Speaking of F-Units

In last week's post I mentioned that the Santa Fe locomotive that was featured took the place of the aging F-Units in the Santa Fe Railroad's fleet. This week, the post card we are exploring has a picture of one of the many types of F-Units that were made.

This particilar unit is unique among F-Units, but it is still a good example of what an F-Unit would have looked like. The following information is taken from the website: https://www.american-rails.com/fl9.html The EMD FL9 was one of the more unique locomotive designs ever conceived. It was developed by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division for the New York, New Haven, & Hartford Railroad (New Haven Railroad) which had a system comprising both electrified and non-electrified lines (and on in which relied heavily on commuters between New York and Boston for revenues). As such, the New Haven Railroad wanted a locomotive which could operate over both lines without the need to switch out power, thus saving time and making train operations more efficient. While a sound theory and a reliable locomotive, the FL9 did not prove to be an entirely successful alternative for the electrics it replaced. The EMD FL9 began production in October, 1956 and was ordered upon the request of New Haven Railroad's new head of operations at the time led by Frederic Dumaine and Patrick McGinnis. Their belief with this dual-power locomotive was to eventually eliminate all electrified operations on the railroad, which consisted of the southern half of the system between New Haven and New York City. The FL9 was based from the FP9, which itself was a variant of the F9 only intended for use in passenger service like the FP7. Longer than the F9, the FP9 was 54 feet in length to house a steam generator. However, the FL9 required a length of 59 feet for its unique rear truck and electric equipment (and not to mention also housing a steam generator); thus, its similar dimensions and designation. The FL9 would prove to be EMD's longest F unit it ever developed. You see above, on the front of today's post card, that the F-Unit featured as built for the New Haven Railroad. The following information is taken from the website: https://www.nhrhta.org/history The New Haven Railroad was formed in 1872 when the New York & New Haven and the Hartford & New Haven railroads were merged together to form the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company (The New Haven Railroad). The New Haven's early management focused on expanding the company through an aggressive policy of mergers and acquisitions. Consequently, by the turn of the century the New Haven had absorbed over 25 railroad companies, dramatically expanding from its original 450 route miles to over 2,047 miles of trackage. The New Haven Railroad operated in the states of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The New Haven Railroad was always a technologically innovative company. Early experiments in electrification were performed on several branch lines during the 1890s. These experiments resulted in the entire main line from New York City to New Haven, Connecticut being put under catenary wires by 1914. By 1910, J. P. Morgan, as president of the railroad, practiced monopoly building efforts, which were in violation of various federal and state anti-trust laws. They came under direct criminal investigation and Morgan had so over-extended the company that it came very close to financial collapse. Thankfully, during World War One, the New Haven Railroad was taken over by the federal government and operated by the United States Railroad Administration. The various war emergency protections afforded the railroad and the great influx of military related business put the New Haven back on its feet again. In 1920, the New Haven Railroad reverted back to civilian ownership. Then, the Great Depression of the 1930s brought the New Haven Railroad once again to the brink of insolvency. The Second World War introduced the New Haven Railroad to the concept of mass dieselization. The then new Alco/GE DL-109 diesel passenger locomotives, which the New Haven Railroad bought in greater numbers than any other railroad, were used in round the clock service on passenger trains during the day and used on freight trains at night. The short-lived and controversial administration of president Patrick McGinnis, which commenced during April 1954 and was over in January 1956, put the New Haven Railroad through a comprehensive corporate image design project which gave the railroad a new 'NH' logo and red, white, and black corporate color scheme. This is the scheme that you see on the engine on the front of the post card. The New Haven's president during the latter half of the 1950s, George Alpert, was an early champion of government subsidies for money-losing railroad passenger operations and purchased the unique dual-powered EMD FL-9 diesel-electric-electric locomotives. This is the type of locomotive you see on the front of the post card. Unfortunately, expensive hurricane and flood damage during 1954 and 1955, competition from government subsidized highways and airlines, high rates of taxation, enormous commuter service losses, and the migration of heavy industry from New England to the south and west caused the New Haven Railroad to go bankrupt again in 1961. After a decade of struggling along under trustees the New Haven Railroad was absorbed by the ill-fated Penn Central Transportation Company on January 1st, 1969.

The post card was published by Audio-Visual Designs. The following is taken from their website: https://www.audiovisualdesigns.com/ Founded in 1964 by the late Carl H. Sturner, Audio-Visual Designs has been a leader in providing high quality railroad images products for over 4 decades. The business was originally located in Earlton, NY. The name was derived by the products sold at the time – audio soundtracks of trains well as visual items (post cards, books, & calendars). The first All Pennsy Calendar was published in 1966 and for many years used exclusively the photos of Don Wood, a long time friend of Carl's. In the late 80's, Carl started showcasing other photographer's work as well. Railroad Christmas cards were added to the line of products early on and with a few exceptions have featured real photos of trains in action. Three railroad books have been published by Audio-Visual Designs: I Remember Pennsy, Locomotives in My Life, and The Unique New York and Long Branch: all of which were projects worked on by Carl and Mr. Wood. Audio-Visual Designs has also published books for other non-railroad related organizations. By the time of his untimely passing in 1995, Carl had grown Audio-Visual Designs into an established icon in the railfan community - providing an enjoyable aspect of both the railfanning and model railroading hobbies. We serve many excursion railroads, museums, and hobby shops with stock post card images, greeting cards, custom products and the All Pennsy Calendar. In 1997, the business was purchased by us (Joe & Colleen Suo) and moved to the present Herkimer, NY location. Due to the timing of the current owners’ purchase of the business and the initial raising of funds, there was a 2 year gap in the All Pennsy Calendar production. For the years 1997 & 1998 there were no Pennsy calendars. However, they have maintained and expanded the level of quality in their products and services established by the founder.