Railway Herald
Amtrak flirted with the idea of fast, gas turbine powered trains in the mid 70's as a notion to improve speeds. Six gas turbine sets were purchased from the French manufacturer ATF, the units being constructed in parallel to the RTG sets then being built for SNCF. The concept seemed to be reasonably successful and further sets were ordered from France.
It appears that the original sets were withdrawn around 1982, after a remarkably short career. This car (No No. 59) and two trailers have evidently been rotting in their present location, a scrapyard near Dugger, Indiana, for a good few years, quite possibly for a quarter of a century as a sizable tree has grown through one of the trailer cars. I suspect that these are the last examples in existence, as none of the first generation sets appear to be preserved.
Andy Pearce
