A post from my Facebook feed written by Robert Duke Aqauro. "Something fun for today! The Budd RDC that was JET powered. It really did exist. The NYC built it with two surplus GE jets. It was an experiment, of course. But, it set the speed record for trains in the US at 186 mph. There was only one stretch of rail in the northeastern US where it could run....and stop. Pretty cool. I am a plethora of useless information at times!! LOL Stay warm......" I thought many of us would enjoy this cool picture of a JET Train! ~Joanie
I have a copy of a book called Flight of the M-497 that tells all about this unique experiment. The only jet-powered runs took place on July 23 and 24, 1966 (two runs each day) on the New York Central between Butler, IN and Stryker, OH. The location was chosen for the straightness of the track. The official record of 183.85 mph was set on July 23 as the car passed through the measuring equipment located at Bryan, Ohio. The engineer later said that it reached 196 mph, but he had been instructed to pass through Bryan at 180, so the record was set as the car was actually decelerating. There were problems with one of the jet engines on the second day, so those two runs were considerably slower. The jet engines and front nose were removed and the car was returned to service in New York, where it ran until it was scrapped in 1977. A historic marker commemorating the record was erected in Bryan, Ohio in 2003.
