Turbo (train)
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- This article is about the United Aircraft Corporation TurboTrain, a train used in Canada and the United States.
For the French Turbotrains, see Turbotrain.
The UAC TurboTrain was an early high-speed train manufactured by United Aircraft Corporation that operated in Canada between 1968 and 1982 and in the United States between 1968 and 1976 (though they were not disposed of by Amtrak until 1980). Canadian National Railways in May, 1966 had ordered five TurboTrains of seven cars each for the Montreal-Toronto service. In CN's marketing literature, this train was referred to as the Turbo (although it remained the TurboTrain in CN's own documentation and communication with UAC). Canadian National trains were planned to operate in tandem sets of 14 cars with a total capacity of 644 passengers, but only operated singly in service. In 1971 a rebuild program was put into effect, converting the five 7-car sets to three 9-car sets and selling the spare equipment to Amtrak as two 4-car sets. One of those sets sideswiped a freight train on a test run in 1973 and burned up before delivery. The three 9-car sets entered service for CN in late 1973. According to CN's own records, the rebuilt TurboTrains had an availability rate of over 97% for the rest of their careers with CN and VIA. The Canadian trains were built by Montreal Locomotive Works, with their ST-6 gas turbines supplied by UAC’s Canadian division (now Pratt & Whitney Canada) in Longueuil, Québec on Montréal southshore. [link]
It was operated by the Canadian National Railways until 1978, and then by their successor, VIA Rail, until 1982, on the key passenger route called the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor between Toronto, Montréal and Québec.
The TurboTrain also entered service for the Department of Transportation in the USA in 1968. it was operated by Amtrak for routes between Boston to New York.
The American TurboTrain was built in a 3-car configuration but this was expanded to 5 cars in 1972. TurboTrain cars are 75 cm (2 1/2 feet) lower than conventional cars. The lower center of gravity improved track holding.
A Talgo-inspired link between wagons was provided. Two cars shared a single axle truck between them, and the wheels were guided around curves by guidance arms.
This UAC train was one of the first tilting trains to enter service. A major technological advance was its passive pendulous banking suspension system. The trains were suspended from near the top of the cars by four-bar mechanisms, above the center of gravity, on an A-frame type of assembly. The suspension system was located between the cars. In the power dome cars, it was located beneath the domes. This tilting mechanism inspired the second generation of Talgo trains that entered service in the eighties.
With its lower center of gravity, pendulous suspension system and guided axles, this new train can round curves, with no change in present tracks. TurboTrain cars bank inward around curves under the influence of centrifugal force. This is called a passive tilting mechanism. It made for a smooth ride at high speeds but could be a bit shaky going over switches in and out of the terminals.
The TurboTrain was pulled by two Power Dome Cars, each powered by two ST-6 gas turbine engines. The gas turbine powerplant was the famous Pratt and Withney ST6, which is a ground-use version of the PT-6,, installed in many aircraft and helicopters. They used a hydraulic transmission system with gear reducers. It was operated at 400 or 500 horsepower, yet weighing only 135 kg (300 pounds) with accessories. Since the gas turbines were so small and compact, they were located under passenger-carrying domes. A DC motor powered by a 3rd rail pickup assembly (a friction guide slipping on a third track) allowed the train to operate in the tunnels leading to Grand Central Station and later Penn Station in New York City. This train shared an innovation with its French Turbotrain counterpart: to be the first to be powered by a gas turbine.
It achieved speeds as high as 160 km/h (100 mph) in regular service. In terms of records, in its three car configuration, the TurboTrain was achieved a speed of 275 km/h (170.8 mph) on the U.S. Department's high speed test track on the Penn Central’s main-line between Trenton and New Brunswick, New Jersey on December 20, 1967. This is still the North American speed record for the fastest production train, despite the attempts of Acela to unseat it. On April 22, 1976, a Canadian record was set at the speed of 226 km/h (140.6 MPH).
The Turbo’s final run was on October 31, 1982. It was replaced by LRC trainsets from Bombardier Transportation, which employed conventional diesel-electric locomotives.
In the early 2000s, some of the ideas behind the Turbo reappeared when VIA and Bombardier Transportation proposed upgrading the same routes to use Bombardier’s experimental JetTrain, a new turbine-powered tilting train capable of cruising speeds in the range of 240 km/h (150 mph) and TGV like top speeds of 300 km/h (185 mph), developed in France from the former French Alsthom Turbo-Train.
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