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TheOneKEA wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:13 pm
It’s a very curious design choice, because many of the “normals” aren’t going to care what the car number is, and the passengers who do will stop caring once they know which car their seat(s) are in. I don’t mind their size but they are so incredibly prominent…

I prefer these huge numbers; much easier to write down a description for my photos and videos instead of trying to squint at the tiny boards.

TheOneKEA wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:13 pm It’s a very curious design choice, because many of the “normals” aren’t going to care what the car number is, and the passengers who do will stop caring once they know which car their seat(s) are in. I don’t mind their size but they are so incredibly prominent…

I'm surprised folks have forgotten that Acela's are reserved seating, pick where to sit at time of reservation. It's up on Amtrak's website!

That means the ticket's going to say "SEAT A18 IN CAR 8327, POSITION F AT STATION." The "normies" are going to know, because they picked the seat and the car. So they're going to be looking. Will they need to know afterwards? Of course not! Nobody will!

That said, if there's a seat conflict, the conductor just needs to check tickets. Oh, you threw yours away? Too bad, you're being ejected. Should of used the app.

This past December after attending the World Science Fiction Convention ("WorldCon") in Washington, I rode the Acela home to New Jersey. By my personal experience finding the correct car did confuse and slow the boarding experience at Union Station versus my many other trips, mostly for business meetings, to and from that station over some 50 years. Having very prominent car numbers would have significantly expedited the boarding process, and avoided a significant number of passengers who entered the incorrect car. This year WorldCon is in Chicago, so I'm round trip on Lake Shore Limited sleeper so won't be an issue. Next year Worldcon will take place in Chengdu, China but Amtrak does not serve that city, and it is highly likely I shall not attend that one, but not because of lack of Amtrak service.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sun May 08, 2022 8:33 am

TheOneKEA wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:13 pm It’s a very curious design choice, because many of the “normals” aren’t going to care what the car number is, and the passengers who do will stop caring once they know which car their seat(s) are in. I don’t mind their size but they are so incredibly prominent…

I'm surprised folks have forgotten that Acela's are reserved seating, pick where to sit at time of reservation. It's up on Amtrak's website!

That means the ticket's going to say "SEAT A18 IN CAR 8327, POSITION F AT STATION." The "normies" are going to know, because they picked the seat and the car. So they're going to be looking. Will they need to know afterwards? Of course not! Nobody will!

That said, if there's a seat conflict, the conductor just needs to check tickets. Oh, you threw yours away? Too bad, you're being ejected. Should of used the app.

Actually, when purchasing an Acela ticket, a seat is assigned to you randomly. You have to go back in and "Change Seat" to be able to look at the map and see what's available. Ridiculous you can't see if a certain seat is available before booking considering the high prices.

In many stations on the NEC, the platform letters are faded or just plain not there, so it's a moot point. Until they get assigned seats on Coach on the Regionals which they should've done when they went all-reserved several years ago, people still won't be looking for car numbers and will still get confused.

Word on the street is that the Acela is getting a bump from 135 mph to 150 mph on the racetrack through Princeton Junction, NJ effective Monday, May 9 2022. If true, it might call for a little railfanning there! I presume that the Acela II will be allowed 160 here when it begins service. I'd love to catch some test runs on that stretch, assuming they ever resume testing!

Matt Johnson wrote: ↑Sun May 08, 2022 11:14 pm Word on the street is that the Acela is getting a bump from 135 mph to 150 mph on the racetrack through Princeton Junction, NJ effective Monday, May 9 2022. If true, it might call for a little railfanning there! I presume that the Acela II will be allowed 160 here when it begins service. I'd love to catch some test runs on that stretch, assuming they ever resume testing!

Between Trenton to New Brunswick right?

Effective at 5am on 5/9/22 Tracks 2 & 3 will now be rated for the following speeds:

CP County (at Jersey Avenue station 32.8) southwest to CP Midway (Monmouth Junction 45.3): 145 MPH

CP Midway southwest to CP Clark (48.7 just west of Princeton Junction): 150 MPH

Constant tension catenary installation work has also resumed between CP Clark 48.7 and somewhere between CP Ham (55.7) and CP Fair (Trenton station 56.4) meaning 150 MPH may be extended an additional 6 or 7 miles in the future. Unknown as this whole project has been riddled with gross mismanagement as written by the Amtrak OIG.

That's a nice little boost.

Makes sense. All that work done for the Acela IIs only for their deployment to be delayed. Might as well use it.

So apparently the speed increase is delayed until whenever Amtrak gets around to updating ACSES.

That raises a question. It's all controlled from what, one or two locations? And I get that in a given area, with curves, switches and other issues, that you don't just set one speed for say, a 10 mile stretch. So how hard is it to program these changes to go into effect as of a certain date and time?

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sun May 08, 2022 8:33 am

TheOneKEA wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:13 pm It’s a very curious design choice, because many of the “normals” aren’t going to care what the car number is, and the passengers who do will stop caring once they know which car their seat(s) are in. I don’t mind their size but they are so incredibly prominent…

I'm surprised folks have forgotten that Acela's are reserved seating, pick where to sit at time of reservation. It's up on Amtrak's website!

That means the ticket's going to say "SEAT A18 IN CAR 8327, POSITION F AT STATION." The "normies" are going to know, because they picked the seat and the car. So they're going to be looking. Will they need to know afterwards? Of course not! Nobody will!

I sit corrected! I've never tried to reserve a seat so it never occurred to me that knowing your car number would matter.

the cars are numbered 1-6, no need to know the actual car numbers.

daybeers wrote: ↑Mon May 09, 2022 9:17 pm the cars are numbered 1-6, no need to know the actual car numbers.

I was at Metropark recently and noted the Acela car number positions painted on the platforms. That's gonna be confusing during the transition when both the 6 car Acela I and 9 car Acela II are operating!