Long Island Rail Road rolling stock

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{{main|Long Island Rail Road|History of the Long Island Rail Road}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}

The Long Island Rail Road owns an electric fleet of 202 M9, 836 M7, and 170 M3 electric multiple unit cars, and a diesel and diesel-electric fleet consisting of 134 C3 bilevel rail cars powered by 24 DE30AC diesel-electric locomotives and 20 DM30AC dual-mode locomotives.[http://mta.info/lirr/pubs/Assessment09-27-07.pdf Consultant's assessment of the LIRR] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305234411/http://mta.info/lirr/pubs/Assessment09-27-07.pdf |date=March 5, 2009 }}, Page 21

History

When the LIRR began operations in 1836, it leased the newly opened Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad, including its two duplicate steam locomotives, Ariel and Post Boy, both built by Matthias W. Baldwin. (Ariel was Baldwin's 19th engine, built in 1835.) The LIRR soon acquired, through the B&J, Hicksville in 1836 and John A. King (the only engine built by the Poughkeepsie Locomotive Company) in 1838. Post Boy was sold off after an 1852 accident.Ron Ziel and George H. Foster, Steel Rails to the Sunrise, ©1965 Both the "Hicksville" and the "John A. King" were likely acquired second hand by the B & J in 1836 and 1838, respectively.

The "Hicksville" was acquired by the B & J in 1836 from a canal building concern "Proprietors of Locks and Canals", based in Lowell, Massachusetts. This company is still in existence. According to Robert Stephenson and Company records, in the year 1831, the firm of "Locks And Canals" purchased two locomotives new from the Robert Stephenson Company (order # 8 and 17) in England. It is likely the B & J purchased one of those two engines, second hand, from Locks And Canals in 1836, and renamed it the "Hicksville" (after Valentine Hicks, second President of the LIRR, and founder of Hicksville, NY). It is also likely, that at some point prior to its re- sale to the B & J, the engine in question was modified to Stephenson's famous 2-2-2 wheel arrangement.

According to "The History Of Brooklyn", by Hazelton, ca. 1920s, the LIRR acquired a second hand locomotive originally named the "Taglioni" from "the Dutchess County (NY) Railway, of British origin, with a large funnel smokestack". This is likely to be the "John A. King". The "Poughkeepsie Locomotive Works" may have only performed a wheel arrangement modification on a pre existing British built locomotive. Poughkeepsie is also located in Dutchess County New York, hence the possible entity name confusion in the Hazelton book.

Long before modern piggyback services, the LIRR began carrying farm wagons aboard flatcars in 1885.

In the early 20th century, the LIRR was a testing ground for the Pennsylvania Railroad's electrification, including Phoebe, its first electric (AA1), and was the first company to extensively electrify its primary lines. The DD1 electric locomotives were developed from the prototypes that were tested on LIRR trackage. Later it saw power such as the B3.

The LIRR's steam passenger locomotives were modernized from 1901 to 1906, and by 1927, it was the first Class I railroad to replace all its wood passenger cars with steel.

In 1926, the LIRR was the first U.S. railroad to begin using diesel locomotives. The last steam locomotive was a G5s operated until 1955.

Electric storage battery cars were used on the West Hempstead Branch (Valley Stream to Mineola) from 1913 until it was electrified in 1926, and on the Bushwick Branch prior to the end of its passenger operations in 1924. The Central Branch from Garden City east to Mitchel Field was electrified with third rail in 1915, but used ex-Ocean Electric Railway trolley cars until 1933. Normal electric trains, such as the MP41 were then used until 1950, when they were replaced by MP54's until the line's abandonment in 1953.[http://arrts-arrchives.com/CEXT1.html Long Island Rail Road Central Extension: Hempstead Crossing to Camps Black and Mills (Arrt's Arrchives)]

The Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority started tests of the first gas turbine-powered commuter rail car in September 1966. In late 1967, a second phase for a dual-mode train with gas turbines that could also run on third rail was expected to begin. The cars, if tests were successful, would provide an alternative to extending electrification, eliminate the need to change from electric to diesel trains at Jamaica, and speed travel. The demonstration program's first phase was expected to cost $1,386,000 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|1386000|1966|fmt=c}} today), of which the Budd Company, the manufacturer, and New York State covered one-third of the cost, and a grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development would cover the remaining two-thirds.{{Cite book |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/unionturnpike/54050445750/in/photostream/ |title=Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority Annual Report 1966-67 |date=1967 |publisher=Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority |year=1967 |pages=17}}

One of the most popular decisions by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller after the 1966 takeover was replacing the entire electric passenger fleet with M1 cars.{{cite web |last1=Halbfinger |first1=David M. |title=COMMUTING IN MISERY: A special report.; The Long Island Rail Road: Busiest, but Far From Best |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/30/nyregion/commuting-misery-special-report-long-island-rail-road-busiest-but-far-best.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=March 24, 2019 |date=July 30, 1999}} It acquired 770 M1 cars built by Budd and General Electric from 1968 to 1974, and 174 M3 cars, built in 1985 and 1986, also by the Budd Company.William D. Middleton, Railway Age, [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1215/is_n4_v190/ai_7517321/pg_3 Old lines, new challenges - Northeastern U.S. commuter operations], April 1989William D. Middleton, Railway Gazette International, [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-13362584_ITM Long Island Rail Road builds for the future], August 1, 2004

By the late-1990s the LIRR diesel fleet consisted of 28 EMD GP38-2 and 23 MP15AC diesel-electric locomotives, along with approximately 223 passenger cars, mostly former electric multiple units. These trains were operated using 1950s-era P72/PT75 series coaches built by Pullman-Standard, with a diesel-electric locomotive on one end, and for the other end of the train, an older locomotives converted to a "power pack", in which the original prime movers were replaced with {{convert|600|hp}} engines/generators solely for supplying HEP (head-end power for the lights and heating) with the engineer's control stand left intact. Locomotives converted included Alco FA-1s and FA-2s, EMD F7s, and one F9. One individual power pack was further converted into a power car for the C1 bilevel cars in the 1990s. The power packs were later sold to other operators, preserved in museums, or scrapped.{{cite web|url=http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirrFA/lirrFA.htm|title = LIRR FA Units}}

In 1997 and 1998, the LIRR received 134 double-decker C3 passenger cars from Kawasaki, including 23 cab control cars, and 46 General Motors Electro-Motive Division diesel-electric locomotives (23 diesel DE30ACs and 23 dual-mode DM30ACs) to pull them, allowing trains from non-electric territory to access Penn Station for the first time in many years,Railway Age, [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1215/is_n4_v196/ai_16826594 For Long Island Rail Road, a new diesel fleet], April 1995Railway Age, [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1215/is_8_203/ai_90989668 Long Island Rail Road - In Transit - repair contract], August 2002 due to the prohibition on diesel operation in the East River Tunnels leading to Penn Station.{{cite web |last=Castillo |first=Alfonso A. |date=September 15, 2010 |title=LIRR cuts include rescue trains near East River |url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/lirr-eliminates-locomotives-from-east-river-tunnel-1.2293876 |website=Newsday |access-date=March 24, 2019 |language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324030038/https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/lirr-eliminates-locomotives-from-east-river-tunnel-1.2293876 |archive-date=March 24, 2019}} They were also the first trains with computerized voices (complete with LED sign displays) announcing stations along the routes.

Starting in 1999, the LIRR bought 836 electric M7 electric multiple units from Bombardier, replacing its M1 cars.Nick Anastasi, Railway Age, [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4189/is_20020517/ai_n10165321 Long Island Rail Road to buy 678 new rail cars], May 17, 2002Business Wire, [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_July_22/ai_n14813492 Bombardier Receives Orders Valued at $425 Million US from Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road for Additional M-7 Electric Multiple Units], July 22, 2005 These cars have an automatic station announcement and LED sign display system.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4vOjoBCGxA|title = - YouTube|website = YouTube}} Delivery started in the early 2000s, with the first ones beginning revenue service in October 2002.

On September 19, 2013, it was announced that the LIRR would procure new M9/M9A cars from Kawasaki.{{cite web |url=http://www.mta.info/news/2013/09/19/new-railcars-lirr-metro-north-fleets |title=New Railcars for LIRR & Metro-North Fleets |website=MTA |date=September 19, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030053357/http://www.mta.info/news/2013/09/19/new-railcars-lirr-metro-north-fleets |archive-date=October 30, 2014}} This procurement included a firm initial order of 92 cars. Given sufficient funding, an option for an additional 324 cars was available. The cars were to replace the M3s and expand the fleet in preparation for service to Grand Central Madison via East Side Access.{{cite web |url=http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/140728_1200_CPOC.pdf |title=Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting |website=web.mta.info |access-date=January 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801140126/http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/140728_1200_CPOC.pdf |archive-date=August 1, 2014 |url-status=dead}} The first M9s entered revenue service on September 11, 2019.{{cite press release | title=LIRR to Introduce New Fleet of Rail Cars Tomorrow | agency=MTA | date=September 10, 2019 | url=http://www.mta.info/press-release/lirr/lirr-introduce-new-fleet-rail-cars-tomorrow | access-date=September 12, 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914005505/http://www.mta.info/press-release/lirr/lirr-introduce-new-fleet-rail-cars-tomorrow |archive-date=September 14, 2019}} As of June 2022, 132 M9s have been delivered to the LIRR, and their procurement was nearly three years behind schedule.{{cite news |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/transportation/labor-shortage-nebraska-plant-delays-delivery-new-subway-cars |title=Labor shortage at Nebraska plant delays delivery of new subway cars |last=Spivack |first=Caroline |date=June 28, 2022 |work=Crain's New York Business |access-date=July 19, 2022}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/transportation/m9-cars-behind-schedule-pajyqu3e |title=LIRR's M9 cars 17 more months behind schedule |last=Castillo |first=Alfonso A. |work=Newsday |date=June 27, 2022 |access-date=July 19, 2022}} The last of the M9 cars, were delivered in May 2024, and the last cars entered revenue service in November 2024.

In summer 2017, the LIRR leased 8 single-level coaches from MARC in order to free up their C3 coaches for the Montauk Branch.

The automated announcements provided on the C3 and M7 railcars were voiced by WALL radio host Van Ritshie.{{Cite web |last=ConorConor |date=2024-11-08 |title=Remembering "The Voice of the Hudson Valley's" Christmas Classic [VIDEO] |url=https://wrrv.com/remembering-van-ritshie/ |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=92.7/96.9 WRRV |language=en}}

Active rolling stock

=Locomotives=

class="wikitable" |
Builder and model

!Photo

!Build
year

!Fleet numbers

!Active

!Power

!Notes

EMD
DE30AC

|150px

|1997–1999

|400–423

|24

|{{convert|3000|hp}}

|

  • 423 converted from DM30AC 507
EMD
DM30AC

|150px

|1997–1999

|500–502, 504–506, 508–510, 512–522

|20

|{{convert|3000|hp}}

|

  • Dual mode for operation into New York Penn Station
  • 503 and 511 were wrecked and retired
  • 507 converted into DE30AC and renumbered 423
EMD SW1001

|150px

|1977

|100–107

|3 (work service)

|{{convert|1000|hp|abbr=on}}

|

  • Work locomotives – not used for passenger service
  • 101, 105, 106 sent to New York & Atlantic Railway 105 and 106 later returned to LIRR.
EMD MP15AC

|150px

|1977

|150–172

|16 (work service)

|1,500 horsepower (1,110kW)

|

=Future Locomotives=

class="wikitable"

|+

!Builder and model

!Photo

!Build year

!Fleet numbers

!Power

!Notes

Siemens SC-42DM Charger

|150px

|2025-2031

|(44 units)

|{{cvt|4200|hp}}

|

  • 44 locomotives purchased
  • All locomotives delivered by 2031{{Cite web |date=2024-12-17 |title=MTA considers $788 million deal for new locomotives |url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/transportation/mta-dual-mode-locomotives-gunit2p0 |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Newsday |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=MTA Set for Record-Breaking Progress in 2025 after Board Approves Transformational Capital Projects |url=https://new.mta.info/press-release/mta-set-record-breaking-progress-2025-after-board-approves-transformational-capital |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=MTA |language=en}}

= Push-pull coaches =

class="wikitable" |
Builder and model

!Photo

!Build
year

!Fleet Numbers

!Active

!Notes

Kawasaki C3

|150px

|1997–1999

|C car, 5001–5023
T car, 4002–4134
(even numbers)
TT car, 4001–4087
(odd numbers)

|134

|

=Electric multiple units=

class="wikitable" |
Builder and model

!Photo

!Build
year

!Fleet Numbers

!Active

!Notes

Budd M3

|150px

|1984–1986

|9771-9890, 9893-9946

|99 (passenger)

5 (work service)

|To be replaced by M9As,{{cite web |url=https://new.mta.info/document/151266 |title=2025–2029 Capital Plan |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |date=September 18, 2024 |access-date=September 18, 2024}}{{rp|123}} not used for Grand Central Madison services due to grade limitations

Bombardier M7

|150px

|2002–2006

|7001–7836

|828

|7019, 7033-7034, 7044, 7054, 7364, 7425, and 7553 were all scrapped following various incidents

Kawasaki M9

|150px

|2016–2021

|9001–9202

|200

|

  • Additional purchase option for M9A cars to be exercised{{rp|123}}
  • M9 cars 9157-58 involved in an incident and taken out of service.{{Cite web |title=LIRR: Train strikes car west of Pinelawn |url=https://longisland.news12.com/lirr-service-suspended-between-hicksville-and-ronkonkoma-after-car-struck-by-train |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=News 12 - Default}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{LIRR}}

{{MTA (New York)}}

{{LIRR and MNCR rolling stock}}

{{LIRRMNPC}}

Category:Long Island Rail Road

Category:Rolling stock of the United States