25 for 25: The Era of Streamlined Trains - The New Haven Railroad’s Comet
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- Опубліковано 17 лип 2021
- With its introduction to the United States in the 1830s the railroad train was immediately heralded as the fastest method of transportation, yet even from the beginning the railroad companies were constantly seeking ways to increase the speed of their trains, pushing them to transport passengers and freight to their destinations in the shortest time possible. The New Haven Railroad’s high speed regular service trains began in the 1890s with the Limited Express and the Air Line Limited, and by 1930 the Yankee Clipper traveled from New York City to Boston in four hours and 45 minutes.
By the 1930s, with the rise of transportation alternatives including busses, trucks and privately owned automobiles, the railroad industry turned to a new type of high-speed technology - the light-weight, streamlined diesel train, inspired by aerodynamic Art Deco design.
The New Haven Railroad’s streamlined train was Comet, which made its debut in April 1935 to serve as a commuter link between Providence, Rhode Island, and Boston, with its “44 miles in 44 minutes” schedule. Comet was a three car double-ended diesel-electric articulated train that could operate in both directions, with diesel power plants at both ends of the train, using two six-cylinder 400 horsepower diesel engines built by Westinghouse. It could comfortably travel at 100 miles per hour. This video tells the story of Comet and the New Haven Railroad’s only streamlined train of the 1930s.
This video is part of the digital exhibition 25 for 25: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Collecting, presented by the Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Library.
Continue Life by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
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One of the advantages for the New Haven was the train was making 5 round trips a day. For a steam railroad this was unprecedented. The increased productivity was a major financial incentive for a railroad in bankruptcy. Additionally having operating cabs at both ends meant not having to pay for switch crews at the end of the runs.
A most enjoyable story. Thank you from Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Thanks for this comprehensive look at one of the great streamlined train sets of the 1930's
Wish these were preserved.
My Godmother and her husband both worked for the NEW Haven RR. Classy couple for sure.
Thanks for a great overview. Very informative info.
*Simply wonderful nostalgia. Having commuted from Darien To NYC during the late 80's and 90's I would have LOVED to have ridden such a comfortable train. OBTW The picture of the auto in Ridgefield, my home town, brings back some great memories as I enjoy my retirement in North Carolina! THANK YOU.*
Hi Laura,
Thank you for this very well done look
into the history or railroads.
Wonderful voice.
She can't pronounce Boston.
Very enjoyable railway video, thank you from the UK.
Curious that this train was ordered from Goodyear-Zeppelin, a company otherwise making airships. Also curious that only one was ever built, with no series production planned. Normally you'd think of trains to be something produced, maintained and operated in series of similar units, not just one, which causes problems whenever it is in need of repair or maintenance.
New Haven later tried out a number of different units. The "Roger Williams" (1956) was a modified six-car RDC with semi-streamlined noses (again just one set produced). The "Danl Webster" (1957) was a Pullman-Standard "Train X" with specially designed Baldwin locomotives. The "John Quincy Adams" was a variant of the Talgo II which had been produced in the 1950s by acf for Renfe (Spain). In the 1960s NH planned to operate the United Aircraft Turbotrain (but was merged into Penn Central before that train was completed).
I grew up in Norwalk , Ct on the New Haven to New York commuter rail portion of the New Haven RR. Did not know about this particular train nor that the railroad records are at UConn. Would love to visit!
Interesting topic with an excellent presentation!
Thankyou they had a lot of intresting named trains as experiments, the tango based ones did not fair as well as the comet.
New Haven being in bankruptcy meant they were willing to try things that increased productivity or saves money.
TY - nice video and information.
Excellent video! Love it! 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏻
The 'single' at the end may be the only railroad promotional song that was actually released as a popular record!
Hi Laura, thank you for sharing this fascinating history on the New Havens Comet. I have read many books on the new haven, and I’ve never come across these photos. Its great to hear the New Haven collection is in safe hands at Uconn.
Great video!
Reminiscent of the famous Brill Bullet Cars, which I rode as a young'an.
Very interesting that thanks something new to me cheers
The Comet had station times at 30 seconds when passing towers.
Like train
Only in service 16 years? And then scrapped? What a crime. Perhaps its operating costs were too high.
0:38 *"Eighteen-Thirties" & *"heraldED".
Yes, 1830s -- the first long-distance railroad in the world was opened in South Carolina in 1831. Now, I'd argue that much of the actual operation of railroads was more concerned with profitability 'charging what the traffic would bear' instead of increasing speed for its bragging rights -- read W.H.Vanderbilt's actual words surrounding the 'public be damned' comment -- but by the early 1890s the United States had the fastest regularly-scheduled trains in the world, not incidentally at the same time it was the world's sturgeon-caviar supplier.... in the service from Philadelphia to Atlantic City.
Nice presentation and I love the streamlined look but describing it as "technology" I think is a stretch. For trains it was really just a styling fad. Covering a locomotive with sheet metal really just made it heavier and harder to service. Any small contribution in lower drag coefficient was not enough to have an effect on speed capability.
That was true for most American 'streamlined steam' -- but less so for the original Kantola 'Commodore Vanderbilt' design, and not really true at all for the early-Thirties motor trains. Effective streamlining was less important than low weight 'aircraft'-style or Shotwelded construction, articulation, approaches to better primary and secondary suspension, etc. It is no accident that Comet was built by an airship company during the brief window that "the future" held a place for rigid LTA...
not understanding the choppy timings to the slides hereabouts
anyhow 🍸 ua-cam.com/video/Agl5JJ-ypsI/v-deo.html 💋
They couldn’t have got a better speaker?
I like her voice. And she is the person responsible for the collection from which the information and pictures were taken.
Yes but the L.N.E.R built a stream liner using the A4 Pacific designed by sir Nigel gresley from London kings cross to Edinburgh and the west riding limited fr ok m kings cross to Hull and a stream liner from kings cross to Newcastle central with a speed
As in the United States, the shouds on both classes were progressively cut back, and in the case of the LMS were removed as soon as no longer useful in publicity. (The A4s, like the Milwaukee A's, looked funny without streamlining, and it might be added that while I love the C&O Hudsons without the Yellowbelly shrouding -- I have only seen one picture, but it was even more formidable than the F-19 it was built from -- steam ended before the shrouds would have been taken off.
As with the BR 05 class that was the political competition for the A4s, there were certainly benefits from the streamlining (and lower frontal area) at steam 'record speeds' above 125mph. Volumetric efficiency is falling dramatically that fast above diameter speed, just as air resistance is building to require additional hp for acceleration.