8:20 Ah yes, the “Seldomly Powered Vehicle”

We've put men on the moon, we've put machines on Mars, but we can't build a replacement for the Budd RDC.

Guys RDC for metrolink

The RDCs. A novelty at the time even today, but a pain in the ass as they age. You either loved them or threw hammers at em Still great cars and it's impressive how many are still out there.

As we know: 1. Budd don't break (the exception proves the rule) 2. Budd don't break 3. *BUDD DON'T F%CKING BREAK!*

There's two Cape-gauge RDC derivatives that were exported to Taiwan as well: the DR2700 and DR2800 series. The bodies were built under license by Tokyu Car, but used licensed Budd's process to build them, and the builder's plates have Budd's name on them. The DR2700 was a married pair that later had an unpowered trailer inserted into the middle, and still remains Taiwan's fastest diesel-powered train despite entering service in 1996. They lasted all the way until 2014 on diesel commuter services. The DR2800s came in 3-car trainsets (all of them powered), were Taiwan's first air conditioned diesel trains, introduced air suspension to the nation's railways, and are the true end of the line for Budd's self-propelled railcars: Tokyu outshopped the last of them in 1984, 3 years after the last SPV-2000 and 20 years after the last Budd-built RDC. They also had a ton of staying power, only being retired last year, and actually outlasting the follow-up DR2900/3000 series.

RDCs are iconic. They could be found across the globe. There are many Budd RDCs preserved across the globe. The RDCs definitely will live on for a while.

VIA Rail tried to reintroduce RDCs to corridor service some years ago, but ultimately the tests didn't come out to much. CN crossings have a speed restriction of 30mph and 60mph for single and double car trains respectively because they weren't picking the trains up. That made it somewhat impractical for VIA as they didn't have many RDCs, and the line speed in the area they looked at was 80-100mph. They're still in use in Northern Ontario from Sudbury to White River, where the track speed is lower and there are practically no roads to cross because no one lives there lmao

The BUDD RDC is quite impressive in service even to this day. I did got to see a few of them preserved. Such as NSSR No. 9169 at the North Shore Scenic Railroad in Duluth, Minnesota, Lehigh Valley Railroad No. 40 displayed at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, Baltimore & Ohio No. 1961 displayed at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, and Chicago & Northwestern 9933 (A.K.A MBTA #10) displayed at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.

The "Budd Car" train out of Sudbury, ON is still very popular with hunters and outdoorsmen, as it is the only way to get to many hunt camps in the northern Ontario wilderness. I have never been around it as it operates on CP's line out of Sudbury, and the other hunt camps along the CN Ruel and Caramat subs are served by VIA's No.1 and 2 trains from Toronto to Winnipeg once a week.

Brazilian state-owned railway RFFSA has a lot of 1600 mm-gauge RDC railcars, nicknamed "Littorinas". These cars operated only in Rio - São Paulo premium service. Also, RFFSA had many metre-gauge RDC railcars - their bodies were based of SEPTA Silverliner III. Two of these RDC are operating in a tourist line near Curitiba.

Surprised you didn't mention the E&N Dayliner! Originally started as a CP service in the 50s when the Budd's were popular, it lasted all the way till 2011 when they shuttered most of the line due to poor/unsafe track condition, consist was 1 - 2 RDC's for the entire 60+ years non-stop!

In Canada the two, three and four Budd car passenger trains in the 50s, 60s and 70s were King. They made smaller communities accessible when the railway system was more extensive up until the early 80s. Now in 2024 with the pending eventuality of personal motor vehicle limited ownership and the sinister advent of everything Chinese battery powered. The Budd car may have new life.

Modern DMUs serve the San Diego Sprinter service, and the Sonoma-Marin County area is served by S.M.A.R.T (Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit), which uses Japanese-designed DMUs assembled in Illinois. These grandchildren of the Budd RDCs carry on the tradition of inexpensive passenger service that can afford lower passenger loads.

Fun fact! CN 1501 is an RDC, it was also featured in AmtrakGuy365's video on Budd RDC's! ~ Branchline passenger trains were a troubling money burner for American railroads. Given their federal "common carrier" designation, most railroads were expected to provide some kind of passenger service, no matter how minimal. This came to a head after World War II when Americans were eagerly hitting the road once again. Passenger and commuter trains were facing drastic losses, especially on the branchlines. However, experienced passenger car builder, the Budd Company, had a potential answer to the passenger train woes in the form of the Rail Diesel Car, or RDC. Music: Kirby and The Forgotten Land - Waddle Dee's Weapons Shop Super Paper Mario - Mr. L Green Thunder Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Spin Dig Galaxy Super Mario RPG - Welcome to Booster Tower Super Mario RPG - Rose Town Yakuza 5 - VENDOR POP Yakuza: Like a Dragon - The Only Way Out Super Mario RPG - Lets Go Down the Wine River OMORI - Push & Shove Super Paper Mario - Fort Francis OMORI - The Last Resort Super Mario RPG - Lets Play "Geno" Super Mario Odyssey - New Donk City Cafe Links: Twitter: twitter.com/AmtrakGuy365 Instagram: instagram.com/amtrakguy365/ Flickr: www.flickr.com/people/1424538... RedBubble Shop: www.redbubble.com/people/Amtr... My Site: amtrakguy365.weebly.com/ Transcript Follow along using the transcript. Show transcript AmtrakGuy365 95.5K subscribers Videos About Twitter Instagram 83 Comment

the RDC is something that is a hidden gem.

France's SNCF has a fleet of DMU's that run on many of their lesser-used lines in the Massif Central region. They're certainly more modern than the RDC's, but they're definitely not making money for SNCF.

The Chicago and Northwestern bought 3 of them in anticipation of utilizing many of them in commuter service in Chicago. They ultimately didn't pass the tests due to capacity issues (among others). Instead, they further developed bi-level gallery coaches to have a cab car, enabling push-pull service.

The Budds on the PRSL did a lot in their later years

My father was a B&M engineer and I spent some time in the cab of a Buddcar. Love them to this day and there's still a few here in NH used as coaches. I can tell you that cutting through the night at 65 mph with two chintzy sealed beams and a thin piece of stainless in front of you was somewhat terrifying for kid. "Real" locomotives could hit a pickup truck at a crossing and laugh it off, but Budds were like riding in a van - no protection whatsoever. Also, the Boston and Maine wound up owning around half of the entire production run.

Seminole golf has a few that they used on their scenic excursion trains when they ran those. I have always liked the RDC cars.

I think while the RDCs were still in service, the BL2 was also built with pretty much the same function, except mostly used for short local freights on branchlines.

Small correction: the McKeen motor cars with their stock powertrain did have a reversing mechanism of sorts. It involved shifting the cam phasing, changing the distributor, and running the entire motor backwards, much like a boat engine. It was crude, lead to the engine overheating easily and quickly, and resulted in most customers of the McKeen Motor Car Company converting their cars to alternative powertrains.

Great Video. I remember my RDC on the MARC Camden line in the mid 80's. That train use to rock and roll with the smell of diesel into the coaches was something. From time to time I see one at the B&O museum. Tip on the weekend they sometimes use a RDC set for a short excursions down the line about a 20 minute 2 mile distance. Still working. Cheers!

Great to see a video on a extremely important part of branch line history!

Starting to get into RDC’s… especially the BC Budd Railcar.. nice video!

Trinity Metro owner aka trinity railway express recently donated one of their RDCs to the museum of the American railroad of Frisco texas

The Trinity Railway Express cars later made their way to Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) upon the opening of service in 2010 before the Stadler GTWs were delivered. I believe they were all sold back to TRE in 2014. A couple of them went to Portland, and the rest to Vermont. One is left in Texas, and is now at the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco. Great video!

In 1981 I took the British Columbia Railway's thrice-weekly RDC service from Prince George to North Vancouver, getting off at Clinton which was the closest stop to the Trans-Canada Highway. It took all day, winding through spectacular river canyons as it slowly ambled south. Fun! I still distinctly remember the sound of its Detroit 6-110 engines, and now all these years later whenever I drive my bus with its Detroit 2-stroke engine it reminds me of that trip in an RDC.

Very informative. As a Connecticut resident in the New Haven area, it was great seeing the New Haven in action again. Thanks for triggering some old memories. 😊

I recall an early 1980s trip in an RDC between Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta.

I've seen a few budds from various railroad museums I visited in my life.

I recall taking RDC's from North Station out to Waltham MA.

Great job! The RDC was the first train I ever rode when I was a kid. They were on MARC in the early 90s. I have some old footage of these plus RDCs on the B&O for one of my upcoming productions. Keep up the good work!

I think there was plans to have an RDC shuttle service run in Maine from Brunswick to Rockland as sort of an extension of the Downeaster but I don’t know if that ever happened

I always kind of had a soft spot for these. Thanks for sharing.

seems that Stadler GTW trains are now the modern replacements in US for like 3 operators using them, albeit as more like suburban rapid transit systems

Guess you're not aware of this but many SPVs have come to Mexico to run on the recently reopened Interoceanic railway. They have not entered service yet but there are a few pictures and videos of them during testing.

I’ve caught midcoast railservice’s RDC-1 #2003. In Maine, on the rockland branch.

I wish there was a modern equivalent, transit is starting to uptick and there's lots of small communities and branch lines around the country that could benefit from the return of rail travel

I love how Canadian railroading seems to have an affinity for just continuing to use really old stock, just cause. It’s like the ultimate form of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ Not even just RDC’s. But the grain boxcars, but also F40’s and OG Budd cars Or maybe it’s a via rail thing

Great video Jared! Glad I could help out. When you mentioned the NH's Roger Williams, it reminded me I did have photos of one but it's a little late to send now. None the less, and again, great video!

The last TRE rdc number 2001 was given to the Museum of the American railroad in frisco Texas.

This video has amplified my want for an HO scale RDC

The Budd cars they used on the NSWGR ended up being hauled by a loco towards the end of their life because of reliability issues

A pilgrimage to North American railfans is VIA Rail's RDC service on the Canadian Pacific RR mainline north of Sudbury, Ontario. It serves the "back country" and remote cottages and fishing lodges accessible only by this conveyance. The only part of the CPR transcontinental that is not paralled by the Trans Canada. The handful of cars in this service have been re-furbished and re-powered in recent years, but with a cab only at one end, so the train always operates as a group of 2 or 3 cars.

Every freaking time I hear or see the word "Doodlebug" I just have to say it like that old cell phone commercial for the "Jitterbug"!

8:53 "Fortunately, the SPV was actually quite successful, running with little to no issue except- I'M JUST KIDDING!"

Fun fact: the RDCs owned by trimet are awesome. They sound, ride, and smell Great!

The Doodlebug was called the PERM/DERM on the Victorian Railways and the RDC's were called DRC's in Victoria and the 1200's in NSW

The Reading and Northern does RDC excursions from Reading to Jim Thorpe and back to Reading.

I actually got to operate the Chicago & North Western Railway's RDC-3, #430 (former New Haven 130) back in the late 1980s. It was used as a track geometry car to measure gauge and elevation of the trackage. It could go track speed and I ran it clear across Iowa and back on the C&NW's east-west mainline at 70 mph at times. It was heavily modified with the passenger seats removed, the passenger end engineer's controls were removed as well, two bedrooms were installed, a complete kitchen (with C&NW dining car china) was added and finally it had a computer and printer for the test equipment. It only had a four-notch throttle (versus an 8 notch typically on diesel locomotives). It was powered by two Detroit Diesel engines installed under the frame and it had a hydraulic transmission. Curiously, the "Hancock" whistle was retained on the test end of the car (it sounded a bit like a steam locomotive whistle). I last saw the C&NW #430 at a railroad museum in French Lick, Indiana in 2014.

You always have such great visuals! Thanks for another excellent video.

The graphic design of the trains in your videos keeps getting better, what better way to accompany a great video.

Very well put together! Enjoy these descriptive videos!

I actually saw one of these years ago in my hometown, owned by CN and used as a track inspection car. And i think that, if DMUs, or better yet, EMUs, were to be introduced again, then Canada's rural areas would have a better replacement for highway traffic.

I always remember first seeing an RDC on the NYC in Niagara Falls station back in my younger days around 1951. NYC was using them on shuttle service from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. Fast forward to 1978, when I was in Havana, Cuba on an escorted government tour, one of my fellow bus mates had them drop him off at the Havana main rail terminal. He told me he was a big rail fan and wanted to see the Cuba Rail RDC’s. As the bus moved away, I could see into the open platform terminal about 5 RDC’s. I had forgotten that Cuba still had their fleet running.

You got no idea for how long I’ve waited for this video to come out

The Grand Canyon Railway has some ex-MBTA RDCs which were de-engined by the MBTA and converted into passenger coaches.

Wow, rubber train tires sound innovative! Aside of the bounciness, it could've prevented wheel slippage. Oh well, at least we got sanders.

I really enjoy your train/railroad video's, I personally find them educational. Keep up the good work... Lynchburg Virginia

3:04 can we take a second to appreciate the guy with the handheld 10" bench grinder… o7

that photo of the bud car in a museum is actually in the city i live in, im pretty sure that particular bud car was used as a prototype to make the red hen railcars and the bluebird railcars

I’ve always loved Doodlebugs/RDCs. Maybe we’ll see their next iteration with passenger rail getting a mini renaissance in the US.

My uncle was a production supervisor at the Budd Plant in northeast Philadelphia. There was a great deal of pride in the RDC.

CN's track geometry RDC makes its way around other railroads - IAIS uses it on occasion.

I love the RDC. So weird and so cool!!!

Great Video on this fascinating trains!!!

Another use of RDCs: Baltimore & Ohio's Daylight Speedliner from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh via Washington. It was retrofitted with reclining seats and a Refreshment Diner for long distance service. The only time I can remember riding an RDC was in the summer of 1976; a Canadian Pacific two car train from Buffalo to Toronto. It traveled over three railroads: Conrail; Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo and CP Rail. Fortunately for me, it waited for the late arrival of Amtrak's Niagara Rainbow from New York. And yes it was noisy.

In NSW I was impressed by how the unused driving controls were flush so the door opened inwards and rested up against the controls. The driver's chair was contained in a cupboard space. In operation, that door was unusable and that car only had one door that opened to the platform. On reflection, I think there was a second door so the driver sat between two glass doors and when not in use the inner door was closed against the driving controls and locked and the space was a vestibule to enter and exit the car. I recall 6 car sets running to Nowra. I don';t remember if all cars were powered or if some of the cars had no engine. South Australia had the Bluebirds, but in their last few years they were part of the consist of The Overland between Melbourne and Adelaide (that still runs today). I understood the Bluebird had the engine physically disengaged when the car acted as a dumb carriage pulled by a locomotive.

AllEarth Rail in Vermont has acquired twelve RDCs for planned use in a new commuter service between Montpelier, Burlington and St Albans. I’m not sure what the latest story on it is though.

9:31 just wanted to say Dad, that company that owns them now is now Atlantic Railways

Great video!!

RDC's and Doodlebugs are really fun to run on a layout. The Rock Island Lines had several RDC's. ThX for the video.

This is very informative, well done!

That what they are called haaaaaaaaaaaaaa. I didn't know even when looking at some in the Exporail museum near Montréal city

10:20 I saw this RDC on November 3rd last year. Good way to celebrate a Friday

@7:02 - That *HAS* to be an artist's conception for the Royal Bank Plaza building at the corner of Bay and Front in Toronto. The actual building isn't as square, and has a more gold hue (due to actual gold in the windows) to it.

I would still have a commuter line if septa didn't abandon them and all diesel routes....

10:15 I regularly visit this particular RDC at the Australian National Railway Museum at Port Adelaide, South Australia. Back when I was a child, I thought the title Budd was a nickname and when told it was an American company, I wanted to know more about it. Now over 40 years later, you give me the whole story. Thank you.😁

great vid bro love these types of vids keep it up

I remember riding on "The Beeliners" as a kid in the 60s on the New York Central Boston to Albany service. Can never forget the whirring of the engines.

Finally! I was waiting for anything about duddlebugs

Awesome video! Can you talk about the Atlantic Coastline Railroad? Beautiful paint schemes and very underrated. Keep up the good work!

So glad you included the part everyone forgets, the illfated Prospector trains. However these were night trains and were less than scenic

Awesome video

I love how you use your experience with Trainz for these videos!

My mom would tell me stories of the times she would ride on these trains up called the "Dayliner" to commute to and from work on a weekly basis from small town Southern Alberta to the bigger city, she always spoke glowingly of them

Yes the WES and Sudbury-White River train are the last full service Budd operators in North America but model train wise, I like the Boston and Maine budd model. Like the real thing the model train version is hard to find outside of Canada and Oregon. I ridden the Budd railcars in Oregon and strangely enough they are comfortable. I still find them cool in age of AI technology in public transport and Teslas.

We need more diesel rail cars like what they have in Australia

i remember the E&N railway on Vancouver Island used to run RDC's on via's "Dayliner" up until around 2011 when most of the line was abandoned

Australia had the only non powered budd RDC ever built it was the buffet car used as part of a 5 car set used on runs around New South Wales eventually the NSWGR budds were converted to standard passenger cars and all 5 were eventually scrapped

Back in the 1970s I took the Pacific Great Eastern (later BC Rail) railway (in British Columbia, Canada) from North Vancouver to McGillivray Falls every week. There were no roads to McGillivray Falls so the train (or boat) was the only way there.

0:52 WOW you got The Nostalgia Critic's face as a generic critic on trains😂😂😂 And it's something he would say generally about trains.😂😂😂

A SPV ended up at Caltrain

I saw these sitting in the WES yard south of Portland and thought they were just extra cars.. and then I learned all about Budd RDCs 😁

I first rode them as a child in the early fifties on the B & O in Pittsburgh, PA. later I got to operate the one that I rode on the Fayette Central Tourist Railroad out of Uniontown, PA.

An American METCAMM Class 101, exactly the same configuration, a light weight chassis with coach bodywork by Metropolitan Cammell Weymann, twin Leyland 680,s each driving a 4-speed SCG epicyclic gearbox, a forward reverse shuttle gearbox on the inner bogie axle. In the late 1950,s METCAMM built for British Rail hundreds of Bud like DMU,s for branch line services, BR got their moneys worth out of their Class 101,s the last retired in the early 2000s. A few preserved on privately run railways, noisy smelly but did the job.

thank you for Video. Railcars are good idea but must build on Standard coach body.

Took the RDC from Sudbury to White River Ontario a few years ago. Nice little trip