BUDD Rail Deisel Cars

Ted, I had a 470 Detroit uprated to 530 or so on a Rockwell.

The combination proved to be easily able to maintain 110-115 at 2100 RPM. And it would lug down from 105 up miles burg on I-80 (Ten mile pull) to about 45-60 and round peak torque with room to lug even more lower.

As fast as this dollar rig was, there were shops in the Nation capable of converting any Desiel to a super rig with special mods and these would run 150+ loaded and have such large power loads available as to require Naval Components in the drive train.

My one Waterloo was in Vermont on a 18%-20% 3 mile grade with a 350 CAT. The poor thing rolled slower than a man could walk fully loaded with everything maxed out. It was simple, you either made it or something will break or fail and stall you.

That little kitty made it, but I think the engine did suffer some damage.

To this day I have never seen the dashboard indicate so many gauges in the red during the pull and keep going. Any one of them could have failed at any time.

I beg the Moderators indulgence. Diesel is good when used correctly in whatever mode of transportation but cannot match Steam or other forms of power when used in high speed transit.

I stopped by Old Towne Gaithersburg earlier today to take a look at the Budd RDC (B&O 1951) that was recently re-located to the city park near the old B&O station.

They've built a couple of wooden access ramps (one on each side) so you'll be able to walk through the car once the interior restoration is complete. Interesting to note two shiny new Carrier A/C units on the underside.

A nice addition to the train display!

I took a few pictures but will probably just wait to post them after new OGR Forum goes on-line in a few days.

Trinity Rail Express, a commuter line between Fort Worth and Dallas has a small fleet of RDCs. Many trains are now more along the lines of Metrolink with Bombardier commuter coaches and F59's. When I was there in 1999, they had a fleet of 13 and told me that they had picked them up from several places across the US and a couple from Canada. Back then they were all re-built and refurbished.

JAYJAY Thanks for the link. The photo of NYC M-457 in front of Suspension Bridge depot brought back some good memories. She used to run right by my house. That beautiful stone building was, sadly, torn down and now AMTRAK uses an UGLY brick building

For modeling purposes, I just bought two model RDC's and those puppy's will pull a long train, but I understand this to be as prototype incorrect.

So after reading this thread, is it correct that RDC's were NOT to pull any cars such as baggage or passenger and were to run only with other RDC's?

That is correct.  Budd would void the warranty when they found out that a user was pulling non-powered equipment with their RDC's.

 

Stuart

Hello All,

 

I recently joined this forum for a couple of reasons.  I purchased my grandson a Lionel starter set for Christmas and I used to work at the Budd Red Lion plant in the Railcar Division.  I just purchased a Lionel Budd RDC car with Alaska paint scheme for display.  I have attached a photo of a 12 car RDC consist for the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Line.  I have also attached a photo of the basic dimensions for the RDC1.  These are from Illustrated Treasury of Budd Railway Passenger Cars, 1931-1981.  I am totally confused by Conventional/TMCC/Legacy/DCS and still have to sort that out.

 

Steve

I think there is a transit authority north of DART/TRE which leased some TRE RDC's.  Connects to TRE at or near Denton, TX.