After their having set idle for over eight years, NJ Transit is in the process of returning to revenue service thirty of its surviving Arrow I electric, multiple-unit commuter cars. Instead of using them as electrically powered, self-propelled coaches (on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast Line, or former Lackawanna routes out of Hoboken), though, these veterans are being converted into locomotive hauled passenger cars. Already, a half dozen or more have appeared on the Raritan Valley Line where they are mixed with the 1983-vintage Bombardier coaches, and additional cars are poised for shipment at the [Morrison-Knudsen] plant located in [Hornell, New York].

The saga of the Arrow I's began in the late 1960's with the New Jersey Department of Transportation's (NJDOT) increasing involvement in the Garden State's commuter rail operations. At this time, virtually all of the rolling stock in use was over 35 years old, with the exception of the handful of self-propelled RDC's on the Jersey Central and Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines. On the Northeast Corridor - then referred to as the Pennsylvania Railroad mainline - commuters rode to work in a fleet of World War I-era MP54 multiple-unit cars which had begun to show the effects of years of shuttling back and forth between New York, New Brunswick, and Trenton. In an effort to revitalize train service on this important electrified line which serves such affluent bedroom communities as Princeton, the Rail Section of the NJDOT (NJ Transit's predecessor) purchased a group of stainless steel, electric MU cars from the St. Louis Car Company, a firm no longer in business.

As they were delivered, the new MU's were assigned to the off-hour trains between New York and Trenton, as well as to the eleven miles of electrified line between Rahway and South Amboy. One car was also used on the 2.5 mile spur between Princeton Junction and Princeton, replacing a pair of Tuscan red MP54's. Because of their design, they could operate either in trains of up to eight cars or as single units since there was an engineer's cab at either end. Often, they would handle midday assignments to South Amboy while running solo and, starting at about four o'clock, would be coupled together to form longer trains to accommodate the growing number of riders on the mainline. Although the 35 Arrow I's, as they were officially christened, didn't replace all of the much older MP54's, they did provide needed relief, especially during the sweltering summer months when a ride in a non-air conditioned coach symbolized all the negative aspects of American passenger railroading pointed out in the classic expose TO HELL IN A DAY COACH.

The Arrow I's were dependable until the mid-1970's when they began to experience breakdowns of one type or another. At that time, NJDOT was starting to take delivery of a substantial number of newer electric MU's called Arrow II's which were being built by General Electric and paid for out of funds from the 1968 New Jersey Transportation Bond Issue. Rather than devoting an inordinate amount of time diagnosing what ailed the five year old Arrow I's, as they developed mechanical flaws, they were simply pulled from service and set on a shop track.

Following delivery of the last Arrow II's, the state began accepting the first of over 100 Arrow III's which had originally been earmarked for the Morristown Line of the former Erie Lackawanna which was in the process of being converted from 3,000 volt DC current to the more efficient AC frequency. The DOT's scenario called for the re-electrification to be completed some time in 1978, just as the final batch of Arrow III's was arriving from General Electric's Erie, PA plant. Instead, as the new MU's appeared, they were placed in storage in the Kearny Meadows at the approximate location of "Hudson" Interlocking.

A few of the Arrow III's were leased out to other agencies. But most remained in storage, as did the out-of-service Arrow I's.

The Arrow I's, still perfectly good cars from a structural point of view, had no assignments and continued to collect dust at a number of locations. Some sat in Hoboken where two were the victims of arson. Others were kept at the old Jersey Central shops in Elizabethport while the remained were stored in Mahwah, NJ.

Meanwhile, NJ Transit was created, in 1979, to succeed the Rail Section of NJDOT, and ridership on almost all of the state's commuter lines began to swell, with the greatest increases occurring on the Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton.

In 1983, the extension of the electrification on the North Jersey Coast Line from South Amboy to Matawan was completed as part of an overall scheme to eventually begin electrified service to Long Branch. And in September of 1984, the re-electrification of the old Lackawanna from Hoboken to Dover, Gladstone, and Montclair was finished - six years behind what was probably an over-optimistic schedule. Suddenly, NJ Transit needed every seat it could find as people began to rediscover the trains.

In 1982, and again in 1986, orders were placed with Bombardier for additional diesel-hauled coaches based on the 1971 Pullman-Standard designed Comet I's. But projections of ridership into the 1990's indicated that these newcomers will not be enough to provide every commuter with a seat. Furthermore, additional equipment will be required for the Atlantic City commuter trains when that line, presently being rebuilt, begins regular service in 1989 in conjunction with Amtrak. The revitalization of the West Shore Route will only tax further NJ Transit's passenger capacity. Expansion of its carrying capacity became the greatest challenge facing the agency's commuter rail division.

A close look at its passenger car inventory revealed the existence of the 12-year-old Arrow I MU's which were not earning any revenue or providing needed seats. At first blush, it might have seem logical to rebuild their traction motors and electrical apparatus and put them back into service as multiple unit cars. However, a close scrutiny indicated that they had numerous features which were dissimilar to the larger Arrow II and Arrow III fleets. If they had been returned to service as MU's, they would have been odd balls. Hence, the decision was made to rebuild them as non-powered coaches, able to be pulled by either a diesel locomotive or by one of NJ Transit's ex-Amtrak E60 electric motors.

Had NJ Transit's new shop at Kearny been finished, the conversion might have been "in house." Instead, the shop was still under construction and the work had to be farmed out. So, bids were advertised and the multi-million dollar contract was awarded to [Morrison-Knudsen in Hornell, NY].

Car by car, the Arrow I's were removed from their storage locations and sent north. Each was then stripped down almost to the bare frames and all electrical equipment, air compressors, headlights, jumper cables, control mechanisms and, of course, overhead pantograph were systematically removed.

Once the vehicles were reduced to a shell, the major work of altering them into conventional coaches began. The front windows on both ends were covered over with stainless steel plates, the center doors were permanently sealed and seats placed adjacent to them. New trucks, of an improved design, have been installed as well as new seating of a higher capacity than what had existed previously. Other, less obvious, changes were also made to the cars to bring them up to current NJ Transit standards.

The Arrow I's, as rebuilt by [M-K], have been reclassified as "Comet IB" coaches. Number 5220, the first one back from rebuild, was publicly displayed at the Hoboken Festival VII on September 26.

Most people's reaction to them was extremely positive, and few could really believe that these were the same silver MU's which formerly ran between Penn Station, New York and either Trenton or South Amboy. Of course, those in the railfan fraternity are aware of the Long Island's conversion of the 1960's era third-rail equipped MU's to coaches and parlor cars at its Morris Park shops. This was done following the total standardization of LIRR electrified services with M1 multiple unit cars. Rather than discard perfectly good rolling stock which was not compatible with the M1's, these cars were rebuilt as non-powered coaches and parlor cars to be hauled behind diesel locomotives. And in Boston, several RDC's were de-motored and are now in service as straight coaches.

The decision to reactivate the twenty year old, or so, cars was a sound one. And it represents the most practical use of available resources. As more and more of them start showing up on the various commuter routes, they will add desperately needed seats to an already strapped NJ Transit. Possibly some will be assigned to the proposed Atlantic City-to-Woodcrest passenger service, or possibly to a revitalized West Shore operation. Certainly, if passenger service returns to both these lines, there will be a considerable demand for rolling stock. As of this writing, the Comet IB's are showing up on the Raritan Valley Line. As time goes on and more and more are returned from [rebuild], they should also appear on NJ Transit's other routes.

Long live the Comet IB's.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Arrow I's were numbered to interlock with Philadelphia-based Silverliners. Originally numbered 100-134, some were renumbered in the 500-533 series when they were de-motored. Car 107 was wrecked due to a fire, and its place was taken by car 134 as car 507. In 1976, when the New Jersey Department of Transportation gained full control over the cars, they were renumbered 1200-1233 to fit into the NJDOT "Arrow" number slots. 30 cars were rebuilt as Comet 1Bs, with 4 too badly damaged to be repaired. Cab Cars are numbered 5155-5169, and trailers are numbered 5220-5234.

Thanks to Gary Kazin and Tom Coughlin