On a stretch of rail in Northwest Ohio in July 1966, this implausible machine was clocked at 183.68 mph, a record that stands to this day. Here is the tale of M-497, the Black Beetle.
We know what this looks like: Acme Jet-Powered Rail Car Co., Wile E. Coyote, Chief Test Pilot. Or maybe an episode of Mythbusters gone horribly wrong. But we assure you, this is for real. On Saturday, July 23, 1966, New York Central engineer Don Wetzel piloted this rig to a record speed of 183.68 mph, a mark that still stands for conventional rail in North America.
Wetzel, a former military pilot, was not just the throttle man. As assistant director of technical research for the New York Central Railroad, he designed and built the machine. A standard Budd Beeliner RDC-3 diesel rail car, 13 years old and bearing the designation M-497, was taken straight from the railroad’s rolling inventory for the project.
At the company’s Collinwood Rail Yards shop in Cleveland, the seats and interior were removed from the former mail car and the jet engine nacelle was installed—a wing module from a Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber, which contained two General Electric J-47 engines sporting a combined boost of 10,400 lbs. Purchased as military surplus in Arizona for $5,000, the jet pod was modified to run on standard railroad diesel fuel. Wetzel’s wife, Ruth Wetzel, a commercial artist by trade, designed the streamlined nose section, which generated the machine’s nickname, Black Beetle.
The use of the standard rail car was not just an expediency. The purpose of the project was to test the speed limits of conventional rolling stock on ordinary road beds, and the track selected was a long, straight section that ran from Toledo, Ohio to Butler, Indiana. Just outside Bryan, Ohio, Wetzel was clocked at 196 mph, and achieved the 183 mph average coasting through through a 3.4-mile section of the speed trap. M-497 maintained better than 100 mph for 21 miles.
Alas, the trials never went any further—among other issues, the New York Central ceased to exist in 1968, merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form the Penn Central. But we have this excellent and comprehensive video below, which appears to be an official engineering report on the amazing experiment. Now watch this.
Very cool. Curious placement of the jets tho. Wonder what prompted them to mount in the front of the car? My only thought would be open flow to the intake.
According to a presentation by Don and Ruth Wetzel, the front engine location was her idea. It just looked right to her…and with the engine canted down 5 degrees to increase the normal force on the trucks, it was probably the most stable location. When the Russians did a jet rail car a few years later in 1970, they chose the same placement.
When the experiment was done, the jet engine and equipment were removed and the rail car was returned to regular service ( ! ). However, the heat shielding was left on the canopy, which must have made a few people curious.
Thanks for the follow up I’m not an engineer, and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express, but I would have thought a more “mid ship” location would have distributed the load more equally on the trucks. Guess it’s a good thing I wasn’t the designer.
I grew up 10-miles North of Bryan,Ohio in Montpelier. I think I remember my Parents taking me to see it.
Cool! On Route 15/Main St at the Air Line rail viaduct on the north edge of Bryan, there’s a state historical marker for the event. I wasn’t there, but I am told and the records indicate that he went through town hammer down. That must have rattled some windows.
If you snapped a chalk line from Toledo through Swanton, Delta, Wauseon, Archbold, Bryan, and through to Butler, Indiana, you have the old Chicago line, aka the water level line, aka the air line from Cleveland to Chicago. It was selected for this run because at the time, it was the longest, straightest stretch of two-track mainline in the USA. Maybe it still is — hoping some rail experts jump in.
I watched it go by my Grandpas house in Melborn
I know the Knapps in Melborn. My first Wife was from there at one time.
What are the odds? Two people here with connections to Melbern, OH, a teeny, tiny place.
Lived in butler ind. at the time. they closed all the crossings to traffic. Big deal for a small town