allowed the New Haven to scrap its entire fleet of pre-1955 electric locomotives, many of which were less than 25 years old. The FL9 had higher operating costs and lower performance than the electric locomotives it replaced, but was more flexible as it could go where electric locomotives could not. The only New Haven electrics surviving through the FL9 period were the General Electric EP5 "Jets" of 1955 as well as the freight service General Electric E33s purchased secondhand from the Virginian Railway in 1959. Even though one EP5 was as powerful as three FL9s, the powerful "Jets" were doomed by poor maintenance, and the last were retired in 1977, after having been regeared for freight service by inheritor Penn Central in 1973. In keeping with the New Haven's policy of dual service utilization of locomotives, FL9s were used at night to move a Trailer-on-FlatCar (TOFC) train, with difficulty, in one direction between the Cedar Hill yard in New Haven and the Oak Point yard in The Bronx. Assigned to this train in the other direction, an EP5 locomotive could easily outrun automobile traffic on the adjacent Connecticut Turnpike. The FL9s were considered to be under-powered compared to the powerful electrics they replaced, which also had their problems. For other reasons, the New Haven never abandoned its electrification, negating the primary reason for purchasing the FL9s. Their ability to avoid the engine change in New Haven allowed them to remain in service on trains that travelled in non-electrified territory, and they could also be operated like conventional diesel locomotives. Penn Central and beyond In 1969, the New Haven FL9 fleet passed to Penn Central upon the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad, as the ICC required the newly formed company to assume control of the bankrupt New Haven. Some were repainted in Penn Central schemes, while others remained in their former New Haven paint. When the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) began funding these commuter services in 1970, many were repainted blue with a bright yellow nose, although they remained Penn Central-owned. The locomotives passed to Conrail upon its formation in 1976 from the bankrupt PC. Twelve FL9s were sold to Amtrak, six of which were remanufactured by Morrison-Knudsen starting in 1978 and remained in Amtrak service until at least 1996. In 1983, Conrail passed its commuter operations to state agencies. In New York State,