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BUDD—RDC’S
By Bill Meyer, Bob Mintz and Dr.Joseph Lechner
The Budd Co. built 398 Rail Diesel Cars between 1949 and 1962
for both import and export. They were 85-foot aluminum cars and
were shot welded together.
62 were exported and 336 cars were used in North America, of
which 26 different roads purchased them. The "dome"
on top of an RDC was heat exchangers for the car's air conditioning,
and exhaust from the (usually two) diesel engines.
The New York Central received their first pair in April 1950.
The Boston & Maine was the largest owner operating 109 RDCs
including all of the RDC-9 models.
Then New Haven had a fleet of 45 units. In the 1970s, Amtrak
also ran RDCs. In Canada, the Canadian National, Canadian Pacific
and British Columbia Railway all ran RDCs. In 1978 with the formation
of VIA, they also ran acquired RDCs.
Some commuter lines, such as the Virginia Railway Express, used
the RDC-9 which looks almost identical to an RDC-1 except that
it has only one diesel engine instead of two. An RDC-9 doesn't
have enough power to run alone, but it does have sufficient
power to operate in a long train with twin-motored RDCs.
Most other railroads used RDCs for branch lines that didn't generate
enough traffic to justify a locomotive hauling traditional passenger
cars. On those roads, the train usually consisted of a single
RDC; in that case, twin-motor power was essential.
UNITED STATES/CANADA
RDC-1 (MAIL) 159/35
RDC-2 28/28
RDC-3 27/15
RDC-4 5/9
RDC-9 30/0
Lionel first produced RDCs in 1957 and in 1977, MPC issued a
Budd Set as an uncataloged Service Station Set.
#2276W Budd RDC Commuter Set (404, 2559, 2559)
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| #400 B&O RDC passenger car |
#404 B&O RDC baggage-mail |
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| #2550 B&O RDC combine dummy |
#2559 B&O RDC dummy#2559 B&O RDC dummy |
#1766 B&O Budd Cars SSS (8766, 8767, 8768)
#18506 Canadian National “D202”/“D203”
Powered coach, Dummy baggage, (18507 and 18508)
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| #18507 Canadian National “D202” Powered coach |
#18508 Canadian National “D203” Dummy baggage |
#18512 Canadian National “D200”/“D250”
Dummy coaches, (18510 and 18511)
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| #18510 Canadian National “D200” Dummy coach |
#18511 Canadian National “D250” Dummy coach |
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