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Haven't ridden MARC in years after I moved away, but was back in town and my southbound 525 is being pushed by a Sprinter. Is this going to be a permanent fixture (MARC queuing up to buy some from Amtrak when they switch to the ALC42s) or some extra down time for the HHP-8s again?

Maybe with 3 single levels, but not with anything more. With 6 MARC 3s, they won't do more than 90. Add any more and they drop even further. Once had an 8 car set express from BWI to New Carrollton that never went above 81 and that was 2 MPs pushing. Marc 4s are only certified for 90 as well I belie...

Any insight on the MARC tracker updates? I feel like every meltdown we get some promise that they're fixing it, but every next issue the tracker breaks at the drop of a hat. It's a wait-and-see on that one. I'm glad that ENSCO moved it to a server with more metrics, and found the actual problem! We...

Any insight on the MARC tracker updates? I feel like every meltdown we get some promise that they're fixing it, but every next issue the tracker breaks at the drop of a hat.

The picture above shows a Charger leading an MPI-36, is this just as backup while the Chargers get all their quirks ironed out, or MTA policy? IIRC MTA was looking for equipment that it could run between all three lines but still achieve speed (125mph?) on the Penn Line. I don’t think the MPIs can ...

Depends on the engineer I think, most of them will push it to 125 especially that little stretch between New Carrollton and DC, but I've had that experience before as well where they don't go above 110. This was in winter as well, so heat orders weren't a thing either.

523 had a HHP-8 on it yesterday, I was too sleepy to check the number. And out of all the equipment MARC has, the diesels are the most reliable. I'm definitely on record here trashing the MP36s, but they are what's keeping MARC running and are really not as bad as this thread suggests. They're fat, ...

Do you happen to know what its reliability is like post-rebuild? Or does it still need to keep going to Ivy City after the morning run, possibly to come back after a few days?

Where do the 2 lines meet in Balto.? Or what CSX branch does MARC have rights to use for shop moves? The two lines never meet in Baltimore I thought(dates back to the old PRR vs B&O days) ? The Camden line (CSX Capital subdivision) crosses the NEC at St. Denis/Halethorpe but there is no junctio...

Couple of reasons methinks: 1) they can't be used on the Penn line while they're being used on the other two. The same trainsets that make up the Camden/Brunswick trains are used in the middle of the day up and down the Penn. 2) there's already enough capacity in management's view with the MARC IIIs...

That makes total sense, thanks RedWolf. I'd forgotten about the whole contractors running the railroad bit. I guess I'm still skeptical it can do 125 with 8 full coaches on an evening rush hour train, but I will wait to be hopefully proven wrong.

Has anyone seen a Charger testing on MARC? Three were delivered on 12/9 and they are supposed to test first on the Brunswick and Camden lines. Andy Why are they testing on the Brunswick or Camden? Aren't these guys supposed to replace the HHP-8s on the Penn? Or are we in for a bait and switch? I wo...

Thus Spoke Hoggathustra? It was an early Garmin GPS, but had cost about $500 in 2008 or 09. It never recorded a speed other than 125 for a MARC train*, and was never more than 2 or so mph off in my car, including a trip across country. Always matched the speedometer. We seemed to be going faster th...

But it wouldn't get recorded if the train got at least 1 door on the platform right? I've never had a complete overrun, just times the only door that gets on the platform is the last one on the cab car or just the last 2 cars (3-4 doors total on a 7-car set) with no reversing required.

Hallelujah! The odds are now in my favor for working air conditioning on every train just in time for summer (and for hillterns :D)!