The Aerotrain on display at the Museum of Transportation did not live up to its billing as “the train of the future” despite its modern styling and engineering innovations.
I went to this museum in 2002 and remember seeing this as it is in the photo at 6:01. It was a mess. I'm glad to see they've put a lot of work into it!
I live in Missouri and have seen this train many times and now noticed the cab on the aero train and how it looks like an old 1950’s Chevy bel air roof
Yes possibly keeping in mind the cost of laying track versus the cost of moving the train by flatbed. The video did bring out the fact that the crane/flatbed company did give the museum a good price for moving the historic train.
The Aerotrain definitely showed design influences from 1950's GM cars. I think that's Harley Earl at 4:02 in the video. I get a big kick out of the brief shot of the rear car; it has tailfins. For those people beating up GM about the failure of the Aerotrain, I will remind them that GM revolutionized rail transport back in the '30's and 40's with the EMD diesel-electric locomotives. They built prototype diesel units and sent them on an extended tour of America, putting them in service on many different railroads. The technology caught on, and GM made a lot of money selling EMD locomotives. So with the Aerotrain, they tried again to revolutionize railroading, and failed. Not every plan is guaranteed success.
Amusing that the opening film shows a 1957 Chevy like I had and they mention that this is 1955. Also love the TWA Constellation. I flew in those at McGuire AFB in NJ in the early 1970s. Never was on the Aerotrain, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
I also had the privilege of riding the Aerotrain on six different occasions while I was in high school. It ran on the Rock Island commuter line from Joliet Illinois to Chicago, making all 35 stops. In my book, it was a "looker" then as well as now, despite its shortcomings.
In 2005 had a chance to see this trains twin at the Railroad Museum in Green Bay. The design was very cool indeed. Too bad is was such a literal light-weight.
It seems to me there were three of these trains, not two. The third train was much longer than the other two and ran from Chicago to Peoria Illinois. I lived near the Rock Island tracks and saw these trains daily.
The bus bodes were designed by Raymond Loewy, famed industrial designer who also designed the Studebaker Avanti and lots of Pennsylvania locos. The Aerotrain loco was designed by GM chief stylist Harley Earl, most notably known for his 1959 Cadillac tail fins. As with all lightweight trains, the Aerotrain was rough riding because part of any train's ride is provided by the track itself, whose rails flex more (and thus give a smoother ride) when subjected to heavier equipment. Tracks on Amtrak's Spanish Talgo trains in Washington and Oregon have to be maintained by a much higher standard, which the states fund, much to the delight of the BNSF and UP.
The problem was that ride quality on trains depends on both car springs AND the flexing of the rails and roadbed below, which contributes a substantial portion of the softness. Since these cars were so light, they could not take advantage of the natural springiness of standard RR tracks, and thus bounced over them instead.
I've seen Aerotrain #2 at Green Bay, certainly an interesting looking locomotive, definitely unique example of streamlined styling. I think if the cars would have been built closer to standard (operationally speaking) it would have been more successful. For my own personal aesthetic preference give me a nice CB&Q shovelnosed E5 locomotive in front of the California Zephyr or something.
While commuting on the Rock Island circa 1926 cars, the conductor said to keep arms inside the windows. Moments later I saw the Aerotrain headed toward us on the opposite track at high speed. It created an air vortex so strong it rocked the commuter train. I freaked out as I had never seen nor heard of the Aerotrain.
The roofline on the engine of the GM built Aerotrain looks a lot like a 1957 & 1958 Buick Centruy & 1958 Oldsmobile 88. The back end of the observation car on the GM built Aerotrain sets looked like the back end of my most favorite Chevrolet & Pontiac Station wagons from 1955 to 1957 when GM built the Chevrolet Nomad 2 door hardtop station wagon & its Pontiac cousin the Pontiac Safari Station wagon.
When I was little Like in 1963 or thereabouts I remember my Grandmother reading me a story book about trains that a picture of this train. ( As I recall the train didn't do all that well in the story either)
The most comfortable train I’ve been on is the Nebraska Zephyr. It’s extremely quiet and the soft rocking motion is enough to put you to sleep. It’s a shame it’s apparently uncomfortable.
My team is the Green Bay Packers forever. I was born in 1958 in Lacrosse. My dad ( USAF) transferred here to Texas in 1962. Always wished I knew more about my home state.
Different one at,Green Bay.... there are two surviving Aerotrain power cars...... this one is ex Rock Island..... I think the other was either NYC or trialed with them then ended up with the others working commuter our of Chicargo....... ...... sadly, as is typical in American "preservation" both are stripped immobile non operational...
cool, i love these rare attempts of streamlined passenger trains are what i think will be updated and modified to become future trains, with crews or not
The museum is in St Louis,MO. I first saw it there in October 1970, and glad they are fixing it up. There originally was a tunnel that it came through to the museum, but they pulled the track years ago,, hence the need for the crane.
Too much elevation difference between the upper and lower part of the park. The Transportation Museum would have had to run several miles of track, and it is surrounded by private homes. Just not practical.
If it wasn't for the fundamental shifts away from collective modes of transportation and poorly engineered ride suspension this train would have been a real hit. The righting on the wall was really clear, Americans wanted convenience and complete freedom of where they wanted to go at a time of their choosing. Trains and public transit couldn't deliver that anywhere any time promise like the automobile can. Americans families are extremely busy and put in long hours at jobs tens of miles away from home and most of their retail fulfillment are also tens of miles away. You just can't lug 50 lbs of groceries or other purchased merchandise on different buses and trains, you'd be exausted, lose half your stuff after the 2 hour trip from the store.
true... but that's a deliberate choice of spatial planning. Over the last 60 years cities in the US have for a good part become completely unwalkable, with structures that require the use of a car and make it very hard to implement efficient public transport. Now the american "freedom" seems to sit in traffic jam on the same route to work every day... But that's no natural principle, it could be changed (just requires a lot of time).
There are still a lot of locomotives that were built by gm still running today most of your commuter rail lines like Metra the coaster there locomotives are built by gm.
What if you give a railroad project to a a company that used to make cars? That's right- they will make a car on rails. What is so revolutionary about it, beside driverr's cap put on top of the locomotive looking like a car? The passenger seat layout is standard. From what I heard, it looked unusual but its power and speed characteristics pretty much ended there, it had horrible performance on the grades. Thumbs up to museum guys who managed to restore it!
Railroads HAD to abide by ICC rates over which they had NO control...HAD to run numerous money-losing passengers consists...had to pay massive property taxes while Eisenhower was building the freeways for truckers and airports were developed using public funding...couldn't easily abandon unprofitable or redundant trackage...had to live with archaic work rules with regard to train crews and job security...all of this led to "deferred maintenance" as opposed to "dynamic revitalization"...
No. Talgo cars were suspended from the roof atop long coil spring towers that connected to the wheels below. The tilt was provided from the car's center of gravity being below the 'instant center' of the suspension geometry, causing the cars to sway outward in curves.
Just saw the one in green bay. It's not in the best shape. Can't go in it but can look into it. I did see the one in st. Louis but didn't think too much of it at the time
@@maxischew514 American terminology. Streetcar. Can be operated by animal (horse or mule), cable, or electricity, in which case it is also called a trolley. A tram is a small cart such as used in mines. Locomotives are run by engineers, the conductor is not called a guard, and so on.
The do between Eugene Oregon and Vancouver, BC. Check out Amtrak Cascade Service on the web. Trains are lightweight Spanish Talgo cars and very popular.
+lawnmowerdude Not angry whatsoever. Thank you for your concern. Delighted to see this relic cut apart & melted down for the junk it was built to be. It is all money, ($$), to me!
Anyone who does not learn from the mistakes of history is destined to repeat them. We need examples of the things we have done both good and bad to help us learn from our past and improve. I am glad that there are people who restore some of these things. Even though occasionally there are glaring omissions from what have been preserved ( like the T1)
General Motors has been promising us a bright exciting future that never quite seems to arrive for the past 75+ years now.
Hope they keep trying
michigandon ....ya, bubble cities, flying cars and moon busses were supposed to be just “
right around the corner”...
@@hertzair1186 I'm working on flying car, have been for a while. Lack of funds sucks
Well the new Vette is mid engined so they got it 50% right
I had the pleasure of riding the Rock Island Aerotrain that was in commuter service in Chicago. Wish I'd taken more pictures of it.
How was the ride ?
@@connorshira4271 Okay. Nothing remarkable. They trainset was getting pretty worn by then and the Rock Island was headed to down and out.
Ah well glad to know ,not often you get the chance to ask about the history of an old machine, especially one who rode in it
@@prowordsmith- When the Rock was merged, much of its line was superfluous, therefore abandoned.
I went to this museum in 2002 and remember seeing this as it is in the photo at 6:01. It was a mess. I'm glad to see they've put a lot of work into it!
I live in Missouri and have seen this train many times and now noticed the cab on the aero train and how it looks like an old 1950’s Chevy bel air roof
Yes possibly keeping in mind the cost of laying track versus the cost of moving the train by flatbed. The video did bring out the fact that the crane/flatbed company did give the museum a good price for moving the historic train.
The Aerotrain definitely showed design influences from 1950's GM cars. I think that's Harley Earl at 4:02 in the video. I get a big kick out of the brief shot of the rear car; it has tailfins. For those people beating up GM about the failure of the Aerotrain, I will remind them that GM revolutionized rail transport back in the '30's and 40's with the EMD diesel-electric locomotives. They built prototype diesel units and sent them on an extended tour of America, putting them in service on many different railroads. The technology caught on, and GM made a lot of money selling EMD locomotives. So with the Aerotrain, they tried again to revolutionize railroading, and failed. Not every plan is guaranteed success.
how ture how very ture
andy that is very true and the exact reason the aerotrain is considered a good attempt but still a fail
The design influences comes from the fact that they used bus bodies to make the cars, which also helped it fail.
Amusing that the opening film shows a 1957 Chevy like I had and they mention that this is 1955. Also love the TWA Constellation. I flew in those at McGuire AFB in NJ in the early 1970s. Never was on the Aerotrain, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
I rode in a number of '57 Chevys, and the AeroTrain. I was never in a Constellation. Count me in the "2 out of 3" club.
The Rock Island Areotrain Locomotive 3 was saved from the scrapyard.
Travesty of justice that none of the rear observation cars as seen @ 5:26 weren't saved.
That being the only GM made thing with wheels never to have a recall
I also had the privilege of riding the Aerotrain on six different occasions while I was in high school. It ran on the Rock Island commuter line from Joliet Illinois to Chicago, making all 35 stops. In my book, it was a "looker" then as well as now, despite its shortcomings.
In 2005 had a chance to see this trains twin at the Railroad Museum in Green Bay. The design was very cool indeed. Too bad is was such a literal light-weight.
It seems to me there were three of these trains, not two. The third train was much longer than the other two and ran from Chicago to Peoria Illinois. I lived near the Rock Island tracks and saw these trains daily.
The Talgo Jet Rocket?
@@JoseSanchez-96 This train was called the Jet Rocket.
Look at the front truck on the locomotive and then check out the trucks on the GP40X.
The bus bodes were designed by Raymond Loewy, famed industrial designer who also designed the Studebaker Avanti and lots of Pennsylvania locos. The Aerotrain loco was designed by GM chief stylist Harley Earl, most notably known for his 1959 Cadillac tail fins.
As with all lightweight trains, the Aerotrain was rough riding because part of any train's ride is provided by the track itself, whose rails flex more (and thus give a smoother ride) when subjected to heavier equipment.
Tracks on Amtrak's Spanish Talgo trains in Washington and Oregon have to be maintained by a much higher standard, which the states fund, much to the delight of the BNSF and UP.
You can still see a smaller version of this running, at the Oregon Zoo, in Portland.
Ouch! Guy cracked his noggin at 6:09
I didn't even notice, but yes you are absolutely right.
That must have hurt a bit.
It hurts more than you think.
A GM product with poorly designed suspension?.... yeah that's never happened before. lol
DJ ArcForce and the only GM made thing that did not have a recall
The problem was that ride quality on trains depends on both car springs AND the flexing of the rails and roadbed below, which contributes a substantial portion of the softness. Since these cars were so light, they could not take advantage of the natural springiness of standard RR tracks, and thus bounced over them instead.
I was gonna say that air ride suspension was made for smoother rides
But it would've ran smoother if it had coils on it, just like the other diesel engines
From an era when beauty of a machine was still important. Now everything looks like a streamlined box.
...and then the N&W 611 rolls by...
I've seen Aerotrain #2 at Green Bay, certainly an interesting looking locomotive, definitely unique example of streamlined styling. I think if the cars would have been built closer to standard (operationally speaking) it would have been more successful. For my own personal aesthetic preference give me a nice CB&Q shovelnosed E5 locomotive in front of the California Zephyr or something.
While commuting on the Rock Island circa 1926 cars, the conductor said to keep arms inside the windows. Moments later I saw the Aerotrain headed toward us on the opposite track at high speed. It created an air vortex so strong it rocked the commuter train. I freaked out as I had never seen nor heard of the Aerotrain.
Was this a Talgo System train? With carriages with one axle boogies like on the Spanish Talgo trains?
The roofline on the engine of the GM built Aerotrain looks a lot like a 1957 & 1958 Buick Centruy & 1958 Oldsmobile 88. The back end of the observation car on the GM built Aerotrain sets looked like the back end of my most favorite Chevrolet & Pontiac Station wagons from 1955 to 1957 when GM built the Chevrolet Nomad 2 door hardtop station wagon & its Pontiac cousin the Pontiac Safari Station wagon.
Christopher S. O' The cars look like Greyhound buses. Super lazy design, the anti-streamline design in the streamline era 👌🏻
Does anyone know if the observation car was saved? Too beautiful to have been scrapped.
When I was little Like in 1963 or thereabouts I remember my Grandmother reading me a story book about trains that a picture of this train. ( As I recall the train didn't do all that well in the story either)
My local Zoo has a scale replica of this train on its narrow gauge railway.
The most comfortable train I’ve been on is the Nebraska Zephyr. It’s extremely quiet and the soft rocking motion is enough to put you to sleep. It’s a shame it’s apparently uncomfortable.
5:43 that's where I live Green Bay, Wisconsin
My team is the Green Bay Packers forever. I was born in 1958 in Lacrosse. My dad ( USAF) transferred here to Texas in 1962. Always wished I knew more about my home state.
Different one at,Green Bay.... there are two surviving Aerotrain power cars...... this one is ex Rock Island..... I think the other was either NYC or trialed with them then ended up with the others working commuter our of Chicargo.......
...... sadly, as is typical in American "preservation" both are stripped immobile non operational...
what a beauty bet they couldn't design a better looking one today
that depends on your taste
nice bit if backing there........kudos!
Great times! When even GM's blunders were cool!
Adorei, sou fascinado por trens, sempre me encantou essas máquinas MARAVILHOSAS.
Abraço aqui do Brasil 🇧🇷
I was wondering, are they wotking on an hsl in south america yet?
if you want inside this beast all you have to do is ask for permission
cool, i love these rare attempts of streamlined passenger trains are what i think will be updated and modified to become future trains, with crews or not
I saw it in Norwich or New London, Ct when I was a kid. Still have a brochure that they handed out for it somewhere in my "stuff".
LaGrange Illinois had a GM design facility.
Very good looking engine.
It’s weird
Now that's streamline perfection.👌
That's a really nice resto job, thanks for the story!
I saw this particular, wonderful creation. I need to get to Green Bay to see the other surviving one!
romie1967 I've seen it multiple times
I've seen the Green Bay one, but have yet to see the Missouri one.
The one in Green Bay is filled with cat feces and trash. Would not reccomend unless you like the creepy/abandoned aesthetic
@@doofsdoofs wow It wasn't that decrepit when I saw it! Granted that was back in the early/mid '90s.
where is this museum ?
The museum is in St Louis,MO. I first saw it there in October 1970, and glad they are fixing it up. There originally was a tunnel that it came through to the museum, but they pulled the track years ago,, hence the need for the crane.
Air ride suspension is a Godsend.
Good story! Never did know why the Aerotrain failed. Should never have made it out of the shops, apparently.
why, didn't they build a temparay track ?
Maybe limited space.
Too much elevation difference between the upper and lower part of the park. The Transportation Museum would have had to run several miles of track, and it is surrounded by private homes. Just not practical.
Temporary.
Sorry for the silly question but where exactly is this stored at today?
MrLoadsalot .....at the Museum of Transportation in St Louis MO
"it was 1955..." as a 57 chevy rolls by. just saying
deme7063 saw that too...
devils in the details they say
lol
deme7063
w🏉🏀🏀🏀🏈🏈🎾👩❤️💋👩👩❤️💋👩🍩🌃🎇
@@deme7063 1955 must have been when GM started building the train.
Nice looking 57 for sure.
Was there ever one of these in Oregon? I remember riding on a train very similar to the Aerotrain...
Yes... In the Portland zoo.
I believe Disneyland had a monorail designed after this train.
If it wasn't for the fundamental shifts away from collective modes of transportation and poorly engineered ride suspension this train would have been a real hit. The righting on the wall was really clear, Americans wanted convenience and complete freedom of where they wanted to go at a time of their choosing. Trains and public transit couldn't deliver that anywhere any time promise like the automobile can. Americans families are extremely busy and put in long hours at jobs tens of miles away from home and most of their retail fulfillment are also tens of miles away. You just can't lug 50 lbs of groceries or other purchased merchandise on different buses and trains, you'd be exausted, lose half your stuff after the 2 hour trip from the store.
true... but that's a deliberate choice of spatial planning. Over the last 60 years cities in the US have for a good part become completely unwalkable, with structures that require the use of a car and make it very hard to implement efficient public transport. Now the american "freedom" seems to sit in traffic jam on the same route to work every day... But that's no natural principle, it could be changed (just requires a lot of time).
I love it
Great video
I enjoyed it very much
Bus bodies converted for railroad use, atleast the British made it work slightly better with the Pacer.
There are still a lot of locomotives that were built by gm still running today most of your commuter rail lines like Metra the coaster there locomotives are built by gm.
the locos in operation were built by gm under the emd brand
the newest locos are being built by caterpillar under the progress rails subsidiary
Its not the only one in the world Green bay has one in the National railroad museum
Mrs. Butterworth is going to tell me about trains..... not pancakes. 😂
What if you give a railroad project to a a company that used to make cars? That's right- they will make a car on rails. What is so revolutionary about it, beside driverr's cap put on top of the locomotive looking like a car? The passenger seat layout is standard. From what I heard, it looked unusual but its power and speed characteristics pretty much ended there, it had horrible performance on the grades.
Thumbs up to museum guys who managed to restore it!
In just a few short years We went from Winning WW2 To This kind of Thinking.
Railroads HAD to abide by ICC rates over which they had NO control...HAD to run numerous money-losing passengers consists...had to pay massive property taxes while Eisenhower was building the freeways for truckers and airports were developed using public funding...couldn't easily abandon unprofitable or redundant trackage...had to live with archaic work rules with regard to train crews and job security...all of this led to "deferred maintenance" as opposed to "dynamic revitalization"...
I wish the rest of the locomotive height would be balanced with the cab height, including the passenger cars.
i love this train!
Talgo used air bellows for tilting into curves at speed.
No. Talgo cars were suspended from the roof atop long coil spring towers that connected to the wheels below. The tilt was provided from the car's center of gravity being below the 'instant center' of the suspension geometry, causing the cars to sway outward in curves.
@@Greatdome99 Sounds like a good way to derail.
Just saw the one in green bay. It's not in the best shape. Can't go in it but can look into it. I did see the one in st. Louis but didn't think too much of it at the time
2:42 That’s too bad the museum has ruined it, I mean removed the engine, generator and compressor.
4:02 thats Harley Earl , No doubt about it.....
Ich finde das Ding cool.
I would park it in my driveway😂😂😂
WHERE!?
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Transportation
Is that a cowboy hat - hardhat?
yea, general motors put buses on tracks and they failed miserably
UK pacers
abc zyx trams not street cars. Get it right.
The cars of the Aerotrain are based on long distance bus bodies... So yes, they put buses on tracks...
Marcelo Benoit Super lazy design, they look like Greyhound buses 👌🏻
@@maxischew514 American terminology. Streetcar. Can be operated by animal (horse or mule), cable, or electricity, in which case it is also called a trolley. A tram is a small cart such as used in mines. Locomotives are run by engineers, the conductor is not called a guard, and so on.
They should make a new version of this train.
The do between Eugene Oregon and Vancouver, BC. Check out Amtrak Cascade Service on the web. Trains are lightweight Spanish Talgo cars and very popular.
Such a shame it just didnt work out,it looks so cool,not like the humdrum trains we have these days
The Portland Oregon zoo has a train modeled after this one: www.oregonzoo.org/visit/washington-park-and-zoo-railway
I was wondering if that thing existed yet- I remember being wowed by it when I was 6 in 1968 or thereabouts when we visited a relative in Portland..
Love the cowboy-hardhat
This is hilarious, this train from the company (GM), that put the passenger trains out of business.
Long distance passenger trains never were profitable, with few exceptions.
good
If only GM didn't give up on trains...
How much you wanna bet if it was built with heavy metals and materials it would’ve been successful
Sure cool looking
Looks like an old Buick or Olds.
And will it ever run again like the Big Boy 4014? Who Knows? First they have to put all of those parts back in maybe?
If GM mucked it up, thank the invisible deity it wasn't built by Ford.
I’ve seen that train in Green Bay
Elon, where you at??
hah those are refaced busses of tomorrow
fire up the aero train next?
Saw the GB one ok outside inside was trashed
Is that the APT?
Btw this is in Missouri
Thank you. I was wondering because it wasn't included in the heading notes.
A literal shunter engine with buses as train carriages….no wonder it failed
Looks like a Corvair van
"Really long,wide" can i taste it?
I'm like
So it failed because it was too lightweight.
4:40
The thing rode like a rock.
It would not have if it ran on good rails
If Ford had built this it would still be in service today!
Is that Mrs. Butterworth? I always thought she was older.
Why was this even attempted
GM did not design this to be successful. They were in the business of selling cars with serious growth year in year out.
What's with the horrible NPR beebop jazz?
The french built a better version
Should have junked this old relic & not restore it! It remains the junk it is the day it came out of the factory!
Cockroach why so angry? Is it because you're a cockroach?
+lawnmowerdude Not angry whatsoever. Thank you for your concern. Delighted to see this relic cut apart & melted down for the junk it was built to be. It is all money, ($$), to me!
You have never uploaded a video of your scrapyard. YOU HAVE NEVER UPLOADED A VIDEO OF YOURSELF
+PNWR1854 Correct! I just haven't got around to it yet! Something wrong with that?
Anyone who does not learn from the mistakes of history is destined to repeat them. We need examples of the things we have done both good and bad to help us learn from our past and improve. I am glad that there are people who restore some of these things. Even though occasionally there are glaring omissions from what have been preserved ( like the T1)