Amtrak ACS-64 Sprinter Discussion

ThirdRail7 wrote:Does anyone have video of the 610 finally being out and about? If not, it is on its way back from BOS on 2159's yellow boards.

Saw 610 in penn today. Have not seen that one in a while.

An Hour Railfanning On Amtrak's Northeast Corrido…: http://youtu.be/WyCkZO4TF_c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here you go ThirdRail7

619 was on 167 today.

I have been hearing rumors that Marc may lease 10 ACS 64's. Anybody heard similar?

Not that I know of. They dont even have 10 to lease out yet.

I don't know how true it is but someone told me that MARC was supposed to leave 10 ACS 64 motors Towards the end of the order

Engr2008 wrote:I don't know how true it is but someone told me that MARC was supposed to leave 10 ACS 64 motors Towards the end of the order

10 seperate ones or 10 of the Amtrak order..?

Wouldn't we see them borrow one for eval before blindly ordering 10? Nobody has tested the ACS in commuter service yet, and commuter service has much different operating characteristics.

If MARC is going to put them on the order, then it will be the tail end. All of the Amtrak units are paid for/allocated. There will need to be some modification for them to be put in daily push pull commuter service without modifying the MARC cars.

MARC could really use these things. Their diesel hauled stuff is really slowing everything else down from what I hear.

Engr2008 wrote:I don't know how true it is but someone told me that MARC was supposed to leave 10 ACS 64 motors Towards the end of the order

Where did you hear that? The problem with that rumor is that MARC placed an order for 10 MPI-36 diesel locomotives to replace their electric locomotives. MdTA and MARC in their presentations, made it clear that they were planning to get rid of their electric locomotives. For better or for worse.

Checking the draft FY2015-FY2020 Maryland Transit Administration Capitol Program Summary budget document {link for anyone who wants to read it], it appears that the order has been trimmed to 8 new diesel locomotives in addition to the 26 re-manufactured MPI-36s that have now been delivered. I do not see anything in the MdTA draft FY2015 budget about buying or leasing new electric locomotives. Of course, there is the possibility that MdTA/MARC managers are rethinking the diesel locomotive purchase because of complaints about slow trains, but I would not count on it.

Perhaps people are confusing MARC with SEPTA in the ACS-64 follow-on order rumors? SEPTA is looking to buy new electric locomotives to replace their AEM-7s and may indeed piggy-back off the back end of the Amtrak order with their own order for 10 to 12 ACS-64s. But Siemens has to win the contract first.

With that being said of course the 64's if it comes to fruition would have to modify and test them for MTA'S specifications. That's a no brainer. By the way believe the 620 is doing its shakedown run today.

Toaster718 wrote:With that being said of course the 64's if it comes to fruition would have to modify and test them for MTA'S specifications. That's a no brainer. By the way believe the 620 is doing its shakedown run today.

Through Newark Penn Station about 10 minutes ago.

Thanks Ace! Does anybody know what's going on with the 615 and the 616?

afiggatt wrote:

Engr2008 wrote:I don't know how true it is but someone told me that MARC was supposed to leave 10 ACS 64 motors Towards the end of the order

Where did you hear that? The problem with that rumor is that MARC placed an order for 10 MPI-36 diesel locomotives to replace their electric locomotives. MdTA and MARC in their presentations, made it clear that they were planning to get rid of their electric locomotives. For better or for worse.

Checking the draft FY2015-FY2020 Maryland Transit Administration Capitol Program Summary budget document {link for anyone who wants to read it], it appears that the order has been trimmed to 8 new diesel locomotives in addition to the 26 re-manufactured MPI-36s that have now been delivered. I do not see anything in the MdTA draft FY2015 budget about buying or leasing new electric locomotives. Of course, there is the possibility that MdTA/MARC managers are rethinking the diesel locomotive purchase because of complaints about slow trains, but I would not count on it.

Perhaps people are confusing MARC with SEPTA in the ACS-64 follow-on order rumors? SEPTA is looking to buy new electric locomotives to replace their AEM-7s and may indeed piggy-back off the back end of the Amtrak order with their own order for 10 to 12 ACS-64s. But Siemens has to win the contract first.

Isn't SEPTA supposed to be getting a half-dozen AEM-7AC's now? Honestly, that's probably good enough for them at the moment since they're moving to allocate sparse money to replace their equally shot push-pull coach fleet with new MLV's. 6 seems too small since they've got 8 locos currently and the MLV's have enough extra capacity that they'll probably be able to put together an extra trainset or two...but maybe they're just seeing what the final tally of serviceable remans is going to be before upping that total by +2 or 3. They'd probably be better off punting on all-new motors for 8-10 years to see if the budget gets fatter. I would think if they can get something in decent shape the very light duty their push-pulls run in should keep the remans good for a few years and zoom the replacement coaches higher on the priority list. Besides, if their financial outlook gets better enough that they mull some forays into diesel territory their next all-new purchase might be better off as dual-modes instead of a 20+ year commitment to Sprinters. They're going to need till 2020 to pull out of their maintenance hole before those kinds of considerations even have a chance to grab mindshare, so why not a cheap bridge fleet to get them reliably through the rest of the 2010's before they need to think about that?



I also wonder if MARC's just flexing leverage to ransom some near-free remans out of Amtrak for themselves on the Penn Line, inducing an artificial crisis with this diesel-on-NEC stupidity. They do have 6 wimpy GP39H-2's on the roster that absolutely suck at 2300 HP at pulling their now- majority bi-level fleet. And they're thinking of repowering those dogs, which makes no sense whatsoever if "fleet unification" is their goal. I bet they can be paid off with some remans and apply the 10 extra diesels to purging the Geeps + padding with extras instead. Amtrak would probably do that just to end the this NEC spat. There isn't really anyone else they can peddle working AC's to for recouping max value.

I don't know if MARC actually has it in them to be that Machievellian, but if electric ransom is the game they're playing and they can be bought off I'll definitely tip my hat to their deviousness.

Toaster718 wrote:Thanks Ace! Does anybody know what's going on with the 615 and the 616?

615 is just fine, by my understanding, it should be on 180 as we speak, and turning for 125. 616 broke on a train last week.