The Budd SPV-2000 is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar built by the Budd Company between 1978 and 1981 for use on North American commuter railroads. The design was a successor to Budd's popular Rail Diesel Car (RDC) but based on the body of the Amfleet passenger car. It did not prove a success: Budd built 31 cars and they proved mechanically unreliable.
SPV-2000 | |
---|---|
SPV-2000 No. 293, formerly of Metro-North Railroad, preserved at the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum | |
Manufacturer | Budd Company |
Constructed | 1978–1981 |
Number built | 31 (plus 14 unassembled shells) |
Capacity | 86–109 |
Operators | Federal Railroad Administration ONCF CDOT/Amtrak MTA/Metro-North Caltrain (used as inspection cars) |
Specifications | |
Car length | 85 feet 4 inches (26.01 m) |
Width | 10 feet 6 inches (3.20 m) |
Height | 14 feet 6 inches (4.42 m) |
Maximum speed | 80 to 120 miles per hour (130 to 190 km/h) |
Weight | 127,000 pounds (58,000 kg) |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Notes/references | |
[1] |
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/SPV-2000_demonstrator_at_Reading%2C_1978.jpg/320px-SPV-2000_demonstrator_at_Reading%2C_1978.jpg)
Budd announced the design in 1976. At the time it contemplated multiple unit operation of up to six cars with a top speed of 120 miles per hour (190 km/h). Power would be provided by 360 horsepower (270 kW) General Motors diesel engines. Popular Science depicted a tapered cab similar to the power car of the Advanced Passenger Train; the SPV-2000 would enter service with a more traditional blunt-end operator's cab.[2] Budd said that SPV stood for "Special Purpose Vehicle" (Self-Propelled Vehicle became common), and emphasized the design's suitability for both intercity and commuter rail service.[3]
The body shell of the SPV-2000 was very similar to the Amfleet passenger coach, which in turn was based on the Metroliner electric multiple unit. The SPV-2000 featured operator cabs at both ends and (in the standard configuration) 86 seats in 22 rows. There was an accessible toilet at one end and a small space to store luggage at the other.[1] Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) cars could seat 109.[4]
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Budd_SPV2000_Shells_Wilmington_DE.jpg/640px-Budd_SPV2000_Shells_Wilmington_DE.jpg)
Budd unveiled the first SPV-2000 in Philadelphia on February 9, 1978, and then sent it on a demonstration tour around the United States.[5] Budd eventually sold SPV-2000s to four customers: the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), ONCF (Morocco state railways), the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).[1] In 1978 Los Angeles County Supervisor Baxter Ward proposed using SPV-2000s on the former Pacific Electric line to Long Beach, California, but nothing came of this proposal.[6] The SPV-2000s were considered for a resumption of Cape Cod rail service via Braintree, Massachusetts and an SPV-2000 made a demonstration run in August 1979, but nothing came of this either.[7] Beyond the 30 cars it sold, Budd constructed the demonstrator and 14 incomplete shells.[8] In the early 1990s the North American Carriages Company proposed to complete some of these shells as standard passenger cars for use in a new service between San Antonio, Texas and Monterrey, Nuevo León, to be called the Royal Eagle, but nothing came of the proposal.[9]
FRA
The Federal Railroad Administration purchased a single SPV-2000 in 1981 and converted it into a track geometry car which it designated T-10. The T-10 remained in service with the FRA until 2000 when it was replaced by newer equipment.[10] It was then sold to Caltrain.[11]
ONCF
Budd sold six SPV-2000s to ONCF (the Moroccan state railways) for use on King Hassan II's royal train.[1][3] Under King Mohammed VI, Hassan II's successor, the train has fallen into disuse.[12]
ConnDOT
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Waterbury_Branch_train_with_Constitution_Liners_in_Seymour%2C_March_2006.jpg/640px-Waterbury_Branch_train_with_Constitution_Liners_in_Seymour%2C_March_2006.jpg)
The Connecticut Department of Transportation purchased 13 SPV-2000s at roughly $1 million apiece in 1980 (equivalent to $3.7 million in 2023 adjusted for inflation); 12 for use on the New Haven–Springfield Line and one for commuter service on the Danbury Branch.[13] The New Haven–Springfield Line cars were leased to Amtrak (numbered 988–999) and painted in Amtrak's Phase III livery. The cars were designed to be interoperable with Amfleet cars; for a brief period, Springfield shuttles were coupled to the rear of Boston trains at New Haven to provide through service to Washington, D.C.[14]
The cars proved mechanically unreliable and were often pulled by locomotives, leading to the derisive sobriquet "Seldom Powered Vehicles". Amtrak withdrew them on January 12, 1986 and placed conventional locomotive-hauled Amfleet trains on the route. The cars saw some use on the Metro-North Railroad; most were stored in New Haven. In 1994, the remaining 11 were de-powered and converted to coaches for use on Shore Line East commuter service.[8][15] Dubbed "Constitution Liners", they were the primary coaches for Shore Line East until replaced by Mafersa coaches in 2004.[16] In 2018, seven of the former ConnDOT cars were sold to the Foxville and Northern Railroad (later Atlantic Railways).[17]
MTA
The MTA purchased ten SPV-2000s for use on its Hudson Line between Croton–Harmon and Poughkeepsie. The order cost $12 million. The SPV-2000s made their first runs on October 17, 1981. This run was coordinated with the re-opening of the New Hamburg station.[4] Problems with the SPV-2000s developed quickly, and a 1982 New York magazine article characterized the cars as "defective".[18] The MTA SPV-2000s are all out of service; one is preserved at the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum in Willimantic, Connecticut.[19]
- South Australian State Transport Authority 2000 class railcar
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