Re: (erielack) Amateur question about MUs (fwd)

["Rich Chapin" <rwc27q_@_nac.net>]

Bill,

The MUs started running in1931, when the DL&W completed the electrification
of suburban routes. Thomas Edison drove the first run of these cars. I rode
them in 1980 as a commuter to Manhattan from Millington, and although the
cars would sway from side to side a little too much on certain sections of
track (the suspension was 50 years old at the time, so who was I to
complain), they were still impressive then.

As far as history goes, you need to get Thomas T.  Tabor III's "History of
the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the 20th Century" There are
two volumes. One is history from 1900 to 1960 (when Erie-Lackawanna was
created); Two is a compendium of equipment, including the marine operations.
Volume One has pictures of the Millburn Station after the "new" station was
constructed around the turn of the century. Vol One is chronological.There
is also a companion volume on the DL&W in the 19th Century, which would
discuss the construction of the line through Millburn. (The original line
was constructed, I believe, by the Morris and Essex RR, which the DL&W took
over in the 1800's.)  You may also want to see if there is a "Profiles of
America" book on Millburn. (I may not have the title right, but I'm talking
about a series where each book deals with specific "Hometowns") They
typically include some RR information.

The original Tabor books are long out of print, but the Steamtown
Association has re-printed the 20th Century volumes, maybe the 19th too.
They should also be available from sellers of RR books.

Yes, Phoebe Snow was the name of a DL&W passenger train that ran from
Hoboken to Buffalo. Phoebe was a ficticious women created by the DL&W
advertising department around the turn of the century, to tout their use of
clean burning anthracite coal. Until the 1920's she was quite a folk
character. The DL&W brought her back to life in the 1950's when they named a
train after her.

Your message got forwarded from George Elwood's site to
erielack_@_lists.railfan.net . This is a forum site for discussion of the
Erie, DL&W and the EL, which provides lots of interesting information (and
occational stuff that's not right on target, but is, as they say, " is close
enough for government work". You should join.

Good Luck,
Rich Chapin

- ----- Original Message -----
From: gelwood <gelwood_@_dnaco.net>
To: Erie Lackawanna List <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 10:35 PM
Subject: (erielack) Amateur question about MUs (fwd)


> Anybody help?
>
> George Elwood
> http://www.dnaco.net/~gelwood
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 21:45:49 -0400
> From: "Forstchen, Bill" <BForstchen_@_montreat.edu>
> To: "'gelwood_@_dnaco.net'" <gelwood@dnaco.net>
> Subject: Amateur question about MUs
>
> Hope you don't mind this question from an amateur when it comes to train
> history.   I grew up in Millburn NJ in the 1950s and even as a child was
> captivated by the MU trains.   They were magical, mystical machines that I
> would watch go by from my bedroom window.   Whenever my folks weren't
> watching, I'd slip down to the tracks to crush pennies and play in what I
> guess had been an old side line and warehouse about a quarter mile west of
> the Millburn station.
>
> My question:   Just how old were the MU cars?  I well remember their
smell,
> the sound as they braked to a halt, the thrill of climbing aboard and the
> feel of the old cane wicker seats.    Also, where might I be able to find
a
> good book on the history of the old Lackawanna rail line thru Millburn?
I'm
> actually a professor of history now, and intrigued by the early history of
> railroad development.   I remember seeing a painting dating to about 1860
of
> a train coming in to Orange Station and would like to learn more about
what
> I guess was one of the earliest commuter lines in the country.    Finally,
I
> remember a beautiful diesel engine train that would come thundering
through
> Millburn every morning around 10 AM or so.   My mom called it the Phoebe
> Snow and I wonder if that indeed was the name of the train.   A special
> treat was to walk to the old station with mom and watch it come roaring
> thru.
>
> Funny, even as I write this note I hear a train whistle blowing.   I live
in
> Western North Carolina now, just a few hundred yards from the
> Norfolk-Southern route that comes up through Swannanoa Gap, one of the
most
> beautiful climbs in the East with a couple of gorguous horseshoe turns and
> half a dozen tunnels.
>
> Hope you don't mind the questions from an amateur but got hit by a bout of
> nostalgia and curiousity tonight and figured a web search might turn up
some
> answers to old questions.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Bill Forstchen
> Black Mtn. NC
>
>

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