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 service in 1968 with a top speed of about

120 miles per hour.

The TurboTrain is being developed and marketed by the Surface Trans-

portation Systems subdivision of Sikorsky Aircraft division of United

Aircraft Corporation.

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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. It was designed and is

being developed by United Aircraft Corporation. 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 re-

liable 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

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

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, They will be operated

in tandem sets of 14 cars with a total capacity of 600 passengers.

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The Pullman Standard division of Pullman, Inc., Chicago, Illinois,

is manufacturing the Northeast Corridor TurboTrains under subcontract

to United Aircraft. Montreal Locomotive Works, as a subcontractor toI

United Aircraft of Canada Limited, is fabricating the Canadian National

trains.

The TurboTrain can travel at speeds greater' than 170 miles per hour,

but initial top speeds in passenger~carrying service will be about 120

mtles per hour in the United States and 95 miles per hour in Canada. Fully

articulated, the train is powered QY ST6 gas turbines, based on the Pratt

& Whitney Aircraft turboprop PT6, manufactured by United Aircraft of Canada.

The TurboTrain can be built in lengths ranging from three to nine cars

per train, and in Lnt.ercLt.y; commut.er, and rapid~transit versions.

It has a streamlined, airplane~like exterior, designed to minimize drag,

with a skin of smooth, heavy~gauge aluminum. A domed, passenger~carrying

power car is at each end, one pulling and the other pushing the passenger

coaches in between. Each power dome car is equipped with from two to four

of the ai rcraf't-ctypegas turbine engines. The train is also equipped with

a third~rail pickup in necessary instances, such as the Department of Trans~--'-

portation train which will operate in New York City tunnels.

Inside the cars, the layout and decor resemble a jet airliner's interior.

There are carpeting and draperies, soft, indirect lighting and individually

controlled reading lights at each seat, fold~down tables, reclining seats with

head rests, and carry~on luggage racks at the doors. Airliner~type galleys

are installed for food service at passengers' seats.

The doors are in the center of the cars. The cars are heated and air~

/~~ conditioned electrically, with cigarette smoke removed from the air at each

seat area, as in a modern jetliner.

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. The TurboTrains

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

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

than conventional passenger cars. A seven-car TurboTrain weighs 300,000 pounds,

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 sus-

pension 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

tendency of conventional suspensions to shimmy. The result is a smoother,

swifter, more efficient ride around curves, with greater passenger comfort.

The capacity of the cars depends on the seating arrangements and fur-

nishings specified by the operating railroad. A typical power dome car,

with parlor and coach compartments, has room for about 50 persons. The

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 Trans-

portation 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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