Railroad Forums 

  • Feds rule in favor of Amtrak (again) in Amtrak vs. Guilford

  • Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.
Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.

Moderator: MEC407

 #14842  by MEC407
 
Once again, the feds have ruled that Guilford should allow Amtrak to run passenger trains at 79 MPH on select portions of the line in NH and ME. And of course, we can be certain that Guilford will continue to appeal the decision.

Here is the article from today's paper:

http://www.pressherald.com/news/state/040423train.shtml

 #14890  by highrail
 
Another chapter in a long saga. $50 million spent on Guilford track by the taxpayer, and still not satisfied.

I was thinking...the argument over the weight of the rail as it relates to the speed: what was the rail weight back in the high speed steam days on this line, and what were the average speeds? It seems to me that the speeds in those days were faster than now. Is that correct? If the argument relates to the weight of the train, weren't the steamers much heavier than today's engines?

Steve

 #14913  by Ken W2KB
 
It would depend on the size of the steam locomotives, but in any event, the pounding from the drive rods of the steamers would have been a lot more wear and tear, even if weight as such were not a factor. Part of the issue may be that in steam days railroads had large numbers of track crews and inspection and repairs were made more or less continuously. Now the idea is to construct infrasure so that the need for repairs, and a large expensive labor force, is minimized.

 #14928  by MEC407
 
From the late 1930s up until 2000, the rail on the main line to Portland was 112 LB.

Maximum speed for passenger trains was 70 MPH in the glory days of the B&M.

Of course, steamers (and early diesels) didn't have speedometers...

And there were plenty of derailments back then...