[net.railroad] More on turning trains and electifi

roma@uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU (01/27/86)

> Electification:  Required to enter New York City at one time.  The law
> may still be on the books, but for the last 10 years or so the FL-9s
> have been run into Grand Central with diesel engines running!
> 
> Did I leave out any other special electifications?
> 
> bruce alcock

The Illinois Central suburban electrification (1926) was required by a Chicago
city ordinance that was intended to beautify the lakefront, which IC follows
for about 6 miles from downtown.  The suburban service was the first to be
electrified, to be followed by mainline passenger and mainline freight.  But
the mainline tracks never got wired because of the Great Depression.
Ultimately, the diesel rendered the law moot, though I believe it is still on
the books.

Jon Roma
Computing Services Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

UUCP:	 {ihnp4,pur-ee,convex}!uiucdcs!uiucuxc!roma
ARPANET: roma%uiucuxc@uiuc.arpa
CSNET:	 roma%uiucuxc@uiuc.csnet

mcmullen@convexs.UUCP (01/27/86)

/* Written 10:47 am  Jan 24, 1986 by alcock@csse32.DEC in convexs:net.railroad */
/* ---------- "More on turning trains and electifi" ---------- */In GCT (Grand Central Terminal) there is a loop around the lower level
summer and was an ALL PARLOR car train!

>Electification: 
There are two qualifications to your comments on this topic.

   1.  The Harlem Division of NEW YORK MetroRail (I think it
       is formally called MetroNorth (?), I think, has been 
       electrified (third-rail) from North White Plains to
       Brewster.   I read in the NYT that there is not enough
       juice (it 600V dc, remember) to power newer, faster
       coaches on the extension.

   2.  Northern Pacific, now Burlington Northern abandoned
       electrification on its Great Falls-Tacoma division
       in 1974.  Farewell, Little Joes!
   
>Tunnel?!  Did I leave out any other special electifications?

     Yes, you left out the robots.  Specifically, the Black Mesa and ???
     that runs for about 110 miles in Arizona.  It is a unit train
     that delivers coal to a power plant on the shores of Lake Powell.
     BTW, this is 60 Hz 50KVA setup.
     
     A smaller robot is located in East Texas, near Pittsburg TX.
     Like the Black Mesa it delivers coal (actually lignite) to
     a power plant.  Its right-of-way crosses over I30.  It
     too, is 60 Hz 50KVA setup, supplied by GE.
     
     These are the only robots I know of directly.  I think
     there are some older less technically advanced robots
     in the various open pit copper mine throughout the Rockies.
     However, I don't know If these are robots are not.
            
                       Jim Mc Mullen
                       Convex Computer
                       Richardson, Texas
                       UUCP:  allegra@convex

friedman@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU (01/29/86)

>   2.  Northern Pacific, now Burlington Northern abandoned
>       electrification on its Great Falls-Tacoma division
>       in 1974.  Farewell, Little Joes!

I think you mean the Milwaukee Road.  Besides MILW, only the South Shore
Line had Little Joes.  The South Shore's Joes outlived the MILW's, but
they are now retired, also; two of the three went to museums.

roma@uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU (01/30/86)

>    2.  Northern Pacific, now Burlington Northern abandoned
>        electrification on its Great Falls-Tacoma division
>        in 1974.  Farewell, Little Joes!
>             
>                        Jim Mc Mullen

The Northern Pacific NEVER was electrified and thus obviously never
had 'Little Joes'.  Milwaukee Road is the line you're thinking of and
did indeed de-electrify its lines in 1974.

By the way, the Great Northern line through Cascade Tunnel was
electrified until 1953.

Jon Roma
Computing Services Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

UUCP:	 {ihnp4,pur-ee,convex}!uiucdcs!uiucuxc!roma
ARPANET: roma%uiucuxc@uiuc.arpa
CSNET:	 roma%uiucuxc@uiuc.csnet