Nippon Sharyo bilevels for Amtrak corridor trains

a surfliner is a superliner dumbed down for commuters . just sayin.

Surfliners have 2 doors instead of 1, can run at speeds of up to 125 mph instead of 100 mph, are painted in different colors, and have cab cars in addition to the standard variety of cars. These are used primarily on the 3 Amtrak California routes.

DutchRailnut wrote:a surfliner is a superliner dumbed down for commuters . just sayin.

and I repeat, just because it has different paint and other door does not make it different car

If you look at a surfliner and superliner in comparison, they have the same basic shell and trucks (for SL-II). This probably means the draft gear is the same, windows, end-doors, diaphragms, brakes, a/c units, machine rooms, etc... Paint doesn't mean much.

Pop quiz: what kind of traincar is this?


or this?


They're both actually Superliners in corridor paint, borrowd/bought for CA service because operationally and technologically they are very similar to the California Car. The big diff is doors and seat spacing, and that's because the original Superliner coach was designed to go on 24-hour runs with hours between stops. Corridor cars must keep a much tighter schedule and thus require fast unloading evidenced by 2 sets of double-doors. Heck, there are plenty of corridor runs shorter than your average delay on longer LD runs.

byte wrote:The Highliner order is supposed to be split in two. Some cars will be built, then they're taking a break and building cars for another agency (a smaller order - I think some LRVs for an agency out west?).

I'm guessing that's the SMART FRA-DMU order and the 18 options that Metrolinx took from it for the Toronto Pearson Air Rail Link. Good to hear Nippon Sharyo are producing quality stuff and hopefully that will flow through their DMU line.

so what are they getting , a 1979 design long distance car , or a modified commuter car . ???
Might be fine for service now , but for the next 30 years or so of their life span ???
I have to say again , superliners look so much better with a decent amount of paint on them .

They are getting the shell and frame of a 1979 design that has held up extremely well. If the recent trend holds, they are getting trucks and draft gear common to the fleet, including the GSC outside equalizer trucks seen under CA cars and Viewliners. The cars are probably also equipped with climate control and plumbing equipment common to the fleet. Finally, without having read the spec, the seating is probably common to the fleet. There's a company in the near western suburbs here in Chicago that makes Amtrak seating. The seats are not made by the carbuilder. (The seating factory is not rail-served, but it's immediately adjacent to the former CA&E interurban ROW, a trail now. http://binged.it/U0E33A You can see the IHB to the right, and their interchange bridge over the CA&E ROW)

We should not lose sight of the "buy American" provisions inherent to any order of publicly funded railcars. Opting for an existing proven US designed carbody goes a long way to fulfilling whatever "percent US content" is required under law.

David Benton wrote:so what are they getting , a 1979 design long distance car , or a modified commuter car . ???
Might be fine for service now , but for the next 30 years or so of their life span ???
I have to say again , superliners look so much better with a decent amount of paint on them .

They will be getting 125 mph capable bi-level cars which will have to meet the 586 page PRIIA specification for Bi-Level Passenger Rail Cars written by the Next Generation Equipment Committee. The specification document is assigned an Amtrak Specification number, signed off by the Chief and Deputy Mechanical Officer and copyrighted by Amtrak, if there is any question to how involved Amtrak was in writing the specifications.

With 2 doors on each side, the cars should look similar to the Surfliners, but it is likely that there will be many small differences in appearance and design. It will not be a "1979 design".

BTW, according to a public copy of the RFP dated April 2012, the initial order is for 80 coach cars, 5 café/lounge cars, 21 café/business class cars. and 24 cab/baggage cars. The RFP included an option for up to 200 additional cars.

David Benton wrote:so what are they getting , a 1979 design long distance car , or a modified commuter car . ???

If a design is good and works, it doesn't matter how old it is. The Boeing 737 first flew in 1967 and went into revenue service in 1968 yet nobody boarding a 2-year-old 737-900ER thinks of it as a dated, 40-year-old aircraft.

Tadman wrote:
They're both actually Superliners in corridor paint, borrowd/bought for CA service because operationally and technologically they are very similar to the California Car. The big diff is doors and seat spacing, and that's because the original Superliner coach was designed to go on 24-hour runs with hours between stops. Corridor cars must keep a much tighter schedule and thus require fast unloading evidenced by 2 sets of double-doors. Heck, there are plenty of corridor runs shorter than your average delay on longer LD runs.

When the superliner runs on the San Joaquin, people arent allowed to board on it, you must board on the other cars and walk over. Thought that was interesting.


Speaking of the San Joaquin, Amtrak released pictures of the comets that will be waddling their way over there next spring.

http://stopandmove.blogspot.com/2012/09 ... s-san.html

Presumably a crew member would have to be stationed at the Superliner door in order for passengers to board there.

Ridgefielder and Affigat, I couldn't have said it better myself. We're adopting the "Metra System", where only proven equipment is ordered. I would say Metra is probably the best system out there in terms of equipment reliability because they don't screw around with science experiments like Talgos, DMs, HHP... Who cares if something was designed in 1979, we use stuff based on 1955's gallery car and 1968's EMD 645. Seems to work great.

As for 1979, that's about when the EMD 710 was launched... seems to work great for GO, MARC, et al...

In the meantime, California will be filling in with some Horizon IBs built in 1968-1969. Seating will be 64 passengers per car. Pictures are at http://stopandmove.blogspot.com/2012/09 ... s-san.html

ExCon90 wrote:Presumably a crew member would have to be stationed at the Superliner door in order for passengers to board there.

There is someone stationed, except its used as the baggage door.


Speaking of new train cars on the San Joaquin....

Authorities say at least 20 passengers suffered minor to moderate injuries when a big rig truck collided with a southbound Amtrak train in the Central Valley in California.

Kings County Assistant Sheriff Dave Putnam says the crash occurred around 12:30 p.m. Monday south of Hanford. He described the injuries as bumps and bruises and possibly broken bones.

Three of the five train cars were pushed off the track.

Putnam estimated the train was carrying between 120 and 150 people.

http://news.yahoo.com/sheriff-least-20- ... 47666.html


Some pretty gruesome (for rail fans, no blood) pics here

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/10/01/301 ... th-of.html