Back then, you could ride on a train powered by up to 12 300 hp Pratt & Whitney gas turbine engines which enabled a top speed of 170.8 mph on a test run on the Pennsylvania Railroad between Trenton, NJ and New Brunswick. Though designed to be used at 120 mph in Canada, it achieved 140.55 mph near Gananoque, the Canadian record to this day. However, in regular passenger service the Turbotrains were limited to 95 mph in Canada because of the Canadian route's numerous grade-crossings, estimated at 240 public highway grade-crossings and 700 agricultural or private crossings between Montreal and Toronto. Although they had an early reputation for unreliability, according to CN's records, the rebuilt TurboTrains had an availability rate of over 97% for their careers with CN and Via. Sadly, not a single one was preserved. Nice catch, Brian - thanks for sharing!
|
|