Colorado DMU for real or Demo only

[DutchRailnut]

The Colorado DMU is hailed as most up to date DMU in USA but is it overdesigned or to advanced for everyday railroading ?
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=57591

plus the control stand

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=57589

[Hostler]

I would wish them luck, and hope they succeed. As we all know, Budd tried the comeback route with the SPV 2000, failed and went out of business, and they were the experts. DMU's have been built in Europe for decades, yet with the exception of the NJ River Line, no manaufacturer has seen fit to try to sell units in the U.S. Colorado is using European transmissions, American diesels, and home built electronics for control. The only thing that concerns me is they built one powered unit with cab on one end only, the other end is blind and no cab/trailer car. This prevents them from running back and forth on a line for demo or testing purposes. Time will tell, we see how well the Colorado DMU runs and well as the NJ Riverline units.

[Raakone]

Florida Tri-Rail is experimenting with Colorado DMUs right now....a couple of trains a day use them.

we'll know soon enough....

~Ra'akone

[Hostler]

The Florida testing will only prove their reliability in that climate. The Budd SPV's downfall was the cold New England winters. I'd be curious to see how well the DMU's hold up under those conditions.

[Engineer999]

If you look at the extensive brochure on thier web site, you will see that the powered/unpowered trailer car has an operators position in one end.

There are some shots on the net that show the DMU pulling RDCs. Ironic...

[EDM5970]

For what its worth, there is more on the Colorado "Dinky" over on the NJ Transit forum-

[railfanofewu]

Well, it sure is racking up orders, at a very slow pace. The two plus one bi-level coach for Tri-Rail, and the 2 for the Rocky Mountaineer. Who knows, maybe the pace will quicken.

[AmtrakFan]

Well, it sure is racking up orders, at a very slow pace. The two plus one bi-level coach for Tri-Rail, and the 2 for the Rocky Mountaineer. Who knows, maybe the pace will quicken.

Maybe even Amtrak someday.

John

[texman]

Maybe even Amtrak someday.

John

If you look at Amtrak's strategic plan 2005-2009 http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/strategic05.pdf and go down to page 32, you can see their looking into purchasing some new DMUs or 'Rail Diesel Cars' which look alot like the cab unit of the colorado rail car.

[railfanofewu]

[guote]
If you look at Amtrak's strategic plan 2005-2009 http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/strategic05.pdf and go down to page 32, you can see their looking into purchasing some new DMUs or 'Rail Diesel Cars' which look alot like the cab unit of the colorado rail car.[/quote]

I noticed that myself. I think CRC would be in the best position, they are well ahead towards FRA Compliance.

[wigwagfan]

Exactly where would Amtrak employ a Colorado Railcar "DMU"? Are there still any routes in the northeast, off of the NEC, that only require a single railcar? In the west, I would guess that the routes are so long that a DMU would be too little (i.e. lack of cafe/dining/lounge facilities).

The only place in the west I could find a DMU feasible would be Portland-Eugene, and even at over two hours, that's a little long without any type of on-board service - with that level of service, Greyhound actually would appear to be a better choice (both cheaper and faster, and the on-board amenities would be equal).

Personally - I would love to see a derated version of the ICE-TD brought over to the states. (Derated, since the trains wouldn't operate at over 80 MPH this side of the Atlantic.) Unfortunately our government demands that a passenger train survive an impact without structual deformation, but we have no problems with airplanes being tin cans or allowing Chevy Metros, Yugos and Kias sharing the highways with triple-trailer trucks.

[railfanofewu]

The DMU can pull two unpowered cars. One could be a cafe/diner/lounge. In fact, Great Canadian Railtours is going to use one next year to pull a new service, Vancouver-Whistler-Prince George-Jasper. It will be called the Fraser Discovery Route.

[EdSchweppe]

Exactly where would Amtrak employ a Colorado Railcar "DMU"? Are there still any routes in the northeast, off of the NEC, that only require a single railcar?

I seem to remember reading someone quoting Gunn that the NHV-SPG shuttle trains would be a likely DMU route. Currently, if I recall correctly, they usually run with one Amfleet coach, one ex-Metroliner cab car and a P42.

In the west, I would guess that the routes are so long that a DMU would be too little (i.e. lack of cafe/dining/lounge facilities).

DMUs would work on the CHI-MKE Hiawathas (and I think that's the other route that Amtrak is considering for their use).

[railfanofewu]

I think out west we could use the DMU on some routes. Portland-Astoria, and the Double-Deck version could be used to start a series of Dayliner runs across the Eastern part of the state to Spokane. Also, Cruise Lines could use them to pull small sightseer trains.

[wigwagfan]

I think out west we could use the DMU on some routes. Portland-Astoria,

I can say with absolute certainty, that the Portland-Astoria route will not continue after this year, and certainly would never exist with Amtrak owned DMUs.

As for a Washington cross-state train, I think Washington really likes the Talgos, and since Seattle-Spokane or Portland-Spokane is about eight hours in length, that'd be one cramped DMU ride.