WES Gets 2 more units!

[AgentSkelly]

I just heard from the 11 PM news on KGW that Tri-Met will add two ex-Alaska Railroad Budd RDCs to supplement WES service.

They are units 702 and 711 from Alaska.

[wigwagfan]

I'd like to know when TriMet got the waiver for the crashworthiness regulation as these cars don't comply, nor were already in TriMet service prior to the enactment of the standard.

[westr]

The Portland Tribune has a story on them. http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/sto ... 6638415300 These Budd RDCs are for backup service when the Colorado Railcar DMUs break down so they don't have to resort to shuttle buses. They haven't been delivered yet, and apparently won't be ready for service until summer. This begs the question though...If Budd RDC's purchased for $150,000 and renovated can be used for backup service, why couldn't they have been used for regular service from the beginning and saved the cost of the brand new DMUs? The DMUs were supposedly the only self-propelled railcars that met the standards to coexist with freight rail, so RDCs weren't an option. These renovated RDCs would have to meet the same standards as the DMUs, regardless of the fact that they are backups, wouldn't they?

[wigwagfan]

These renovated RDCs would have to meet the same standards as the DMUs, regardless of the fact that they are backups, wouldn't they?

My understanding is that they don't meet the requirements, and that one day the FRA will be giving TriMet a little chat about it.

I've had people try to convince me that no waiver is required, even though 49CFR238.203 is very, very clear that just because the cars ran in service on the Alaska Railroad doesn't mean it's legal on TriMet.

[wigwagfan]

Spotted them at the Wilsonville shops earlier this afternoon.

[railohio]

Tri-Met has made mention of it, too:

http://trimet.org/news/wes-adds-trains.htm