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 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(October 2015) |
A locomotive or engine change is a location where a locomotive is exchanged for another locomotive.
For as long as there have been railroads, locomotive changes have been essential to the officials of the railroads, so that a locomotive could be exchanged for the rest of the trip to the next locomotive changing facility or the destination of the train. Without these facilities, locomotives will suffer from wear and tear or in the era of the steam locomotive, the locomotive will also suffer a lack of fuel and water. Many of the original locations where steam was exchanged for another steam locomotive for the remainder of the trip have been closed since diesel locomotives replaced steam locomotives on the point of both freight and passenger trains.
In some cases, an electric locomotive would be replaced by a steam or diesel locomotive for the remainder of the trip. For example, the Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central Railroad and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad had locations where electric locomotives were exchanged for steam or diesel locomotives.
There are many locations where locomotives were exchanged for another locomotive. Some are still in use today,[ when? ] while others are gone.
Before electrification to Long Branch, New Jersey in the 80s, diesels for the Pennsylvania Railroad (steam as well), Penn Central, Conrail and New Jersey Transit were exchanged for electrics, for the trip to Penn Station in New York City.
The New York Central exchanged locomotives on all trains where two main lines crossed each other. Manhattan Transfer (PRR) station: Where Pennsylvania Railroad DD1 third rail electrics were exchanged or replaced steam locomotives on trains.
A Pennsylvania Railroad yard where prior to the 1980s, Conrail, Penn Central and Pennsylvania Railroad electric locomotives replaced or cut off to allow diesel or steam locomotives to take over. There are many more locations where locomotives were exchanged for another.
Today,[ when? ] locomotive changes are still used, although not as much as in yesteryear. But, there are still locations such as at Harrisburg Transportation Center where Amtrak electrics are replaced by diesels. Other very busy stations where such changes take place include Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, New Haven's Union Station, and Albany-Rensselaer (In the past, locomotives were changed at Croton-Harmon, but today it is only the end of electrification, much of which Amtrak does not use.).
Metro-North Railroad, trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York and under contract with the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Metro-North serves the New York Metropolitan Area, running service between New York City and its northern suburbs in New York and Connecticut, including Port Jervis, Spring Valley, Poughkeepsie, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, White Plains, Southeast and Wassaic in New York and Stamford, New Canaan, Danbury, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New Haven in Connecticut. Metro-North also provides local rail service within the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 52,197,600, or about 189,500 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia. It was named for the commonwealth in which it was established. At its peak in 1882, the Pennsylvania Railroad was the largest railroad, the largest transportation enterprise, and the largest corporation in the world.
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, New York City, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The NEC closely parallels Interstate 95 for most of its length, and is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States both by ridership and by service frequency as of 2013. The NEC carries more than 2,200 trains daily.
The Metroliners were extra-fare high-speed trains between Washington, D.C., and New York City which operated from 1969 to 2006. They were briefly first operated by Penn Central Transportation, then by Amtrak for 35 years.
The Keystone Service is a 195 mile regional passenger train service from Amtrak between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, running along the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line. Most trains continue along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) to Penn Station in New York City.
The Northeast Corridor Line is a commuter rail service operated by NJ Transit between the Trenton Transit Center and New York Penn Station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in the United States. The service is the successor to Pennsylvania Railroad commuter trains between Trenton and New York, and is NJ Transit's busiest commuter rail service. After arrival at New York Penn Station, some trains load passengers and return to New Jersey, while others continue east to Sunnyside Yard for storage. Most servicing is done at the Morrisville Yard, at the west end of the line. The Northeast Corridor Line is colored red on NJ Transit system maps and its symbol is the State House. The Princeton Branch is a shuttle service connecting to the line. Connecting SEPTA Trenton Line service between Philadelphia and Trenton is listed in the timetable.
The Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 is a class of streamlined electric locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), in the northeastern United States. The class was known for its striking art deco shell, its ability to pull trains at up to 100 mph, and its long operating career of almost 50 years.
The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines was a railroad that operated in South Jersey in the 20th century. It was created in 1933 as a joint consolidation venture between two competing railroads in the region: the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Company.
The North Jersey Coast Line is a commuter rail line running from Rahway to Bay Head, New Jersey, traversing through the Jersey Shore region. Operated by New Jersey Transit, the line is electrified as far south as Long Branch. On rail system maps it is colored light blue, and its symbol is a sailboat. The line runs along the former New York & Long Branch Railroad, which was co-owned by the Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The EMD FL9 is a model of electro-diesel locomotive, capable of operating either as a traditional diesel-electric locomotive or as an electric locomotive powered from a third rail. Sixty units were built between October 1956 and November 1960 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line, which hosts SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line commuter rail service, and Amtrak's Keystone and Pennsylvanian inter-city trains; and the Norfolk Southern Pittsburgh Line. The corridor was originally the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The Danbury Branch is a diesel branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line in the U.S. state of Connecticut, running from downtown Norwalk north to Danbury. It opened in 1852 as the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. Until the early 1970s, passenger service continued north from Danbury to Canaan, Connecticut, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Metro-North took over operation of the line from Conrail in 1983, and the modern-day branch is mostly single-tracked.
Railroad electrification in the United States began at the turn of the 20th century and comprised many different systems in many different geographical areas, few of which were connected. Despite this situation, these systems shared a small number of common reasons for electrification.
The New Haven EP-5 was a double-ended mercury arc rectifier electric locomotive built in 1955 by General Electric, for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. It was built to haul passenger trains between Grand Central Terminal or Penn Station in New York City and New Haven, Connecticut. The EP-5s resembled the Alco FA.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's MP54 was a class of electric multiple unit railcars. The class was initially constructed as an unpowered, locomotive hauled coach for suburban operations, but were designed to be rebuilt into self-propelled units as electrification plans were realized. The first of these self-propelled cars were placed in service with the PRR subsidiary Long Island Rail Road with DC propulsion in 1908 and soon spread to the Philadelphia-based network of low frequency AC electrified suburban lines in 1915. Eventually the cars came to be used throughout the railroad's electrified network from Washington, D.C. to New York City and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Essay Tower or SA Tower is a closed Pennsylvania Railroad interlocking tower in South Amboy, New Jersey.
The Budd Metroliner was a class of American electric multiple unit (EMU) railcar designed for first-class, high-speed service between New York City and Washington, D.C., on the Northeast Corridor. They were designed for operation up to 150 miles per hour (240 km/h): what would have been the first high speed rail service in the Western Hemisphere. Although 164 mph (264 km/h) was reached during test runs, track conditions and electrical issues limited top speeds to 120 mph (190 km/h) in revenue service. The single-ended units were designed to be arranged in two-car sets, which were in turn coupled into four to eight-car trains.
Harris Switch Tower, also known as HG Tower or Harris Tower, is an interlocking tower in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. The tower was built in 1929 by the Pennsylvania Railroad and remained in operation until it was closed in 1991 by Amtrak. Harris was purchased by the local chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1992 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.