The New Haven called them the JETS……..

Same here, used to sit in a Honeysuckle tree just west of the Old Greenwich station and watch those beauties go by.    My 2350 has been resting for half a century.  I suspect with a little lube it will fire up.    I'll have to find a D cell for the horn, that may need a little coaxing.

Being a lover of all locomotives under wire, I picked up a K-Line EP-5 earlier this year to pull my GGD and Weaver New Haven cars.  Just need to convert it to two rail and I'm good to go.  I am too young to remember these in operation even if they did finish their days pulling freight trains on the Jamesburg branch for PC and briefly for Conrail not too far from where I grew up.  Great locomotives and great to see yours doing what it was designed for!

Here is New Haven "Jet" #371 - model by MTH with PS1!

MELGAR

As a kid  my friends and I used to play by the tracks in Stratford, CT. There was a lot over looking the New Haven track that we referred to as dead man's curve.

When the EP5 came by, we only heard it when it was near us. The JET flew by and we never heard it coming.

I also have a Lionel 2350. It was featured in 3 cataloged sets in 1956-57. I am fortunate to own one of the sets from 1956……..follow the top shelf to the left……

Peter

The K-Line NH EP5 I got for like $135 has TMCC & Cruise, and the pilots and sideframes are intact. How long that lasts I do not know. Downside is with only two center rollers it stalls on K-Line O72 switches unless its going fast enough. I know GRJ says its only a matter of time before the electronics go, but I guess this engine hasn't read the memo.

@illinoiscentral posted:

The K-Line NH EP5 I got for like $135 has TMCC & Cruise, and the pilots and sideframes are intact. How long that lasts I do not know. Downside is with only two center rollers it stalls on K-Line O72 switches unless its going fast enough. I know GRJ says its only a matter of time before the electronics go, but I guess this engine hasn't read the memo.

I have talked to MTH that it is time to remake the EP-5………it can also wear PC black and a fantasy Hunter Green might be appealing, too…..

Peter

I kitbashed a K-Line EP5 into an E40 and painted it Penn Central black.

The main alterations were the removal of one pantograph and the nearby electrical parts, removing the third rail shoes and installing the grab irons on the nose.

GRJ upgraded the inside electrical stuff for me…

Tom

Amazing how the E40 looks good regardless of the paint scheme.  Too bad PC had to run these into the ground in duties they were never designed for. Seeing a PC Jet pulling a string of stainless cars would have been pretty interesting.

@Krieglok posted:

I kitbashed a K-Line EP5 into an E40 and painted it Penn Central black.

The main alterations were the removal of one pantograph and the nearby electrical parts, removing the third rail shoes and installing the grab irons on the nose.

GRJ upgraded the inside electrical stuff for me…

Tom

Sharp looking engine!

Peter

I’m not a big fan of electric locomotives, but I’ve loved the great styling and colors of the NH EP5 since I saw Lionel’s postwar model.  My K-line model is a York find that still runs well in conventional today.  I run it with pantographs down because, of course, it’s running on a third rail!

No. 379 is seen on the main while the yard goat 0-6-0 no. 2334 makes up it’s train.

John

@GG1 4877 posted:

Being a lover of all locomotives under wire, I picked up a K-Line EP-5 earlier this year to pull my GGD and Weaver New Haven cars.  Just need to convert it to two rail and I'm good to go.  I am too young to remember these in operation even if they did finish their days pulling freight trains on the Jamesburg branch for PC and briefly for Conrail not too far from where I grew up.  Great locomotives and great to see yours doing what it was designed for!

I have one that someone converted:

I was told that the K-Line Jet was as good (maybe even better) detail-wise as the brass import (Overland?).

The stock three-rail ones are not too shabby, either!! I even have one of them.

Dave, thank you for showing your 2-rail K-Line EP-5. As a 2 railer, I am always interested in seeing what can be done with scale 3 rail to 2 rail.

Harley Rider, I converted an A-B-B-A set of 3-rail Atlas Rio Grande F-3s to 2-rail operation, with new Pittman motors in the B units and OSC Blomberg trucks from P&D Hobby. They turned out very well and run great -- I'll see if I can get a good picture and post it later.

Peter,

Your title for this thread is absolutely terrific. I hope we keep it running.

MELGAR

@PRRMP54 posted:

I have one that someone converted:

I was told that the K-Line Jet was as good (maybe even better) detail-wise as the brass import (Overland?).

The stock three-rail ones are not too shabby, either!! I even have one of them.

Dave,

Do you know what the donor was for the drive on this?  This is exactly how I'd like to do mine.

I found these old photos.....Spring 2010....running outside while I was between layouts....

Years ago, I cropped this picture and it was in OGR as "New Haven along the Shore Line".....

I

.....couldn't run it fast, though......

Peter

Some of my EP5 loco's the yellow is a Len Carparelli  paint the  FrankinG has a  fabricated frame and Lionel PW GG1 insides

Hopefully someone will put the right horn sound in (Hancock model 4700 air whistle)

I agree with Melgar that this thread, started by Peter,  and its title, are terrific.

I saw my first real New Haven EP5 Jet as a young child and was dazzled by it. I saw it at the downtown Mt. Vernon, NY train station along the New Haven line.

The video below shows my favorite New Haven jet in O gauge, hauling Williams New Haven passenger cars:

The model of the locomotive is an MTH Railking Proto 2 or 3 (I forget which one) running on DCS.

Arnold

Growing up in Washington Heights in Manhattan my family didn’t own a car. New Haven Railroad, LIRR & NYC were our modes of transportation out of the city. Many great memories on these trains

MTH NH EP-5 with K-Line passenger cars.

https://youtu.be/LkawJF25uUQ?feature=shared

I will add mind to the mix.

This is my JET after I repaired the broken Front pilot (shipping) by actually fixing the pilot to the frame!

Here it is with the NH cars I have!  Also have Pennsy SS pass cars to add to consist which I understand was  prototypical for the wash ran between Hartford and NYC>

Ron

@GG1 4877 posted:

Dave,

Do you know what the donor was for the drive on this?  This is exactly how I'd like to do mine.

No, unfortunately; this was a spur-of-the-moment ebay purchase and the seller was just a re-seller.. The geared axles look like Weaver units; I suspect that this was a home-built design.

Another photo of mine doing freight duties on the DCCentral:

@GG1 4877 posted:

Dave,

Do you know what the donor was for the drive on this?  This is exactly how I'd like to do mine.

This looks like a weaver drive, but I don’t know what locomotive it would have come from? I don’t believe weaver did many six axle units.

Any of these Jets have an engineer named "Bennie"? <crickets>.....

Anyway, I have an old pair of Williams PC EP-5's. I do believe that the Wms units are a bit too short, and they really look sparkly in all that oh-so-shiny 90's Williams PC black.

(Briefly off-topic: I have considered a bashing project on one of them: removal of all the electric loco shell elements, including the rectifier bulge, adding appropriate internal-combustion roof-top details, and doing a freelance UP gas turbine double-cab loco, inspired by the original UP Turbine 2-cab demonstrator, but smaller. The GE styling is all over the Turbines and the EP-5's, anyway. Plus - the Turbines are "Jets" in actuality. Now back to the Topic.) 

under LIVE wire

2350, still my favorite postwar electric!

@Leroof posted:

under LIVE wire

Magnificent, under wire!!!!!!!

Peter

@Leroof  do not often see wire thick enough to hold a curve. Sure runs nice. 

Btw, the overhead wire for the 2350 JET operations is actually  code 100 rail from micro engineering.

My MTH New Haven EP-5 “Jet” #371 (20-2195 – $349.95) with PS1 has been running on my 12’-by-8’ model railroad for 25 years. I’m not sure whether it’s the colors, the jet-like cooling-blower sounds, the horn and bell, the pantographs, the three-axle trucks, or the size, but this model has impressed me ever since I first saw it. I have several later versions of the EP-5 by MTH but the one I run is this first one with PS1. By now, it’s very well broken-in and the internal friction is low, so it runs well at low speeds but, since it’s a “Jet,” I run it at passenger train cruising speeds.

The EP-5 was the first New Haven locomotive to wear the well-known red-black-white McGinnis color scheme and bold block NH logo, but its creators actually were Lucille McGinnis, the wife of New Haven president Patrick McGinnis, and graphic designer Herbert Matter. The Jets used advanced technology (ignitron rectifiers) to convert alternating-current from the New Haven’s catenary to direct-current for the electric traction motors and were rated at 4,000 continuous horsepower with almost twice as much available for short periods. They also had third-rail pickups for DC current on the 12 miles of New York Central’s tracks leading into Grand Central Terminal. The ten EP-5s (#370 to #379) were delivered in early 1955 but returned to GE later that year for modifications and new blowers. They were geared for 105 miles-per-hour although the speed limit was 70 in the electrified zone between New York City and New Haven (72 miles) where they ran. Tractive force was 34,100 pounds with 87,000 pounds available momentarily. During the Penn Central era, the heaviest commuter trains were listed as “MUST HAVE JET LOCOMOTIVE.” Their careers in commuter service ended in 1973 when one caught fire in the Park Avenue Tunnel and they were banned from Grand Central Terminal.

I would welcome the opportunity to buy another MTH model of a New Haven “Jet.”

MELGAR