GM's AeroTrain: The Train of the Future?

The 1950s were seen as a prosperous time for American society and culture. Post-war nuclear families had fallen in love with the automobile as new highways were built to further connect the nation. On the other hand, this was the beginning of the downfall for American passenger rail. Railroads were losing too much money to the competing cars, buses, and airplanes. So, the railroads reached out to automaker General Motors for an answer. They wanted a fast and flashy train to bring back riders. Their product would be a train that didn't look like anything anyone had ever seen before. But was it going to save the passenger rail industry?
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[@AviationCommercials]

GM always shooting themselves in the foot.

[@MidlandMainlineMadnessandmore]

Sounds about right

[@superbrownsheep3777]

@@MidlandMainlineMadnessandmoreFrom a Giant Vehicle Superpower, to just a generic automobile manufacturer just like Ford.

[@TailsFan369no2]

Emd: Am I a joke to you

[@SomeRamdomAhole]

@@TailsFan369no2 This joke would've been funny if you spellcheck EMD*...

[@TailsFan369no2]

@@SomeRamdomAhole darn autocorrect

[@SalmanMentos]

The aerotrain literally looks so futuristic yet so old I love it

[@solarflare623]

Straight out of fallout

[@MidlandMainlineMadnessandmore]

​@@solarflare623it's just less likely to blow you up :D

[@Graham-ce2yk]

It is to my knowledge the only trainset to be fitted with tail fins, take a close look at the Obs Car.

[@sotomanuel3]

I like the gm aero train😂

[@MSP-km6li]

Retrofuturism

[@thesudriana016]

The Aerotrain maybe a flop, but I'm glad that it was one of the few streamliners of America that is still preserved today. I first learned about through I Love Toy Trains, but it didn't mention the rough riding that became a flop. That said, I turned to my book "The Illustrated Dictionary of North American Locomotives" to understand more of its history.

[@BB_Sebring]

I remember learning about it through I Love Toy Trains also. It just mentioned that it had a compressed-air suspension and that the observation car looked like a 1956 Desoto. Good enough for kids but not nearly enough meat for any parents watching but I digress

[@yeoldeseawitch]

"My grand dad says the aerotrain looks like a 1956 DeSoto. Whatever that is" Jeff McComas "I Love Toy Trains"

[@dannyh.s.1936]

I had to look up what Desoto is.

[@mattskey1]

@@dannyh.s.1936 same. and it's a beautiful elegant car

[@dannyh.s.1936]

@@mattskey1 it looks like every 1950/60s car ever made.

[@IndustrialParrot2816]

It's kinda ironic that passenger service is being brought back with a new trainset with the same name The Amtrak Airo

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

Yeah I'm beginning to see a pattern emerge

[@nathancorcoran5347]

Great video about the GM’s cool AeroTrain, despite some problems with them. It was also great that they have preserved some at two railroad museums. Also, I am going to be visiting the Santa Train Ride at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, Nevada on December 3rd 2023 where they will be running Virginia & Truckee 25 (Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1905).

[@MurraydeLues]

I love it. Looks like something that would be in the Thunderbirds puppet show from the 60's

[@adalbertbuchaniec1199]

I was at the National Railway Museum(Green Bay) last week to see the Big Boy, A4 Pacific "Dwight D. Eisenhower", and their GG1. Every time I saw the AreoTrain, both scale and full size, they look ridiculous but I can see why GM styled them that way. The museum is worth a visit if you have membership to a museum in the ASTC system.

[@kaleblowe2604]

Went there one time I never knew how big the gg1 is until I saw it in person

[@kadyn9088]

I went there yesterday as of typing this, gotta say that those locomotives are way bigger in person

[@Pensyfan19]

Great video! Nice to see some attention on individual trainsets in more of these videos. I never knew that the Talgo sets were sneaked behind the aerotrain sets. Very clever of the Rock Island.

[@sct913]

The Jet Rocket consisted of an Aerotrain locomotive and 1955 Talgo cars, and I believe entered service before GM/EMD began the Aerotrain demo runs. Although the Rock Island later owned both of the full Aerotrain sets as well, the Talgo cars could not be intermixed with the Aerotrain cars due to design differences. Fun note: When Rock Island later acquired the full Aerotrain consists, they inadvertently coupled some of the cars into the consists backwards (source: Partick Dorin's book 'Commuter Railroads'.)

[@kiefershanks4172]

Maybe GM made the Aerotrain suck on purpose because, you know, cars. Maybe making it underpowered and uncomfortable was exactly the point so they could sell more cars.

[@TheEldritchHyena]

The one hole with that theory is that GM's Electro-Motive Division (EMD) also designed countless regular trains for the railway market which were mass-adopted by virtually every railway in North America, with many of them still in service today. If their plan was to intentionally make a badly-designed train to get more people to drive cars, why would they also make tons of extremely well-designed and reliable trains that were so versatile they became the industry standard? It doesn't really make sense.

[@tedolphbundler724]

@@TheEldritchHyena They wanted to get passenger trains (money losers) off the tracks to make more room for profitable freight trains. If passenger trains had their own tracks like the do everywhere else, it would have been a different story.

[@BnuuyBoi2005]

I'm glad two of them have been preserved

[@Slipperyisimproving]

GM Aerotrain could have been successful had it not been designed based off buses. The Rock Island would wound being the only true customer of the aerotrain. Thankfully we saved two aerotrain sets for preservation and there are mini versions of the Aerotrain like the Viewliner which stopped operating and the Zooliner. We can learn what went wrong with GM Aerotrain and work from there.

[@oldtechnobodycaresabout]

A bit like a pacer

[@DTD110865]

The Aerotrain's own defects and slow speed were the train's undoing. Plus, some of features of the buses of the 50's like the GM PD-4501 were actually influenced by the dome cars on trains which started in the 1940s.

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

I really like the aerotrain painted just sliver on the rock island! It’s not too fancy and looks great!

[@Crushstation]

Your narration continues to improve. Keep up the nice work!!

[@cnwproductions]

Having seen both of the survivors, its great to see a video talking about them. Keep up the great work!

[@F40M07]

Not this failure of a train… Great video as always my man!!

[@Stooltoad5017]

I have personally seen the Aerotrain at the National Railroad Museum. I would recommend checking it out if you end up in the area. It seems to me if GE hadn’t cheapened out on everything the train itself would have been alright. The streamlining on it looks cool though.

[@markmh835]

Where is the National Railroad Museum?

[@NJP76]

@@markmh835 Green Bay Wisconsin.

[@Stooltoad5017]

@@markmh835NJP is right.

[@railfandepotproductions]

*GM

[@Trainbuff26]

My takeaway from this video is that the AeroTrain was essentially the platypus of the railroading world

[@matsv201]

Or it was a head of it's time. Look at something like ICE-L in Germany. While it desinged very diffretly, the core concept is basically the same

[@SteveInNEPA1]

The "I like money" quote made me laugh. 😂 thanks. But our 3 cats were slightly miffed at the cat running on wood floor comment. Ok... great video. Confession (yeah, I'm Catholic) my fave train growing up was the Amtrak Turbotrain... it reminds me of a 'slightly' more practical updated version of the monstrosity that was the Aerotrain.😊

[@warmstrong5612]

A passenger train built by a company that has a vested interest in the success of the passenger car. The AeroTrain never had a chance.

[@Horrifying_turtle_penis]

I thought the same. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I think the bad design quality of the Aerotrain was intentional, being yet another effort by GM to kill public transit in America so they could sell more cars

[@trainnerd25]

that rock island edit was smooth!

[@BNSF_101]

Another video about obscure locomotives! Nice!

[@matthewpowell2429]

I got to see the AeroTrain at St. Louis around 12 years ago.

[@TheDarkPhoenix23]

Awesome video! I always like the design of the Aerotrain, so always good to see videos about it.

[@MatNichols-iz9dy]

Although you can't ride the real deal, in the Washington park Railways replica of the aerotrain is quite nice and pretty. She's my favorite of the fleet. Plus, they have a replica reno I believe

[@22NCRAILFAN23]

my favorite train set!

[@EmperorJake]

I wonder if giving it Jacobs bogies and a second power car would have solved most of its problems

[@eugeeropel5572]

Although the AeroTrain did not do what it was designed to, it was the one of the most awesome looking trains on the railroad. I have one on my model railroad and a color lithograph of the AeroTrain as well. By the way, the BL-2 was extremely sleek looking too and I’ll be watching the video on the BL-2 following this one and giving that one a thumbs up as well. Thank you for sharing these vintage videos, they’re outstanding. 👍

[@jordansean18]

Everytime i saw this train at the Oregon Zoo i thought "what the heck is that train supposed to be based on??" Haha thanks for the vid

[@norCali36]

Very interested video on the AeroTrain set. Learned a lot on this unique train set.

[@TheYardLimit]

I have seen both of the preserved trainsets in person, but never looked at them closely. I wonder how gutted they are. It would be neat if one could be restored to operation. They probably aren't geared well for running in a loop at a museum.

[@rexracernj7696]

Very complete (& creative!) video, liked the quick background appearance of "The Rock," one of so many nifty quirks. BTW Chuck Jordan designed LOTS of GM cars, including the famous extreme-tailfin 1959 Cadillac.

[@Water_Rabbit]

Absolutely fascinating history. Thanks for posting.

[@paulleow8017]

Wouldn't the railroads going to GM to create a viable competitor to cars be like slugs asking Morton salt how they can stop slugs from dying?

[@Sleepyatmost]

I'm gonna have to be honest this looks like a train you'd see in Fallout

[@jfmezei]

I am very curious if GM just allocated small amount just to say they got in passenger rail business or whether this was a serious effort with inadequate experience. The lack of horsepower in the locos is inexcusable for a company that made locos. Consider the next north american train would be the United Aircraft turbo train in the mid 1960s. Aluminium, jacobs bogies, mechanical tilting, turbine engines and I think still has the speed record for north america. This was just a few years behind the Japanese Shinkansen whose first iteration was not that much faster than the Turbo (albeit: real service speed on Shinkansen vs trials for Turbo. The turbo had all the modern train designs that are still used on trains such as TGVs. It did not last long in USA (but did sport Amtrak colours for a few years) but CN in Canada had invested enough in it that it made it work, albeit with a few years of downtime while it was all fixed up (and they went from 5 7 car trains to 3 9 car trains). These traisn lasted into early 1980s. After the Turbo, the only trains the USA built were done with steel and eventually steel industry protected by FRA rules to favour heavy steel trains. Cou;nt import a TGV, so a customer heavy steel Acela was built for Amtrak with a few TGV loco components included. The rest had nothing t do with TGVs due to steel structure, old style bogies etc. It wasn't until 2018 that the FRA relented and allowed use of modern traisn in USA (they had no choice because Amtrak had already placed order for a mix of TGV locos and Pendolino coaches for its replacement Acelas (the mid is why the locos don't "match" the coaches). Aluminium becomes very important in curves because total mass of each car puts lateral force on the rails, so going too fars means the rails can be detached from the railroad ties. Heavy cars can't go as fast due to that cant defficiency. Banking also helps reduce lateral force on the rails in curves (assuming the banking actually works). What is amazing is that the USA was a leader in "high speed trains" in the steam era where PRR and NYC competed on who could be fastest betwen New York and Chicago. NYC even had long gulleys filled with water along the tracks so a steam engine could pickup water without stopping. This is why that GM aero train was just a let down with marketing totally unsupported by actual design.

[@sebastianschroeder6459]

If anyone wishes to go see this train in person, I suggest go to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI. It's a great thing to go see, sadly you can't board her anymore but still a cool site!

[@owenjones9659]

1:21 i saw THE original Buick LeSabre during The Amelia Concours d`Elegance earlier this year

[@doppelf5210]

amazing video as always . hey can you do a video about german steam locomotives and there history here are some examples the BR 10 , the short lived life of the BR 06 and my favorit engine the BR 18 201 i would realy love it if do it

[@uncinarynin]

GM: Let's build something to demonstrate passenger trains don't work so we can sell more cars.

[@sct913]

While both Aerotrain sets were built with ten cars, I've always understood that a maximum nine-car consist was ever operated in service. The tenth car of each set was retained at LaGrange as a 'test car' to try out modifications that the railroads may have recommended based on their in-service experience.

[@MiaCollinsNeighborhood]

Wow, this thing is right on track!

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

3:22 to me, if i were the designer of this train, that low powerful engine just would not cut it

[@babyjesusvideo]

Me early in the video: a loud uncomfortable emd? Sounds like something Metra would run Me by the end: oh shit I was right?

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

I really wonder why they made so many weird decisions with this, it genuinely could’ve been a great idea, but the bus-bodies were never gonna be a good idea, the engine was seemingly deliberately underpowered, and the fixed length was always gonna be a downside. It seems like they shot themselves in the foot completely, did they not see it coming?

[@hedgehog3180]

It was certainly one of the trains of all time.

[@Ryan_Rail]

because these trains were so light, they derailed due to high winds when running through the canyons.

[@railfandepotproductions]

Did that really happened?

[@yixnorb5971]

I was commuting to Chicago on the Rock Island. Train consist was 1926 passenger cars. The conductor warned us to keep arms inside the windows. Soon an aerotrain whizzed past us at speed.

[@visionarylocomotiveworks9703]

"My grandpa says the Aerotrains looks like a 1956 DeSoto. Whatever that is."

[@Charlie----WWHG]

I've seen this train in person, it is a super cool looking train they have one at the kirksville train museum near St Louis Missouri, they also have one of the Union Pacific big boys there as well (of course not running)

[@Charlie----WWHG]

The name of the museum is the national museum of transportation. The latter listed in the video.

[@SP4449Railfan]

Great video!

[@leehuff2330]

I guess you could say GM went completely off the rails on this one.

[@bob_._.]

I think your disparaging remarks about the Aerotrain using the same engine as the SW-1200 are specious. If it can switch a yard full of cargo wagons it's got plenty of power for a few lightweight passenger coaches and if you were insinuating about the train speed, you do realize that the engine doesn't drive the wheels directly, that it turns a generator that can power either low-speed switching motors or high-speed passenger motors... yes?

[@MygrandpasTrain]

Ive seen the one at the National Railroad Museum in person. Its as ugly now as in it was back then, but it is still worth visiting. You can walk through some of the coaches behind it, which are regular coaches

[@canucksfan2024]

Great video it needed more power definitely but amazing train!

[@sernajrlouis]

Great video

[@galinneall]

That was really interesting. Of course, in every railway history book I've seen, there is always the obligatory promo photo of the Aerotrain, but I've never really seen any info on the technical or performance details. So it was good to see just how it was built and what happened to it.

[@JNRC62fan]

The AeroTrain belongs in Fallout, id love to see it in Fallout 5

[@asteroidrules]

The Aerotrain wasn't the only time GM tried to make a train styled like a car. Contemporary to the Aerotrain General Motors Diesel in Canada made two models of streamlined diesel-hydraulic switcher called the GMDH-1 and GMDH-3, yes I said switcher, no I don't know why they thought it made sense to streamline switchers. Unsurprisingly these were an even bigger flop than the Aerotrain, less than 20 GMDH-1s were sold and only a single demonstrator GMDH-3 was built, although the GMDH-3 does survive in operating condition to this day.

[@GintaPPE1000]

I think some of the problems with acceleration can be attributed to the LWT12 having only 2 traction motors. Solo 1200HP locomotives have worked for passenger service before, hauling trains of similar or sometimes even greater weight than the AeroTrain: the EMC EA, UP's M-10000 and M-10001, the Green Diamond, GM&O's Rebels, and the early Zephyrs. But all of those power units were B-B instead of the LWT12's B-1, and we know from the 6-axle vs. 4-axle debate (plus multiple unit trains like the Shinkansen) that more motors means more kick from a start even if at high speed the difference is more minor.

[@collinthetrainfanatic]

We also have MTH models of the Aerotrain.

[@cmdoc8789]

It does suck that no rear cars were saved.

[@ivanthevaluable2559]

5:05 This was the very first time I actually saw the AeroTrain go that fast; in all other footage I saw of it moving it was running at a snail's pace

[@redlinedreamin]

The picture at 4:21 looks like 95th street on the Beverly Sub

[@MidlandMainlineMadnessandmore]

Bus bodies not being good for trains... memories of the pacer anyone...

[@ColoradoTrainNerd-xc9io]

I have a video recommendation, you should do something on D&RGW trains, maybe something about the standard gauge

[@Metra167Productions]

Oh Boy! F U N N Y L O O K I N G T R A I N

[@brightlineflorida1221]

This could be something that could be in the Fallout games

[@flakyandstayinfrosty]

i like the design i wish a company like rapido would make a ho scale model of it

[@Ty-yt3lj]

Gotta love these brilliant lookin disasters

[@ivertranes2516]

It's almost like GM, who coincidentally made busses, designed the Aerotrain to disappoint the train riding public so they would use busses instead.

[@harrisonallen651]

Americas electric engine that was ahead of its time

[@banksrail]

2:00 “Hello 😁 🦀 I like money!!!🤩” lol

[@IanZainea1990]

I mean. They probably wanted the passenger train service to fail

[@buzzcuttsshorts]

I saw a Aerotrain in Real life and rung the bell of it.

[@kfcroc18]

The most 1950s train I've ever seen.

[@NW-gi1cp]

The aerotrain solos any ocs 🤣💀

[@BNSFrailfan214]

I like trains and planes, so this is a funny combination in my opinion.Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Delta Airlines bought this, LOL.

[@agungheryadi4226]

Just look at 0 series Shinkansen 😅

[@BNSFrailfan214]

I’ve heard of it, it’s so sick!@@agungheryadi4226

[@T-Jay13]

Now we are getting a airo

[@rexracernj7696]

Say, could you do a quick vid on NYC's "Xplorer" and NH's "Dan'l Webster" & "Roger Williams," two other attempts at 1950s lightweight trains (also failed)?

[@danielboone3770]

I love the aero train

[@BNSFTrains10]

1:23The Christine from the 1983 Horror Film as shown on the bottom which is a 1957 Plymonth Fury.

[@thegamerguyyt]

Hay i got a flashback of this type of bus body thing. The britts did the same thing. on the br class 142 pacer thay used a layland national bus. Also mayby Rolling stocks of amtrak

[@everythingiscool6228]

Nice

[@rus0004]

So the railroad went to a car company, asked them to build an alternative to the car, and then wondered why they were sold a turkey...

[@Tiekorolivier]

Have you heard about the french Aérotrain project, that was Led in the sixties and was in fact a guided overcraft running on a concrete track ?

[@okipullupon747sp]

Hi

[@Planes_man]

Hello

[@Autistic_EthanOfficial]

Lesson learned: make something new and different to attract people to trains

[@jo2n847]

Sometimes when I look at the AeroTrain and its appearance I cant help but compare it to the design of the KiHa 81 series. Perhaps JR just decided to copy GM's homework and make their own. Or I could be utterly wrong ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯ Nice video!

[@senorsoupe]

Good thing nobody else ever built a train based on a bus body.......

[@MrAsianPie]

Who thought it was a good idea to design a train like a bus?

[@mattthedoormat]

Britain did something similar with the Pacer trains

[@Jw15918]

They fr said "lets make a car on rails"💀

[@jankington216]

The SW1500 of the future

[@the_crystalg7111]

So Amtrakguy, just before watching this video, I have found out that Amtrak has plans and federal funding for new rail lines in my state of Ohio, one of which is being considered to be high speed rail, the Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati line. I don't know if you had heard about it yet or if you had thoughts on it.

[@tutus3dall-starsmultiversa646]

I don't know what's worse: GM and EMD trying to bring passenger trains back with this monstrosity, or Ferrocarriles Argentinos not being able to dieselize until the 70's

[@silvanacassanelli5339]

Te comento que un genio en Argentina el ingeniero de origen italiano Pedro Celestino saccaggio que trabajo en el ferrocarril Sud después el Roca fue el pionero del diesel eléctrico construyó un prototipo en 1930 y más tarde en los años 50 las locomotoras fadel Justicialista que fueron acopladas al expresso el marplatense los coches budd que fueron comprados por ferrocarriles argentinos batiendo un récord de cuatro horas y minutos desde buenos Aires a mar del plata es lo sé de historia es interesante te mando un saludo Silvana de mardel

[@inconsistencyiskey6862]

For some reason it gives me Turboliner vibes

[@jimmypetrock]

Dang, missed it again!

[@steamship999]

What does the horn sound like

[@WasatchGarandMan]

0:53 GAT MUFUKIN DAMN NEPHEW

[@lukethegeneralelectrice60p80]

rock