Amtrak's Rhor RTL Turboliner trainsetsThese gas tubrine "Turboliners", of which a total of 7 were ordered, were delivered between 1976 and 1977. They were manufactured by Rohr Industries, and were known as RTL Turboliners. They were based on the earlier RTG series which itself was based on an Americanized version of the French ANF T 2000 RTG Turboliner. Amtrak earlier purchased 6 of the RTG series in 1973 for use in the Midwest from 1973 to 1981. The newer RTL Turboliners had American-style couplers throughout, higher floors, wider bodies and a more angular cab car design. These entered service on the Empire Corridor in the state of New York in 1976. The RTLs remained in service there through the 1990s, supplemented by several rebuilt RTGs. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, New York and Amtrak partnered to rebuild the RTLs for 125 mph high-speed service; this project failed, and the last RTL trainsets left revenue service in 2003, with all but three being scrapped. The two here, which may have been recently joined by the 3rd, were brought from storage at Bear, DE for use in first responder emergency training. They are expected to be scrapped in the near future - unless... someone comes through with a plan to save 'em. Photo taken with permission and escort.
An even earlier example of a gas turbine powered train was the UA (United Aircraft) "TurboTrain" (as opposed to "Turboliner") seen here. No surviving examples of that train remain, despite ownership to this day of the North American high speed record for a non-experimental passenger service train set - reaching 170.8 mph at Princeton Junction, in NJ, on December 20th, 1967.
