Amtrak FL-9 #488, New York City, NY, June, 1980, photo by Chuck Zeiler

Amtrak FL-9 #488, New York City, NY, June, 1980, photo by Chuck Zeiler

Amtrak FL-9 #488 was previously numbered Amtrak #239. It was originally New York New Haven & Hartford (NYNH&H, or simply the New Haven) #2016 (c/n 21962), built between July-November 1957, later under Penn-Central ownership (January 1, 1969), it was renumbered #5016. It had 1750 horsepower produced by a 16-567C prime mover, and the idea was to shut the diesel down at Woodlawn Junction and run under third rail 600 volts DC power into Grand Central.

This is a follow up to a photo I posted before, link here:
http://www.railroadforums.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/46193
and while I didn't think it was a good picture, it does verify the story, and in light of today's security issues, I'm not sure they let you wander onto the platforms and take pictures any more. So there's more value.

I recall seeing some of these platforms in the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeve. Seems a NH FL-9 ran over an investigator tracking Lex Luthor who lived in the basement of Grand Central. I'll look for the road number of that locomotive next time I see that movie.