page_title: Arrow (railcar)
section_title: Arrow III
hierarchical_section_title: Arrow (railcar) / Arrow III
caption_attribution_description: English: train at South Orange, NJ Other information scan of color slide
context_page_description: The Jersey Arrow is a type of electric multiple unit railcar developed for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and used through successive commuter operators in New Jersey, through to New Jersey Transit. Three models were built, but only the third model is in use today. The series is similar to SEPTA's Silverliner series, but include center doors among other differences in details.
context_section_description: The Arrow IIIs were built in 1977 and 1978 by General Electric in the same fashion as the Arrow IIs. They consist of 200 cars built as married pairs (1334–1533) and 30 single cars (1304–1333).  These cars were initially ordered as part of a plan to rehabilitate the NJDOT (Later NJ Transit's) Hoboken division, converting the 3,000 volt DC system to a 25 Kv 60 Hz AC system.  However, due to the retirement of the Arrow I MUs,  and the Arrow IIs frequently being leased to Amtrak and MARC, as well as delays to the rehabilitation of the Hoboken electrification, the Arrow IIIs were assigned to the former Penn Central electrified lines instead.    As a result, the Arrow IIs and only a portion of the Arrow III fleet were devoted to the Hoboken division when the electrification work was finally finished in 1984,  with the remaining Arrow IIIs being assigned as the only MUs in service on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line.  Due to the lack of an automatic transformer tap changer, the Arrow IIIs cannot switch between line voltages while in service.  To prevent confusion a triangular orange sticker with the current voltage the unit is set to is affixed under the front window, "12K" for the Newark Division and "25K" for the Hoboken Division. After the North Jersey Coast Line was changed to 25 kV south of Matawan, MU service to Long Branch was replaced by push-pull trainsets only.
  The Arrow III's body shell is similar to the Silverliner IV and Arrow II.  However, the Arrow IIIs have some prominent differences,  notably the two small air intake blisters (as opposed to the large humps on prior models).  The Arrow IIIs also featured the twin-arm Stemmann pantographs as on the Arrow Is, built by the United Knitting Machine corporation, though these were replaced with single arm TransTech type pantographs between 2011 and 2014. The large central air scoop over the center of the roof on each cab end is the final major spotting feature.  Additionally, the Arrow IIIs saw the return of 3-2 seating.
  The Arrow IIIs were given a mid-life overhaul between 1992 and 1995 by ABB.  The rebuild replaced the original DC propulsion system with a new solid state AC system that also included higher power traction motors with a total of about 375 hp per two axle truck.  The increased power per motor allowed for motors to be eliminated from the truck located under the pantograph in each of the married pairs, reducing the number of powered axles per pair to 6 although raising horsepower to 1125.  Single units retained all 4 powered axles with a total of 750 hp.  After the rebuild was completed, problems were encountered with both traction motor and axle bearing overheating which lowered the maximum permitted speed in service to 90 mph from 100 and then ultimately to 80 mph as the problems persisted.
caption: A train of Arrow III cars at South Orange in 1986
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "CanoScan 8600F", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "600", "Image YResolution": "600", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "CanoScan Toolbox 5.0", "Image DateTime": "2007:01:28 15:18:27", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "214", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "600", "Thumbnail YResolution": "600", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "454", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5276", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:01:28 15:18:27", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2441", "EXIF FileSource": "Film Scanner", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto"}