Search

Remind me why Amtrak bought a bunch of locomotives from a snowmobile company, only to sell them to a tobacco company, just to lease them back?

Remind me why we fund this insanity, again?

RRspatch wrote: ↑Wed Nov 13, 2019 1:46 am From what I've heard the FRA frowns upon axle counters.

Why not just dump the antique and obsolete 25Hz system for 60Hz at 12.5kv, and be done with it? There's NOTHING on the corridor that requires 25Hz power. There hasn't been since the last SLII/SLIII dropped its pan years ago. 25Hz power is a dinosaur. It's well past time it should be dumped. There's ...

I'd be curious as to what goes on overseas, and why they don't have these issues (or maybe they do?). France runs three car TER trains not much more elaborate than an LRT (Oh wait, Mulhouse has the tram-train, too), and seems to have little issue. Germany uses axle counters. I'm not sure what the Du...

I think you've cut to the core of the issue but perhaps over-simplified as well. Amtrak is not supposed to waste money, but what is wasting money? Does it cost more to dwell for 30 minutes at a terminal while power is changed? Does it cost more to baby the power because it's low-production speciali...

This is still a problem that I feel could be solved with faster engine changes. Bring it down to 10 minutes and there’s really not much delay to an intercity schedule. This is the correct answer. If Amtrak doesn't have the balls to propose stringing catenary up on the Richmond route and New Haven/ ...

I know of a county that built a bus garage with FTA funding, and recently wanted to close it, the FTA told them if they did, they'd have to give the FTA money back. And it had been there a about 20 years at that point. I don't remember how it got resolved...

Ok, my gut feeling says the M-1s style coupler isn't as strong as a regular one, but I've never seen anything to confirm/deny that - were there any handling restrictions or misadventures with the C1s? (I mean misadventures with the couplers - it seemed that nothing else ever worked well on those thi...

Riding backwards is diffrent and new, which is all it takes in this forum to be denounced as a plot against customers, despite global (and commuter) acceptance. I predict it will be a non issue with customers (as it has for Brightline) and a clear win for mechanical and operational simplicity. I ag...

solar power, cloud, celluar...I'm amazed they didn't manage to get block chain into there, and internet of things.

What's wrong with a stupid limit switch and wires and a light a few hundred feet away, again?

In a restaurant setting, often the most frustrating customers are the ones who finish ordering then say, “oh, did I say I wanted that to be vegan? I’m so sorry! Does that ever actually happen? Typically, vegans can never shut up about being vegan, and it's generally the first or second thing out of...

They also have lost favor with just about every transit agency in the east, save for NJT. The NY MTA won't touch them at all, now, after the R-179 fiasco.

They take forever because they can. Who is holding them accountable for taking forever? Nobody. There is no check and balance. Power change at Bad Bentheim. NS locomotive on 1.5kv DC to a DB locomotive on 15kv AC. Including changing the voltages in the overhead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Az...

They do it faster in Europe, where they have HEP, safety rules, unions, etc. And oh yes, sometimes a catenary voltage changes as the power gets moved about.

Nasadowsk: because MSP is hell for reasonable airfare. :P Surprised you couldn’t get a BWI connecting flight at least though, or one of the Deltas to JFK or LGA. MSP is hell, period. At least LGA is small and located somewhere interesting. But, I live in NJ, thus going in/out of EWR is easier. I've...