Well last week I was out riding what most likely will be the last Metroliner to ever run. This week it was the final run of the LIRR's M1 cars. Or at least it was the last time that anyone will probably ever see an entire consist of M1's on the LIRR, some of the cars may still see a few more revenue runs, but most likely mixed with M3 cars. I believe that I correctly heard one LIRR conductor state that there were only 14 M1 cars left on LIRR property and they will definitely be gone before years end, possibly even before this month is over.
So it is very likely that these cars may well have seen the last passengers that they will ever carry in their lives. These cars first introduced in 1968, built by Budd, were the backbone of the LIRR for many years. However with almost 40 years of work under their belts and hundreds of thousands of miles on them, the time had come for them to fade into history. The new fleet of M7's has allowed for the retirement of the venerable old M1's.
To commemorate their life and history, the Long Island Sunrise Trail chapter of the NRHS got together with the LIRR to plan a full day of riding 8 of the remaining M1 cars. The trip included movements into yards, onto lines that haven't seen an M1 in years, along with some mainline speed running.
Two buddies of mine, Nick Gibson and Skip Howard, from On Track On Line joined me in Jamaica. We boarded the M1 consist there, along with what I would guess was at least 200 other railfans. Our departure from Jamaica was a bit off the advertised, closer to 8:40AM instead of 8:30. Our first run saw us heading down the Atlantic Branch to VD yard. At one time this yard saw freight and even had an electric car shop, now it's mainly used as a lay-up yard on the weekdays. We were allowed to detrain here and take pictures, while they moved the train from one yard track to another for us.
The head car and the sea of faces heading to the front to await the positioning moves.
The repositioning moves:
The last LIRR all M1 consist in history.
After reboarding, we once again dashed out the Atlantic Branch towards Jamaica. Here we hit our one snag for the day, when a malfunctioning switch prevented us from operating via the Brooklyn Freight yard to 11 track into Jamaica. So we simply came in the normal way to Jamaica and went through on track #6 if I recall correctly.
Passing east through Jamaica, we went onto the Montauk line for a run down to Far Rockaway. Due to time constraints we were not allowed to detrain at Far Rockaway and after about a 15 minute layover we reversed direction and headed back to Jamaica via the Atlantic Branch. Passing through Jamaica again, this time headed west, we were off on the main line to NYC. However, instead of heading into the East River tunnels, we went to Hunters Point.
Those that preferred more pictures were allowed to detrain here and photograph the train leaving and reentering the station. Those that preferred riding an all electric train into the Long Island City yard were invited to remain onboard. The three of us choose the later option. We pulled into LIC on track #9. Since the only high level platform is on tracks that don't have third rail, we could not detrain here and they did warn us about that.
I however was fortunate enough to be in a car where a nice LIRR employee keyed open one door and allowed me and a few others to lean out the door a bit to snap a few photos. The first shows a bit of the yard, along with the high level plats, and a bit of the Queens skyline.
The second shows our consist in the shadows, against the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline.
So it is very likely that these cars may well have seen the last passengers that they will ever carry in their lives. These cars first introduced in 1968, built by Budd, were the backbone of the LIRR for many years. However with almost 40 years of work under their belts and hundreds of thousands of miles on them, the time had come for them to fade into history. The new fleet of M7's has allowed for the retirement of the venerable old M1's.
To commemorate their life and history, the Long Island Sunrise Trail chapter of the NRHS got together with the LIRR to plan a full day of riding 8 of the remaining M1 cars. The trip included movements into yards, onto lines that haven't seen an M1 in years, along with some mainline speed running.
Two buddies of mine, Nick Gibson and Skip Howard, from On Track On Line joined me in Jamaica. We boarded the M1 consist there, along with what I would guess was at least 200 other railfans. Our departure from Jamaica was a bit off the advertised, closer to 8:40AM instead of 8:30. Our first run saw us heading down the Atlantic Branch to VD yard. At one time this yard saw freight and even had an electric car shop, now it's mainly used as a lay-up yard on the weekdays. We were allowed to detrain here and take pictures, while they moved the train from one yard track to another for us.
The head car and the sea of faces heading to the front to await the positioning moves.
The repositioning moves:
The last LIRR all M1 consist in history.
After reboarding, we once again dashed out the Atlantic Branch towards Jamaica. Here we hit our one snag for the day, when a malfunctioning switch prevented us from operating via the Brooklyn Freight yard to 11 track into Jamaica. So we simply came in the normal way to Jamaica and went through on track #6 if I recall correctly.
Passing east through Jamaica, we went onto the Montauk line for a run down to Far Rockaway. Due to time constraints we were not allowed to detrain at Far Rockaway and after about a 15 minute layover we reversed direction and headed back to Jamaica via the Atlantic Branch. Passing through Jamaica again, this time headed west, we were off on the main line to NYC. However, instead of heading into the East River tunnels, we went to Hunters Point.
Those that preferred more pictures were allowed to detrain here and photograph the train leaving and reentering the station. Those that preferred riding an all electric train into the Long Island City yard were invited to remain onboard. The three of us choose the later option. We pulled into LIC on track #9. Since the only high level platform is on tracks that don't have third rail, we could not detrain here and they did warn us about that.
I however was fortunate enough to be in a car where a nice LIRR employee keyed open one door and allowed me and a few others to lean out the door a bit to snap a few photos. The first shows a bit of the yard, along with the high level plats, and a bit of the Queens skyline.
The second shows our consist in the shadows, against the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline.
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