Re: All Things Cascades incl Vancouver
PostPosted:Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:37 pm
The 1 series 8 set is in somewhat daily use on the 500/504 turn,with the Horizon set as the standby set,Depending on the charger teething issues.
electricron wrote: I believe (WSDOT) desires to buy true HSR train sets in the future if they somehow can find some financial help from anyone for building a new HSR line. The rail corridor between Seattle and Portland is much too crowded with Sounder and BNSF freight trains to actually take advantage of higher speed train sets. I believe (WSDOT) has learned that lesson and will now pursue a new passenger only line.Just a few small problems, there is literally nowhere to put a "true HSR line" that will actually be high speed. There is a group that has received planning funding from the two states and the province, and Microsoft, but the reality is any potential HSR route will be a non-starter for the sheer amount of housing and environmentally sensitive land it will have to destroy, but with little to no ability to replace. The HSR backers are also literally promising a chicken in every pot (a station for every town) which will defeat the purpose of HSR, unless they are planning a four-track main especially north of Seattle where towns are just a few miles apart and everyone wants a stop. And the I-5 ROW is simply infeasible for anything beyond light rail...and who wants to ride a light rail train for over 100 miles, stopping every 2 miles, city bus style seating and no amenities, not even a restroom?
Backshophoss wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 2:56 am Would not be surprised if WSDOT & ORDOT ask Caltrain to borrow a set of Siemen's Coaches/Food service car for a test on the Cascades route,then follow up with an order for 6-7 sets to replace the remaining tago setsI remember hearing that Siemens Venture coaches, the same ones used by Caltrain, will replace the Talgos on the northwest, so it would only make sense for WSDOT to test the existing coaches on the route.
Pensyfan19 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:59 amWSDOT will be first in line tacking onto with Amtrak's Amfleet I replacement order and receiving those cars first. I haven't heard anything confirming Siemens will be the winner of that, but many signs point to that being the case with the testing on the NEC. Time will tell.Backshophoss wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 2:56 am Would not be surprised if WSDOT & ORDOT ask Caltrain to borrow a set of Siemen's Coaches/Food service car for a test on the Cascades route,then follow up with an order for 6-7 sets to replace the remaining tago setsI remember hearing that Siemens Venture coaches, the same ones used by Caltrain, will replace the Talgos on the northwest, so it would only make sense for WSDOT to test the existing coaches on the route.
ST Saint wrote: ↑Wed Jan 06, 2021 1:46 pm I believe testing on the Point Defiance Bypass should be starting soon as well, but I haven't seen any official announcements yet.To follow up, here is an article announcing the testing. Testing will begin with Amtrak equipment Jan 16-17 8am-4pm on the Point Defiance Bypass.
wigwagfan wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 2:40 am Just a few small problems, there is literally nowhere to put a "true HSR line" that will actually be high speed. There is a group that has received planning funding from the two states and the province, and Microsoft, but the reality is any potential HSR route will be a non-starter for the sheer amount of housing and environmentally sensitive land it will have to destroy, but with little to no ability to replace. The HSR backers are also literally promising a chicken in every pot (a station for every town) which will defeat the purpose of HSR, unless they are planning a four-track main especially north of Seattle where towns are just a few miles apart and everyone wants a stop. And the I-5 ROW is simply infeasible for anything beyond light rail...and who wants to ride a light rail train for over 100 miles, stopping every 2 miles, city bus style seating and no amenities, not even a restroom?Maybe you are correct, maybe you are wrong. WDOT is studying true HSR as we discuss this right now.
Between Tacoma and Vancouver, Washington there's room for HSR if you don't mind building through second-growth timber, foothills and being 20 miles away from a town.
AFAIK, the future is going to be Siemens coaches. The days of "European style rolling stock" are over.
electricron wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:10 pm Why study something you really do not wish to build? They really want to, that is my point.Studies are often dark corners projects go to die.
electricron wrote:Why study something you really do not wish to build? They really want to, that is my point.I have a stack of rail plans of ambitious projects between Portland and Eugene and Portland and McMinnville, repeated about every five years, that all say the same thing: It's technically feasible, it will never pay for itself nor attract significant ridership off highways. Study, after study, after study.
Between Portland and Olympia there is a fairly straight power line a HSR train could follow 3-5 miles west of I-5. Northeast of Olympia, to Seattle will be more challenging to find a route, but not impossible if you look at vertical instead of just horizontal solutions. Going vertical will definitely cost more to implement, but vertical solutions have not deterred WDOT in the past.
David Benton wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:52 amYet they manage in far more crowded europe and japan.And had Washington State built High Speed Rail in the 1960s and 1970s it would have been far more feasible, but it isn't 1960 anymore, it's 2021. There's a lot more people. There's a lot more environmental awareness. And we didn't drop a couple nukes on downtown Seattle or send hundreds of B-17s over downtown Portland.
wigwagfan wrote: ↑Tue Jan 12, 2021 11:18 pmHsr2 is been built now in England.Must admit, it is hard to see how they find room for it. billions of pounds help.David Benton wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:52 amYet they manage in far more crowded europe and japan.And had Washington State built High Speed Rail in the 1960s and 1970s it would have been far more feasible, but it isn't 1960 anymore, it's 2021. There's a lot more people. There's a lot more environmental awareness. And we didn't drop a couple nukes on downtown Seattle or send hundreds of B-17s over downtown Portland.
We can't roll the clock back. We either acknowledge it's going to be harder, or we accept the fact that those precious wetlands, shorelines, tideflats and other sensitive environmental areas are expendable, that it's OK to pollute waterways and land, and those endangered salmon and other aquatic life can be made extinct; and that damned be low income people whose homes are in the way - it's socially and politically acceptable to kick them out of town and force them to the streets because they won't be able to afford replacement housing. Are you willing to stand before a podium and say that before 25 live cameras?