ant6n wrote:Maybe its cuz the only thing that's been running on those tracks in twenty years is the mr-90, which is much lighter. And those tracks just can't take the weight.
What I don't get is why they don't just buy/lease three or four surplus/used electric only engines that were used in the NEC, which should be lighter and ready to go, at least in terms of track and weight concerns (plus, much cheaper).
I doubt it is the reason.
The Central Station train tracks are class 1 track (speed is up to 15 mph) while the tracks on the Deux-Montagnes subdivision are class 4 or 5 track since the trains can run up to 65 mph. Class 4 or 5 tracks require more maintenance and are in a much better shape than class 1 train tracks, so the ALP-45DP can run on the Deux-Montagnes subdivsion without any problems. The only modification that they have mad on the locomotives is the wheel profile in order to reduce the lateral forces exerted on the rail.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/railsafety/rules-tce54-832.htm
I think that the main reason for not deploying immediately the ALP-45DP's on the Deux-Montagnes subdivision is because there's still a series of testing that has to be done in electric mode and in the Mount-Royal tunnel since those engines have only been used in diesel mode until now.