Ignitron multiple-unit cars for the New Haven Railroad

ON APRIL 1, 1954, a 10-car train was placed in commuter service on the electrified lines of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, the first of 100 new multiple-unit cars. Modern in every respect, the outstanding feature is the use of ignitron rectifiers to convert alternating current collected from the trolley to direct current for operation of d-c traction motors. This is the first application in the world of this type of equipment in quantity. Its use follows naturally from the excellent results obtained with the ignitron rectifier type of motive power on a trial multiple-unit car in service on the Pennsylvania Railroad since 1949, followed by two locomotives which have been in operation on the same railroad since early 1952. These locomotives were nominally rated at 6,000 horsepower (hp), but have been operating at 8,400 hp each.