![](/images\rail.jpg) |
|
By: | Gary Everhart | Dates: | 2/17/1958 - 2/23/1958 | Album Info: | These are four original small b&w photos of the New York, New Haven & Hartford (New Haven) EP-5 units in 1958. According to Wikipedia, 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, New York City and New Haven, Connecticut.
The EP-5s were the first AC passenger electric locomotives to use rectifiers to convert alternating current from overhead wires to direct current (DC) for the traction motors. They also collected DC from the third rail used by the New York Central, whose tracks the New Haven used to reach Grand Central Terminal (GCT).
All of the class were equipped with the Pennsylvania Railroad's cab signal system needed to operate into Penn Station; Washington, D.C.-Boston through trains over the Hell Gate Bridge, plus the Montrealer/Washingtonian, were their main assignment throughout their New Haven careers.
The units were known as "Jets" due to the roaring sound made by their main blowers; an example of this characteristic was inadvertently preserved for posterity in a GCT scene shot for the movie The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit.
The EP-5s had a reputation for rapid acceleration and high pulling capacity. However, the class also had a tendency to overheat and catch fire due to the crowded, poorly ventilated internal component arrangement, a situation made necessary by the need for the units to conform to the weight restrictions imposed by the New York Central's Park Avenue steel viaduct. This problem was significantly aggravated by the New Haven management's de-emphasis of electric operations in favor of its new dual-power FL9 diesels, and the railroad's financial condition. By 1962, a year after the New Haven entered bankruptcy, only three units were in service. All 10 were quickly rebuilt under the trustees' management, but by the time of the |
|
|
|
|
Title: |
NH EP-5 #371 - New York, New Haven & Hartford (New Haven) |
Description: |
Stopped at the New Haven station and ready to pull another passenger train, New Have #371 wears the new paint scheme. THe brave photographer of this photo who braved the cold was not listed on the back. |
Photo Date: |
2/23/1958 Upload Date: 10/31/2013 8:59:39 AM |
Location: |
New Haven, CT |
Author: |
Gary Everhart |
Categories: |
Roster,Winter,Passenger,Action |
Locomotives: |
NH 371(EP-5) |
Views: |
692 Comments: 0 |
|
|
|
Title: |
NH EP-5 #373 - New York, New Haven & Hartford (New Haven) |
Description: |
This 1954 GE built EP-5 unit stands ready to depart from the New Haven station with another passenger train. Heavy snows in early 1958 is evident with the piles under the passenger platform shelter. Another EP-5 unit stands on the other side of the platform while NW 0762 sits next to #373. No photographer was listed for this photo on this cold, wintery day. |
Photo Date: |
2/23/1958 Upload Date: 10/31/2013 9:00:00 AM |
Location: |
New Haven, CT |
Author: |
Gary Everhart |
Categories: |
Roster,Winter,Passenger,Action |
Locomotives: |
NH 373(EP-5) |
Views: |
735 Comments: 0 |
|
|
|
Title: |
NH EP-5 #378 - New York, New Haven & Hartford (New Haven) |
Description: |
Wearing the "New Image" paint scheme, #378 sits at the Bridgeport station ready to pull an ice and snow covered string of passenger cars on this blustery winter day in February, 1958. No photographer listed for this photo but bet he was cold when he took the photo! |
Photo Date: |
2/23/1958 Upload Date: 10/31/2013 9:00:07 AM |
Location: |
Bridgeport, CT |
Author: |
Gary Everhart |
Categories: |
Roster,Winter,Passenger,Action |
Locomotives: |
NH 378(EP-5) |
Views: |
799 Comments: 1 |
|
|
|
Title: |
NH EP-5 #378 - New York, New Haven & Hartford (New Haven) |
Description: |
Another view of NH #378 as it pulls a snow and ice covered passenger train from the Bridgeport station. No photographer was listed for this photo taken on a very cold day. |
Photo Date: |
2/23/1958 Upload Date: 10/31/2013 9:00:10 AM |
Location: |
New Haven, CT |
Author: |
Gary Everhart |
Categories: |
Roster,Winter,Passenger,Action |
Locomotives: |
NH 378(EP-5) |
Views: |
568 Comments: 0 |
|
|
|