Fast trains

The US is way behind most other countries in high speed rail (among other things). There are many reasons for this, too many to get into here. The only "high speed" trains in the country are the Acela trainsets in the northeast corridor between Washington DC and Boston, and they max out at around 150 MPH. Almost every other passenger operation pokes along at a maximum speed of 79.

In the mid 1970s New York State was at the forefront of trying to upgrade rail service. The state invested in the rehabilitation of trackage for freight service statewide. They also upgraded sections of track on the New York City - Buffalo corridor to allow 110 MPH opearation. Since conventional locomotive hauled equipment wasn't capable of these speeds, the state purchased a number of gas turbine powered trainsets capable of the higher speed. They were based on a French design, but built in the US.

I liked these trains a lot. Whenever I had the chance to ride one, I did. They featured large windows, comfortable seats, and rode very smoothly on the rebuilt trackage. I even talked my way into a cab ride one time. That was a thrill. Watching out the front window as the speedometer read 110MPH was pretty exciting. It was even a little frightening at times, since the route had some at grade road crossings and you never knew if drivers were going to stay out of your way! By the 2000s the trains were showing their age, and the state spent millions to rebuild them. Unfortunately they never saw service, victims of political infighting between Amtrak and the state.

I captured this turbo near Rochester, NY in the autumn of 1981. Though it is only going 79, it whizzed by me pretty quickly.

Another turbine powered train was tried for high speed service. This was an American design, not as successful. After a very short career in the US in the late 1960s, the trainsets were sold to Canada, who kept them running into the mid-80s. My buddy and I rode them a couple of times and found out that they had so many problems a mechanic rode every trip. It was fun to ride, since they had a raised "dome" on each end where you could sit right behind the engineer. The were no walls between the cars, so on a curve you could watch the inside twist and turn. We called it the "worm train".