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

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1546288  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Tadman wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:26 am The Crocodile was a famous Swiss electric motor from long ago if I recall. And the Frisco was famous for naming their E8's after race horses.
Posted (my authorship) over at "World's Ugliest Train" topic at the General Discussion - Passenger Rail Forum:
Crocodiles:; indigenous to:

Austria

Switzerland

While I have not seen any on the road, you can see the first named if you keep your eyes open around any of a number of engine houses; the second saw many in active service when "I first went over" during '60.
 #1546300  by Amtrak706
 
gokeefe wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 12:00 pm The "real" railroad guys and gals are the ones who have figured out how to run a passenger rail company that serves the entire country with ever decreasing levels of taxpayer support.

Depending on how you look at bankruptcies and government land grants there are precious few railroads that have ever even come close to this achievement. Santa Fe and New York Central are probably the only two that were even in the ballpark.

Amtrak deserves tremendous credit for sticking it out through thick and thin. Whether they were told to run or not they could have just thrown up their hands and said, "we need another billion or we're done" on several occasions. They didn't and I have a lot of respect for the people who stayed on the job year after year, decade after decade and rebuilt what others had squandered.
This was very true of Claytor, Reistrup, or Gunn, but if you are talking about the Anderson years then we must inhabit different realities. In the late 2010s Amtrak has had record funding and support from Congress. Amtrak has done their best to try and kill themselves over the past two and a half years despite this.
 #1546318  by Tadman
 
gokeefe wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 12:00 pm
Amtrak706 wrote:Such a shame we don't have real railroad guys in charge anymore.
The "real" railroad guys and gals are the ones who have figured out how to run a passenger rail company that serves the entire country with ever decreasing levels of taxpayer support.
I agree and would clarify this statement to say there were/are some really great operating people in the company that were trained at freight roads and by hook or crook came over to Amtrak. I know a few that came to Amtrak because they wanted to live somewhere with job openings at Amtrak or thought it gave them a bit more of a real social life. One of them just graduated hid kids and went back to the throttle because he's so tired of the bs.
 #1546337  by Amtrak706
 
Tadman wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 5:25 pm
gokeefe wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 12:00 pm
Amtrak706 wrote:Such a shame we don't have real railroad guys in charge anymore.
The "real" railroad guys and gals are the ones who have figured out how to run a passenger rail company that serves the entire country with ever decreasing levels of taxpayer support.
I agree and would clarify this statement to say there were/are some really great operating people in the company that were trained at freight roads and by hook or crook came over to Amtrak. I know a few that came to Amtrak because they wanted to live somewhere with job openings at Amtrak or thought it gave them a bit more of a real social life. One of them just graduated hid kids and went back to the throttle because he's so tired of the bs.
I agree 100%, the operating employees are great. That's who I was referring to as "railroad people" - I was saying that we need more of those types in charge.
 #1546383  by Pensyfan19
 
scratchyX wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 11:36 am
F40CFan wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 8:08 pm Duck-billed Platypus is what jumped to mind.
"hey, where's Perry"?
Ah, Perry the Platypus! I see you have seen you came all the way down to Doffenshmirtz's Ivy City Division to see my newest invention.
Behold, the Railroad-Horn-inator!!!
With the simple push of a button, this machine can change the horn of any locomotive and cab car within the Tri-State area!!!
(I'm sorry, I had to. XD I grew up with this show when I was younger.)
 #1548176  by Acela150
 
BandA wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:39 am So when do people think the first set will be accepted & enter revenue service.
That will depend on a wide variety of things. The next trainset to be delivered will be completely outfitted for service. Both trainsets that are testing are not outfitted and will need to return to Hornell for completion. The first trainset that is completed was supposed to be delivered on September 18th IIRC, whether that happens as scheduled is unclear due to the health crisis.
 #1548982  by dha10001
 
I noticed in one of these recent videos how slanted the side walls of the coaches are. They are noticeably narrower at top than at bottom, almost egglike. Is this to allow greater tilting within the same envelope? Could this enable tilting in areas with constrained horizontal clearance like on the New Haven Line? I recall reading that tilting is not allowed along that stretch due to the close track spacing. I know there is so much to the topic of tilting that we could have a whole thread on it, and most of it hearsay.

Anyway I'm curious to know what kind of time savings this trainset can deliver due to expanded tilting / higher speeds both in less constrained areas like the SE CT shore line, and more constrained areas like the New Haven Line.
 #1548992  by Matt Johnson
 
Acela150 wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 7:49 pm Trainset based in Philly took a trip to DC today at 50 MPH.
Not sure if that's a sign of testing issues, but it was allowed 90 mph on the previous run. Amtrak is killing me with these south of Philly runs! I'm waiting for it to run through Princeton Junction in daylight hours!
 #1549004  by Pensyfan19
 
Matt Johnson wrote: Wed Jul 29, 2020 10:13 am
Acela150 wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 7:49 pm Trainset based in Philly took a trip to DC today at 50 MPH.
Not sure if that's a sign of testing issues, but it was allowed 90 mph on the previous run. Amtrak is killing me with these south of Philly runs! I'm waiting for it to run through Princeton Junction in daylight hours!
Same here! I also can't wait for it to test at full speed on the NEC between Trenton and New Brunswick, and even see it go to Penn Station and beyond to Boston. Might as well be familiar with all of the territory to get accurate testing results, and to see if it has any problems along those portions of the route. I think the Siemens CALIDOT/Venture/Viaggio coaches were testing along the entirety of the NEC when they were on the east coast.
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