EMD FL9

ConnDOT FL9 #2027 in a New Haven paint scheme.
Power type	Diesel and Electric
Builder	General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
Model	FL9
Build date	October 1956 – November 1960
Total production	60
AAR wheel arr.	B-A1A
Gauge	1435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)
Length	59 ft 0 in (17.98 m)
Total weight	287,000 lb (130,000 kg)
Electric system	660 V DC
Collection method	3rd rail; early units had small pantographs as well
Prime mover	EMD 567C for early models, EMD 567D1 later
Engine type	2-stroke diesel
Aspiration	Roots blower
Displacement	9,072 in³ (148.7 L)
Cylinders	V16
Cylinder size	8.5 in × 10 in (216 mm × 254 mm)
Transmission	DC generator, DC traction motors
Top speed	70 mph (112 km/h)
Power output	1,750 hp (1,300 kW) for early models, 1,800 hp (1,340 kW) later
Tractive effort	58,000 lbf (258 kN)
Locomotive brakes	Straight air
Train brakes	Air
Career	New Haven, Penn Central, Amtrak, ConnDOT, Metro-North
Class	EDER-5 (2000-2029) EDER-5a (2030-2059)
Locale	North America
Disposition	a few still in occasional service, some others preserved in museum collections

The EMD FL9 (New Haven Class EDER-5) was an Electric-Diesel-electric dual-power locomotive, capable of self-powered diesel-electric operation and of operation as an electric locomotive powered from a third rail. A total of 60 units were built between October 1956 and November 1960 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as a custom order for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (the "New Haven"); EMD beat out Fairbanks-Morse and their dual-power P-12-42 model. The locomotive was based on the EMD FP9, but was lengthened further to accommodate the additional equipment needed, including a larger train heating steam boiler. Because of the additional weight, the locomotive was given a three-axle rear truck, making it of B-A1A wheel arrangement. The middle axle of the rear truck was not powered. The Flexicoil type of truck was used at both front and rear, since this had more room for fitting the third rail shoe and associated equipment. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1644x1392, 411 KB) Summary Photographer: Phil Gengler (pgengler) Source URL: http://gallery. ... The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (AAR reporting mark NH) was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States. ... Electro-Motive Diesels, Inc. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up November in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The AAR wheel arrangement system is a method of classifying locomotive (or unit) wheel arrangements that was developed by the Association of American Railroads. ... Rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the two parallel rails which make up a railway track. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a meter. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... The pound is the name of a number of units of mass, all in the range of 300 to 600 grams. ... The international prototype, made of platinum-iridium, which is kept at the BIPM under conditions specified by the 1st CGPM in 1889. ... Overhead wire in Coventry, England Overhead wire and its suspension system in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA A railway electrification system is a way of supplying electric power to electric locomotives and multiple units. ... The Z-shaped pantograph of the electrical pickup on German light railway. ... For the philosophical/theological concept of a prime mover (that is, a self-existent being that is the ultimate cause or mover of all things), see cosmological argument. ... The EMD 567 is a line of diesel engines built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. ... The EMD 567 is a line of diesel engines built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. ... A Roots Blower refers to a specific design of positive displacement vacuum pump”. // General description The term derives from the Roots brothers who invented the rotary lobe pump more than a century ago. ... A piston and cylinder from a steam engine A cylinder in an internal combustion engine is the space within which a piston travels. ... A V16 is an internal combustion engine in V configuration, having 16 cylinders. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ... Kilometre per hour (American spelling: kilometer per hour) is a unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector). ... SHP redirects here. ... Tractive effort is the pulling force exerted, normally by a locomotive, though the term could also be used for anything else that hauls a load. ... The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (AAR reporting mark NH) was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States. ... The Penn Central Transportation Company, normally called Penn Central, was an American railroad company, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and formed by the merger on February 1, 1968 of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad; the New Haven was added to the merger at the insistence of the... Amtrak train in downtown Orlando, Florida Amtrak’s high-speed Acela Express at Penn Station New York, NY Amtrak is the brand name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ... Marble Hill station The Metro-North Railroad (officially the Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company, and usually abbreviated as Metro-North) is a suburban commuter railroad service between New York City to its northern suburbs in New York State and Connecticut. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... A locomotive (from lat. ... A number of vehicles use a diesel-electric powerplant for providing locomotion. ... Modern three-phase AC locomotive (DBAG Class 152) A GG1 An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electric motors which draws current from an overhead wire (overhead lines), a third rail, or an on-board storage device such as a battery or a flywheel energy storage system. ... Third rail at the West Falls Church Metro stop in the Washington, D.C. area, electrified to 750 volts. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Electro-Motive Diesels, Inc. ... The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (AAR reporting mark NH) was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States. ... Fairbanks-Morse, located in Beloit, Wisconsin has specialized in the manufacture of opposed piston diesel engines for United States Naval vessels and railroad locomotives since 1932. ... The P-12-42, also known as the Speed Merchant, was a streamlined, 1,200 hp locomotive built between 1957–1958, specifically to operate on each end of ACFs Talgo train. ... The EMD FP9 was a 1,750 hp, B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between February 1954 and December 1959 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. ... The AAR wheel arrangement system is a method of classifying locomotive (or unit) wheel arrangements that was developed by the Association of American Railroads. ... Locomotive wheel arrangement is how the wheels of the locomotive are arranged by type, position, and connections. ...

The locomotive was capable of using either overrunning or underrunning third rail by means of retractable shoes operated by pneumatic cylinders. The shoes were retracted to the vertical position outside of third rail territory, where extended, electrically live shoes would have projected towards the low level station platforms that were the norm until the 1970s. A few early examples were fitted with a small DC pantograph exclusively for use within New York City's Grand Central Terminal, where long gaps exist in the third rail because of the complex trackage that includes numerous single and double slip switches and double track ladders. These pantographs were soon removed. The main concourse Grand Central Terminal (often still called Grand Central Station) is a train station at 15 Vanderbilt Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, a borough of New York City, located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue. ...

At Grand Central Terminal, the complex trackage remains, but the overhead wires are long gone. The third rail could be contacted (by dropping the third rail shoe) and the power source switched at speed, as could be the reverse transition. Unlike some other dual-power locomotives in the world, such as British Rail's Class 73, the diesel engine is the primary source of power for the locomotive. Third rail capability was only required because of New York City ordinances prohibiting locomotives that emitted smoke within the Park Avenue Tunnel. The third rail extended from Grand Central Terminal to Woodlawn Junction at the New York City border, where the New Haven diverged from the New York Central Harlem Division. The New Haven operated the FL9's from third rail power between Grand Central Terminal and the 125th Street Station in upper Manhattan. Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... Class 73, no. ... Nickname: The Big Apple, The Capital of the World Official website: City of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area Total 468. ... Park Avenue in the Upper East Side (2004) Park Avenue (formerly Fourth Avenue) is a wide boulevard that carries traffic north and south in Manhattan in New York City. ...

In their later years, when operated by Metro-North Commuter Railroad, a New York State agency, the diesel engines were run within Grand Central Terminal and the Park Avenue tunnel without any apparent concern for the smoke ordinances. New Haven trackage between Woodlawn and New Haven, Connecticut, 72 miles from Grand Central, had been electrified in the early 1900s with an 11,000 volt, 25 Hz overhead catenary system. The New Haven was the pioneer of heavy mainline railroad electrification in the United States. Early plans to extend the catenary to Boston as it exists today were never completed due to the perennial financial problems that plagued the New Haven almost continuously from the 1920s to its demise in 1969.

The FL9s allowed through passenger trains from Grand Central Terminal to reach Boston, Springfield, and other non-electrified destinations without the need for an engine change at New Haven. They were purchased with the intent of allowing the eventual elimination of all New Haven electric locomotives and the abandonment of the electrification east of Stamford, Connecticut, 33 miles from Grand Central. The fact that the entire New York to Boston line is now electrified shows the shortsightedness of this concept, which had been adopted by the McGinnis management to avoid the cost of modernizing the New Haven's Cos Cob, Connecticut power plant. The New Haven to Boston electrification was completed by Amtrak in 1999.

Prior to the introduction of the FL9, all non-multiple unit New Haven passenger trains were hauled by electric locomotives between New York and New Haven, with a change to steam (before 1950) or diesel required for operation beyond New Haven. Meeting the weight limits of the Park Avenue Viaduct in Manhattan, the FL9 finally made it possible to eliminate the engine change. FL9s were used on the New Haven's premier "name" train, the Merchants Limited, which covered the 225 miles between Grand Central Terminal and South Station, Boston on a 4 hour and 15 minute schedule. Park Avenue in the Upper East Side (2004) Park Avenue (formerly Fourth Avenue) is a wide boulevard that carries traffic north and south in Manhattan in New York City. ... For a list of named passenger trains that operated in areas other than North America, please see List of named passenger trains. ... South Station front entrance. ... Boston is a town and small port c. ...

Introduction of the FL9 allowed the New Haven to scrap its entire fleet of pre-1955 electric locomotives, many of which were less than 25 years old. The FL9 had higher operating costs and lower performance than the electric locomotives it replaced. The only New Haven electrics surviving through the FL9 period were the General Electric EP5 "Jets" of 1955. Three FL9s were required to approach the performance of one EP5. But the powerful "Jets" were doomed by poor maintenance, and all were gone by the early 1970s. In keeping with the New Haven's policy of dual service utilization of locomotives, FL9s were used at night to move a Trailer-on-FlatCar (TOFC) train, with difficulty, in one direction between the Cedar Hill yard in New Haven and the Oak Point yard in The Bronx. Assigned to this train in the other direction, an EP5 locomotive could easily outrun automobile traffic on the adjacent Connecticut Turnpike. GE redirects here; for other uses, see GE (disambiguation). ... An intermodal train carrying both shipping containers and highway semi-trailers in piggyback service, on flatcars, passes through the Cajon Pass in February, 1995. ... The Bronx is one of the five boroughs of New York City in the United States. ... The Connecticut Turnpike, more currently known as the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike, is a freeway in Connecticut that runs from Byram to South Killingly. ...

The electrical supply available from the third rail—660 V DC—was identical to the requirements of diesel locomotive traction motors, enabling a fairly easy conversion to a dual-power locomotive. Two batches of FL9s were built; one of 30 locomotives (including the original test units 2000 and 2001, originally built with a "Blomberg" front truck, but later upgraded following testing) built from October, 1956 through November, 1957 of 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) from a EMD 567C engine, and a further 30 built between June and November, 1960 of 1,800 hp (1,340 kW) from a newer EMD 567D1 engine. The paint scheme as delivered was the bright McGinnis scheme of red-orange, black and white and the Herbert Matter designed "NH" logo. FL9s were initially fitted with the Hancock model 4700 air whistle—a trademark of New Haven units of this time—instead of the standard air horns usually found on diesel locomotives. Great Western Railway No. ... Traction motor typically refers to those motors that are used to power the driving wheels of a railroad locomotive, electrical multi-unit train (such as a subway or light rail vehicle train), or a tram. ... The EMD 567 is a line of diesel engines built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. ... The EMD 567 is a line of diesel engines built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. ... Train horns are air-powered horns utilized by locomotives, particularly of the diesel-electric variety. ...

The FL9s could be considered successful, despite being under-powered (compared to the powerful electrics they replaced) and other problems, but for other reasons the New Haven never did abandon its electrification, negating the primary reason for their purchase. In 1969, the FL9s passed to the Penn Central (the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad of 1968), and some were repainted in Penn Central schemes, while others remained in their former New Haven paint. When the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority ("MTA") began funding these commuter services in 1970, many of the locomotives were repainted blue with a bright yellow nose, although they remained Penn Central-owned. The locomotives passed to Conrail in 1976. 12 FL9s were sold to Amtrak, six of which were remanufactured by Morrison Knudsen starting in 1978. The Penn Central Transportation Company, normally called Penn Central, was an American railroad company, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and formed by the merger on February 1, 1968 of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad; the New Haven was added to the merger at the insistence of the... 1893 map The Pennsylvania Railroad (AAR reporting mark PRR) was an American railroad existing 1846–1968, after which it merged into Penn Central Transportation. ... The New York Central Railroad (AAR reporting mark NYC), known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the North-Eastern United States. ... The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation of the State of New York chartered by the New York State Legislature in 1965. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Conrail 6114, a GE Dash 8-40CW, leads a train westbound out of Altoona, Pennsylvania. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... Amtrak train in downtown Orlando, Florida Amtrak’s high-speed Acela Express at Penn Station New York, NY Amtrak is the brand name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ...

In 1983, Conrail passed its commuter operations completely to state agencies. In New York State, the MTA formed Metro-North Railroad as a subsidiary company to operate these (and operations in Connecticut under contract with that state). The locomotives were repainted in Metro-North colors, and a large number of them, now in some cases over 25 years old, were rebuilt and modernised. 10 FL9s rebuilt for the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT) were painted in the original New Haven paint scheme, which has since been applied to remanufactured locomotives in the CDOT's Shoreline East service pool, and on four new GE Genesis II P32AC-DM dual-mode locomotives. 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... Marble Hill station The Metro-North Railroad (officially the Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company, and usually abbreviated as Metro-North) is a suburban commuter railroad service between New York City to its northern suburbs in New York State and Connecticut. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A pair of GE Genesis locomotives Genesis (officially trademarked GENESIS) is a series of locomotives produced by GE Transportation Systems, a subsidiary of General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania. ...

Many were only replaced in the early years of the 21st century by new power, a service life of almost 50 years. Seven still remain in service for Metro-North work trains, until "they are no longer worth repairing." [1] [2] A number have been donated to museums in the area, and the Amtrak units were purchased by New Jersey's Morristown and Erie Railway for tourist train service, and two of them are now serving in Maine for the Maine Eastern Railway. The 21st century is the century that began on 1 January 2001 and will last to 31 December 2100. ... The Morristown and Erie Railway (M&E) is a freight short line based in Morristown, New Jersey. ... Official language(s) None Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 39th 33,414 sq mi  86,542 km² 190 miles  305 km 320 miles  515 km 13. ...

References

• Hollingsworth, Brian and Arthur F. Cook (1987). The Great Book of Trains. Portland House, New York, NY. ISBN 0-517-64515-7.
• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Milwaukee, WI. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.

Diesel cab and cowl locomotives built by GM-EMD
Cab units (F- & E-units): FT, F2, F3, F7, FP7, F9, FP9, FL9, TA, EA/EB, E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6, E7, E8, E9, AB6 Cowl units: F45, FP45, F40C, F40PH, F40PH-2, F40PH-2C, F40PH-2M, SDP40F, SD40-2F, SD50F, F59PH, F59PHI, SD60F See also: List of GM-EMD locomotives