The story of America's gas turbine TurboTrain

With real, made-for-aircraft gas turbine engines aboard, an aluminum shell, and a state of the art tilting system, this was supposed to be the future of fast trains in North America.
But after a troubled launch event, ongoing mechanical problems and rising oil prices, the future wasn’t so bright after all.
So stick around until the end of this video to find out the story of the American TurboTrain, a 170 miles per hour gas turbine track machine that had all the right ingredients to be great, but eventually went up in smoke. Literally.
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[@fntony4967]

You had me at Turbo Train.

[@tihspidtherekciltilc5469]

This channel is going to blow up and I'm doing my best to make that happen.

[@wharris302]

Shame the owner appears to have given up

[@MegaGeorge1948]

Gas turbines were also used to haul freight as early as 1948. Union Pacific gas turbine locomotives that ran on the high viscosity bunker oil. They were nicknamed "big blows" for their deafening jet engine exhaust noise. They were rated at up to 8,500 HP a piece. The Union Pacific GTELs were a series of gas turbine-electric locomotives built by Alco-GE and General Electric between 1952-1961 and operated by Union Pacific from 1952 to 1970. The huge locomotives, with their big appetite for fuel oil, eventually fell victim to the more efficient diesels, and in 1970 the turbines ran their last miles. Source: Union Pacific Railroad.

[@johnflanagan9153]

The UAC Turbotrain was way ahead of it time, but one of the reasons it didn't last with Amtrak is they didn't know how to maintain properly at the main Amtrak maintenance facilities, mainly at Boston's Southampton St. facilities. The normal car inspectors had no real, firm knowledge of the car consist, especially the passive banking system, which was quite complicated...even after modifications and improvements. My late, great father was Division Road foreman for Amtrak all throughout the 1970's and ran the set many times. When it was functioning properly, it was really fantastic and futuristic. The oil embargo didn't help, but it didn't play as big of a role as you might think. A major accident when a freight sideswiped one, causing huge damage but no fatalities. Working on outdated, unwelded rail not made of concrete didn't matters much either since the yaw and oscillations, due to the articulated "bogie," single axle between car. Had they just waited another six years, when the Northeast Corridor would undergo its greatest refurbishment. All rails from New Haven to Boston were completely replaced with welded rail and the implementation of concrete ties, which massively improved. Ride comfort and performance would have excelled, and the problems of the past would have vanished. Both sets Amtrak were running went to Fields Point in Providence, RI, where they would sit till 1980 until sold for scrap. Such a shame not one survived, as it was the first, tentative step toward what would the Acela in 2000.

[@RuneTheFirst]

I remember the AMTRAK units sitting for over a year in the Philadelphia 30th street yard. One had its nose doors open the whole time. The yard crew clearly didn't give a fig about them. Then they were gone.

[@johnflanagan9153]

Your recollection is wrong Ray. After their final, revenue (passenger) trips, both sets were towed to "Fields Point, RI" where they would rot until 1980, before being sold for scrap. The Turbotrain never made it any further than Grand Central station since no third rail, mainline track would support third rail equipped. Not sure how you came to this deduction, but they never left Rhode Island until 1980. You're either thinking of the RTL Turboliner, a completely.differerent concept. Or the LRC.

[@centredoorplugsthornton4112]

​@@johnflanagan9153 some components were sold to Via Rail for its TurboTrain fleet.

[@Nate-zy1qr]

TURBO! It makes my day when the TurboTrain is brought up. It's one of the more overlooked parts of railroad history. Also, I appreciate the footage credit. Subbed

[@alfulton5946]

I would love to get big red and build a shell replica with a diesel engine or even better an electric version just as a showpiece and camping car hauler.

[@donaldhawkes5226]

You can see this turbo train Penn central line in a movie "the 7ups " pretty close to the end of movie

[@BobNWFA]

Thank you for creating this video documentary about the UAC Turbotrain!! I was lucky to be able to ride one between Boston and New York in 1969. It was exciting and the future seemed so full of promise then. The interiors of the Penn Central/New Haven Turbo were stylish and beautiful, and the biggest treat was the upper level dome seating in the power cars, with 360 degree views.

[@interstellarphred]

Rode the Turbo a few times just for the dome view; could watch them drive. It was hard riding and bouncy, and the engines roared loudly when accelerating, performing less well compared with the service offered by the electrics. Turbines on wheeled vehicles never lived up to the hype. could do 120 MPH where the ACELA does 150 today but could go faster than same where there are speed restrictions due to sagging catenary on the 11Kv wires.

[@matthewgeist1067]

I was a baby when the turbo trains sets running around USA and Canada I saw my first at model train show it was the bacmann turbro train in ho scale it was pretty cool looking you're site about the turbo trains was cool thank you.

[@danielebrparish4271]

I think the Boeing 707 sealed their fate. Cheap to operate and able to move at 5 times the speed of the turbo train no matter how much snow and ice had accumulated on the ground between destinations. Jetliners can't be blocked by any accidents involving other jets making it much more reliable than any ground transport system. With no infrastructure needed for an airline to change destinations, they can respond to customers changing tastes without any additional expense in a matter of days or hours.

[@petersilva037]

this train went by my school every day when I was growing up. it was on the Montreal Toronto rail corridor. I thought all passenger trains were like that at the time...

[@Greatdome99]

Don't forget Union Pacific's sizeable fleet of gas turbine-electrics (1954-70) Lightweight trains don't ride well since half the springs are in the track itself, which only sags under weight. The UA gas turbines were common in many turboprop airplanes and the 747 auxiliary power unit.

[@jamesmoitoso6627]

My father worked on all 3 amtrack turbo trains what we called the shipyard back in 1970 - 71-72 province Rhode Island He welded a car back together after a fire, he's almost 84 now and still kicking

[@johnflanagan9153]

There were TWO sets Amtrak operated from 1971 till 1976 as "revenue" service, passenger trains...not three.

[@makdemir]

Very nice one again give us more with technical details... :)

[@benwelch4076]

Another what may have been. Too bad a turbine hybrid wasn't done after they had scrapped the trains. This channel is a hidden gem.

[@roberthill3207]

Excellent video i appreciate your channel 👍have a great day everyone.

[@Miniaturehorseexpress]

If you think this is impressive, Let's get a video of Union Pacifics turbine locos they used outta cheyenne wyoming to pull over the rockies in the late 60's to mid 70's 👍👍👍

[@amplituhedron5582]

That car designed seemed familiar, Talgo ended up fixing most of the problems, and they were said to be extremely comfortable due to the monoaxles.

[@leemiller4375]

Now someone needs to make a turbine bicycle.

[@jcrides1320]

How is this channel this small????

[@davidstambaugh569]

Why was the turbo powered indy car was silent but these trains sounded like a jet aircraft. Really loud.

[@casebarreoltt5990]

mileage?

[@rossbryan6102]

I GOT TO SERVICE ONE OF THE TURBO TRAIN SETS IN KANSAS CITY AT&SF YARDS ONE EVENING! THEY HAD BEEN AT THE AAR TEST CENTER AT PUEBLO AND WERE HEADED BACK EAST! THE STOP IN KANSAS CITY BEING ONLY A FUEL STOP AND DAILY INSPECTION! I DID GET IN THE CAB AND ENGINE ROOM FOR A QUICK LOOK! IN MY RAILROAD CAREER IT WAS THE ONLY TIME I EVER SAW ONE! I WASNT IMPRESSED BY IT, AND FELT IT WAS ONLY GOOD FOR SHORT HAUL LOCAL SERVICES, AND LONG HAUL HIGH SPEED SERVICES WOULD MAKE THEM A MAINTENANCE NIGHT MARE! GIVE ME THE PRESENT AMTRAK LONG DISTANCE BILEVEL AND LOCOMOTIVE SETS ANY DAY!! THE PRESENT TALGO SETS ARE A JOKE, ALSO!

[@garrettrobets8809]

Wow so sad

[@azfa_ra]

Imagine how advanced America would be if the 1970s oil crisis never happened 😳

[@fredericrike5974]

Imagine how advanced we might be if the big oil companies exploring for oil in the ME hadn't set out to rob and rape the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula. Read Daniel Yergin's "The Prize" about the history of the oil industry from 1860- 1981. FR

[@FSXgta]

we would hit global warming 30 years faster

[@fredericrike5974]

@@FSXgta Too true! FR

[@interstellarphred]

Imagine how good our trains would be if not for Ronald Reagan.

[@bigrobnz]

everything cool in this world has to be destroyed......sigh.....