Fire on the Dan'l Webster
by Morley J. KelseyMarch, 1981
After Pat McGinnis took over as president of the New Haven Railroad he set out to revolutionize the industry with modern light-weight high-speed trains. Orders were placed for three trains; the Dan'l Webster, a "Train X" type train with Baldwin locomotives powered by Maybach diesel engines; the John Quincy Adams, a Talgo type train with Fairbanks-Morse locomotives and the Roger Williams, a train of modified rail diesel cars built by Budd. All three trains were equipped for third rail operation into Grand Central Terminal. The Dan'l Webster and the John Quincy Adams had locomotives at either end; the Roger Williams was made up of six powered cars.
At that time I was Supervisor of Locomotive Maintenance, headquartered at New Haven, reporting to Bill Baker, General Superintendent of Locomotive Maintenance and in addition to my regular duties I was to monitor the third rail operation and problems of the three high-speed trains and the pending order of FL-9 units. We were told by McGinnis that we had three months in which to evaluate the three trains after which he would purchase thirty of the type we felt was most suited.
The Dan'l Webster's initial cost was $1,332,000 and it was the first of the three trains on the property. Due to the long wheel base of the front trucks of the locomotives a standard New Haven RR shoe beam and mechanism could not be installed. It was hoped that pick-up shoes on the rear trucks would suffice. Test runs into Grand Central proved that this was not to be. Months were required for tests and modifications to this train. Finally a publicity run was scheduled for 8 January, 1957 with revenue service to start the next day. As this date approached the DC current collection problem had not been resolved. In the last few days before the special run the factory people developed a new arrangement which could be mounted on the journal boxes. A steel plate was machined, encased in rubber and bushed with fiber. This was then bolted to a journal box and the mechanism bolted to the plate. Eight of these were completed and installed on the train. This was the arrangement in use on the publicity run. It was not considered satisfactory by most New Haven RR personnel.
The publicity run left Boston on the morning of 8 January with General Road Foreman of Engines Ralph Nicholson running the train. The run to New Haven was uneventful. I was assigned to ride the leading locomotive to Grand Central and return to New Haven. Van Nest Shop Chief Inspector John Chillington was assigned to the rear unit. There were 250 people aboard the train including railroad and manufacturer's personnel, political representatives, the news media and other celebrities.
Approaching SS-20 the third rail shoes were lowered and the train soon entered third rail territory. Passing Woodlawn we started down Track No. 2 and almost immediately John Chillington phoned from the rear unit to say that we were on fire. Looking out the side door I saw that the No. 2L shoe mechanism had gone to ground and was arcing to the truck frame. When the train stopped I walked back. Chillington was on the ground with a fire extinguisher but was helpless to act while the arc held. The conductor had gone looking for a phone to contact the power director and have the power shut off. This would require deenergizing all four tracks and then sending people out to disconnect our particular section at a pot-head. About this time Chief Mechanical Officer Ed Hales came out of the train and told Chillington and myself not to just stand there but to put the fire out. This remark was picked up by the press and appeared in the newspapers. Hales had no third rail experience and later, after stating that he took a calculated risk in allowing the train to run, he was terminated.
By the time that the current was shut off the fire department was on the scene as well as railroad, city and state police. Many people had left the train and were milling about on the track. The arc had melted away part of the truck frame and attachments. The aluminum side sheets had started to melt and added to the metal piling up on the ballast. After the firemen had put out the residual fires it was decided that Master Mechanic Art Keenan would take the damaged unit to Van Nest Shops. At this time I went back to the lead locomotive. When the power was restored another fire could easily start on either unit. Art Keenan was unable to cut off the rear locomotive due to a faulty uncoupling mechanism and was forced to take the rear coach along with him. After getting underway the coach derailed several times and at Pelham derailed in such a manner as to tie up the evening commuter rush. A change had to be made in the air spring suspension before the coach could be successfully towed.
The remainder of the train proceeded to Grand Central. On arrival, President Alpert and many of the celebrities went to the Commodore to attend a luncheon celebrating the initial run of the Dan'l Webster. Meanwhile a switcher pulled the train around the loop and pushed it into a track on the west side of the terminal. Coming into the terminal we had been routed down Track No. 4 in the single track side tunnel. Now we asked to be routed out through the two track middle tunnel as it would be safer in the event of another fire.
Just before we left the CMO brought a young lady up to the cab, introduced her to me as President Alpert's niece, said that she was going to ride the cab to New Haven, and that I was responsible for her. Leaving the station we had eight people in the cab, four more than permitted by law. I was leaning against the back wall of the cab and had the young lady standing in front of me where I could catch her if she lost her balance. These locomotives had the worst lateral motion of any I have ever ridden. We went right back out through the same track we had come in on. As we approached the end of the tunnel at 97th Street I began to breathe easier until I saw a chunk of brownstone dropping in front of us. Our speed was such that the rock hit the roof over my head. Had we been a second or so later the rock would have come through the windshielf and hit the young lady in the face. She failed to notice this near disaster. Some of the denizens of the neighborhood wait at the end of the tunnel with some sort of debris and try to drop it in time to strike the front of an emerging train.
The balance of the trip was uneventful. Meter readings taken in Boston showed that all shoe mechanisms were affected and any or all could have gone to ground. Later, shoe beams resembling the standard New Haven RR equipment were devised and installed. Also, pantographs were obtained from the MTA in Boston and installed on the roofs of these two locomotives to contact the overhead third rail in the long gaps. Further fires and other problems finally resulted in the train being withdrawn from service.