New Amtrak Equipment: Options

Poll: New Amtrak Equipment

I would guess that they'd probably buy it from whichever company offers the best price and best financing.

Aside from that, I think it would be cool to see a new MPI MP36 in Amtrak paint.

Realistically, they'd probably order more Genesises, since that's what they're using now. Perhaps they'd have 12-cylinder GEVO engines inside.

where is the option for "none of the above"

depending on the equipment, it could be from any of those companies

The equipment can come from any it depends who wins the contract.

IT"S All MONEY!

If Amtrak were to get new equipment, I doubt it would arrive this year.

even if Amtrak had money in one hand.
and mechanical plans/drawings in other hand.
it would take about 8 years to produce the first car.
all manufactures are booked with contracts and getting a spot on their production line takes a few years.

I would say Bobardier as Amtrak is in need of more passenger care equipment. I believe Morrison Kundsen (please forgive the mis-spelling) designed the Viewliners and I wouldn't be too surprised if (assuming Amtrak would have the money) Amtrak ordered more Viewliners to take some of the work load off the current fleet.

As for locos, I guess they would go with GE or EMD. Reading posts regarding NEC equipment I've noticed that the HHP-8s are somewhat troublesome and so I would assume Amtrak would be discouraged from doing business with (I guess it's Bombardier or Olsotm, please correct me if I'm wrong) again anytime soon.

Bottom line it'll probably come down to the lowest bidder as always.

mlrr wrote:I would say Bobardier as Amtrak is in need of more passenger care equipment. I believe Morrison Kundsen (please forgive the mis-spelling) designed the Viewliners and I wouldn't be too surprised if (assuming Amtrak would have the money) Amtrak ordered more Viewliners to take some of the work load off the current fleet.

Now, my memory may be a bit fuzzy, but what I think happened was Amtrak designed the Viewliners, and gave the design to Morrison-Knudsen to produce the production models (Amtrak may have built the prototypes themselves). In the process of building the Viewliners, M-K went bankrupt, and a temporary company, Amerail, was set up to complete the Viewliner order, and was then dissolved.

I read somewhere (maybe even on the old forum) that Bombardier now owns the Viewliner design, but I can't confirm that.

There is this small matter of a Capital Funds Appropriation...

John
once known as PullmanCo

RMadisonWI wrote:
Now, my memory may be a bit fuzzy, but what I think happened was Amtrak designed the Viewliners, and gave the design to Morrison-Knudsen to produce the production models (Amtrak may have built the prototypes themselves). In the process of building the Viewliners, M-K went bankrupt, and a temporary company, Amerail, was set up to complete the Viewliner order, and was then dissolved.

I read somewhere (maybe even on the old forum) that Bombardier now owns the Viewliner design, but I can't confirm that.

Thanks for the clarification! I was not aware of that at all. That's interesting to know! Well whoever owns the design, I would assume that they would be called upon to build more viewliners to ease the work load on the current fleet.

Bombardier owns every design of BUDD/Pullman etc.
the View linewr was designed by Amtrak Engineering with help from Budd but Amtrak owns trhe design.
Morrison Knudson only assembled the cars for Amtrak after Budds demise.
the first 3 cars were built by BUDD.

Superliners design owned by Bombardier
Amfleet Owned by Bombardier
Comet Owned by Bombardier
Acela Owned by Bombardier

If the excessive weight and high maintenance costs of the Acela Express result in a short service life, it would be nice to see some European equipment brought over. There's plenty to choose from that would match or beat the Acela's performance. The German ICT and the latest Alstom Pendolino both have active tilt and operating speeds in the 150 mph range.

I like the new message board, btw! :D

HSR how many times do we have to tell you.
If any of these trains had to conform with American standards they be back to ACELA design in no time.
non of the mentioned trains conforms to FRA standards and the ICE and X2000 both ran with waivers and severe restrictions when tested with passengers.
the X2000 is actualy slower than ACELA.
The ACELA design was a combination train with all the goodies Amrak wanted and copied from X2000 /ICE/etc.

I understand that, but perhaps if the Acela's weight results in continued problems and a premature retirement, the FRA will reconsider its excessive regulations.

As for the X2000 being slower than the Acela, I don't believe that's true. Amtrak tested the X2000 at up to 156 mph on the Northeast Corridor (and ran it at 135 mph in revenue service), and I recall reading that an X2000 hit 176 mph on a test run in Sweden. That certainly beats the Acela's record of 169 mph. But for all practical purposes, they're about equal in terms of speed, with the X2000 having higher curve speeds due to lower weight and self steering radial trucks.