Engines of Long Island Episode 1: The MP54 (S1 E1)

[@ohiovalleyrailfan]

Update 12/30/2022- We just hit *10,000 views!* 🎉🎉🎉 Thanks for all your support, and continue to share this video!

[@TheYellowTanker]

Couple of corrections. 4153 is at the Connecticut Trolley Museum. Not Seashore. Currently Seashore's MP54 has a rotted frame and is used for storage. Seashore also doesnt have any plans to restore 4137. The combines were not MP54B's they were MPB54's as later (correctly) stated. The Long Island also owned MPBM54's (motor passenger bagggage mail, one is actually shown behind the MPB54 at 1:52, identifiable by 2 baggage doors on one side unlike the combines which only had one per side), MB62's (motor baggage, the 62 is because the whole car is used for baggage, no vestibules taking up space), and MBM62's (motor baggage mail). The P54's were not trailers, they were just normal passenger cars, they had their portholes blanked out & had no controls. The actual trailers were classified MP54t ("t" standing for trailer). Not sure where the number 626 came from for the amount the LIRR had (perhaps counting only MU's?) as this video includes the P54's the correct number is 923. The PRR number us correct. The New Hope does NOT own any P54's, they do own a decent amount of Reading "Blueliners" with electrical equpment removed. Maybe thats what you were thinking of, even though they have square windows, not "owl eye" porthole windows. The "Ping Pong" nickname was only for the unpowered P54's as they rode on temporary trucks not designed to last long beyond 1963 as they thought the entire railroad would be electrified by then. (Obviously it wasnt) The trucks had too much side-to-side motion and the lack of the weight given by the electrical equipment made you bounce around like a ping pong ball on the inside. This was not the case with the MU's, they were actually very smooth riding cars accoriding to some people. The MP54's were retired in 1972 not 71', a decent amound living in LIRR ownership awaiting purchase or in MOW service. If you want to ride in a Ping Pong the Walkersville Southern in Maryland has 4 in service and one being restored as a cafe car. The Buffalo Cattaraugus & Jamestown Scenic owns 2 Ping Pongs (one converted to a snack car) in Hamburg, New York, albeit with their porthole end windows removed.

[@AmtrakNJTCSX_MTAfannerNYC]

One of them had accidents too

[@tomryan943]

I remember those cars! I lived in Brooklyn when I was a kid, and the LIRR ran along Atlantic Avenue!

[@YukariAkiyamaTanks]

This series deserves a lot more love its a great watch

[@_extra9126]

Ohh boy, can’t wait to see the M1/3 and DM30AC

[@cats0182]

OMG!!! The MP54's. Haven't seen them since they were retired. Thanks for the trip back in time!!!!

[@luislaplume8261]

I am old enough to remember the LIRR electric trains had an air whistle that had a hoot sound that sound like when you blow over a Coca Cola bottle at a 45 degree angle. The Pennsylvania R.R. also had the same sound as the LIRR. I grew up in 1950s thru 1980s NYC. I lived 2 blocks from the LIRR Main Line to Penn. Station.

[@RedArrow73]

VOO-OO-OOP VOO-OO-OOOOP VOOP VOO-OO-OO-OO-OOOOP

[@luislaplume8261]

​@@RedArrow73 Bullseye! After all back in the 1960s I lived 2 blocks away from the main line to Pennsylvania R.R station in NYC in the borough of Queens, neighborhood of Ricmond Hill 40 yards from Jamaica Ave.

[@charonsferryold]

My local tourist railroad, the Walkersville Southern, almost exclusively uses P54 coaches for its trains.

[@hjhkgjfawdferyyurv1222]

2:53 the horn sounds like someone screaming for me

[@nickrod9526]

Those are some old ass streetlights! I remember seeing all three designs growing up in NYC in the 80s.

[@isleman9473]

Rode some of the original 1908 MP-54s back in the early 1960s.

[@stephenrichmond917]

The PRSL, which was 2/3 controlled by the PRR, had its version of the MP54. These were fitted with trolley poles and third-rail shoes.

[@luislaplume8261]

The first air whistle you heard was what all subway trains built from 1903 til 1940 was used on the IRT, BMT, IND divisions. The R10s and up used air horns that sound like car horns.

[@rastewart100]

3:03 where could I get that route

[@otakurailfan]

I look forward to watching this series! Nice to see my local railroad get attention 👀

[@nyrailfan202]

Nice video, lots of history on the long island railroad so it will keep you busy

[@thealmightydoge5653]

2:20 Correction, 65 mph is equal to 105.4 kmh.

[@stevenwaldman7313]

Correction the last Mp54 A-1 built in 1930

[@naddyt6520]

Great video! Can't wait for the C 420s!

[@jerseyrailbuff4147]

Nice video! Man just today I was thinking about doing this series lol. Cant wait for the GP-38

[@Kaipo125]

Do the M7s

[@karenmiller8090]

Great stuff! Watched your 3 episodes and saw some interesting things like the double decker cars and the ability to open some of those windows! Do you have any idea where I can find some interior photos of LIRR trains around 1960 to 65? Would appreciate any suggestions. Many thanks for your work.

[@pnhrailroad]

4153 is at the connecticut trolley museum not seashore..

[@buddmetroliner200gaming3]

where did you find these old footages

[@Stanf954]

The NH&I RR have many MP54 cars sitting on a siding waiting for restoration.

[@TheYellowTanker]

No they don't. Those are Reading "Blueliners" the New Hope doesn't own (now or previously) a single MP54.

[@georgesekavec1020]

3:14 is that supposed to be a certain place? If so where?

[@ohiovalleyrailfan]

Nah, it's just a freelanced route I worked on in Trainz 12. It's called "Long Island & Western," and can be found on the DLS.

[@georgesekavec1020]

@@ohiovalleyrailfan oh ok thank you

[@hectorhardy4781]

Like lirr

[@stevenwaldman7313]

The MP 54 whistle does exist on the internet and I can duplicate the whistle on a Bb clarinet

[@fireriders8319]

This guy said not much was known of the engines before the MP54? Knows nothing. The G5 well documented up until 1955. I rode at 3 years old one of the last rides of the G5 in 1955 when it was being retired. This was in Oyster Bay NY. My next door neighbor was George Valentine a engineer for the LIRR. Had my dad come down to Oyster Bay to see the G5 off for the last time. My dad climbed into the engine carrying me and I remember it scared me to death. I have vivid memories of this significant emotional event. We pulled into the turntable then spun around and pulled out. Pulled ahead of the commuter cars then backed in and connected to them. My dad climbed down with me in his arms and off the train went for the last time. I am now 70 years old and remember the sounds the smell and the heat in the cab of that locomotive.

[@CaptainJoey63]

Brilliant. Now I don’t have to do this.

[@conductork9221]

Very cool

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

Those look really old!

[@RedArrow73]

Lawn Guylint.

[@LIMowersAndMore]

Ping Pong.

[@hectorhardy4100]

Like lirr