The New Haven Railroad EP5s

The New Haven Railroad, its complete name the New York New Haven and Hartford, was a mid-sized Northeastern carrier that is best remembered for moving more people than freight (interestingly it derived a good portion of its revenues from commuter services). At its peak the New Haven Railroad stretched across most of New England (even owning the Maine Central and Boston & Maine) and served its largest cities from Boston and Providence to New York City. In the end, however, poor management would cost the railroad by the mid-20th century and forced it into bankruptcy by the 1960s. In an interesting twist as a condition of the merger the NH was forced into the ill-fated Penn Central Corporation and disappeared into Conrail in 1976 after PC and the entire Northeastern rail market collapsed.

The New Haven’s strength was in its ability to haul thousands of passengers and commuters along its high speed main line between New York and Boston (which continues to this day), and points in between. While the railroad did have a strong presence hauling freight, especially during the early 20th century, it also had a very strong passenger/commuter market because of the fact that it offered the only direct Boston-New York rail connection (and it naturally marketed this quite heavily).

Early New Haven Railroad electric locomotives and its energized territory in general would pioneer the use of alternating current (AC) transmission, today the most commonly used form of electricity to power electrified rail lines. Of all the Northeastern railroads the New York, New Haven & Hartford, better known as simply the New Haven, carried the most electrified territory per capita on its system, even more than the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad. Of the New Haven’s 1,800-mile railroad, over 670 were eventually electrified, or about 37% of its entire system!

This electrification had a very practical and useful purpose, however, as the New Haven derived a considerable amount of its profits from passenger and commuter traffic with its main line operating between the densely populated cities of New York and Boston. Today, the New Haven’s electrified lines remain almost entirely intact and its main line to Boston is an integral part of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor connecting Massachusetts’ largest city with Washington, D.C.

In 1958 the New Haven purchased a set of 10 Ignitron-rectifier electric locomotives from General Electric to help replace its older fleet of EP-2s and EP-3s, and complement its newer EP-4s. These locomotives were dubbed EP5s and were the most powerful electrics the New Haven ever owned rated at 4,000 hp and 87,000 pounds of starting tractive effort. Internally the motors used nose-suspended traction motors, which were actually more commonly found on older models than newer designs.

In any event, the EP5s proved their worth and were quite adept in passenger and commuter service on the New Haven. However, due to their high price tag the New Haven only purchased ten models of the EP5. Instead, the railroad found that the duel-mode FL9s from EMD proved to be just as effective and much cheaper (not to mention that they could operate using both electricity and diesel as a primary fuel source).

In the end, the EP5s only saw about ten years of use under New Haven before the railroad was forced into the Penn Central debacle in 1968, where the locomotives were reassigned to freight service. This is where the EP5s remained, even under Conrail in 1976 before they were finally all scrapped by the end of that decade. Today, sadly, no EP5s remain preserved.

For more reading on the New Haven’s EP5s, and essentially all of the railroad’s motors, please consider Electric Locomotives by Brian Solomon. The book details most electric locomotives used in the United States beginning with the B&O’s Baltimore project and extensively covers the New Haven’s operations, in much more detail than what I have here.

Lastly, for more reading on the New Haven Railroad itself consider New Haven Railroad from Peter Lynch. The book gives you a great overview and history of the New Haven (and it is filled with many, excellent, historical and colorful photographs). If you have an interest in the New Haven or Northeastern railroading in general, I'm sure you will enjoy the book.