Budd Rail Diesel Car

The Budd Rail Diesel Car, known as the RDC, Budd car or Buddliner, was a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia. Between 1949 and 1962 the company built 398 of them in stainless steel, in five basic variants from the all-passenger RDC-1 to the baggage and mail RDC-4 and the trailer RDC-9. Each car used a pair of Detroit Diesel engines driving axles through hydraulic torque converters, and cars could run singly or be coupled and controlled from the front cab. Railroads bought them for rural branch lines and short commuter runs where a locomotive-hauled train cost more to run, and it became one of the few diesel multiple units to succeed commercially in North America. Most were retired by the 1980s, though some still run in Canada, and a 1966 New York Central test with two jet engines set a United States speed record of 184 mph.