The Erie Lackawanna MU Cars were a fleet of

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

commuter railcars used by the

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

(D&LW) and successor railroads in the state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The D&LW undertook

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

of its

Morristown Line The Morristown Line is an NJ Transit commuter rail line connecting Morris and Essex counties to New York City, via either New York Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal. Out of 60 inbound and 58 outbound daily weekday trains, 28 inbound and 26 outbound ...

and related branches in 1929–1930, and purchased 141 motor cars from Pullman to operate it. These were supplemented by 141 unpowered trailers of various types which were converted from existing rolling stock. The multiple units were successful and remained in service until 1984.

History

The MUs were inaugurated with fanfare on September 3, 1930, when the aging inventor

Thomas A. Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

, a key proponent of

DC current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...

(the source of electric power for the MUs), drove the first train for the first mile along its 13-mile trip from

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

to Montclair,

. The service was extended in phases to other towns that would have yards to store the trains:

South Orange South Orange, officially the Township of South Orange Village, is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village's population was 16,198, reflecting a decline of 766 (4.5%) fro ...

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

, Morristown and

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. Plans to extend electrified service west, for freight service, possibly as far as

Scranton, PA Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming Vall ...

, were investigated by the Lackawanna. The plans were abandoned due to cost, particularly since the timing of the extension coincided with the arrival of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. The MUs did travel beyond the electrified district on occasion, particularly after World War II when there was a shortage of rail cars available. Unpowered MUs, pulled by steam locomotives, travelled on the

Sussex Branch The Sussex Railroad (later known as the Sussex Branch of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad) was a short-line railroad in northwestern New Jersey. It replaced its predecessor, the Sussex Mine Railroad, in 1853 and operated under the Su ...

Branchville, New Jersey Branchville is a borough in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 841, During their 54-year tenure, the cars were run by four different railroad companies: the

Lackawanna Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

(1930–1960); the

Erie Lackawanna Railroad The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route" ...

(1960–1976);

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

(1976–1982); and finally,

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

(1983–1984). The cars were retired after their final runs on August 24, 1984. The DC power distribution system was retired at that point and a 25,000 volt 60 hertz AC power distribution system, which had been installed and tested over the previous several years as part of the re-electrification project, was switched on. Arrow III MU cars, which continued to run to and from Hoboken, initially replaced the Lackawanna MUs. The introduction of

Midtown Direct The Kearny Connection is a railroad junction in Kearny, New Jersey that allows passenger trains from New Jersey Transit's Morris and Essex Lines to enter Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (NEC) and travel to and from New York Penn Station. The junctio ...

service to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1996, however, would prove problematic as the

Northeast Corridor Line 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 ...

into Manhattan still used the original

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

12,000 volt 25 hertz AC distribution system. Given that the Arrow III cars were not engineered to easily switch from one voltage to another, it was necessary for NJ Transit to acquire new locomotives,

ALP-44 The ABB ALP-44 was an electric locomotive which was built by Asea Brown Boveri of Sweden between 1989 and 1997 for the New Jersey Transit and SEPTA railway lines. Service New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit acquired 32 ALP-44s for use on its ...

s, to handle the new service.

Description

The Lackawanna MUs were built from a combination of new motorized units (built by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

and Pullman) and converted coaches as trailers. These cars were semi-permanently attached to each other in pairs (trailer car-power car), with the trailer car on the westbound (Dover-facing) end of the train. Most of the trailer cars were built by Pullman. Typically, trains were limited to 6 pairs of these units, i.e. 12 cars. Although, due to the loss of a trailer car in a 1962 accident, its unmatched power car was placed into the middle of a 13-car train that was run during rush-hours only during the Erie Lackawanna years, the ''Tom Taber Express''. New Jersey state law restricted the length of commuter trains to a maximum of 13 cars. Although with the unmatched power car in the pool of available cars, it was theoretically possible to have every combination of train length from two to 13 cars, the most common train lengths seen were 2 and 4 car trains off-peak and 6 and 8 cars during the rush hour. Three-car sets (two power cars plus a single coach) were used rarely, mostly as shuttle trains east of Newark, and were noted for their faster acceleration and higher top speeds, which may explain their limited use. Although matched sets were not over-powered, it was possible for MU trains to pull an additional freight car (most often milk cars), which would be coupled to the rear-end of the MU train. In later years, the 2-car off-peak configuration was abandoned in favor of a 4-car configuration for reliability purposes. Outbound from Hoboken, commuters could ride on the

(the mainline) to

Dover, New Jersey Dover is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. Located on the Rockaway River, Dover is about west of New York City and about west of Newark, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 18,157,

, a trip of 38.3 miles (62 km). The

Montclair Branch The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations in the United States. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R ...

and

Gladstone Branch The Gladstone Branch (also known as the Gladstone Line) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit from Gladstone station, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, to either Hoboken Terminal or New York Penn Station. It is one of two branches of th ...

diverged from the Morristown line at Roseville Avenue Station in Newark and Summit, respectively. The MUs ran off 3000 volt DC overhead electric wire, drawing current through pantographs. Due to the presence of overhead bridges along the line, the overhead catenary varied considerably in height. Where no height restrictions existed, the catenary was typically at , but for some bridges the wire needed to drop in clearance, with Roseville Avenue being the point of lowest clearance at . This didn't affect the operation of the MUs, since they had been designed with these clearance differentials in mind, but the low clearances restricted the use of other trains on the line that had insufficient clearance. The Lackawanna MUs had two pantographs: one for normal use (on the Dover end of the motor car) and one with greater wire tension that was used only during ice storms (on the Hoboken end of the car). The trains lacked speedometers. On test runs, the trains attained a speed of on level track. On suitable downgrades, however, the trains could reach .

Types

Low-roof trailers

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad purchased fifty suburban coaches from Pullman in 1925. The cars were and had vestibules at both ends. The total seating capacity was 82. Originally numbered 300–349, they were converted to multiple unit trailers in 1930 and renumbered 2200–2249. The cars were referred to as "low roof" trailers to distinguish them from Pullman trailers built in 1917–1920 which had higher roofs. The low-roof trailers were tall and weighed . In 1961, they were renumbered 3200–3249. After retirement, the cars were stored at Mahwah, New Jersey, and listed for sale on March 9, 1984, and November 13, 1984.

High-roof trailers

Pullman built 75 suburban coaches for the Lackwanna between 1917–1920. These cars had "high roofs", higher than the Pullman coaches delivered in 1925 or the motor cars built in 1930. 68 of these ( 648–715) were rebuilt as trailers in 1930 and renumbered 2300–2367. The cars were rebuilt by the

American Car and Foundry Company ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...

, which added vestibules and converted the cars to electric heat. The cars were long and could seat 78. The cars stood tall and weighed . In 1961, they were renumbered 3300–3367 and finally by NJT to 4300-4367.

Combine trailers

The Lackawanna rebuilt a total of 18

combine car A combine car in North American parlance, most often referred to simply as a combine, is a type of railroad car which combines sections for both passengers and freight. Most often, it was used on short lines to carry passengers and their luggag ...

s for multiple unit operation: fifteen baggage/express and three

railway post office In Canada and the United States, a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly tr ...

s (RPO). These cars were drawn from different batches. Combines 426–428 were built in 1917; 429–433 in 1921; 434–443 in 1925. Cars 426 and 442–423 were the RPOs. All save 426 were converted to MU trailers in 1930; 426 was converted later. The baggage express cars were renumbered 2400–2414; the RPOs 2440–2442. The RPOs were used on the

and Dover Branch; at , the Gladstone RPO made the shortest such run in the United States. In 1961 the combines were renumbered 3400–3415 and 3440–3441.

Club trailers

Lackawanna club cars 480–484 were built in 1912 by the

Barney and Smith Car Company Barney and Smith Car Company was a railroad car manufacturer in Dayton, Ohio. {{coord, 39.767096, -84.175273, display=title Founded in 1849 by Eliam Eliakim Barney and Ebenezer Thresher as Thresher, Packard & Company, it changed names as partne ...

and car 647 in 1917 by Pullman. They were converted to MU trailers in 1930 and renumbered 2450 to 2455. In 1961, they were renumbered 3450-3455. Since the cars were subscription only, they were typically placed on the westbound (Dover-facing) end of the train.

Motor units

Between 1929–1930 Pullman and General Electric constructed 141 new electric multiple units for the suburban service. These were numbered 2500–2640. Each car could seat 84 passengers. The individual cars were long, stood high, and weighed . Four traction motors permitted an acceleration of and a maximum speed of , although they could reach downhill.

Preservation

Numerous cars have been preserved on tourist lines and in museums. Holders include: *

Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum is a railroad museum located in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, that offers historical exhibits. The museum was founded in 1984 as a not-for-profit organization. During the 1980s and 2003-2011 it offered ...

Coopersville and Marne Railway The Coopersville and Marne Railway is a tourist railroad and common carrier in West Michigan. It connects with the Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad. The for-profit company owns the track, which runs from Walker, Michigan to Coopersville, Michigan i ...

Everett Railroad The Everett Railroad is a shortline and heritage railroad that operates on ex-Pennsylvania Railroad trackage in the Hollidaysburg area of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It runs freight trains over two separate lines, one from Brooks Mill and ...

Grapevine Vintage Railroad The Grapevine Vintage Railroad (GVRR) is an excursion and special event railroad in Grapevine, Texas, USA, that runs from the Main Street station in Grapevine to the Fort Worth Stockyards. GVRR is owned and operated by the City of Grapevine. His ...

Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad The Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad is a shortline railroad which operates freight train, freight and Heritage railway, tourist passenger trains between Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Middletown to Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. Passe ...

Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad The Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad is a tourist railroad that runs from Titusville to Rynd Farm north of Oil City in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Oil Creek and Titusville Lines is the designated operator of the railroad, as well as ...

Pacific Southwest Railway Museum The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum is a railroad museum located in Campo, California, on the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway line. The museum also owns and manages a railroad depot located in La Mesa, California. Facilities Campo Sinc ...

Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad , sometimes shortened to Reading and Northern Railroad, is a regional railroad in eastern Pennsylvania. Its headquarters is in Port Clinton. The RBMN provides freight service on of track. Its mainl ...

Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum The Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad Museum (RGVRRM) is an operating railroad museum located in Industry, New York, a hamlet within the town of Rush. The museum started in 1971 with the purchase of a former Erie Railroad Depot from the Erie ...

Steamtown National Historic Site Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is buil ...

* Southern Prairie Railway *

Valley Railroad Company The Valley Railroad, operating under the name Essex Steam Train and Riverboat, is a heritage railroad based in Connecticut on tracks of the Connecticut Valley Railroad, which was founded in 1868. The company began operations in 1971 between Deep ...

Whippany Railway Museum The Whippany Railway Museum is a railway museum and excursion train ride located in the Whippany section of Hanover Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. History In 1965, Whippany was the location of the Morris County Central ...

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

Erie Lackawanna MU Equipment

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erie Lackawanna Mu Cars Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Erie Lackawanna Railway NJ Transit Rail Operations Electric multiple units of the United States Train-related introductions in 1930 1930 in rail transport Pullman Company 3000 V DC multiple units