Abandoned New York Central electric locomotives saved! Danbury Rail Museum

Last month I was able to make my way to the Danbury Rail Museum to attend the River Rail Photo event in Danbury, Connecticut. The event was the first railfan photoshoot at the museum in many years and is hoped to be the first of many more. One of the event highlights was being able to see and tour a New York Central electric S motor that was basically abandoned in the swampy woods of New York for 36 years. This locomotive is an extremely important part of rail history as it was the world’s first mainline electric locomotive ever built. It was the prototype locomotive for all future mainline electric locomotives to follow including the New York Central T motor #278 that was also saved with NYC 100/6000. I was able to see and tour the T motor thanks to a museum volunteer although it wasn’t apart of the photo event. In the future both locomotives will be cosmetically restored and work on the S Motor has already started, evident by the black and yellow paint already applied. This video will show you the current conditions of both locomotives as they appeared in August 2024. Please consider donating to the restoration so these two historically significant locomotives can once again be used to tell history. More information on these two motors can be found on the Danbury Railway Museum’s website linked below in the video description. www.danburyrail.org/electrics www.danburyrail.org/donate Some more info on these locomotives (static1.squarespace.com/static/5c6ae28990f904697b8…) Built for the New York Central in 1904 and 1926, S-1 locomotive #100 (originally #6000) and T3a locomotive #278 represent the significant development of electric locomotives in the early 20th century. The #100 is the world’s first mainline electric locomotive and was built jointly by General Electric (GE) and the American Locomotive Company (ALCo) both in New York State. This revolutionary piece of technology was built for service to New York City’s iconic Grand Central Terminal in the wake of a devastating steam locomotive accident within the Park Avenue tunnels in 1902 that stands as the worst train accident within city limits. It served decades transporting passengers of commuter and long distance trains to Croton Harmon and North White Plains, New York. The #278 is part of the successor class to the #100, delivered twenty-two years later. It is the most modern of the succeeding “T-Motors”, and is the last remaining T-Motor in existence of 36 that were manufactured. Its design is similar to the 65 P and R-motors, of which there are no surviving examples. Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/140450285@N07/ Comments? Questions? Just leave a note in the comment section and I'll get back to you. ©2024 South Coast Rail Videos

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