Just got off the phone with a friend of mine, who mentioned that a group of Comet Is are headed out of Binghamton for Colorado Railcar. Apparently, the cars are to be rebuilt for new owner Utah Transit Authority, who is currently building a new commuter service powered by MPI MP36PH-3Cs.
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"Slider" Survivors? (Binghamton NY—Comet Is)
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Amazing. 40+ year old cars with brand new engines. Well I guess that is no big deal, look at the PL's with I's and IB's.
Utah Transportation Authority's website about the new commuter rail service.
Looks like a mix of gallery cars and Bombardier bilevels depicted on their site. Did they change their mind and go with Comet I's instead?
Not "instead". Most likely "as well as". Comet Is would be fine insofar as walk-through when coupled to BBD bilevels and gallery cars.
Amazing. 40+ year old cars with brand new enginesWhat's even more amazing is that the Comet Is are younger than I am. They arrived on the Erie-Lackawanna in 1971, making them 36 years old, not forty-plus.
Irish Chieftain wrote:Not "instead". Most likely "as well as". Comet Is would be fine insofar as walk-through when coupled to BBD bilevels and gallery cars.Sorry for the mistake. I had the IB's in mind.Amazing. 40+ year old cars with brand new enginesWhat's even more amazing is that the Comet Is are younger than I am. They arrived on the Erie-Lackawanna in 1971, making them 36 years old, not forty-plus.
Bumping this one because of the dupe threads about the Comet I sightings in Binghamton NY.
uzplayer wrote:Why is it that places like Utah can get a rail up and running faster then New Jersey?Mostly because in Utah's case, they were starting from scratch. There is/was no commuter service, and necessity being the mother of invention, that created a situation where the expedited completion was needed. Long story short...less politics and red tape.
hsr_fan wrote:Any idea how many Comet I's are going to Utah?Earlier today, 29 of these cars with "BLDX" reporting marks led by Union Pacific 9789 (an ex-CNW GE C44-9W) came through suburban Chicago heading west toward their new Utah home on UP's busy Geneva subdivision (which also happens to host Metra traffic as well.). An eastbound (cab car leading) Metra train was loading passengers as this train went past; don't know what the new reporting marks stand for, but seeing those old single-level ex-NJT "comet" cars roll past stainless steel gallery Metra bilevels made for a very interesting sight. Gotta be the longest commuter train I've ever seen, so it's only natural that I didn't have my camera with me at the time...
--Dorian--
BLDX should stand for bulldog leasing. I have the webpage saved somewhere from when they were up for sale.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Comet Is passed through Woodbine, Iowa last Sunday. (Not my photo; caught by a fellow I know from the chatrooms I frequent.)
Irish Chieftain wrote:Comet Is passed through Woodbine, Iowa last Sunday. (Not my photo; caught by a fellow I know from the chatrooms I frequent.)cool shot. Is there some sort of trailing car at the end? Or is that just a shadow?
The fellow who took the photo said that it's an empty gondola car; the EOT device is supposed to be attached to it.