Budd Silverliner
American electric multiple unit railcar / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Budd Silverliner was a model of electric multiple unit railcar designed and built by the Budd Company with 59 examples being delivered starting in 1963. Fifty-five of the cars were purchased for the Reading and Pennsylvania Railroads with public funds for use in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area commuter rail service with the remaining 4 cars being purchased by USDOT for use in high-speed rail experiments in 1965. Based on a series of 6 prototype Pioneer III cars built in 1958, the Silverliners represented the first production order of "modern" commuter MU equipment purchased by either railroad and earned their name from their unpainted stainless steel construction which contrasted with the painted carbon steel bodies of the pre-war MU fleets.[1] The cars became a fixture of SEPTA Regional Rail service providing the name to their entire series of EMU railcars before finally being retired in 2012 after 49 years in service.
PRR MP85B / Silverliner (II) | |
---|---|
In service | 1963–2012 |
Manufacturer | Budd Company |
Built at | Red Lion Plant, Philadelphia |
Family name | Pioneer III |
Replaced | PRR MP54
Reading electric multiple units Pioneer III |
Entered service | 1963 |
Number built | 59 |
Number preserved | 1 |
Predecessor | Pioneer III |
Successor | GE Silverliner IV |
Formation | Single unit |
Fleet numbers | PRR cars: 201-219, 251-269 Reading cars: 9001-9017 USDOT cars: T1-T4 |
Capacity | 124 w/ bathroom, 127 w/o |
Operators | Pennsylvania Railroad Reading Railroad Penn Central Railroad Conrail SEPTA |
Specifications | |
Car body construction | Stainless steel |
Car length | 85 ft (25.91 m) |
Width | 9 ft 11+1⁄2 in (3.035 m) |
Doors | 2 end doors w/ traps |
Maximum speed | 100 mph (160 km/h) design 85 mph (137 km/h) service |
Weight | 101,400 lb (46,000 kg) |
Traction system | Transformed line current fed through 4 mercury arc Ignitron rectifiers to a phase angle motor controller. All commuter cars later converted to silicon rectifier. |
Power output | 550 hp (410 kW) |
Electric system(s) | 11-13.5 kV 25 Hz AC |
Current collector(s) | Pantograph |
Braking system(s) | Pneumatic |
Coupling system | Hybrid multi-function AAR tightlock later converted to WABCO Model N-2 |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |