NECR - Speeds for Amtrak

During the weekend of Oct 29-30, I took a roundtrip on the Vermonter from Essex Jct VT to Meriden CT. I posted the trip report on the trip reports section here on railroad.net forums.

In regards to the NECR (Conn River Line & Central VT Line), a couple questions:

* How fast is Amtrak allowed on these lines? We were moving along at a pretty good clip, definetly passing cars on the 2-lane roads where 50 MPH is the speed limit, and you know VT locals go faster than that.

* Are signals being replaced on the Conn River Line? I saw some newer ones (I think) from WRJ down to Windsor (VT) plus the old ones, still active.

* How are the mile posts arranged? Are they continuous from New London CT (where NECR begins) or do they go up to WRJ, then reset to 0. If the latter is the case, then they were all changed when then-CV took over the line from B&M (with help from Amtrak), correct?

Thanx.

-Jay

Where's SnoozerZ49 when you need him?!? LOL

As you can see, I just joined recently. I was browsing this section of the forums and this one caught my eye. I'll try to shed some light on an old subject.

shadyjay wrote:During the weekend of Oct 29-30, I took a roundtrip on the Vermonter from Essex Jct VT to Meriden CT. I posted the trip report on the trip reports section here on railroad.net forums.

In regards to the NECR (Conn River Line & Central VT Line), a couple questions:

* How fast is Amtrak allowed on these lines? We were moving along at a pretty good clip, definetly passing cars on the 2-lane roads where 50 MPH is the speed limit, and you know VT locals go faster than that.

***59 mph.

* Are signals being replaced on the Conn River Line? I saw some newer ones (I think) from WRJ down to Windsor (VT) plus the old ones, still active.

***They added some new approach signals to complement the main ones, IIRC.

* How are the mile posts arranged? Are they continuous from New London CT (where NECR begins) or do they go up to WRJ, then reset to 0. If the latter is the case, then they were all changed when then-CV took over the line from B&M (with help from Amtrak), correct?

***NECR is broken down into two sections, the Palmer Sub and the Roxbury Sub. Palmer Sub - New London, Ct = MP 0, Windsor Vt = MP 170. Roxbury Sub - Windsor Vt = MP 0, St Albans, VT = MP 132. They kept the original mileposts on the Roxbury Sub from when the CV owned from Windsor north to St Albans. The CV had trackage rights on the B&M from Windsor south to Brattleboro, Vt, where it split off the B&M and continued on to New London.

Thanx.

-Jay

Hope this helps. I'll try to share what knowledge I have when I can.
Scooter