It's been a while, but the LQ is back. Technically this one is not a locomotive, but I couldn't resist doing it. What is this? What was its purpose? What "first" did this railcar achieve?
It has been a while. Welcome back, LQ! Looks to be about mid-1960's. That is backed up by the both those vehicles, plus the fact the people are dressed decently, not like a bunch of ratty slobs as today. Almost has me thinking of Canada, or even Great Lakes-Michigan, USA. Engines in distance have me thinking CN or GTW?
So far, Jason has figured out what it is, but we still need the other parts. (However, he will be one of the winners for this one)
Hmm. This being the case, with crowds as pictured, must be on a public introduction tour, before testing on the RR. Such testing being the first of its kind? If successful, would have replaced something else?
This is the first gas-turbine powered rail car in the US. These guys showed that gas-turbine propulsion in rail cars could be successful. (Unlike Chrysler's attempt at using a turbine engine in a car near the same time as these! It worked... but with too many drawbacks.) Successful tests on these led to the development of the GT/E rail car in the middle 1970s. They were built by the Budd Company in the late 60s. They built two kinds, one that used a mechanical drive with torque converters (GT-1) and one (a couple years later) that could run off third rail power along with the turbines (GT-2). The general purpose was to be for light passenger service. They were test run on the L.I.R.R.
Alright! We have our pair of winners: wcfn100 for discovering what this piece of equipment was and mr. dean for determining the importance behind it. Now, hopefully it won't be so long until the next one.
