ACS-64 Deliveries and Testing

jstolberg wrote:I think the Canadians have just given us an end date for delivery of the order.

Five major companies bid on the RFP that Calgary Transit put out. The City has finalized negotiations with the highest rated bidder and has entered into a contract with Siemens Canada for the purchase of new S200 light rail vehicles. These vehicles will be manufactured in Sacramento, CA. at a Siemens Industry Inc. plant.

The first new LRV will be delivered in August 2015 with the full order of 60 to be completed by December 2016.

So Siemens should be done with the ACS-64 delivery to Amtrak by the end of FY 2015.

I think you are reading too much into the Calgary Transit order schedule. No reason to think that the Siemens plant in Sacramento can't have 2 assembly areas.

The Amtrak news release issued in July after the Boardman trip to Pueblo to review the testing states "Once the locomotives are commissioned in the fall, production of the remaining units will ramp up for monthly delivery through 2016." If the ACS-64s are delivered at the reported 2 per month production rate, that means it should take about 32 months to deliver the remaining units once they clear the test units for revenue service. Which takes the production run into 2016.

BTW, the July 2013 monthly report has this bit in the Mechanical report on the AEM-7DCs. 6 DC units were scheduled for overhaul in FY2013. 4 units have been overhauled, 1 less than the schedule, but the comment states: "Plan reduced due to Decommisioning Plan". So the overhauls on the AEM-7DC units appears to have been stopped in favor of preparing to begin retiring them.

Mr. Figgatt and Mr. Tadman: I agree that there are probably two assembly areas - the parts and tooling for an ACS-64 probably isn't that similar to that for an S200 - but the staff is probably shared, since the ACS-64 is apparently a one-time order in North America. That is, unless Siemens drums up more business out of a NEC-based commuter agency, from California, or from Montreal (from under BBD's nose? hah!) or unless they can sell Amtrak on a diesel/25 kVAC dual mode.

Tad: I noticed you didn't include EMD or GE in your list of current producers. Do you only mean those companies currently building passenger power and fleets, or the ones offering production-ready locomotives and cars in their catalog?

afiggatt wrote:I think you are reading too much into the Calgary Transit order schedule. No reason to think that the Siemens plant in Sacramento can't have 2 assembly areas.

The Amtrak news release issued in July after the Boardman trip to Pueblo to review the testing states "Once the locomotives are commissioned in the fall, production of the remaining units will ramp up for monthly delivery through 2016." If the ACS-64s are delivered at the reported 2 per month production rate, that means it should take about 32 months to deliver the remaining units once they clear the test units for revenue service. Which takes the production run into 2016.

BTW, the July 2013 monthly report has this bit in the Mechanical report on the AEM-7DCs. 6 DC units were scheduled for overhaul in FY2013. 4 units have been overhauled, 1 less than the schedule, but the comment states: "Plan reduced due to Decommisioning Plan". So the overhauls on the AEM-7DC units appears to have been stopped in favor of preparing to begin retiring them.

I am aware of the reported production rate of 2 per month. When I read it, it struck me as a rather leisurely rate. But leisurely is what you get when it's the only order you've got. Now that Calgary has nearly doubled the backlog, Siemens may pick up the pace. The decommissioning plan may be accelerated.

I also note that completing the Calgary order by December 2016 allows Siemens to compete for the next generation diesel locomotives which need to be delivered by September 2017. That is a hard deadline. Its one of those cases where work tends to fill the time available.

When would 602 head east through Stamford

fl9m2004 wrote:When would 602 head east through Stamford

Test train is currently on it's way to Boston. He went by Milford, CT at 15:11 on Sept 18 2013

I guess there is a difference between a loco been officially decomissioned, and simply been put out the back track , and not used. The postponement of the overhauls is probably more telling.

Just passed the 602 xtra @ S. Attleboro just after 5pm heading Eastbound to Boston

jstolberg wrote: I am aware of the reported production rate of 2 per month. When I read it, it struck me as a rather leisurely rate. But leisurely is what you get when it's the only order you've got. Now that Calgary has nearly doubled the backlog, Siemens may pick up the pace. The decommissioning plan may be accelerated.

I also note that completing the Calgary order by December 2016 allows Siemens to compete for the next generation diesel locomotives which need to be delivered by September 2017. That is a hard deadline. Its one of those cases where work tends to fill the time available.

The ACS-64s are pretty complicated machines. A delivery rate of 2 per month is not that leisurely since the Sacramento and the other US Siemens plants are not going to be geared up for European market volume production runs. There are a lot of parts that go into the ACS-64 and many contracts with different vendors that spell out a delivery schedule. To speed that up in a significant way requires the long chain of part suppliers to speed up as well.

It is pretty unusual to speed up deliveries of equipment of this type once the production rate has been agreed to, unless the customer is willing to pay extra. And I don't see Amtrak having the funds to do that. Usually it goes the other way and the deliveries are delayed or late due to parts availability or production problems. That said, once we have 3-4 months of production deliveries, we can see if the rate is around 2 per month or not.

SuperStarRendon's catch of 602 heading through Hell Gate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io0f0_T9nig" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

David Benton wrote:I guess there is a difference between a loco been officially decomissioned, and simply been put out the back track , and not used. The postponement of the overhauls is probably more telling.

The decommissioning plan may be to place the AEM-7DCs in storage for a couple of years and keep them available for return to service on a few days notice in case a problem arises with the ACS-64s. Once there are enough ACS-64s in service and confidence in their reliability, then convert or scrap them, whatever the final plan is. A "decommissioning plan" does not necessarily mean the DC units get immediately sent to the great railyard in the sky.

The July monthly report shows the AEM-7AC and HHP-8 units on schedule for overhauls, BTW. The October 2013 monthly report as the first report of fiscal year 2014, whenever it is posted (December likely) could give some insight into the schedule for the replacements of the HHP-8 and AEM-7AC units. Will they have the same number of overhauls or are the overhauls cut back?

Fan Railer wrote:SuperStarRendon's catch of 602 heading through Hell Gate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io0f0_T9nig" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Smapped a cell phone pic of it as it passed through Mamaroneck today [and a pic of the Metroliner cab car at the end, but the loco was even cooler. ]

Siemens added on to the plant for the ACS manufacturing. LRV orders are done in a different part of the building and either will not affect each other in the manufacturing process.

Expect a round trip Boston to New Haven on Thursday and Friday it will go boston to Nyc. Also there is NO plan to keep any DC motors in storage. They are beyond there life and will be scrapped. They have also been paid off. The Remans will go into storage since money is still owed and same with HHPs

When tomorrow will it head from Boston to New York City
Also what a great video

The 602 was pushing cab car 9635 and some other Amfleets eastbound through Ruggles station in Boston tonight at about 5:30. The 602 was the only power on the train, no backup AEM7.