By William PearceAs the popularity of personal automobiles increased, passenger train travel decreased. In the United States, the decline quickened in the 1960s as the Interstate Highway System came on line and jet engines made air travel affordable. Railroad companies realized their long haul passenger service could not compete with the more modern forms of transportation but felt they could develop a better service in the short haul and mid-haul markets to win back customers.New York Central’s M-497 Black Beetle tested the feasibility of using jet engines to propel a train at high speed on a conventional track. M-497 is seen here with a support car and engine. Note the red pitot tube just under the lights on the front of the train.In 1965, James Wright, director of the New York Central (NYC) Railroad’s Technical Research Center, thought of an experiment to drastically increase a train’s speed in the shortest amount of time and with minimal changes to the train and track. Simply put,...
