Turboliner

The RTG (abbreviated from the French Rame à Turbine à Gaz, or gas turbine train)[8] model was an Americanized version of the French ANF T 2000 RTG Turbotrain (related to the prototype precursor to the very first TGV trainset, 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.[9] Another change was the installation of top-mounted Nathan P1234A5 horns, a variation of the standard Nathan P5.[10] Amtrak obtained a permanent waiver from the Federal Railroad Administration which exempted the RTGs from the buff strength requirement of 800,000 pounds (362,873.9 kg).[11] The RTGs met a lower standard set by the International Union of Railways.[12]

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.[8] The cars rode on Creusot-Loire trucks.[13] The bar/grill, located at the center of the trainset, had table seating for 24.[14] The vestibules between 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.[14] A five-car trainset could be configured with up to 44 coach seats in the end power cars, 80 coach seats in the middle coaches and to up 60 seats in the snack bar for a maximum of 308 passengers.[15]

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 the original.[16] The rebuilt units were designated RTG-II.[17]

Amtrak leased two RTG trainsets from ANF for 18 months in August 1973, at $85,000 per month with an option to purchase.[18][19] 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, 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.[20]

Advantages over conventional diesel equipment included increased availability, higher speed through curves, and decreased weight which caused less wear on the tracks.[6] 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.[21][22] The purchase price for the six trainsets was $18 million.[18] Amtrak contemplated ordering an additional 14 trainsets for the partially electrified Northeast Corridor between Boston and New York City. Doing so would have required a significant rise in fares between the two cities, and the United States Department of Transportation blocked the proposal.[23]

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.[24] This facility closed in 1981 after the withdrawal of the RTGs from service; according to Amtrak, 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.[21][25] A contributing factor to the withdrawal was the spike in fuel prices after the Yom Kippur War.[22]

The three rebuilt RTG-II trainsets joined the RTL trainsets on the Empire Corridor in 1988.[16] Insufficient maintenance in the early 1990s reduced reliability and led to several fires in 1993–1994. Amtrak retired the RTG-IIs after one caught fire in Pennsylvania Station in New York on September 11, 1994.[26]

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 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 the Turboliner trainsets in 1975.[27]

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 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.[28]

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 was withdrawn altogether in 1981. Their withdrawal was the end of Turboliner service in the Midwest.[29]

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).[47][48] The interiors were to be renovated, and 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.[49]

RTL Turboliner No. 2150 at Adams Yard in 2021

In 1998, Amtrak and the State of New York began the High Speed Rail Improvement Program, 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 was completed and it never entered revenue service.[50][51] All seven trainsets were renumbered in 2001 to prevent duplicate numbers with the new GE P42DCs and were painted in new Acela-style livery.[52] One of the rebuilt RTL-IIIs was tested on the night of February 15, 2001, reaching 125 mph (201 km/h).[53]

The first rebuilt RTL-III entered service on April 14, 2003.[37][54] The agreement between Amtrak and New York provided that New York would take ownership of 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 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.[55] Conventional Amfleet equipment replaced the trainsets in revenue service.

In April 2005, New York reached 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.[56] 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 the Empire Corridor.[57] 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.[58][59] The three remaining RTL trainsets were stored in Bear, Delaware until 2018, but in January 2018, one set was moved to Cedar Hill Yard in New Haven, Connecticut and two sets were moved to Adams Yard in North Brunswick, New Jersey. The sets at Adams Yard remain in storage as of April 2021.[60][61]