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Posted by
Dutchrailnut
on Sun Nov 6 08:56:17 2005
edf40wrjww2msgDetail:detailStr http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/06commute.html
Connecticut | Commuter's Journal
The Last Stop Draws Near: Catching Up With the FL9
By JACK KADDEN
Published: November 6, 2005
WHEN George L. Humphreys Jr. became a conductor in 1971, the first FL9
locomotives had already been in service for 14 years. Now, Mr. Humphreys
and the FL9 are in the twilight of their careers, so it was fitting that
he was a conductor on a special rail-fan excursion from Stamford to Canaan
two weeks ago that was a farewell to the FL9.
Enlarge This Image (photo on web site)
Jack Kadden/The New York Times
The FL9 at the West Cornwall station.
Mr. Humphreys, who plans to retire next year, has worked mainly on the
Danbury branch, where the FL9's were still hauling passenger trains until
about three months ago, when they were replaced by eight newer Genesis
engines leased from Amtrak.
"I love the FL9," he said. "I love the sound of it revving up. It's music
to my ears. I know those engines better than I know my car's motor."
The first 30 FL9's began running on the New Haven Railroad in 1957.
Another 30 arrived in 1960. Today, only seven remain in service on
Metro-North, for use on work trains until they are no longer worth
repairing. Some of the locomotives have been retired to museums, including
railroad museums in Danbury and Willimantic.
Although the FL9's date from the 1950's, the original streamline design
goes back even further, to the late 1930's when the first F-series diesels
were built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors.
The design has become something of a railroading icon, much as the DC-3 is
to aviation and the Model T is to automobiles. Which may explain why
almost 400 people turned out for the farewell trip, paying $75 for a seat
in coach and $200 for first class on vintage parlor cars.
One of the first-class passengers was Mike Jacob, who came from
Nottingham, England, for the event, and whose job involves buying
equipment for the Great Western Railway back home.
"The FL9 is a very historic locomotive," he said. "It's a classic Art Deco
streamline design. There's nothing of this vintage running in England."
He said he was inspired to cross the Atlantic for the trip after seeing
FL9's in Stamford last year while taking a train. "I saw these
locomotives, and it was like a vision from the past," he said.
The FL9's, which weigh 282,000 pounds and have 1,800 horsepower, were
designed to run on diesel power until they reached the outskirts of New
York City, where they could pick up power from the third rail and run
exhaust-free in the tunnels into Grand Central.
Despite the nostalgia surrounding them, the FL9's were considered far less
reliable when running on electric power than on diesel, and they
deteriorated considerably as the New Haven Railroad sank into bankruptcy
and was taken over by Penn Central and then Conrail. When Metro-North came
into being in 1983, it began a program of refurbishing them.
Still, A. Pierce Haviland Jr., who was an engineer for 16 years and has
been training Metro-North engineers since 1990, said he won't miss the
FL9's.
"For the engineers, they were extremely hot in the summertime and very
drafty in the wintertime," he said. "The new Genesis engines are
air-conditioned."
He added, "Which would you rather drive, a new car or an old one?"
Mr. Haviland let me try my hand at "driving" an FL9 on the simulator he
uses in his training program. Sitting next to an actual control stand from
a locomotive, and watching video of Metro-North track on the Hudson line,
I tried to pull a train into the New Hamburg station.
With my left foot on the dead-man's pedal, I used my left hand to ease off
the throttle and apply the brakes. The train gently glided to a stop - 200
yards short of the station. A second try got us closer, but still left the
rear cars off the platform.
Let's just say it's harder than it looks, and nothing like driving a car.
Early next year, Paul J. Licata will be learning that for himself. Mr.
Licata, who retired recently from Eastman Kodak, is going to school to
become an engineer.
He was on the FL9 trip with his 17-year-old godson, John Simpson, a fellow
rail fan and an FL9 enthusiast, who gave him a ticket for his 46th
birthday.
"He was so excited to give this to me," Mr. Licata said. "The smile on his
face was worth everything."
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