Were There Diesel Trains In Grand Central In The 70's?

Love to watch videos about that building!

100,000,000 people by the end of the year? WOW.

Even though the FL9 was dual powered, metro North, conrail, pc and NH never shut down the prime mover so the engine was running even in idle right into the 90 St park ave tunnel directly into GCT.

I was just there last Friday and the same with the MN p32's the prime movers are still running abeit in idle.

"Back in the day" the locomotives operating in diesel mode were said to help in reducing the insect population at GCT. I believe it was also considered more reliable as you would not want a locomotive and its train stranded in an unsuccessful changeover from electric to diesel power or vice versa. 

If you like the FL9, Diesels to Park Avenue, The FL9 Story, is one of the better books out there. 

Tom 

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Even though the FL9 was dual powered, metro North, conrail, pc and NH never shut down the prime mover so the engine was running even in idle right into the 90 St park ave tunnel directly into GCT.

Thanks for posting this.  It answered an un-asked question which I have had for decades, i.e., whether the Fireman on an FL9 running on third rail, went back and cranked up the diesel engine about a mile before leaving electrified territory, using the reliable commercial power rather than the batteries.  Now we know.

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

I was just there last Friday and the same with the MN p32's the prime movers are still running abeit in idle.

Does the diesel engine rev up to produce head-end power at the time the third rail shoe is lifted?  Does the diesel engine let out a big belch of blue smoke at the end of third rail operation, after being at Idle all the way into CGT and back out again?

Engineer-Joe posted:

Love to watch videos about that building!

100,000,000 people by the end of the year? WOW.

I was in GCT with my wife the other week, she hadn't been there in like 20 years (we used to live in the Bronx and commuted to Grand Central from there for the time we lived there). Back then it was pretty empty (late 80's-early 90's) other than commuters passing through, now it is amazing how many stores and food places there are there and how crowded it is, even outside rush hour, very different place. 

645 posted:

I can tell you in the late 1980's/early 1990's I saw FL9's come into GCT under diesel power. This was in Metro-North days - can't speak for what was done under NH, PC, CR operating practices or if MNCW changed the way they did it after the early 1990's.

Number 90 / Tom - the standard FL9's as rebuilt by MNCW and CDOT had separate HEP generators. Not all of them got HEP conversions - a few lived and died with (deactivated) steam generators still present. This was no problem as they ran in pairs - one would always have HEP. The Starships (rebuilt FL9AC's) got 710 prime movers, microprocessors and AC traction motors. A Starship had 3,000hp as opposed to a standard FL9's 1,750hp. I believe the HEP was off the prime mover - been awhile since I read "Diesels To Park Avenue" which has details on the Starships. There's some more info on the Starships in the following threads:

http://www.railroad.net/forums...php?f=67&t=56765

https://www.trainorders.com/di...on/read.php?4,909972

Upon arrival in GCT they would shut the FL9's down - yes, plural as they usually ran in pairs except for the Starships which were used as single units. A few minutes before departure the prime movers would be started up - there was some of the usual blue/white smoke for a bit. However when the separate HEP generator was started up that gave out a big thick cloud of BLACK smoke. It was impressive to see standing by the head end in the tight confines of GCT!

I didn't witness Starships coming into GCT so don't know if they also ran on diesel all the way in and out. I *assume* so but can be wrong here...

Yes, Brody should pick up a copy of this book if he truly wants to know about the FL9's:  

At this moment it can be had in $30-40 range from Amazon - well worth it if you like these unique units!

I have a friend who was the Superintendent of the Harmon Diesel Shop and he used the call the ABB Starships "The Most Expensive Locomotives Ever Built" and told stories of how their computers would reboot after going through grade crossings.  

Tom