MP54 Question

[lilbluefoxie]

Where does the Train Operator sit in the old MP54s the doors are right up against the front of the train by those porthole windows, so it seems that people are walking thru where the t/o is.

[lost noo yawka]

As a child I've ridden MP54's affectionately called ping-pongs all the time, as I recall the outside center door of the power cars could be swung 180 degrees inward to close off the cab controls from being tampared with when the train was not in revenue service that's why you would always see the center door pressed up againts the engineers window in yards such as VD in Brooklyn which had & still does have a high rate of vandalism. You could tell the power cars by the verticle rectangular protrusion under the left side of the engineers window. The side passenger doors would usually be locked so an errent passenger couldn't try to board the train via the engineers compartment, as for seating I believe the engineer had to slide a very uncomfortable looking lightly padded board from the wall behind him, a setup similar to door mounted ironing boards. I have tried many rail websites to find a MP54 cabshot but no such luck however from memory from actually getting to see an open cab it was definitely sparten, crew comfort was not the norm in those days. I hope this helped somewhat.

FLRAILMAN

[lilbluefoxie]

what about the cars in the middle of the consist, wouldnt there be controls there exposed? It seems like a very odd and bad design that the entry door is the same area as the engineer compartment

[lost noo yawka]

Every car in the MP54 trainset had an inner & outer door on each car for car to car access, all the inner doors on every train would usually be closed however the cab control cars on each married pair would always be open for car to car access but the cab controls would always be sealed by that outer door. I am not saying this was always the case all the time however everytime I rode the MP54s that was the configuration. There has to be others on this site who are old like me who remember these trains & could enlighten you further.

FLRAILMAN

[keyboardkat]

Actually, the end doors on the cab cars were sliding doors and could be slid over to cover the cab controls and open the access to walk to the next car. The engineer's cab was actually the vestibule. And it's incorrect to refer to the cab cars as power cars, because the railroad also had cabless motor cars, designated MT-54, for Motorized Trailer.

[metsfan]

Typical EMU controls need a key or some other action to activate the for use, otherwise they remain inactive.

 

- A