Interesting Consist Discussion for the South Side

BostonUrbEx wrote:

ck4049 wrote:If the MBTA was smart, they would go down to Seaview and get some of those MBBs fired up again.

When I was taking CR regularly, I'd typically stand rather than be in one of those godawful MBBs.

If they were smart.. Theyd have gone with Kawasaki again for what ended up being the Rotem order, they wouldve gotten the cars on time and done right the first time.. And then wouldnt be short 14 cars for warranty repairs plus whatever is in the shops for AC bugs, but, as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for.

BostonUrbEx wrote:

ck4049 wrote:If the MBTA was smart, they would go down to Seaview and get some of those MBBs fired up again.

When I was taking CR regularly, I'd typically stand rather than be in one of those godawful MBBs.

I have very mixed feelings about them. The straight seatbacks aren't pleasant, but at the same time the seats have so much more room (wider seat, less cramped when sharing the seat, and what seems like more legroom). I've come to dislike the Rotems for a whole different reason - the seating just feels so cramped. I'm tall, but not that tall (6'-1"), but I find myself wishing they had a bit more legroom.

I don't know how folks fare with the three seaters on the southside, but up north it's hard to get a lot of riders to use them. Sometimes I think 2x2 seating with more room to circulate versus the narrow aisles would be more effective up north.

On the south side, at least on the Providence line, we use every available seat, especially on the prime rush hour trains such as Train #808 (7:44 out of Mansfield, much earlier out of Wickford). It's usually an 8 double-decker consist, but we have been short one coach lately. Today, to add insult to injury, we had 6 double-deckers and a flat. Standing room only, again.

Looked like the 902 was towing 1057 in through Newton by the Pike around 5:30 this afternoon. Of course I was driving at the time with a noisy passenger so I couldn't really pay much attention

That would be a neat trick on the 902's part! That would've been the 904,
since the 902 is out to the Illinois Railroad Museum.

D

GP40MC1118 wrote:That would be a neat trick on the 902's part! That would've been the 904,
since the 902 is out to the Illinois Railroad Museum.

D

"be quiet and watch the road for me, I need to check out that train!"

Thanks for the correction.

HSP #2038 is in service South Side even though NETransit lists it as waiting acceptance

Yes, saw it go by Savin Hill SB at 4:10 Monday.

MetroBostonRailways wrote:HSP #2038 is in service South Side even though NETransit lists it as waiting acceptance

slept in Middleboro Facility Monday night. Also, the 1117 has been capped with the 1036. The 1117 failed to wake up in Greenbush Monday Morning

Southside down 23 cars as of today

904 burnt up last night on the Readville Switcher...haven't heard the official word on how bad the damage was, but sounds pretty bad.

There are four 4 car sets floating around Southside as of today, as well as a train with the 1035W end and 1066E end

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:904 burnt up last night on the Readville Switcher...haven't heard the official word on how bad the damage was, but sounds pretty bad.

There are four 4 car sets floating around Southside as of today, as well as a train with the 1035W end and 1066E end

I thought I saw that 1035/1066 set last week, I guess I did; I've also noticed a lot of Rotem cabs buried in trains. Service remains quite a mess.

wrong board

Yesterday, about 9:15AM Monday 2015-Jul-27, saw an MBTA train westbound near Cottage Farm on the Framingham-Worcester line with one of the older MBTA engines, three single-level "T" coaches, Amtrak Corridor Clipper, and another "T" coach (control car?). Wonder if this was an extra or a revenue consist? Assume they were testing track either on this line or heading to the grand junction?

It was bizarre to see an Amtrak Amfleet in the middle of an MBTA train!

Corridor Clipper is Amtrak's standalone Track Geo Car,was on loan to MBTA for track testing.