Engines of Amtrak - Budd Metroliner [REMAKE]

[@asamyers4572]

It’s funny that the Japanese Shinkansen were basically designed after airliners while American engineers saw that their brick wasn’t quite going fast enough so they said, “Make the front a little pointier”

[@rwboa22]

Yet that "brick" - as the Silverliner II - worked well for the PRR/PC, Conrail, and SEPTA until they (along with the St. Louis-built Silverliner III cars for PRR/PC intercity service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg) were practically forced out of revenue service by the FRA due to age-related issues; SEPTA practically buying extensions for their operations while Hyundai-Rotem was getting the SEPTA Silverliner V cars ready for revenue service.

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

Eventually they decided that they needed not a brick, but a toaster.

[@skydiamond8705]

What Japan 0 series sides are flat as fuck only the front of has that big plane Nose and have you seen the T1T4 testing

[@mattskey1]

You do have a "point" there

[@solarflare623]

Huh I have always thought the first gen Shinkansen trains looked like square planes on wheels.

[@pavelsovicka5292]

I am still amazed that they managed to run it so fast given the low power to weight ratio and aerodynamics of a polished brick.

[@jeffarbogash4269]

Yes a polished brick I like it

[@mikeblatzheim2797]

Given that a locomotive that in Sweden only reaches 80 mph in service could match the Metroliner's performance, I'm guessing that getting to those speeds took quite a while.

[@TohaBgood2]

Oh, so that's how they did it! They polished the friggin' brick! Brilliant!

[@russellgxy2905]

The power is kinda why it was so fast. The Metroliners actually have a decent power to weight ratio. They were a bit heavy, yes, but they were the most powerful EMU's at the time at between 1,000 and 1,200 HP per car. Compare that to a weaker 550 HP Silverliner, which managed to reach 156 when pushed and "slabbed," and the Metroliner's speed capabilities make sense. I say their power helped them with speed, I have no clue why their acceleration was so poor. I supposed they would've been quicker had they used AC traction instead of rectifying to DC

[@rorymacve]

Always had a soft spot for the Budd Metroliner, I think because it was a train with a lot of endearing features, but ones that were sadly not fully realised. :)

[@cairowilliams]

woah i love ur vids!

[@skydiamond8705]

Me to their 1960s Shape Make them look amazing

[@rwboa22]

The Metroliner electric m.u. cars were sadly, a victim of the technology that was available at that time. With 50 years of advances in technology, a newer "Metroliner II" type of electric m.u. car could work out, especially on MARC or NJT commuter rail service where the stations are spaced out every 5 miles (SEPTA would have to limit their use on express and limited trains), but not with Amtrak, as they're now fully committed to ordering dual-powered Swiss-style push-pull trainsets for the Empire, Northeast, and Keystone Corridors.

[@RHTeebs]

Would you ever do a video on the Budd Metroliner?

[@russellgxy2905]

@@rwboa22 We were unusually, and annoyingly close to this in the 70's and 80's. Not with the Metroliners, but with the Arrow trains! Not only did Amtrak commonly use the Arrow II's on Clockers, but they also ran them, in a collab with MDOT, on the Chesapeake: a DC-PHI commuter run. The Arrow II's were arguably the best trains for longer commuter and shorter intercity runs since they were the one of the few EMU's built with 2+2 seating. Add the seating layout of the Metroliner, and a snack/bar/cafe car, and you have a perfect intermediate EMU

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

When I was a kid, I thought the Amfleet cars were Metroliners.

[@Boypogikami132]

I mean, some were remade into amfleets

[@mikeweston1582]

When I was a kid I thought they were just amfleet cabcars. I mean, they sort of are.

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

Me as well, because the Amfleets were based on the Metroliners

[@CFRTrainSpotter]

in MSTS, Amfleet cars in the Phase 3 livery are basically called Metroliners, so...

[@gcalification]

Gawd, I remember riding a New York-bound train with a GG-1 pulling and thought it was the coolest looking thing ever. Never knew it was over 40 years old.

[@pacificostudios]

As much as Metroliner underachieved, Amfleet cars are still running all over the USA. Amazing.

[@AmtrakGuy365]

Thanks for watching the video and especially thanks to those who provided footage and pictures for this video too (their links are in the description). Anyway, the original episode for the Metroliner is by far the most viewed of the series so hopefully this remake was worth the wait. At least in my opinion, this one is SO MUCH better than the original lol. Regardless, this is gonna be the last episode for 2021 and I'll pick up the series in January or February 2022. Thanks for your continued support and patience with this series throughout its first full year since being revived!

[@ChrizKeyz]

FYI the 14'10" height was for the Metroliners with the hump, other than that the Metroliners are the same height as Amfleets

[@trainsbignsmall]

Do you have any advice for a engines of Metra series? After seeing your engines of Amtrak (original and remake) I was curious of what you could tell me on how to get help both building up information of both photos, and videos which I don’t have ( like the 1990s just after BN retired it’s E9s), or the early 2000 F40PHs and PHMs, as well as audio samples of horns.

[@IndustrialParrot2816]

i know this is not really related but i am so glad you used some music from super paper mario (cause railways and paper mario are among my favorite things)

[@gamestv-jg5gr]

Talk to me.😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@cyda87]

i've been waiting for this for so long, thank you

[@Polara1524]

If the Metroliners were successful, America would have a MUCH BETTER high speed network than what it is today.

[@GARails]

I 100% agree

[@SomeRamdomAhole]

Not at all…

[@russellgxy2905]

@@SomeRamdomAhole At the very least it wouldn't have scared Amtrak from trying EMU's again

[@iron1349]

Hell, maybe good enough the climate crisis woudn't be as alarming.

[@CSXIV]

It's not the train itself that's the issue. It's the same issue that holds back the Acela; the infrastructure. You can put a new engine on the Acela, but until the NEC is upgraded to handle true high speed rail, the Acela will never reach its true potential. And as expensive as a new engine is, upgrading infrastructure costs billions and take years if not decades. Sure, the Metroliner units had problems, but they were not helped by throwing it on infrastructure that was over a century old and decaying. Contrast that to other high speed rail networks (Shinkansen, TGV), both of which built new rail lines specifically to handle the high speed rail.

[@griffinrails]

the world's most depressing high speed train lmao it still looks nice

[@TheComengSset]

Agreed

[@MarioYoshi4723]

Still pretty impressive it could keep up with a Shinkansen even with no aerodynamics whatsoever

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

@@MarioYoshi4723 american engineering

[@runoflife87]

Nope, the most depressig HST was the ES-250 from Russia.

[@TohaBgood2]

@@MarioYoshi4723 I mean, it's a friggin' brick. But it can go 164mph. But it's a literal brick. But it can go 164mph. But ... Ok, I'll just give it. This doesn't seem like it will ever reconcile in my head.

[@ReidMerrill]

If you asked someone in 1960 which country built the Metroliner, the USSR or USA, no one would guess correctly. It's a very Soviet solution to high speed rail: a big, dumb brick that goes fast.

[@JsRailroadVideos]

I see these Metroliner Cab Cars all the time on the Hartford Line & Valley Flyer services. I’m glad someone made a video about the history behind them. Its very interesting (at least in my opinion)

[@rwboa22]

I remembered when Amtrak used them for Philadelphia-Atlantic City service (the so-called "Gambler's Express") before NJT took over operations and rebranded it as the Atlantic City Line. Otherwise, they're used on the Keystone and Northeast Corridors for Amtrak's "Keystone" service (with the daily "Pennsylvanian" trains using ACS-64 locomotives from New York Penn Station to 30th Street Station, after which GE Genesis locomotives take over for the trip west out to Harrisburg and Pittsburgh).

[@Boypogikami132]

Your profile is literally a metroliner

[@SandBoxJohn]

I road aboard a Washington bound Metroliner train back in the 1970s that hit a top speed of 131 MPH between Odenton and Bowie in Maryland. I boarded in Baltimore and spent the entire trip looking over the shoulder of engineer at the speedometer in the cab of the lead car.

[@IGuessIDoThings]

6:28 I think it’s just the way the photo looks but dang those colors pop! Also that is just a beautiful paint scheme especially with the colors on the front

[@Ligma.balls.42069]

This series is getting even better each video

[@JamesTrifolium]

There’s too much anime.

[@threepea1151]

@@JamesTrifolium nah, it makes it have character

[@JamesTrifolium]

@@threepea1151 There’s still too much.

[@threepea1151]

@@JamesTrifolium who cares… how does that even bother u? Don’t let it get it to ur, jeez, even I don’t like anime, I kinda hate it, but it’s actually nice here

[@JamesTrifolium]

@@threepea1151 Too many close ups, too many smear frames, it’s published by a conservative and it’s made by a state which tortures workers for fucking up in the slightest.

[@kdtrproductions4983]

Lol i liked how you accommodated Mai and Sakuta at 0:58

[@gophils234]

I recently subscribed to your KZbin channel, I thought I knew a lot about trains but in the past couple months I've learned so much more then I could ever imagine. I am 54 years old I grew up in Philadelphia. I live just a couple miles south of where the Budd Red Lion plant was. I believe that's where they made airplanes for World War II went on to make Budd rdc's and the metroliners I remember seeing one outside plant long after it closed. It turned into a golf course that failed and now they're building houses on that site. I also learned welding at a trade school right down the road from Budd's Hunting Park Avenue plant that is where they made car parts. I remember when I attended school back there in the '80s that are welding teacher would tell us if we worked hard we could get a job down at Budd's making $10 an hour. Edward Budd company has a lot of history here in Philadelphia along with the history of building some great trains. Thank you again for some great videos and information!

[@SCL6054Prouctions]

Let's give a Round Of Applause for this amazing video

[@ivanthevaluable2559]

*claps*

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

0:58 That was so satisfying to watch. Government officials have no idea how to run a railroad so them bullying the PRR into giving them clowns what they want was just pathetic.

[@TohaBgood2]

In all fairness, the private companies did not know how to run passenger service either and were much worse than Amtrak in many respects. They were only doing it because they got insane subsidies from the government that were conditioned on them running passenger service. The real problem with passenger rail is that it does not generate its benefits directly from ticket sales but via network effects in adjacent economies. It's the same with highways, bridges, and airports. If you set the tolls high enough to actually pay for the buildout and maintenance, then no one ends up using them. So you absolutely need some mechanism to capture those benefits to keep the service profitable. In Japan and Hong Kong (both notoriously great rail services) they let the railroads get lucrative land deals. The Transcontinental Railroad project gave away so much land to the railroads that they became the largest landowners in the country. Maybe that's how we need to run passenger rail in this country.

[@trainglen22]

I like the fact that the Metro liners were the base for the Amfleet and the SPV-2000.

[@himbourbanist]

it's so wild how these trainsets are predecessors or cousins to basically everything that runs on the NEC today. It was like a baby Acela, the amfleets were based on them, they themselves were based on Budd Silverliners, which themselves were predecessors to SEPTA's equipment, and they even eventually became cab cars for the Keystone service. Kind of awesome

[@bluebellsfan8704]

Awesome video! I love it. Glad you remade this! Fantastic

[@St0rmcrash]

If the Metroliner and SPV had been successful Amtrak's fleet would have looked quite different with a lot more flexibility on frequency and capacity. Sadly while Budd could build a really solid dependable railcar the MU components gave them nothing but trouble and Amtrak has seemingly shied away from multiple units ever since

[@janmelantu7490]

I wonder what would’ve happened if they had gone with Power Cars and Coaches instead of Multiple Units

[@rwboa22]

The Budd Company did build reliable e.m.u. and d.m.u. railcars. Look at the Silverliner II e.m.u. coaches: they were first used back in the early 1960's for the PRR and Reading in Philadelphia (under what later became SEPTA) and remained in revenue service for nearly 50 years; parts and FRA regulations finally forcing SEPTA to retire them (and the St. Louis Car Company-built Silverliner III e.m.u. cars) upon acquisition of the current Silverliner V cars from Hyundai-Rotem. While the Metroliner e.m.u. cars looked good on paper, what killed them was the motors that had to be developed for the expected (but never achieved) 150-mph service. I will say that if today's technology was used on the e.m.u. Metroliners, you could have a reliable intercity trainset that could be used by regional transit authorities (such as SEPTA, NJT, MARC, and Metro-North) that could run express and limited trains and not have to depend on locomotive-powered "push-pull" service. Even Amtrak, using completely rebuilt Metroliner e.m.u. railcars, could have used them for their "Keystone" service, freeing up the ACS-64 electric locomotives for Boston-Washington or NYC-Washington "Regional" service.

[@St0rmcrash]

@@rwboa22 True about the silverliners, and the Budd RDC was a good DMU as well, but Budd seemed to struggle with the next generation cars especially on intercity. I think the big break if the Metroliner or SPV had been more reliable would have been much better flexibility on routes needing short conisists, no longer wasting a loco pulling two or three coaches, and more options for frequency or to run service where a locomotive and coach could be spent better elsewhere

[@JaredBallou]

Weird to think that Metroliners today have been in service as long as the MP54s whose windows got blown out had been in 1968.

[@darryldworak6356]

These cars really bring me back to when I was a kid and first experiencing trains. Though it was after they started life as a cab car and it was the last years of their service on the San Diegan (now Surfliner) It was quite a different time when you would still see F40s running on their own power, Amfleets, Horizons, and my favorite the Dome Cars which were amazing to watch the ocean go by in 🤩 Dash-8s and “new” Genesis series all of which most were rocking phase 3,4 but man I wish I could have rode on a true Metroliner at speed back then I bet it was something to experience 😯

[@streamlinedtransit]

8:34 they leased SEPTA Silverliner IIIs and NJT Arrow IIs, while NJT waited for the NJCL to be fully electrified from South Amboy to Bay Head. Great video!

[@lightningsaviation5130]

Great work as always

[@velocityinstereo]

Wonderful video. Thank you.

[@thiccboionascooter6676]

Nice video I enjoyed it a lot keep up the good work I’m excited to see the next episode of engines of New York central

[@Brianrockrailfan]

Awesome video remake hope you had a good Thanksgiving

[@110_Octane]

Honestly, if they made an engine in the shape of the passenger cars, that would have basically made the metroliner goated

[@TheWarbonnet660]

Your day turns good when a new engines of Amtrak video

[@NorthAtlanticRails]

On June 16,2021 I saw cab car 9632 directly behind an ACS-64 on a Northeast Regional train so sometimes you can see it there too. I also saw it on a vermonter train on September 6,2021 and I think the cab car was number 9651.

[@BlindingLight]

Another day, another remake. Very nice

[@dansweet6793]

I just ordered a Walthers Budd Metroliner and just love it.

[@AndrewTheRocketCityRailfan4014]

The legend returns!

[@Mr.RailYard-LJLRailYard]

Nice video, Amtrakguy365. Love the artwork.

[@Cnw8701]

Some of those rebuilt Budd Metroliner cab cars also served on the San Diegan trains in Southern California, and are still occasionally used as surplus for peak ridership season on the Pacific Surfliner and Capitol Corridor trains in Central California.

[@midmichiganemdrailfan.4187]

Cool Metrolinner video & horns.

[@RiftRaft_]

Keep up the good work

[@BnuuyBoi2005]

Awesome remake

[@trainsplanesmore]

Great documentary!

[@F40M07]

Thank you.

[@anthrax2525]

A few stripped Metroliners were used in commuter service running in the Calumet Region of Indiana into Chicago. They were used as push-pull cab cars until replacement by cabbage-ified F40PHs.

[@kingavery7878]

your vids make my day I'm a big Amtrak fan so that's why you're vids make my day

[@kommandantgalileo]

the Amtrack GG1s looks cool

[@lachlantanseytheii4412]

Finally, loved it

[@SouRwy4501Productions]

I’ll be honest, using Metroliners as amfleet cab-cars is actually a great idea. The amfleet and metroliners have very similar in body style, so it would be rather simple to just remove the propulsion systems and put AAR type B trucks where the driven trucks were, and use them as push-pull cab cars.

[@tech83studio38]

I still love the look of the Metroliner had they been more thought out and made into 6 & 8 car EMU train set like the 0 Series it would have worked .

[@Boypogikami132]

i will miss the metroliners

[@platform1productions297]

Like always great video! If you could consider doing a engines of Amtrak video on the Amtrak turbo train, I would greatly enjoy it, I’ve always been curious about this train set as it seems like it was one of Amtrak’s first original characteristic train service.

[@texasandpacific610]

Some railroad equipment will always be around to this day. Like metra and caltrain still use f40ph locomotives

[@sleat]

Ahh, Budd Metroliners, Silverliners, E-60s, AEM-7s, and GG1s sharing the track on the NEC! Sadly, not even available in simulation, although could be. Fragments of the NEC are currently available as routes, and some of the traction, but not Budd Metroliners, for some reason.

[@evanharkin]

yet another banger

[@PGHammer21A]

I took the Metroliner Service exactly once - and it was plagued (at the time) with overbooking - you almost always had to stand between Philadelphia and Baltimore (which was the case on my one trip). For this reason, I would not take Metroliner Service again.

[@USAFtrain]

l like your content! : )

[@malachimuhammad-dy2ow]

I'm quite sure that the Metroliner service feels like a limited service on Amtrak. But of course, they still ranked in as the fastest trains in North America.

[@lorumipsum1129]

So the metroliners where just silver liners with a bent piece of metal attached too it. Explains a lot honestly. How they where able too go as fast as they where supposed too is beyond me

[@rblakeapostol8151]

I feel like that the aem-7 video is pretty good as it is.

[@ketch_up]

The original video was good...this video is great!

[@TheWinnipegRailfan]

Well done, J-Money! I really enjoyed the part where the

[@navinmcrazy1]

Viagra ad popped up in his 'recently bought'?

[@TheWinnipegRailfan]

SpongeBob, SpongeBob, Patrick, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Sandy, Sandy, Squidward, Squidward, Plankton, Plankton, Plankton, Mr. Krabs, Gary, Gary

[@amtrakisveryepic4169]

I was in the middle of watching the original Metroliner vid you made before you uploaded this lmao

[@texasandpacific610]

“But uh so be it”. That made me laugh. Oh love the videos

[@threepea1151]

I swear sometimes I say, man when is Amtrak guy gonna upload new commentary, after 5 minutes, boom, JINXING

[@SurflinerBoy455]

I hope the chargers are next and i wish you do engines of Metrolink

[@Coaster_Railfan]

Awesome

[@shockstrains5077]

i haven’t played super paper mario in years the music gave me so much nostalgia!

[@Feliex430]

DOT: 4 car Sets PRR: NO! 0:58

[@thedesigner00]

Nice

[@fernandoh3002]

Could you do a series on metro north and Long Island rail locomotives thanks

[@blackopscw7913]

This!!!

[@GEU1164]

You should do the GG1 as well

[@kinyetbrown55]

I love metroliners

[@AweShiyte]

Just a suggestive question for your channel (and going off the note of Metroliners turning into Amfleet rolling stock), what if you made a series about the rolling stock of Amtrak? I know that rolling stock isn't particularly as interesting as the engines of Amtrak, but given that we as the passengers reside in Amtrak rolling stock instead of the locomotives in our journeys, I think it's important to note that rolling stock as well. Although rolling stock hasn't changed much over Amtrak's existence, there is still a variety of rolling stock that Amtrak used and still uses, like the Amfleet Is and IIs, the Horizon coaches, the Viewliners Is and IIs, the Superliners and even the Talgos in the Pacific Northwest.

[@fieldmarshal7298]

You mean coaching stock. Rolling stock includes locomotives too.

[@AweShiyte]

@@fieldmarshal7298 yeah, that's what I meant.

[@nicopavvi8494]

Maybe one or two special episodes, why not.

[@YaoboyProd2K15]

That episode was discussed by Alan Fisher of The Armchair Urbanist before the remake.

[@ICrailroadprod.2007]

You should do one on the GG1

[@Pensyfan19]

Great episode. I assume Amtrak hasn't considered EMUs (or even DMUs) for their passenger services due to the unreliability of the Metroliners? It's also odd to see 3 car formations on the Keystone route instead of an even number like 4 or 2.

[@rwboa22]

"Keystone" service back then was an unwanted stepchild for Amtrak. When the PRR and PC existed, Philadelphia-Harrisburg service would see either GG1-hauled trains or St. Louis Car Company-built Silverliner III electric m.u. trainsets go either to 30th Street Station or all the way to the underground Suburban Station with direct access to both the Penn Center (the former RoW for the PRR's former Broad Street Station) and Philadelphia's City Hall. Only recently (last 20 years) has the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) started pouring money into the (severely) delapidated Keystone Corridor, rebuilding the main infrastructure to allow for 110-mph electrified train service, of which included the refurbishment of the surviving Budd Metroliner cars that were reconfigured into cab-coaches for other corridor-related lines.

[@russellgxy2905]

I've theorized this for years, and this extends to the other commuter routes up & down the NEC. Since the Metroliner's retirement, every commuter operator followed their example in only ordering locomotive hauled trains, with the honorable exception of SEPTA. Even then, the Silverliner V's are a decade old and their latest order was for Sprinters

[@RailsAndContrails]

Ah yes a brand new EOA episode

[@ogjk]

Interesting about the dynamic resistors, you think it would just push power back into the line.

[@Jackcouldnotgethisrevenge]

I very entertaining series amtrakguy and it is a 10 out of 10. Is it possible to due the F and E units or are those not a part of Amtrak’s timeline.

[@skoldmo762]

the most dystopian Cyberpunk train in existance

[@Sunglass_Man]

Could you do a documentary on the IC3 flexliner DMU sets?

[@theanimerailfans2ndchannel705]

I actually already watched this episode on My TV

[@AndrewBullard9170]

Could you do a video about the horizon passenger cars of Amtrak

[@WhiteRiceEater]

Yay remaster

[@Benthetrainkid]

What about the metroliners that were converted to Michigan coaches and inspection car 10005?

[@thatonecaledonian812]

Is the NYC Mohawk gonna be the next ‘Engines of’ video?

[@lukeshinde5213]

By chance, was that last amtrak metroliner clip shown with 103 in New Haven?

[@N00N01]

Me: putts 2 lightweight coaches in between a 2 metroliner cars of NARS in Openttd to piss off the gohst of the highspeed ground board 45-50 years later

[@josephnadler5521]

Why not Amfleets?

[@N00N01]

Cause thats the addon(NARS 2.5)

[@railnaeroproduction6264]

My favorite railcar.

[@robertbalazslorincz8218]

Oh Budd-y, the Metroliner.

[@ogjk]

Come for the remakes stay for the sonic references.

[@domcataldi5188]

Where did you find the video of cab view of the corridor?

[@jordaneriksson5417]

I love the MR.L music its jazzy

[@bigiron2572]

Need a link for the trainz metroliner trains if possible

[@haweater1555]

Please do a video on Budd's SPV 2000 DMU.

[@TomHoffman-uw7pf]

Those things were a disgrace. What I can't figure out is how Budd dropped the ball on the Seldom Powered Vehicle when it made so many other fine products. RDCs are still going strong in Canada. And the transcontinental Canadian is a magnificent train, the California Zephyr of the North. Almost all-Budd bow to stern. Built in 1955.

[@cesarcarranza216]

This one of my favorite electric locomotives that Amtrak had

[@turbochargedtransit7241]

Didn't use my clip of 9649's hybrid K5LA, currently mad

[@mozeskertesz6398]

Why did the Metroliners have no middle coaches? Or stronger electrics to improve acceleration?

[@connorjbarrus3025]

Could you do a revamped version of the GE Genesis?

[@knkjchannel55]

I love me some engines of amtrak

[@theopinurba1999]

Can You re-discuss about the P-42 Genesis and the Acela