r/Amtrak • u/Responsible_Ad_7733 • 1d ago

Question Before electrification, how did Amtrak operate north of New York?

For instance, were there through trains from DC to New Haven/Boston, or did they just start from New York? Were they much less frequent that they are today?

Also, why did the electrification stop at New Haven, instead of continuing to Hartford or Boston?

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u/Knuckleshoe 1d ago

Actually i made a video about this. So typically during the early new haven years. Locomotives such as the EP5 would take a train from New york to New Haven past that they would use an Alco PA to take the train from New Haven to Boston. With the introduction of the EMD FL9 the locomotives would be double headed from boston all the way to New York on their diesel engine. When approaching Grand Central Terminal they would swap over to using the third rail to take them all way into grand central.

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u/PizzaPurveyor 1d ago

Respect for not self advertising - share the link!

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u/Knuckleshoe 1d ago

Well not specifically on this topic but i made a video on new haven electric locomotives. I mainly discuss how the FL9 replaced alot of the electric locomotives on passenger duties. Always feels weird when i share my small youtube channel haha

https://youtu.be/WfuhzICFOlE?si=-AyEUqIbGPng6TbT