This discussion started in the Amtrak forum , comparing conditions in the USA , to those in Eastern Europe.
Mr Norman said ,
"Who am I to say to the contrary, but the ACS-64 was supposed to be the knock off of a proven design engine used extensively by both the DB and OBB.
I know and respect you both "do this stuff for a living", but somehow I don't think either of those State owned roads would accept those levels of availability you note.
So what do you think is going on; Siemens thought they could throw together a pile of parts with minimal QC (quality control) and force Amtrak to "take 'em or leave 'em", or are Corridor operating conditions so much more harsh and demanding on the engines than found on the European roads? Those engines operate into and within both Czechoslovakia and Hungary, where I'm sure there is still deferred maintence from the pre-'89 "bad old days"."
Excon90 said ,
" It may be that DB and OeBB have a higher and more intensive standard of maintenance, with the object of preventing failures in service, simply because their traffic density--and equipment turnaround--is such that they can't tolerate having a train go "dead in the road." I sometimes think there's a feeling over here that if you replace something before it fails you haven't gotten the most out of it."
David Benton said ,
"From what I observed around that period, Hungary at least , and East Germany had good maintenance facilities, and practices. They were actually exporting equipment, albeit probably on price and trade deals. Certainly none of the minor fixes not been done as per Amtrak ."
Gokeefe said
"Just "for the record" I traveled over both Czech and Hungarian railways in the late 90s. The Hungarians had just managed to get new rolling stock (probably from Siemens). The railroads in the East were clearly a step down from DB and OBB. Having traveled the length of the NEC several times I can comfortably say that Amtrak's Right of Way (WAS-NYP, NHV-BOS) is in far better condition. The signal system in particular is light years ahead of where the East Europeans were at the time (I recall seeing some wire operated semaphores)."
Daybeers asked ,
"Do you know where the countries stand with rail now?"
Jeff Smith suggested we discuss in the worldwide forum , and so here we are.
Mr Norman said ,
"Who am I to say to the contrary, but the ACS-64 was supposed to be the knock off of a proven design engine used extensively by both the DB and OBB.
I know and respect you both "do this stuff for a living", but somehow I don't think either of those State owned roads would accept those levels of availability you note.
So what do you think is going on; Siemens thought they could throw together a pile of parts with minimal QC (quality control) and force Amtrak to "take 'em or leave 'em", or are Corridor operating conditions so much more harsh and demanding on the engines than found on the European roads? Those engines operate into and within both Czechoslovakia and Hungary, where I'm sure there is still deferred maintence from the pre-'89 "bad old days"."
Excon90 said ,
" It may be that DB and OeBB have a higher and more intensive standard of maintenance, with the object of preventing failures in service, simply because their traffic density--and equipment turnaround--is such that they can't tolerate having a train go "dead in the road." I sometimes think there's a feeling over here that if you replace something before it fails you haven't gotten the most out of it."
David Benton said ,
"From what I observed around that period, Hungary at least , and East Germany had good maintenance facilities, and practices. They were actually exporting equipment, albeit probably on price and trade deals. Certainly none of the minor fixes not been done as per Amtrak ."
Gokeefe said
"Just "for the record" I traveled over both Czech and Hungarian railways in the late 90s. The Hungarians had just managed to get new rolling stock (probably from Siemens). The railroads in the East were clearly a step down from DB and OBB. Having traveled the length of the NEC several times I can comfortably say that Amtrak's Right of Way (WAS-NYP, NHV-BOS) is in far better condition. The signal system in particular is light years ahead of where the East Europeans were at the time (I recall seeing some wire operated semaphores)."
Daybeers asked ,
"Do you know where the countries stand with rail now?"
Jeff Smith suggested we discuss in the worldwide forum , and so here we are.
Moderator worldwide railfan , Rail travel & trip reports
The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.
The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.