Silverliner Vs Out of Service - Technical Topics

jackintosh11 wrote:Also, since the Silverliner Vs use the same trucks as the Silverliner IVs and BSL cars, couldn't they just use trucks from the other cars on the Vs, or are they incompatible?

The trucks are the same basic design but different. SL V trucks have disc brakes, ac motors, different gear boxes and gearing compared to the others.

The part that failed is fabricated, not a casting, easier to make.

So let me get this straight. With all the hoopla about the crappy quality of Hyundai-Rotem equipment, and everybody screaming "buy American", it was an American made part, manufactured in Pennsylvania that failed? Give me a break!

I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised. As far back as 1968, my uncle told me that one reason Jap products were making such inroads in America was because American industry even back then was starting to produce shoddy products. And so it went........

Head-end View wrote:So let me get this straight. With all the hoopla about the crappy quality of Hyundai-Rotem equipment, and everybody screaming "buy American", it was an American made part, manufactured in Pennsylvania that failed? Give me a break!

Ahhh... you've been playing along at home, too? The sad thing is, the casting firm in question, went bankrupt doing the trucks for NJT's Comet Vs. They're also in bankruptcy again. i.e., any warranty they're going to provide probably isn't worth the paper its printed on. Why SEPTA ever insisted on the things is beyond me.

I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised. As far back as 1968, my uncle told me that one reason Jap products were making such inroads in America was because American industry even back then was starting to produce shoddy products. And so it went........

If you ever compared a Japanese TV set to an American one of the era, the Japanese ones were better, period. They were built better, lasted longer, got a better picture. Consumers Reports panned the Trinitron though, because you could get a 19 inch American brand TV for what Sony's 12 inch cost. Even though the Sony was a far better TV. Far better. It was the same with radios. Nevermind cameras - the Japanese basically slaughtered Kodak and Bell & Howell. Nobody in the US made anything as good as the Nikon F. Period. Cars? There's a reason GM and Chrysler have had bailouts. And they still can't figure it out - witness how crappy Chrysler's recent stuff is, and how bad GM's stuff is getting (again). Ford at least is thriving somewhat, but their build quality is still a good cut below Japan's.

Without posting megaquotes from the above posts, I believe it was stated that the castings were actually made in OHIO and Toyota (and more notably Takata) have had plenty of their own issues recently.

Guess no one's exempt.

Are they going to have to replace the trucks completely? Here's hoping that if it comes to that, that they can make some improvements so that the ride quality is better. Then at least we'll have something to show for this whole mess.

The schedules will probably add some inconvenience, though we'll see what they come up with today. I really hope they can borrow some equipment to ease the overcrowding.

Aside from the obvious disruptions this will cause lets actually give good marks where they are due, the cracks could not have been predicted 5yrs ago, even the best quality machinery fails, they (septa) identified a problem, they investigated it, then they decided the safest thing to do was pull the fleet, imagine how this thread would look if one of those cars failed and a tragic accident occurred at 70mph or even 100mph on Amtrak, well done Septa for actually erring on the safe side, now back to your expert armchair railroaders and armchair mechanics......

Re: who is going to cover the cost of repairs; isn't Hyundai-Rotem ultimately responsible as the trucks were a component of H-R's product? And wouldn't H-R then have to sue the subcontractor who built the trucks?

Remembering the NYC Subway R-46 scandal of at least 35 years ago, when those trucks cracked it was the car manufacturer (Pullman-Standard) who had to make good on it, even though some other company built the trucks. And that fiasco pretty much put Pullman-Standard out of business. Ergo, it doesn't look good for Hyundai-Rotem.

I've seen the pictures of the cracked beams, but I'm still not clear as to whether the beam is integrated with the truck chassis or if it is removable. Assuming that a pattern of beam defect exists, if a beam can be removed, could someone with some knowledge speak to the (what I'm sure is an extremely labor-intensive) process of exchanging beams between cars with the intended result of making some S V's functional again?

Has some type of pattern been established that the cracking occurs more frequently in only the front or rear trucks, and would this support the option of swapping trucks between cars outright to return some S V's to service? Again, labor-intensive...

Thanks for posting the graphic, Swampoodle. Obviously I missed that article.

After the rush hour craziness it looks like only the West Trenton trains are running with long delays.

Since you guys are the experts, what would be the reasoning of not turning around more trains at either Wayne or 30th St? Especially if West Trenton trains are going to need protect trains anyway.

Also, it was interesting to see somebody from Denver say their SLVs are 5000 lbs lighter because their stations are only one level thus not needing the extra equipment SEPTA has.

Denver also doesn't have 25hz power, which adds a LOT of weight

Here we go!

https://twitter.com/Christie_Ileto/stat ... 2960806912" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

@Christie_Ileto
Joe Coccio, TWU local 234: "SEPTA management has known about this problem for at least a month." @6abc

Isn't TWU everything EXCEPT regional rail? Also, it seems odd that they would have known about it and not fixed some of the problems by now.

rp71284 wrote:Also, it was interesting to see somebody from Denver say their SLVs are 5000 lbs lighter because their stations are only one level thus not needing the extra equipment SEPTA has.

Nasadowsk wrote:Denver also doesn't have 25hz power, which adds a LOT of weight

Were these trucks specified just because a similar design was on previous Silverliners? If so, why did Denver choose them? They had no previous equipment to match.