car trainset could be configured with up to 44 coach seats in the end power cars, 80 coach seats in

3612-512: The change to overhead electric lines for power delivery. However, two large classes of gas-turbine powered intercity railcars were constructed in the early 1970s ( ETG and RTG ) and were used extensively up to about 2000. SNCF (French National Railways) used a number of gas-turbine trainsets, called the Turbotrain , in non- electrified territory. These typically consisted of a power car at each end with three cars between them. Turbotrain

3696-399: The compressor and the output shaft. Another is to use a separate gas generator , which may be of either rotary or piston type. Gas turbine–mechanical locomotives use a mechanical transmission to deliver the power output of gas turbines to the wheels. Owing to the difference in their speeds, this is technically challenging and so a mechanical transmission did not appear until ten years after

3780-515: The early 1960s, producing one prototype coal GTEL in October 1962. The problems with blade fouling and erosion were severe. The project was declared a failure after 20 months, during which time the locomotive ran less than 10,000 miles. On 23 December 1952, the UK Ministry of Fuel and Power placed an order for a coal-fired gas turbine locomotive to be used on British Railways . The locomotive

3864-545: The equipment at its maintenance facility in Bear, Delaware . Joseph H. Boardman , then-Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation (and a future president of Amtrak), accused Amtrak of "stealing" the trains and threatened to find a new vendor for the state's intercity rail service. Conventional Amfleet equipment replaced the trainsets in revenue service. In April 2005, New York reached

3948-531: The experiments had mixed results, these were the most powerful locomotives with a purely mechanical powertrain in the world and also the most powerful independent-traction locomotives in Czechoslovakia. The British Rail GT3 was a simple machine consisting essentially of a standard oil-fired gas turbine mounted on a standard steam locomotive chassis, built as a demonstrator by English Electric in 1961. Its almost crude simplicity enabled it to avoid much of

4032-632: The exterior paint scheme changed. Morrison-Knudsen rebuilt the power cars, while Amtrak overhauled the coach interiors at Beech Grove . The rebuilt trainset was designated RTL-II . In test runs on the Empire and Northeast Corridors, it reached a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h), all the while consuming less fuel than previously. In 1998, Amtrak and the State of New York began the High Speed Rail Improvement Program,

4116-463: The fact that they are very noisy and produce such extremely hot exhaust gasses that, if the locomotive were parked under an overpass paved with asphalt, it could melt the asphalt. A gas turbine locomotive was patented in 1861 by Marc Antoine Francois Mennons (British patent no. 1633). The drawings in Mennons' patent show a locomotive of 0-4-2 wheel arrangement with a cylindrical casing resembling

4200-498: The first electric transmissions. The first gas turbine–mechanical locomotive in the world, Class 040-GA-1 of 1,000 hp (0.75 MW) was built by Renault in 1952 and had a Pescara free-piston engine as a gas generator. It was followed by two further locomotives, Class 060-GA-1 of 2,400 hp (1.8 MW) in 1959–61. The Pescara gas generator in 040-GA-1 consisted of a horizontal, single cylinder, two-stroke diesel engine with opposed pistons . It had no crankshaft and

4284-453: The first type were similar in appearance to SNCF's T 2000 Turbotrain, though compliance with FRA safety regulations made them heavier and slower than the French trains. None of the first-type Turboliners remain in service. Amtrak also added a number of similarly named Rohr Turboliners (or RTL) to its roster. There were plans to rebuild these as RTL IIIs, but this program was cancelled. The units owned by New York State were sold for scrap and

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4368-511: The first year, the Chicago–St. Louis running time dropped from 5.5 to 5 hours. The Federal Railroad Administration refused a request from Amtrak to raise the speed limit to 90 mph (140 km/h), citing inadequate signalling along the route. The new trains had fallen out of favor by the end of 1974: food service was inadequate, and the five-car fixed consist could not handle demand. Amfleet coaches and new conventional diesels replaced both of

4452-501: The fixed consist (set collection of rail vehicles) that made up a Turboliner train proved a detriment as demand outstripped supply. The high cost of operating the trains led to their withdrawal from the Midwest in 1981. The second batch, known as RTL, were of a similar design but manufactured by Rohr Industries . These entered service on the Empire Corridor in the state of New York in 1976. The RTLs remained in service there through

4536-526: The locomotive was renamed to GT1h (where 'h' stands for hybrid ). The GT1h-001 remained a prototype and never went into production. The GT1h-001's successor is the GT1h-002. Despite the same type designation, this locomotive has a fundamentally different design with a (B-B)-(B-B)+(B-B)-(B-B) wheel arrangement, derived from the TEM7 diesel shunting locomotive, and the new body with open LNG tank, derived from

4620-405: The locomotive. In overall terms the system is very similar to a conventional diesel–electric , with the large diesel engine replaced with a smaller gas turbine of similar power . Union Pacific operated the largest fleet of such locomotives of any railroad in the world, and was the only railroad to use them for hauling freight. Most other GTELs have been built for small passenger trains, and only

4704-429: The long-distance Lake Shore Limited and Niagara Rainbow . In 1989, after 12 years of operation, the availability of the fleet was at 90%. In 1995, Amtrak and the State of New York collaborated to rebuild a single RTL trainset at a cost of $ 2 million. This rebuild included a pair of new Turbomeca Makila T1 turbines, each capable of developing 1,600 horsepower (1,200 kW). The interiors were to be renovated, and

4788-479: The middle coaches and to up 60 seats in the snack bar for a maximum of 308 passengers. Between 1985 and 1988, three RTG trainsets (numbered 64 to 69) were rebuilt at the Beech Grove Shops for the Empire Corridor in New York. Each trainset received an RTL-style nose and third rail capability for operation into Grand Central Terminal . A new 3,000 horsepower (2,200 kW) Turbomeca engine replaced

4872-516: The original. The rebuilt units were designated RTG-II . Amtrak leased two RTG trainsets from ANF for 18 months in August 1973, at $ 85,000 per month with an option to purchase. These were based out of Chicago , and initially served the Chicago– St Louis corridor. Amtrak heralded the Turboliners as the "biggest travel news since the 747 ". David P. Morgan, editor-in-chief of Trains magazine,

4956-480: The pistons were returned after each power stroke by compression and expansion of air in a separate cylinder. The exhaust from the diesel engine powered the gas-turbine which drove the wheels through a two-speed gearbox and propeller shafts. The free-piston engine was patented in 1934 by Raul Pateras Pescara . Several similar locomotives were built in the USSR by Kharkov Locomotive Works . The power gas locomotive

5040-499: The railroad estimated that they powered about 10% of Union Pacific's freight trains, a much wider use than any other example of this class. As other uses were found for these heavier petroleum byproducts, notably for plastics, the cost of the Bunker C fuel increased until the units became too expensive to operate and they were retired from service by 1969. In April 1950, Baldwin and Westinghouse completed an experimental 4,000 hp (3,000 kW) turbine locomotive, #4000, known as

5124-494: The rebuilt trainsets once Amtrak had "fully accepted" them for regular revenue service. Amtrak withdrew all RTL-IIIs from service in June after problems developed with the air-conditioning systems. In 2004, New York sued Amtrak in federal court for $ 477 million, both for not operating the trainsets and for failing to complete track work in the Empire Corridor to permit regular 125-mile-per-hour (201 km/h) operation. Amtrak mothballed

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5208-409: The sacks to pass up through the mill while naturally falling back to a closed position. Many buildings with flat roofs have hatches that provide access to the roof. On ships , hatches—usually not flush, and never called trapdoors—provide access to the deck . Cargo ships , including bulk carriers , have large hatches for access to the holds . Most 19th- and early 20th-century gallows featured

5292-479: The three remaining RTL trainsets are stored at North Brunswick, New Jersey and New Haven, Connecticut . In 1966, the Long Island Rail Road tested an experimental gas turbine railcar (numbered GT-1 ), powered by two Garrett turbine engines. This car was based on a Budd Pioneer III design, with transmissions similar to Budd's 1950s-era RDCs . The car was later modified (as GT-2 ) to add

5376-504: The tracks. Impressed with their reliability, Amtrak purchased the trainsets outright and ordered another four trainsets, which entered service in 1975 on the Chicago– Milwaukee and Chicago– Detroit corridors. The purchase price for the six trainsets was $ 18 million. Amtrak contemplated ordering an additional 14 trainsets for the partially electrified Northeast Corridor between Boston and New York City . Doing so would have required

5460-531: The trains were limited to 45 miles per hour (72.4 km/h). As it had with the earlier RTGs in the Midwest, Amtrak set up a separate maintenance facility in Rensselaer, New York . This facility opened on November 30, 1977, and cost $ 15 million. As built, the RTLs carried 2,560 US gallons (9,700 L; 2,130 imp gal) of fuel, permitting an operational range of 950 miles (1,530 km). The seven trainsets cost $ 32 million. The official inaugural run of

5544-656: The trainsets were too expensive to operate compared to conventional equipment. The trainsets were mothballed at Amtrak's main maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Indiana . A contributing factor to the withdrawal was the spike in fuel prices after the Yom Kippur War . The three rebuilt RTG-II trainsets joined the RTL trainsets on the Empire Corridor in 1988. Insufficient maintenance in the early 1990s reduced reliability and led to several fires in 1993–1994. Amtrak retired

5628-626: The trainsets with a conventional locomotive hauling then-new Amfleet coaches in 1976; Turboliner service ended altogether by 1981 as more Amfleet equipment became available. Turboliners debuted on the Hiawatha corridor on June 1, 1975, and more trainsets began operating in 1976. As with the St. Louis and Detroit corridors, Amtrak dropped individual names in favor of the Turboliner branding in 1976, but reinstated these names in 1980. Turboliner equipment

5712-772: The trapdoor, allowing the body to fall to the bottom of the grave. The term trapdoor also refers to a plate in the entry vestibule of a passenger railcar that permits access to high-level platforms when lying flat against the floor of the car, and which can be flipped open to expose steps for accessing ground-level platforms. Many American commuter railroads which operate the Comet railcars made by Bombardier have trapdoors to accommodate passengers boarding and alighting on both high-level and ground-level platforms. Amtrak 's Viewliner , Amfleet , and Horizon railcar fleets all have trapdoors. Trapdoor spiders hide in an underground nest they line with their silk, and then conceal it with

5796-545: The turbine circuit. Specification Trapdoor#Railways A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door that is flush with the surface of a floor, ceiling, or roof. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivotal function in the operation of the gallows , cargo ships , trains , booby traps , and more recently theatre and films. Originally, trapdoors were sack traps in mills, and allowed

5880-490: The turbine not being started until after leaving stations. The prototype was completed in June 2000, and safety testing was done at the FRA's Pueblo, CO test track beginning in the summer of 2001. A maximum speed of 156 miles per hour (251 km/h) was reached. The prototype was then taken on a tour of potential sites for high speed service, but no service has yet begun. Two gas turbine–electric locomotive types underwent testing in

5964-436: The unreliability which had plagued the complex experimental gas turbine–electric locomotives 18000 and 18100 in earlier years, but it failed to be competitive against conventional traction and was scrapped. Examples of gas turbine–mechanical locomotives: A gas turbine–electric locomotive (GTEL) is a locomotive that uses a gas turbine to drive an electric generator or alternator , producing an electric current which

6048-498: The wheels through side rods. The fuel is solid (presumably coal, coke or wood) and there is a fuel bunker at the rear. There is no evidence that the locomotive was actually built but the design includes the essential features of gas turbine locomotives built in the 20th century, including compressor, combustion chamber, turbine and air pre-heater. Work leading to the emergence of the gas turbine locomotive began in France and Sweden in

6132-621: Was 90 miles per hour (140 km/h). A third locomotive, the GT3 , was constructed in 1961. Although built by English Electric , who had pioneered electric transmission with LMS 10000 locomotives, this used a turbine–mechanical transmission. The British Rail APT-E , the prototype of the Advanced Passenger Train , was turbine-powered. Like the French TGV , later models used an alternative electric powertrain. This choice

6216-416: Was abandoned by the end of 1947 and there is no clear evidence that the locomotive provided for the experiment ever actually moved under gas turbine power or even had it installed. Details of the research were passed to Britain's London, Midland and Scottish Railway . Following a rise in fuel prices that was making their oil-fired GTELS uneconomic, UP experimentally revived the coal-fired gas turbine idea in

6300-616: Was aboard for the initial run from Chicago to St Louis on September 28, 1973, and came away with mixed impressions. He praised the large picture windows, comparing them favorably with the "rifle-slot-size" windows on the Budd Metroliner , but faulted the narrow aisles, difficult-to-navigate vestibules, and seat comfort. He found that the trains "[rode] reasonably well", even on rough track. Advantages over conventional diesel equipment included increased availability, higher speed through curves, and decreased weight which caused less wear on

6384-647: Was built by Gotaverken . It had a vertical, five cylinder, two-stroke diesel engine with opposed pistons. There was a single crankshaft connected to both upper and lower pistons. The exhaust from the diesel engine powered the gas turbine which drove the wheels through reduction gearing, jack shaft and side rods. Turbine power was considered for railway traction in the former Czechoslovakia . Two turbine-powered prototypes were built, designated TL 659.001 and TL 659.002, featuring C-C wheel arrangement, 3,200 hp (2.4 MW) main turbine, helper turbine and Tatra 111 helper diesel engine. The first prototype (TL 659.001)

6468-593: Was built with lessons learned from the first. It left the factory in March 1960 and was the only turbine locomotive to pass the tests for regular service on tracks of the former Czechoslovak State Railways . It was tried near Kolín and Plzeň with mixed results. This engine was taken out of service in April 1966 and sold to the University of Žilina as an educational instrument. It was scrapped some time later. Although

6552-462: Was completed and it never entered revenue service. All seven trainsets were renumbered in 2001 to prevent duplicate numbers with the new GE P42DCs and were painted in new Acela -style livery . One of the rebuilt RTL-IIIs was tested on the night of February 15, 2001, reaching 125 mph (201 km/h). The first rebuilt RTL-III entered service on April 14, 2003. The agreement between Amtrak and New York provided that New York would take ownership of

6636-581: Was finished in February 1958 and was scheduled to be exhibited at Expo '58 . However, this was aborted because it was not ready in time. The first out-of-factory tests were conducted in March 1959 on the Plzeň – Cheb – Sokolov line. On 15 May 1959, the first prototype pulled its heaviest train, 6,486 t (7,150 short tons), but the turbine caught fire only a day later. The engine was never restored and eventually scrapped. The second prototype (TL 659.002)

6720-502: Was in use up until 2005. After retirement, four sets were sold for further use in Iran. In the 1940s and 1950s research was conducted, in both the US and UK, aimed at building gas turbine locomotives that could run on pulverized coal . The main problem was to avoid erosion of the turbine blades by particles of ash. Only one working example is known to have been produced and it was written off as

6804-516: Was made because British Leyland , the turbine supplier, ceased production of the model used in the APT-E, having lost interest in gas turbine technology following the 1970s oil crisis . ALCO-GE built a prototype oil-fired gas turbine–electric locomotive in 1948, with a B-B-B-B wheel arrangement . After demonstration runs it was acquired by Union Pacific , who were seeking a more powerful alternative to diesel for transcontinental trains. UP ran

6888-525: Was scrapped in 1953. In the 1960s United Aircraft built the Turbo passenger train, which was tested by the Pennsylvania Railroad and later used by Amtrak and Via Rail . The Via remained in service into the 1980s and had an excellent maintenance record during this period, but was eventually replaced by the LRC in 1982. Amtrak purchased two different types of turbine-powered trainsets , which were both called Turboliners . The sets of

6972-519: Was to be built by the North British Locomotive Company and the turbine would be supplied by C. A. Parsons and Company . According to Sampson, the plan was to use indirect heating. The pulverized coal would be burned in a combustion chamber and the hot gases passed to a heat exchanger . Here, the heat would be transferred to a separate body of compressed air which would power the turbine. Essentially, it would have been

7056-465: Was withdrawn altogether in 1981. Their withdrawal was the end of Turboliner service in the Midwest. Amtrak ordered another seven Turboliner trainsets, which were delivered between 1976 and 1977. These were manufactured by Rohr Industries in Chula Vista, California , and were known as RTL Turboliners. They were based on the earlier RTG series, but had American-style Janney couplers throughout and

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