The New Haven Railroad, A Brief History and the Class of '56 Part 2

 Greetings All,

New Haven Railroad, A Brief History

and the Class of '56 Part 2

Welcome back to this two part series that takes a look at the New Haven RR. Yesterday we focused on some of the events leading up to the 1955 order for sixty diesel electric locomotives by New Haven president Patrick B. Ginnis. Today we'll take a look at the arrival of these locomotives in 1956 which happened during the presidency of George Alpert.

"New Haven EMD GP9 1221" by Digital Rail Artist is marked with CC0 1.0.
 

Who was George Alpert?

After the ouster of Patrick B. McGinnis the New Haven presidency was awarded to George Alpert, a Boston attorney with no railroad experience. Mr. Alpert faced a tough situation having to immediately announce "adjusted revenue figures" indicating Mr. McGinnis had been exaggerating the NH's income. In attempt to correct some of the errors of the prior administration maintenance expenditures were increased. 1956 would be the last year that the New Haven would show a profit.

Four of the fifteen Fairbanks Morse H16-44s class of '56 locomotives haul a long train from Cedar Hill Yard towards Terminal Yard.

Alpert was also stuck with certain policies already committed to by his predecessor. The three high speed trains that cost $5 million arrived in 1956 and 1957 were instant failures. Mr. Alpert continued McGinnis' ill advised plan to cut back on electrification. With the new 1956 road switchers now in service the NH retired all of the electric freight motors by 1959.

"4 More of Roger Puta's New Haven Photos" by railfan 44 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

Factors Beyond The Railroads Control

Other factors that were affecting the railroad were the 129 mile Connecticut Turnpike(I-95) constructed parallel to the New Haven's mainline between 1955 and 1958. New Haven's piggyback service could no longer compete with truckers on this new tax payer funded highway. The RR's longest freight haul was just 280 miles between Boston and Maybrook via the Poughkeepsie Bridge.

Basically the New Haven was one big switching yard with huge operating costs. Most freight was inbound, terminating on the railroad and the NH was forced to haul a lot of empty cars enroute back to their owners.

Passenger revenues also suffered as airlines serving the NH region began purchasing their first jet powered aircraft at the same time. Between 1954 and 1964 the NH suffered a two-thirds drop in its Boston-New York passenger counts.

Some of The Class of '56 in Model Form!!!

Three of the five locomotive models from three builders that arrived on the New Haven RR in 1956 were lensed at Terminal Yard shortly after their arrival.

One of the thirty EMD GP9s (1200-1229) lays over in Terminal Yard with a short passenger train. The GP9s were the cream of the 1956 crop and could be found on many priority passenger and freight trains.

Four of fifteen Fairbanks-Morse H16-44s (1600-1614) are on track #1 ready to depart with a heavy mail and express passenger train. The FM purchase by a RR looking to economize and standardize its fleet raised some eyebrows. 

Two of the fifteen Alco RS11s (1400-1414) are getting ready to depart Terminal Yard with a freight train for Cedar Hill Yard.

Still on the New Haven roster were the forty five Alco RS3s (517-561) that were delivered between 1950 and 1952. The RS3s were fine work horses in both freight and passenger service and well liked by the crews.

A lone RS2 from the Alco class of 1947 was found lingering in Terminal Yard. The NH purchased seventeen RS2s (0500-0516) to help eliminate steam. The NH used the 0 prefix during the steam to diesel transition era to eliminate confusion with steam locomotives who were similarly numbered.

The RS3s will take the RS2 back to Cedar Hill Yard on their next train out.

Still in service are the PA1s of which twenty seven (0760-0786)

arrived from Alco in 1948-1949 with the 0 number prefix. Also in service are the FM CPA24-5s. Ten of the five axle locomotives (790-799) arrived in 1950-1952.

Class of '56 Locomotives Missing From the Model Fleet

At this time there are two of the 1956 locomotives not currently in my 1:87 scale fleet. Both are EMD models, the first being an SW1200 of which the New Haven received twenty units (640-659).

"File:EJE Yellow SW1200.PNG" by PeaceFrog70 is licensed under CC BY 3.0.
 

The second Class of '56 locomotives not in the fleet were the two FL9s delivered in 1956 for testing. They were a disaster and had to be sent back to EMD for additional work and corrections. The NH would receive them back with 28 others in 1957 (2000-2029).

Checkout the 1956 graduates and friends in action

Final Thoughts and Comments

The New Haven Railroad was Class 1 RR and a big commuter hauler in the NY Metro area until January, 1969 when it was absorbed into the Penn Central. The railroad was hampered by many factors from its beginning. Poor decisions and policies from the top along with a shrinking industrial base, interstate highways and airlines eating into its freight and passenger traffic and costly commuter operations led to their final bankruptcy in 1961. 

With the merger of the PRR and NYC into the Penn Central being announced the bankrupt New Haven sought inclusion arguing that a bankrupt railroad could never complete with a super railroad which was what the Penn Central was supposed to be.

Lastly the 1956 engines were mostly still in service during the 1960s and at the time of the New Havens inclusion into the Penn Central which suits me perfectly.

Thank you for reading and watching!!!

PCCM 112 will begin this Friday July 25th

See you soon!!!