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Turbo (train)
Encyclopedia
The UAC TurboTrain was an early high-speed
, gas turbine train
manufactured by United Aircraft Corporation
that operated in Canada
between 1968 and 1984 and in the United States between 1968 and 1976 (though they were not disposed of by Amtrak
until 1980). It was one of the first gas turbine
powered trains to enter service for passenger traffic, and was also one of the first tilting train
s to enter service.
This evolution led to the introduction of articulated trains (or "unit trains"), where the passenger cars were fixed to each other and difficult, or impossible, to separate. By sharing a single bogie
between the cars, weight could be further reduced, and performance increased. The classic examples of the articulated passenger trainset are the M-10000
and Pioneer Zephyr
of 1934. In practice, the flexibility offered by detachable cars proved too much to overcome any advantages of the articulated style, and the articulated trainset remained relatively rare, at least in North America.
The solution to this problem was the tilting train
. Experiments with passive tilting cars (i.e. without an hydrodynamic control of the inclination of the car) had been carried out in the US as early as 1938, but no commercial development took place until the Spanish Talgo
suspensions were introduced in the 1950s. The tilting mechanism was based on the passenger cars being suspended at their ends from wishbone (A-frame) suspension arms. On curves the cars would swing outward to angle the car floor to match the apparent "down". Since the suspension was between the cars, the Talgo design was naturally articulated. The Talgo II design used on the UAC was known to be plagued with defects and prone to frequent breakdowns.
(C&O) in the 1950s used the second-generation Talgo design for their car suspensions. The suspension arms for each neighboring pair of cars were attached to a common bogie between them, as opposed to having a pair separate bogies for each car. The bogies rode the common curve between the two cars, centered by traction springs that centered the axle between adjoining car bodies. TurboTrain cars are 2 ½ feet (75 cm) lower than conventional cars, to lower the center of gravity
in relation to the swinging point at the top of the arms. The arms included air springs to smooth out the motion, although it still felt "odd" while the train navigated short turns in switchyards and stations.
Like the earlier articulated trains, this meant that train lengths would be difficult to change. Their solution to this problem was to modify the power cars (engines) to allow the trains to be coupled end-to-end. Since articulated trains required "special" cars at either end anyway (to fill in the otherwise missing bogie), the C&O was double-ended, with a power car at each end. The power cars were organized with their two diesel engines on either side of the train, and the operators cabin in a "pod" on top. This left enough room for a passageway to run between the engines and under the pod to the nose of the car, where a coupling and doors were hidden behind a pair of movable clamshell covers. That way the train could be attached front-to-end with another, providing some of the flexibility in train lengths that coupled cars offered, while still being as lightweight as a normal articulated design.
's (DOT) desire to update train service in the US as a result of the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965.
United Aircraft (UAC) purchased the C&O patents to enter into the DOT's Northeast Corridor Demonstration Project. The TurboTrain was designed by personnel of the Corporate Systems Center Division(CSC)of UAC, at Farmington, CT. The design was similar to the original C&O version, but modified with turbine power instead of diesel. The engines were a modified version of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
, built by UAC's Pratt & Whitney
division and known as the ST6 (apparently for Stationary Turbine), downrated from 600 hp. The PT6 uses a "free turbine" that acts as a torque coupler, so the new design did not require a transmission. The engine cars had three engine bays on either side of the car and could mount two to six turbines depending on the needs of the carrier. Another ST6 drove an alternator
to provide 'hotel' electrical power for the train.
The engine was smaller and lighter (300 pounds (136 kg) with accessories) than the diesels they replaced, and the power cars would have been relatively small compared to the passenger cars. The power cars were built somewhat longer than the passenger cars to provide additional seating, and dome with the driving controls was lengthened to provide additional seating. "Power Dome Cars" were about one and a half times as long as the normal passenger cars.
, with their ST6 engines supplied by UAC's Canadian division (now Pratt & Whitney Canada
) in Longueuil, Quebec
.
CN and their ad agency wanted to promote the new service as an entirely new form of transit, so they dropped the "train" from the name. In CN's marketing literature the train was referred to simply as the "Turbo", although it retained the full TurboTrain name in CN's own documentation and communication with UAC. A goal of CN's marketing campaign was to get the train into service for Expo '67, and the Turbo was rushed through its trials. It was late for Expo, a disappointment to all involved, but the hectic pace did not let up and it was cleared for service after only one year of testing - most trains go through six to seven years of testing before entering service.
The Turbo's first demonstration run in December 1968 with Conductor James Abbey of Toronto, Ontario in command, included a large press contingent. An hour into its debut run, the Turbo collided with a truck at a highway crossing near Kingston. Despite the concerns that lightweight trains like the Turbo would be dangerous in collisions, the train remained upright and largely undamaged. Large beams just behind the nose, designed for this purpose, stopped the collision and limited the damage to the fiberglass clamshell doors and underlying metal. The train was returned from repairs within a week. No one was killed, though this event has been cited as a main deterrent to Canada’s efforts to develop modern passenger rail.
Initial commercial service started soon after. On its first westbound run the Turbo attained 104 mph (167 km/h) 10 minutes outside of Dorval. During speed runs, it achieved 140.55 mph (226 km/h) near Gananoque, Ontario
, the Canadian record to this day.
Technical problems, including brake systems freezing in winter, required a suspension of service in early January 1969. During the "downtime" CN changed their plans, and in 1971 a rebuild program began, converting the five seven-car sets to three nine-car sets. Several minor changes were added. The engine exhaust fouled the roof windows of the power car, so these were plated over, and a grill was added to the front of the engines just behind the clamshell doors. The remaining power and passenger cars were sold to Amtrak as two 4-car sets. One of those sets sideswiped a freight train on a test run in 1973 and burned before delivery.
The three rebuilt 9-car sets entered service for CN in late 1973. CN ran the Turbos from Toronto-Montreal-Toronto with stops at Dorval, Quebec
, Kingston, Ontario
and Guildwood, Ontario on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor
. Original train numbers were Train 62 which left Toronto at 12:45 p.m. and arrived in Montreal at 4:44 p.m. Train 63 left Montreal at 12:45 p.m. and arrived in Toronto at 4:44 p.m. (Both were daily trains.) Train 68 left Toronto at 6:10 p.m. and arrived in Montreal at 10:14 p.m., while Train 69 left Montreal at 6:10 p.m. and arrived in Toronto at 10:14 p.m. (The evening trains did not run on Saturdays.) The trip took 3 hours and 59 minutes downtown-to-downtown on trains 62 and 63, while the evening trains were slightly slower, taking four hours and four minutes to complete the run. Turbo service was about a full hour faster than CN's previous express trains, the "Rapido".
CN operated the Turbos until 1978, when their passenger operations were taken over by Via Rail
, who continued the service. The Turbo's final run was on October 31, 1982, when they were replaced by the all-Canadian LRC
trainsets from Bombardier Transportation
, which employed conventional diesel-electric locomotives. Although they had an early reputation for unreliability, according to CN's records, the rebuilt TurboTrains had an availability rate of over 97% for the their careers with CN and Via. The LRC suffered from similar teething problems, notably with the tilt system locking the cars in a tilted position.
between Boston
and New York
. The American TurboTrain was built in a 3-car configuration, and was expanded to 5 cars in 1972. They achieved speeds as high as 100 mph (161 km/h) in regular service.
In terms of records, the three-car TurboTrain achieved the world speed record
for gas turbine-powered rail vehicles with 170.8 mph (274.9 km/h) on the DOT's high speed test track on Penn Central's main-line between Trenton
and New Brunswick, New Jersey
on December 20, 1967. This is still the North American speed record for the fastest production train, despite the attempts of Acela to unseat it. On April 22, 1976, a Canadian record was set at the speed of 140.6 mph (226.3 km/h).
In the early 2000s, some of the ideas behind the Turbo reappeared when Via and Bombardier Transportation proposed upgrading the same routes to use Bombardier's experimental JetTrain
, a new turbine-powered tilting train capable of cruising speeds in the range of 150 mph (241 km/h) and TGV
-like top speeds of 185 mph (298 km/h), developed in France from the former French Alsthom Turbo-Train.
There is currently an HO scale
model of the train, with optional add-on cars, made by Rapido Trains. Bachmann Industries
manufactured the first scale model of the Turbo in the late 1960s in N scale
. MTH Electric Trains
announced a O Gauge model of the Turbo train in its 2010 volume catalog.
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
, gas turbine train
Gas turbine train
A gas turbine train, is a passenger train that uses one or more gas turbines as its main source of power. Few passenger trains use this system today, although there has been one recent prototype built by Bombardier Transportation.-Description:...
manufactured by United Aircraft Corporation
United Aircraft and Transport Corporation
The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of the Boeing firms teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, amalgamated firm, uniting business interests in all aspects of aviation—a combination of aircraft engine and airframe...
that operated in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
between 1968 and 1984 and in the United States between 1968 and 1976 (though they were not disposed of by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
until 1980). It was one of the first gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
powered trains to enter service for passenger traffic, and was also one of the first tilting train
Tilting train
A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide about or seated passengers to feel squashed by the outboard armrest due to...
s to enter service.
Articulation
Passenger trains have fundamentally different needs than freight trains, but for much of early history the two needs had been served by the same engines for reasons of economy. The introduction of newer materials and construction methods, notably lightweight construction using aluminum and stainless steel, led to a revolution in design and the need for entire trainsets dedicated to passenger use.This evolution led to the introduction of articulated trains (or "unit trains"), where the passenger cars were fixed to each other and difficult, or impossible, to separate. By sharing a single bogie
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
between the cars, weight could be further reduced, and performance increased. The classic examples of the articulated passenger trainset are the M-10000
M-10000
The Union Pacific Railroad's M-10000, delivered to the railroad on February 12, 1934, at a cost of $230,997, was the first internal combustion engine, lightweight streamlined express passenger train in the United States. The carbodies and interior fittings were built by Pullman-Standard...
and Pioneer Zephyr
Pioneer Zephyr
The Pioneer Zephyr is a diesel-powered railroad train formed of railroad cars permanently articulated together with Jacobs bogies, built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , commonly known as the Burlington...
of 1934. In practice, the flexibility offered by detachable cars proved too much to overcome any advantages of the articulated style, and the articulated trainset remained relatively rare, at least in North America.
Tilting trains
One major limitation to the evolution of existing trainsets to higher speeds was the centrifugal forces generated on curves at high speeds. The rails and cars could be strengthened to handle these stresses, but passengers could not. This limited speeds on many portions of mainline routes, where it would be difficult to lay new track with gentler curves.The solution to this problem was the tilting train
Tilting train
A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide about or seated passengers to feel squashed by the outboard armrest due to...
. Experiments with passive tilting cars (i.e. without an hydrodynamic control of the inclination of the car) had been carried out in the US as early as 1938, but no commercial development took place until the Spanish Talgo
Talgo
Talgo is a Spanish manufacturer of railway vehicles. It is best known for a design of articulated railway passenger cars in which the wheels are mounted in pairs, but not joined by an axle, and being between rather than underneath the individual coaches...
suspensions were introduced in the 1950s. The tilting mechanism was based on the passenger cars being suspended at their ends from wishbone (A-frame) suspension arms. On curves the cars would swing outward to angle the car floor to match the apparent "down". Since the suspension was between the cars, the Talgo design was naturally articulated. The Talgo II design used on the UAC was known to be plagued with defects and prone to frequent breakdowns.
C&O Design Study
A series of design studies carried out by Chesapeake and Ohio RailwayChesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
(C&O) in the 1950s used the second-generation Talgo design for their car suspensions. The suspension arms for each neighboring pair of cars were attached to a common bogie between them, as opposed to having a pair separate bogies for each car. The bogies rode the common curve between the two cars, centered by traction springs that centered the axle between adjoining car bodies. TurboTrain cars are 2 ½ feet (75 cm) lower than conventional cars, to lower the center of gravity
Center of gravity
In physics, a center of gravity of a material body is a point that may be used for a summary description of gravitational interactions. In a uniform gravitational field, the center of mass serves as the center of gravity...
in relation to the swinging point at the top of the arms. The arms included air springs to smooth out the motion, although it still felt "odd" while the train navigated short turns in switchyards and stations.
Like the earlier articulated trains, this meant that train lengths would be difficult to change. Their solution to this problem was to modify the power cars (engines) to allow the trains to be coupled end-to-end. Since articulated trains required "special" cars at either end anyway (to fill in the otherwise missing bogie), the C&O was double-ended, with a power car at each end. The power cars were organized with their two diesel engines on either side of the train, and the operators cabin in a "pod" on top. This left enough room for a passageway to run between the engines and under the pod to the nose of the car, where a coupling and doors were hidden behind a pair of movable clamshell covers. That way the train could be attached front-to-end with another, providing some of the flexibility in train lengths that coupled cars offered, while still being as lightweight as a normal articulated design.
TurboTrain
C&O's early work went undeveloped until the 1960s. At that time two major forces began operating that would re-invent the concept as the TurboTrain; one was CN Rail's desire to update their passenger service with the ending of "pooled service" (with CP Rail) between Toronto and Montreal, the other was the US Department of TransportationUnited States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
's (DOT) desire to update train service in the US as a result of the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965.
United Aircraft (UAC) purchased the C&O patents to enter into the DOT's Northeast Corridor Demonstration Project. The TurboTrain was designed by personnel of the Corporate Systems Center Division(CSC)of UAC, at Farmington, CT. The design was similar to the original C&O version, but modified with turbine power instead of diesel. The engines were a modified version of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is one of the most popular turboprop aircraft engines in history, and is produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. The PT6 family is particularly well known for its extremely high reliability, with MTBO's on the order of 9000 hours in some models. In US military use, they...
, built by UAC's Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
division and known as the ST6 (apparently for Stationary Turbine), downrated from 600 hp. The PT6 uses a "free turbine" that acts as a torque coupler, so the new design did not require a transmission. The engine cars had three engine bays on either side of the car and could mount two to six turbines depending on the needs of the carrier. Another ST6 drove an alternator
Alternator
An alternator is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current.Most alternators use a rotating magnetic field but linear alternators are occasionally used...
to provide 'hotel' electrical power for the train.
The engine was smaller and lighter (300 pounds (136 kg) with accessories) than the diesels they replaced, and the power cars would have been relatively small compared to the passenger cars. The power cars were built somewhat longer than the passenger cars to provide additional seating, and dome with the driving controls was lengthened to provide additional seating. "Power Dome Cars" were about one and a half times as long as the normal passenger cars.
American service
The two American Turbotrains were built at the Pullman Works in Chicago, IL. They were designated DOT1 and DOT2. High speed testing of the trains was performed from a base at Fields Point in Providence, RI. Tracks running northward toward Route 128 around Boston and southward to Westerly, RI were used. In a competition with a GE powered Buddliner on tracks between New Brunswick and Trenton NJ, on December 20, 1967 one of the TurboTrains achieved a speed of 170.8 mph. On January 1, 1968 the entire TurboTrain program was transferred from CSC to Sikorsky Aircraft Division (SA) of UAC. Sometime in 1968 the American TurboTrains entered commercial service on the Penn Central railroad, running between Boston and New York City. The trains were removed from service in 1972.Canadian service
In May 1966 Canadian National Railways ordered five seven-car TurboTrains for the Montreal-Toronto service. They planned to operate the trains in tandem, connecting two trains together into a larger fourteen-car arrangement with a total capacity of 644 passengers. The Canadian trains were built by Montreal Locomotive WorksMontreal Locomotive Works
Montreal Locomotive Works was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883–1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company...
, with their ST6 engines supplied by UAC's Canadian division (now Pratt & Whitney Canada
Pratt & Whitney Canada
Pratt & Whitney Canada is a Canadian aircraft engine manufacturer. PWC's headquarters are in Longueuil, Quebec, just outside Montreal. It is a division of the larger US-based Pratt & Whitney , itself a business unit of United Technologies...
) in Longueuil, Quebec
Longueuil, Quebec
Longueuil is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census totaled 229,330, making it the third largest city in...
.
CN and their ad agency wanted to promote the new service as an entirely new form of transit, so they dropped the "train" from the name. In CN's marketing literature the train was referred to simply as the "Turbo", although it retained the full TurboTrain name in CN's own documentation and communication with UAC. A goal of CN's marketing campaign was to get the train into service for Expo '67, and the Turbo was rushed through its trials. It was late for Expo, a disappointment to all involved, but the hectic pace did not let up and it was cleared for service after only one year of testing - most trains go through six to seven years of testing before entering service.
The Turbo's first demonstration run in December 1968 with Conductor James Abbey of Toronto, Ontario in command, included a large press contingent. An hour into its debut run, the Turbo collided with a truck at a highway crossing near Kingston. Despite the concerns that lightweight trains like the Turbo would be dangerous in collisions, the train remained upright and largely undamaged. Large beams just behind the nose, designed for this purpose, stopped the collision and limited the damage to the fiberglass clamshell doors and underlying metal. The train was returned from repairs within a week. No one was killed, though this event has been cited as a main deterrent to Canada’s efforts to develop modern passenger rail.
Initial commercial service started soon after. On its first westbound run the Turbo attained 104 mph (167 km/h) 10 minutes outside of Dorval. During speed runs, it achieved 140.55 mph (226 km/h) near Gananoque, Ontario
Gananoque, Ontario
Gananoque is a town in Leeds and Grenville County, Ontario, Canada. The town had a population of 5,287 year-round residents in the Canada 2006 Census, as well as summer residents sometimes referred to as "Islanders" because of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River, Gananoque's most...
, the Canadian record to this day.
Technical problems, including brake systems freezing in winter, required a suspension of service in early January 1969. During the "downtime" CN changed their plans, and in 1971 a rebuild program began, converting the five seven-car sets to three nine-car sets. Several minor changes were added. The engine exhaust fouled the roof windows of the power car, so these were plated over, and a grill was added to the front of the engines just behind the clamshell doors. The remaining power and passenger cars were sold to Amtrak as two 4-car sets. One of those sets sideswiped a freight train on a test run in 1973 and burned before delivery.
The three rebuilt 9-car sets entered service for CN in late 1973. CN ran the Turbos from Toronto-Montreal-Toronto with stops at Dorval, Quebec
Dorval, Quebec
Dorval is a city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. As of the 2006 Canadian Census, the population increased by 2.2% to 18,088. Although the city has the largest surface area in the West Island, it is among the least densely populated...
, Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
and Guildwood, Ontario on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor
Quebec City-Windsor Corridor
Quebec City – Windsor Corridor is the most densely-populated and heavily-industrialized region of Canada. As its name suggests, it extends from Quebec City in the east to Windsor, Ontario in the west, spanning . With more than 18 million people, it contained 51% of the country's population and...
. Original train numbers were Train 62 which left Toronto at 12:45 p.m. and arrived in Montreal at 4:44 p.m. Train 63 left Montreal at 12:45 p.m. and arrived in Toronto at 4:44 p.m. (Both were daily trains.) Train 68 left Toronto at 6:10 p.m. and arrived in Montreal at 10:14 p.m., while Train 69 left Montreal at 6:10 p.m. and arrived in Toronto at 10:14 p.m. (The evening trains did not run on Saturdays.) The trip took 3 hours and 59 minutes downtown-to-downtown on trains 62 and 63, while the evening trains were slightly slower, taking four hours and four minutes to complete the run. Turbo service was about a full hour faster than CN's previous express trains, the "Rapido".
CN operated the Turbos until 1978, when their passenger operations were taken over by Via Rail
VIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
, who continued the service. The Turbo's final run was on October 31, 1982, when they were replaced by the all-Canadian LRC
LRC (train)
LRC is a bilingual acronym for Light, Rapid, Comfortable or Léger, Rapide, et Confortable, the name of a series of lightweight diesel-powered passenger trains that were used on short- to medium-distance inter-city service in the Canadian Provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
trainsets from Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
, which employed conventional diesel-electric locomotives. Although they had an early reputation for unreliability, according to CN's records, the rebuilt TurboTrains had an availability rate of over 97% for the their careers with CN and Via. The LRC suffered from similar teething problems, notably with the tilt system locking the cars in a tilted position.
US Service
The TurboTrain entered service for the Department of Transportation in the US in 1968. It was operated by the New Haven Railroad, later by the Penn Central, and finally by AmtrakAmtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
between Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The American TurboTrain was built in a 3-car configuration, and was expanded to 5 cars in 1972. They achieved speeds as high as 100 mph (161 km/h) in regular service.
In terms of records, the three-car TurboTrain achieved the world speed record
Land speed record for railed vehicles
Determination of the fastest rail vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of "rail".Official absolute world record for conventional train is held by the French TGV...
for gas turbine-powered rail vehicles with 170.8 mph (274.9 km/h) on the DOT's high speed test track on Penn Central's main-line between Trenton
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
and New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
on December 20, 1967. This is still the North American speed record for the fastest production train, despite the attempts of Acela to unseat it. On April 22, 1976, a Canadian record was set at the speed of 140.6 mph (226.3 km/h).
In the early 2000s, some of the ideas behind the Turbo reappeared when Via and Bombardier Transportation proposed upgrading the same routes to use Bombardier's experimental JetTrain
JetTrain
The JetTrain is a Canadian experimental high-speed passenger train created by Bombardier Transportation in an attempt to make European-style high-speed service more financially appealing to passenger railways in North America. It uses the same LRC-derived tilting carriages as the Acela Express...
, a new turbine-powered tilting train capable of cruising speeds in the range of 150 mph (241 km/h) and TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
-like top speeds of 185 mph (298 km/h), developed in France from the former French Alsthom Turbo-Train.
There is currently an HO scale
HO scale
HO or H0 is the most popular scale of model railway in the world.According to the NMRA standard S-1.2 predominantly used in North America, in HO scale, represents 1 real foot ; this ratio works out to about 1:87.1. According to the MOROP standard NEM 010 predominantly used in Europe, the scale is...
model of the train, with optional add-on cars, made by Rapido Trains. Bachmann Industries
Bachmann Industries
Bachmann Industries is a Bermuda registered Chinese owned company, globally head quartered in Hong Kong; specializing in model railroading....
manufactured the first scale model of the Turbo in the late 1960s in N scale
N scale
N scale is a popular model railway scale/track gauge. Depending upon the manufacturer , the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. In all cases, the gauge is . The term N gauge refers to the track dimensions, but in the UK in particular N gauge refers to a 1:148 scale with track gauge modelling...
. MTH Electric Trains
MTH Electric Trains
MTH Electric Trains, formerly Mike's Train House, is an American toy train and model railroad designer, importer, and manufacturer, based in Columbia, Maryland...
announced a O Gauge model of the Turbo train in its 2010 volume catalog.
External links
- 1967 TurboTrain press conference - complete audio of the joint CN/UAC/MLW press conference announcing the TurboTrain.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20090226194140/http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/train.html - A brochure by Sikorsky AircraftSikorsky AircraftThe Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. Its parent company is United Technologies Corporation.-History:...
announcing the TurboTrain before it entered service. (archive.org) - HO Scale models of the United Aircraft Turbo