FACT SHEET SUPPLEMENT UNITED AIRCRAFr' S TURBarRAJTI

The United Aircraft TurboTrain, described on the attached pages, has achieved a speed of 170.8 miles per hour during a run on a special test track in New Jersey. The run was made on December 20, 1967, with some 100 newsmen aboard. The speed was a record for a commercially operable train in the United States. The track upon which the run was made is a 21-mile-long stretch of the Pennsylvania Railroad's main line between Trenton and New Brunswick, in New Jersey. It has been especially improved for high-speed testing.

The TurboTrain was tested on this welded rail for about two weeks, with several runs above 160 miles per hour. Previously, the TurboTrain had achieved a speed of 157 miles per hour on an eight mile stretch of standard jointed rail on the New Haven's main line between Mansfield and Attleboro, Mass. The first TurboTrain began tests in May, 1967, in the Chicago, Illinois area. It was brought to Providence, Rhode Island in August for extensive

tests on tracks of the New Haven Railroad. Although capable of speeds above 170 miles per hour, the TurboTrain will enter passenger-carrying 120 miles per hour. The TurboTrain is being developed and marketed by the Surface Transportation Systems subdivision of Sikorsky Aircraft division of United Aircraft Corporation. service in 1968 with a top speed of about

FACT SHEET UNITED AIRCRAFT'S TURBOTRAIN

A swift, new lightweight passenger train based on the technology of flight and designed by a leading aerospace company will enter service soon in the United States and Canada. The TurboTrain was conceived on aerodynamic principles, with power provided by aircraft-type gas turbine engines. being developed by United Aircraft Corporation. It was designed and is The Surface Transportation

Systems subdivision of United Aircraft's Sikorsky Aircraft Division has been given the responsibility for the TurboTrain program. The TurboTrain is lighter, faster, quieter, smoother and more reliable than conventional trains -- and cheaper to operate. United Aircraft is providing two three-car TurboTrains for operation between Boston and New York as part of the Northeast Corridor high-speed ground transportation project under contract to the U. S. Department of Transportation. The trains will be leased to the Department for two years, with an option for two more years if needed for the demonstration. United Aircraft The

will maintain the trains at a facility in Providence, Rhode Island.

trains will be operated by the New Haven Railroad under contract to the Department of Transportation. Five seven-car TurboTrains are being built for Canadian National Railways for service between Montreal and Toronto, in tandem sets of They will be operated

14

cars with a total capacity of 600 passengers.

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The Pullman is manufacturing

Standard

division

of Pullman,

Inc., Chicago,

Illinois,

the Northeast Montreal

Corridor Locomotive

TurboTrains Works,

under subcontract to

to United Aircraft. United Aircraft trains. The TurboTrain

as a subcontractor
I

of Canada Limited,

is fabricating

the Canadian

National

can travel at speeds greater' than 170 miles per hour, service will be about 120 Fully

but initial top speeds in passenger~carrying mtles per hour in the United States and articulated,

95 miles per hour in Canada.

the train is powered QY ST6 gas turbines,

based on the Pratt of Canada.

& Whitney Aircraft turboprop PT6, manufactured

The TurboTrain can be built in lengths

by United Aircraft

ranging from three to nine cars versions. drag,

per train, and in Lnt.e Lt.y commut.er , and rapid~transit rc ; It has a streamlined, airplane~like exterior,

designed to minimize

with a skin of smooth, heavy~gauge

aluminum.

A domed, passenger~carrying

power car is at each end, one pulling coaches in between.

and the other pushing the passenger

Each power dome car is equipped with from two to four engines. instances, The train is also equipped with such as the Department of Trans~--'-

of the a i r craf't-ctypegas turbine a third~rail portation pickup in necessary

train which will operate in New York City tunnels. a jet airliner's interior.

Inside the cars, the layout and decor resemble There are carpeting controlled and draperies,

soft, indirect lighting tables,

and individually reclining seats with galleys

reading lights at each seat, fold~down luggage

head rests, and carry~on are installed

racks at the doors. seats.

Airliner~type

for food service at passengers'

The doors are in the center of the cars. /~~ conditioned electrically, with cigarette jetliner.

The cars are heated and air~

smoke removed from the air at each

seat area, as in a modern Under present

schedules,

the best rail time offered between Boston

and

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New York is 4 hour-s. and 15 minutes . United Aircraft's TurboTrain will reduce this schedule to 3 hours, 15 minutes (with four intermediate stops). This performance has been demonstrated with trial runs on the

New Haven tracks with the first TurboTrain. Canadian National's Rapido, described as the fastest intercity passenger train in North America, now runs between Montreal and Toronto, a distance of 335 miles, in 4 hours and 59 minutes. will cut this t~me to less than 4 hours. Analyses by United Aircraft indicate that a seven-car TurboTrain of 325-passenger capacity, operating over a 338-mile route, will cost about 30 percent less per mile to run than a conventional train of the same capacity on the same route. The basic design philosQphy of the TurboTrain is the elimination of unnecessary weight. This is achieved by using a lightweight power system The TurboTrains

built around compact engines only five feet long and a foot and a half in dia~eter, the use of single-axle suspension, and aluminum construction. While major weight savings are made through design and elimination of various componentp, the structural design actually provides greater structural strength A seven-car TurboTrain weighs 300,000 pounds,

than conventional passenger cars.

about one-third the weight of a diesel train of the same capacity. The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft ST6 free turbine engine employed as the powerplant in the TurboTrain delivers up to 550 horsepower but weighs only about 300 pounds. The engines burn diesel fuel in the trains. In its air-

borne version, the PT6, the engine powers a number of airplanes and helj,copters, both civil and military. It is a proven, fully-developed powerplant.

Engine warmups and idling, as required with diesels, are unnecessary with gas turbines. They can be started quickly at temperatures as cold as 60

degrees below zero and reach full power in less than half a minute, thus

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providing savings on fuel and maintenance. Because of its novel design features the ST6 is probably the quietest gas turbine engine ever built. The quietness of the engine, plus the

elimination of virtually all metal-to-metal contact in the train's suspension system and other special acoustical approaches, minimizes interior and exterior noise. The trains, being double-ended, need no switching or turn-arounds. This permits a higher rate of equipment utilization. The ears are two and a half feet lower than standard cars. The

lowered center of gravity, a pendulous suspension system, and guided axles enable the train to round curves, with no change in present road beds, at speeds up to 40 percent greater than is possible with regular trains. Like an airplane, the train banks inwardly around curves under the influence of centrifugal force, as opposed to the outward motion experienced in conventional trains. This means that passengers remain upright in their

seats at all times instead of being flung to one side on a fast curve. By means of guidance assemblies, the axles -- one.between each pair of cars are steered around curves. This reduces flange wear and the The result is a smoother,

tendency of conventional suspensions to shimmy.

swifter, more efficient ride around curves, with greater passenger comfort. The capacity of the cars depends on the seating arrangements and furnishings specified by the operating railroad. A typical power dome car, The

with parlor and coach compartments, has room for about 50 persons. non-powered coaches seat about the same number.

United Aircraft has proposed the TurboTrain, in a five-car version carrying up to 250 passengers, in connection with the Connecticut Transportation Authority's plan to provide high-speed rail transportation for the New Haven Railroad to run between Hartford and New York.

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United Aircraft's interest in railroad technology is an outgrowth of the work of its Pratt & Whitney Aircraft division, the world's leading designer and producer of jet engines, in adapting its gas turbines for non-aeronautical uses. The company has intensified its efforts in train

design as a result of the widespread interest on the part of the Federal Government, Congress, and the railroad industry in applying technological advances to rail transportation, with initial emphasis on the Northeast Corridor stretching from Boston to Washington.

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