ALP-45DP's - Usage and Delivery

sixty-six wrote:

25Hz wrote:The metroliner cabs still have strobes last i recall.... Plus a red marker for when in trailing position.

The red strobe is for when the train is in emergency, not a marker.

You learn something every day.

I personally like the strobes as they are set up on those cabs, i hope the new cabs amtrak has coming in the pipeline have something similar.

Just curious - are the 45's still running on the gladstone branch?

25Hz wrote:Just curious - are the 45's still running on the gladstone branch?

Yes, there are 3 starts out there with 45's.

What we also learn through this report that Bombardier engineers and technicians have modified the wheel profile of the AMT ALP-45DP in order to reduce the lateral forces and prevent any further derailment. That is the reason why CP (Canadian Pacific Railway) has authorized those locomotives to run on its network since last November, on the Blainville/Saint-Jérôme train line, but CN (Canadian National) is still forbidding the use of the new dual-powered locomotives. But the modification of the wheel profile was only a precautionary measure since the Central Station derailment was really a track defect.

As the report has mentionned it, the railway industry will have to revise its safety standards concerning low class train tracks (train track #22 in Central Station was a class 1 track) since in the coming years, more passenger train companies will order new locomotives model that are heavier than the previous models.

Does this mean it's time to go back to A1A trucks, at least for commuter or mid-speed trains? The MP36 also has quite high wheel loads, to the point it can't operate on any of the UP-owned Metra lines. The bridges won't handle it.

Tadman wrote:Does this mean it's time to go back to A1A trucks, at least for commuter or mid-speed trains? The MP36 also has quite high wheel loads, to the point it can't operate on any of the UP-owned Metra lines. The bridges won't handle it.

The problem is that those trucks don't ride well at speed, and make turning radii a potential issue. Longer trucks also put wear on the rail head and wheel flanges on tighter turns more than shorter, no matter how many axles it has.

I personally think the solution is to phase out our "heavier is safer" crashworthiness specs and start building lighter coaches that don't need heavy locos to move them. That would not only solve locomotive weight issue, but caches could end up costing less, tracks and bridges would last longer and you could possibly improve schedules due to better braking behavior. That'll take decades though.

25Hz wrote: I personally think the solution is to phase out our "heavier is safer" crashworthiness specs and start building lighter coaches that don't need heavy locos to move them. That would not only solve locomotive weight issue, but caches could end up costing less, tracks and bridges would last longer and you could possibly improve schedules due to better braking behavior. That'll take decades though.

UA Turbo, RTG Turboliner, Rohr Turboliner, Talgo....there have been a few lighter trainsets here over the years. Shame they never really caught on in a big way.

srock1028 wrote:

25Hz wrote:Just curious - are the 45's still running on the gladstone branch?

Yes, there are 3 starts out there with 45's.

Are they running in E mode or D mode and where is the change over being done?

E mode on the Gladstone end, and the changeover could be done in a variety of places before they get to Hoboen, but I would think either Summit or Newark Broad Street would be the place for the changeover.

lirr42 wrote:E mode on the Gladstone end, and the changeover could be done in a variety of places before they get to Hoboen, but I would think either Summit or Newark Broad Street would be the place for the changeover.

I live next to the tracks between Summit and Short Hills. I see them passing by my window. The rough impression I have is that mostly they are changing over in Newark, but a (very) few are changing in Summit.

I heard that a while ago, one of NJT PL42AC locomotives has derailed once at Hoboken train station. It seems that the cause of the derailment was also a the same as AMT ALP-45DP 1352 in Montreal Central Station since the switch and the track was very weak in Hoboken station, am I correct?

The PL42AC has the same weight as the ALP-45DP, 131 tons, and could have also generated high lateral wheel forces as the ALP-45DP. If so, the problem of heavy locomotives isn't really new but I think that it will take time to the railroad transportation industry to adapt itself to this new reality since the technology is still evolving.

AMTFan1 wrote:I heard that a while ago, one of NJT PL42AC locomotives has derailed once at Hoboken train station. It seems that the cause of the derailment was also a the same as AMT ALP-45DP 1352 in Montreal Central Station since the switch and the track was very weak in Hoboken station, am I correct?

The PL42AC has the same weight as the ALP-45DP, 131 tons, and could have also generated high lateral wheel forces as the ALP-45DP. If so, the problem of heavy locomotives isn't really new but I think that it will take time to the railroad transportation industry to adapt itself to this new reality since the technology is still evolving.

The PL42AC weighs more than the ALP-45DP by about a ton and a half. Hoboken terminal still uses wood ties, so any kind of gauge slippage would happen more frequently.

25Hz wrote:
The PL42AC weighs more than the ALP-45DP by about a ton and a half. Hoboken terminal still uses wood ties, so any kind of gauge slippage would happen more frequently.

Better than cardboard ties!

They really should put concrete ties in.

But if i'm not mistaken concrete ties are more rough on the structures of the engines themselves. When the DE/DM's were teething out here on Long Island some of them developed these large cracks down their sides and one of their causes was suspected to be the increased use of concrete ties not letting the engines to move up and down like they normally did.

lirr42 wrote:But if i'm not mistaken concrete ties are more rough on the structures of the engines themselves. When the DE/DM's were teething out here on Long Island some of them developed these large cracks down their sides and one of their causes was suspected to be the increased use of concrete ties not letting the engines to move up and down like they normally did.

The area in question is a yard with speed restrictions and platform tracks. Trains don't move more than 20 mph or so...

And those LIRR diesels are not the highest quality pieces of equipment unfortunately. They put concrete ties in on the NEC and there have been no cracks anywhere that i've heard of on any locomotives, and they run faster than LIRR so there are more forces in play as well........ Just putting 2 and 2 together here...