Acela II (Alstom Avelia Liberty): Design, Production, Delivery, Acceptance

[gokeefe]

Exactly.

Also worth remembering these trainsets will be able to support speed upgrades elsewhere on the NEC just as the Acela did for certain segments. They're future proofed.

[F40CFan]

The train set is sitting on track 2 at Chicago Union Station on its way to Pueblo. Was able to get a few shots on my camera phone without getting into to Officials way.

[Backshophoss]

AcelaI 's have HEP plugs with the couplers under that nose shroud. Acela II's seem to have a M-8 style coupler in their nose shroud.
Rescue power will need a cheater couper to tow them in.

[Gilbert B Norman]

Not too sure how much coverage the "dog and pony" show noted by Mr. F40C, will get on tonight's Local news. It's kind of been pre-empted by a bigger story around these parts - the Blagojevich sentence commutation.

But it's a nice day; and I'll go get my dry cleaning from the "dry cleaners with a view" walkng there about 4P.

Finally, I note the comments here regarding the lack of contour between the Power Car and the train; funny, but I don't think such has ever been on the Amtrak concern list.

[Matt Johnson]

Finally, I note the comments here regarding the lack of contour between the Power Car and the train; funny, but I don't think such has ever been on the Amtrak concern list.

Does it affect aerodynamics enough to warrant additional shrouding? Probably not. Does it affect the aesthetics? I think so, and you'd think they'd want to get the details right when this is a big product launch for Amtrak and for Alstom. Someone on another site called it fumbling on the 5 yard line. But I noted it, and so I'll leave it there and not beat a dead horse. I tend to nitpick such details - for example how my '07 Subaru Legacy has a proper Hofmeister kink whereas the new Legacy sedan has a black plastic filler piece in the C pillar behind the straight edge back door cutoff. Drives me nuts! Ah well, maybe one day I can afford a new BMW 3 Series which still has a Hofmeister kink. Sometimes it's the little details...

[DutchRailnut]

anyone figure what this has to do with Acela II ??

[Backshophoss]

Is there a plan to run the Acela II to LaJunta as a 2nd section of # 4(18)?
Or about 2 or 3 hours behind the Chief?

An update,The Acela II set left Chicago at 3:30 pm CST!

[NeedhamLine]

While the performance and capacity of these trains are far more important, a few thoughts on the profile differences between the power car and the coaches:

- When this set was originally pitched, the power cars were totally unique. Since then, these power cars have been incorporated into the next gen TGV for SNCF (Avelia Horizon) with 100 sets currently on order. That design has bilevel coaches and so the slab side is better suited to match that profile. Would not be surprised if Alstom settled on a common profile to keep costs down (although Avelia Horizon renderings do show some fairings to match the bilevel height). Unlike the Acela Is, the power cars for these will not be global oddballs - and that’s a good thing.

- The final renderings of the Acela IIs show a blue band continuing from the lower portion of the coaches onto the power cars. That will likely be added later (along with all the other lettering and graphics) and will help to hide the transition.

- Aside from the profile mismatch, these things look way more unified to me than the Acela Is. Those have fairly (for HSR) stubby noses, fiberglass nose sections that don’t quite match the stainless construction, and (by far the worst) two giant humps on top of each coach. These are going to look way sleeker when they are speeding down the NEC.

- The thin red stripe along the whole train set wasn’t shown in any rendering and seems to match the height and location of the reflective striping added on all Amtrak equipment during the past 10-15 years. I didn’t think FRA striping requirements applied to passenger equipment but Amtrak may have its own internal requirements. One thing that really stuck out to me is how RED the underbodies are. That will not stay bright for long...

[ThirdRail7]

Interesting it has three extra cars. How many riders does a move like this take?

The FRA required engines and a car on each end as part of the waiver to move it.

[Greg Moore]

anyone figure what this has to do with Acela II ??

Yes.

[Backshophoss]

#135 is the leader,196 trail(backtoback coupled), Staff Sleeper, View II bag on head end
View II Diner trails and 144 carries the markers.
Entire consist is Limited to 50 mph max.

Reportedly Moving under absolute block as well

[gokeefe]

What is absolute block? Heard it before never asked ...

[DutchRailnut]

a signal giving a clear block from interlocking to interlocking for use of cabsignal/atc failures.
it not only shows a clear block but it shows track continuity to eliminate broken rail.

[CHTT1]

Visit of Acela II to Chicago is getting quite a bit of press coverage. Radio and TV stations presented advance stories and afternoon news had coverage of train's stop at Union Station. Not bad for a train that will never run in the Chicago area. Some reports playing up manufacturer of parts in suburban Harvey.

[gokeefe]

Amtrak PR ... well done yet again.