What locomotive is this?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

What locomotive is pictured in the Bowser ad on page 35 of the May MR? I had a toy locomotive that looked like that when I was a little kid, but I’ve never seen it pictured before.

Any information you could give me about that loco would be most appreciated.

Thanks! [:)]

2

That is an experimental passenger train built by EMD called the AREO Train. It was purchased by the Rock Island and a handful of other roads, but was never a successful design partly because it was articulated like the Pioneer Zephyr and M-10000. It was built in the 1950s, and one is still at the American Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

3

Thanks for the info!

When I saw that picture I knew I’d seen that loco before, but I had no idea where. It finally occurred to me that it looked like a little rubber toy locomotive I had when I was a very young child. It’s cool after all these years to finally find something out about it. [:)]

4

CJM89,

Wasn’t it called the Aerotrain?

5

AS MY MEMORY KICKS IN… oh, yeah, the turbo train was that wierd looking thing run by the CN, wasn’t it?! I’ll have to change that…

6

[:)][tup]

7

A better picture of it can be found here: http://www.bowser-trains.com/hoemrrs/aerotrain/aerotrain.htm

Jay

8

Actually I thought the TURBO TRAIN was an early Amtrak offering, which wasn’t to bad looking. Very streamlined and faster than normal. I think it was a French design, and The CN may have had some.

9

thanks guys!
Going through my UP books I found “The City of Las Vegas” and I was wondering if this train was available, so it is!
Any ideas about the quality and skills needed of these Bowser kits ?

Lupo

10

The Aerotrain was GM’s answer to the RDC and was built on their classic bus body. If you look at the windows in the cars and compare it to the GM bus windows you will see the similarity. It was very rough riding and got unfavorable reviews by long haul pasengers. There were two and they demonstrated on a variety of railroads and none were bought as a result. The one in Green Bay held down the New York to Pittsbugrh daylight run on the PRR for about a year and had a big red keystone on the nose. Both eventually would up on the Rock island that was desperate for anything they could use in commuter service. Apparently the short length of time passengers occupied the train allowed tolerable levels of comfort for that length of trip.

11

The Bowser model is, as their website describes, a re-release of the old Varney Aerotrain. Can’t speak to construction or operating qualities. Just like the prototype, it looks cool.

There were 2 prototype Aerotrain sets, Nos 1000 and 1001. They entered service in 1956 on an experimental basis, under which they were leased to the roads which operated them (NYC, PRR and UP). Each trainset consisted of the 1200-hp locomotive and 10 cars, the last of which was an observation car. The cars were essentially lengthened and widened GM bus bodies. Each car rode on a 4-wheel air-ride suspension. The cars weren’t articulated, and the consist could be varied, although not as easily as with conventional equipment. (Union Pacific operated its City of Las Vegas Aerotrain with 6 to 10 cars.)

The Aerotrains were rough riding and noisy, and the air conditioning system was inadequare for warmer climates.

Both trainsets were sold to Rock Island in 1958 for Chicagoland commuter service. The Rock Island had previously purchased a “Jet Rocket” trainset, which had the same EMD LWT12 locomotive as the Aerotrain, but which had articulated Talgo cars built by American Car & Foundry. The “Jet Rocket” had been tried in Chicago-Peoria intercity service during 1956-'57, but was demoted to suburban service by 1958. The “Jet Rocket” and the Aerotrains were retired around 1965.

The photo in Big Boy 4005’s post shows the United Aircraft Turbotrain on demonstration in Milwaukee in 1971. (I rode the train from Milwaukee to Chicago that day as part of the train crew.) United Aircraft of Canada built 5 Turbotrains (of 7 cars each) for Canadian National in 1968. They were used on the Montreal-Toronto corridor until about 1973. In the U. S., there were 2 Turbotrains (3 cars each) which were used in Boston-New York service from 1969-'71.

The Turbotrains were derived from a Chesapeake & Ohio experimental train designed in 1957 (see the April 1959 issue of Trains Maga

12

Thanks for the explanation John. I probably should have noted where that photo came from. It was a quick scan from Kalmbach’s own Journey To Amtrak, published in 1972.