Roger Williams (train)

The Roger Williams was a streamlined, six car, lightweight, DMU passenger train, built by the Budd Company in 1956 for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The train was based on Budd's successful RDC DMU cars. The end two cars were equipped with streamlined locomotive style cabs and noses, resembling those on the Fairbanks-Morse P-12-42 Diesel locomotives. The four intermediate cars lacked operating controls and cabs.

Roger Williams
New Haven #140 Roger Williams at the Danbury Railway Museum
ManufacturerBudd Company
Constructed1956
Number built1 train set
Formation2 cab cars and 4 intermediate cars
Specifications
Car body constructionStainless Steel
Prime mover(s)GM 110, (2 per car)
Power output550 hp (410 kW) (per car)
TransmissionHydraulic torque converter
Electric system(s)600 V DC Third rail
Current collection methodContact shoe
AAR wheel arrangementDiesel power: 1A-A1 
Electric power: A1-1A
Braking system(s)Air
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

For operation into Grand Central Terminal, the cars were each equipped with third-rail shoes, and small traction motors, allowing them to operate into the terminal under electric power, with their engines shut down.

After a short period of time in high speed service, the train was split up, and the cars were used in service with the New Haven's other RDCs. They worked for the New Haven, Penn Central, and Amtrak, until the last cars were retired in the 1980s. In the 1970s, Amtrak used several ex-Roger Williams cars on the New Haven–Boston Bay State.[1]

The two end cars, and one intermediate car, are preserved in operating condition, by a private owner, at the Danbury Railway Museum in Danbury, Connecticut.

See also

References
  1. Boudreau, Robert (April 1988). "Springfield Union Station" (PDF). Passenger Train Journal. p. 29.
  • Kirkland, John F. (November 1985). The Diesel Builders Volume 1: Fairbanks-Morse and Lima-Hamilton. Interurban Press. ISBN 0-916374-69-6.
  • Kirkland, John F. (November 1994). The Diesel Builders Volume 3: Baldwin Locomotive Works. Interurban Press. ISBN 0-916374-93-9.
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