Plenty of news just no good news:
Commuter rail is too tall a test
By ERIC ANDERSON, Deputy business editor
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First published: Friday, January 12, 2007
ALBANY -- A double-deck commuter rail car operating in Florida won't undergo winter testing in upstate New York, as state officials had hoped.
That's because the rail car, at 19 feet 6 inches tall, would not fit under some bridges and in tunnels along the proposed route. The discovery came as officials of the state Senate High Speed Rail Task Force and the car's manufacturer, Colorado Rail Car Co. of Fort Lupton, Colo., met this week to discuss plans for a commuter rail demonstration project in the Capital Region.
The Federal Railroad Administration requires that two months of the two-year demonstration project for the double-deck car be conducted in winter conditions. Currently, the car is operating on a commuter line in the Miami area. The rail car contains its own diesel engine, eliminating the need for a separate locomotive.
John Egan, director of the task force, had envisioned using the train as a way to demonstrate the feasibility of commuter rail service between Saratoga Springs and the Rensselaer train station. The equipment also was being eyed for testing on the Adirondack rail line north to Montreal.
Florida officials said in October that Wisconsin, Vermont and a rail line north of Boston also were being considered for the winter testing.
Meanwhile, Egan's group is looking at the single-level versions of the diesel-powered passenger rail cars that Colorado Rail Car also produces, as well as the rebuilt turbotrains now in storage in an Amtrak rail yard outside Washington, D.C., for possible use in a commuter demonstration in the Capital Region.
If Conductors are in charge, why are they promoted to be Engineer???
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.