by STrRedWolf
Depends. There's been some breakdowns on the line over the past two weeks up in the Aberdeen/Perryville area. Any word on them or do you need date/times and train numbers?
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STrRedWolf wrote:Depends. There's been some breakdowns on the line over the past two weeks up in the Aberdeen/Perryville area. Any word on them or do you need date/times and train numbers?Unfortunately I don’t have any information on recent breakdowns. All I have is the info that was given to me by an MTA spokesperson a while back when I asked why no electric locomotives were rostered for the weekend Penn Line service.
ApproachMedium wrote:I dont think theres any real reason they are dragging the MP36s around with the charger other than marc likes to run double headers. Theres been plenty of trains with the old GP39s trailing recently and i believe i saw one with the gp39 behind the charger. Marc might just be doing this to ensure compatibility.I really doubt that. That would of been in the spec for the Chargers, and they tested those Chargers with MARC III cars before the left the testing facility!
gokeefe wrote:Is there any reason to believe that MARC would consider buying (at low prices) Amtrak's remainimg HHP-8's?There's no reason. MARC's got their hippos that are going through refurb, and that'll take the rest of the decade. Plus, "low prices" may be more than a new Charger by two orders of magnitude.
Do they even run enough Penn Line trains to support such a fleet? Does MARC have any older diesels that they could dispose of?
ApproachMedium wrote:I am not sure what bombardiers contract says, but if they accept return from amtrak and the bank decides to sell to other parties they will sell at "scrap" value of about 20k a locomotive as is. It could be a good deal for MARC, much more over the cost of buying new locos when these could probably be updated for under 500k each.That's the kind of deal I think is possible in this case. At those prices there is no good reason for a commuter agency to turn down the opportunity, especially if they are already running "heavy" on the NEC. It's also worth remembering that some of the additional costs for propulsion could be covered by an increase to annual FTA grants. It's not as if a state budget would have to cover 100% of the increased reimbursement to Amtrak for power.
gokeefe wrote:I would venture a guess that an HHP-8 would go for under $1,000,000 and thats fully refurbished ... Still too pricey?Still. I think the Chargers were $175,000 each. Someone check my figures!
Each Buy-American compliant locomotive costs approximately $6 million—funding for the California locomotives came from Federal Recovery Act Funds and California Proposition 1B Infrastructure Bonds.