The Turbo

Original video footage by Bill Morrison of the VIA CN Turbo outside Montreal's Central Station in October 1982 in preparation for one of its last runs. This is followed by video footage of the new Rapido Trains Inc. HO scale Turbo on the company's display layout.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Turbo
• TurboTrain
• Rapido
• Trains
• Railroads
• Turbine
• UAC
• VIA
• Rail
• CN
• Amtrak
• Penn
• Central
• New
• Haven
• HO
• scale
• layout

[Trainfoamer101]

too bad they removed them because they too much problem

[rapidotrains]

Actually the reasons for retiring the Turbos were complex and largely political. The whole story is told in our book, TurboTrain: A Journey.

[theGUYwho1]

Sir, i evny you, and the rest of the lucky basterds who got to ride that train lol

i wuznt even born yet grrrrrrrrrrrrrr lol

[BeBeBeelzebub]

I rode this train a bunch of times in the late 70's early 80's. It was awesome, like an airliner inside, not at all like a train. Sat up in the loco behind a glass partition you could watch the engineers driving the train and see the track ahead. Even the engineers wore airline style uniforms.

[carpetime]

I can't understand why they didn't try to prefect the technology

[NaziJuice]

@ccolimon did he get the chair ?

[NaziJuice]

@rapidotrains Does it have anything to do with foolish Liberals ?

[TheStefan188]

the first thing i noticed of the train on this vid,it that it's a noisy one

[jslasher1]

I recall receiving a Turbo tie clip from a gentleman who was employed by United Aircraft. He was departing Denver for the U S east coast after having tested the train in Pueblo, Colorado. Later, someone at TWA, for whom I then worked, stole the clip from my uniform.

[tarzan694]

the last train is a toy !!

[ccolimon]

These trains ran in the US near my house. On one trip, some idiot dropped a big rock off a bridge onto the turbo. It smashed through the windshield of the rear power unit, killing a passenger. Regrettable.

[tabhorian]

One of the interesting things that my father explained to me about the gas turbine turbo engine was the air intake on top which was very innovative... water - either from snow or rain had to be removed before mixing with the fuel. The air intake spun the air as it came in, and through centripital force it was sprayed to the outside of the air intake cone where it was drained away from the dried air. The braking system was innovative too - dynamic.

[tabhorian]

I'll have th check out he book. Alan Cripe, and my father, Tom Wheaton, designed the turbo train back then while they were at United Aircraft. My father went on to design the Atlanta MARTA system. I later worked for Alan in Philly when he designed the "RoadRailer" at Bi-Modal Corp.

As a kid, my father brought home small models of the Turbo Train that they used in demos to CN. In spent the summer in Montreal during the Worlds Fair while my father worked with CN in 1967.

[cochranexyz]

@rapidotrains Thanks. I'll have to check that book out.