Turbo Train

turbo train, high-speed passenger train powered by a gas-turbine engine similar to that used in jet aircraft. Unlike conventional trains, the turbo variety does not have a separate locomotive; its turbine power unit is small enough to be built into a passenger car. A typical turbo train consists of several passenger cars with power units located in each of the end cars. The cars are constructed of aluminum, and this, with various other design features aimed at reducing weight, minimizes the power required for high-speed locomotion. A pendulous banking suspension system enables the turbo train to travel around corners safely and smoothly at speeds 30 to 40 percent faster than other types of trains. With such a suspension system, a car is suspended above its centre of gravity so as to swing freely from a special frame, which causes the train to bank inward rather than outward around curves under centrifugal force.

The turbo train was developed during the early 1960s by engineers at the United Aircraft Corporation (now United Technologies Corporation) and was first produced by a unit of the Sikorsky Aircraft Division. These American-built turbo trains operated in the 1970s between Boston and New York City and also provided rail service between Montreal and Toronto during this period but were then abandoned. French-designed models were still operating in New York state in the mid-1980s.

The success of the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed electric trains and the sharp rise of fuel prices in the 1970s caused a serious decline in the use of turbo trains, although the suspension system developed for turbo trains continued in use.