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Home > Archives > FL9 locomotive No. 491 in the snow, 1982.

FL9 locomotive No. 491 in the snow, 1982.

Black and white photograph from February 1982 showing FL9 locomotive No. 491 at Rensselaer, N.Y.

FL9 locomotive No. 491 in the snow, 1982.

The streamlined FL9 electro-diesel locomotives were originally built by the General Motors Electro-Motive Division for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (the "New Haven") from 1956 to 1960. Since part of the New Haven was electrified, the FL9 was capable of diesel-electric operation or could be electrically powered from a third rail. Following the Penn Central merger, these 1750 horsepower locomotives eventually passed to Conrail and a dozen were later sold to Amtrak.

Rebuilt FL9s were used by Amtrak until the arrival of the new P32AC-DM locomotives in the mid-1990s. In this image, the locomotive, built in 1957, wears the Phase III paint scheme introduced by Amtrak in 1979. To the left hand side of the photo, one can make out the former gothic revival style Delaware & Hudson Railway building and the soaring Erastus Corning Tower across the Hudson river in Albany.

Photographer: William Kratville (American, 1929-2011) for Amtrak. From the Blair Slaughter Collection.