Wisconsin Talgos Disposition - MI and now Pacific Surfliner

AgentSkelly wrote:

electricron wrote: Of course, a brand new car could be added onto the train - but where would it be built and when will it be built?

Talgo in Seattle can still do manufacturing...Well, the 1st generation Taglo Cascades sets were assembled at a boat manufacturer that had space.

Talgo is going to all the trouble and expense to build just two diner seat cars in America?
Where is obvious for such a small order, at their main plant in Spain.
When is the better question, if they started today they might finish and in California sometime in 2019. They definitely will not be ready before the Wisconsin Talgos enter service in California - assuming they enter service soon.

But why would California wish to introduce diner car service on these state subsidized trains when none of their other trains have it?

Hopefully they'll get the scheme that one of the old sets received when demonstrating for a proposed CA service (LA-LV?).
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/577229/
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/500194/

But that's not the scheme of the existing Wisconsin Talgo sets!
You know, the specific train sets this thread is about.

And again I repeat, none of the other trains California subsidizes has diner cars, why should their Talgo trains have them?

electricron wrote: Talgo in Seattle can still do manufacturing...Well, the 1st generation Taglo Cascades sets were assembled at a boat manufacturer that had space.

Talgo is going to all the trouble and expense to build just two diner seat cars in America?
Where is obvious for such a small order, at their main plant in Spain.
When is the better question, if they started today they might finish and in California sometime in 2019. They definitely will not be ready before the Wisconsin Talgos enter service in California - assuming they enter service soon.

But why would California wish to introduce diner car service on these state subsidized trains when none of their other trains have it?[/quote]

So they would match its Cascades counterpart which does have a table car? As I recall, with the original Cascade sets assembled in Seattle at Pacifica Marine took under a year for each trainset, so if CalTrans really wanted that table car next to the Bistro car, they could have two of them in under 3-4 months, which is pretty good.

]

electricron wrote: Talgo in Seattle can still do manufacturing...Well, the 1st generation Taglo Cascades sets were assembled at a boat manufacturer that had space.

Talgo is going to all the trouble and expense to build just two diner seat cars in America?
Where is obvious for such a small order, at their main plant in Spain.
When is the better question, if they started today they might finish and in California sometime in 2019. They definitely will not be ready before the Wisconsin Talgos enter service in California - assuming they enter service soon.

But why would California wish to introduce diner car service on these state subsidized trains when none of their other trains have it?[/quote]

So they would match its Cascades counterpart which does have a table car? As I recall, with the original Cascade sets assembled in Seattle at Pacifica Marine took under a year for each trainset, so if CalTrans really wanted that table car next to the Bistro car, they could have two of them in under 3-4 months, which is pretty good.

electricron wrote:

NorthWest wrote:Hopefully they'll get the scheme that one of the old sets received when demonstrating for a proposed CA service (LA-LV?).

But that's not the scheme of the existing Wisconsin Talgo sets!
You know, the specific train sets this thread is about.

After all of the effort Amtrak California and CalTrans have gone to in order to create unique and special brands for the Surfliner, Capital Corridor and San Joaquin, does it make sense to put the trains into service in red and white?

I assure you that I am quite capable of reading a thread and determining its subject.

AgentSkelly wrote: So they would match its Cascades counterpart which does have a table car? As I recall, with the original Cascade sets assembled in Seattle at Pacifica Marine took under a year for each trainset, so if CalTrans really wanted that table car next to the Bistro car, they could have two of them in under 3-4 months, which is pretty good.

But obviously California doesn't, because none of their other subsidized trains have dinner cars, and neither did Wisconsin.

Likewise, because one state wants business class, others may not. California is one of the states that likes business class cars. These Wisconsin Talgos don't have business class cars. If California was going to make changes on these train sets, I suggest they might want to change a few of the seats in a few cars from coach to business class to match what they have on other trains they subsidize.

As for their livery, the paint can be changed, or a new vinyl skin can be applied cheaply to these cars to make them more appropriate for California. How about a two tone strip of blue and gold replacing the single red stripe? Would that be enough?

AgentSkelly wrote: Talgo in Seattle can still do manufacturing...Well, the 1st generation Taglo Cascades sets were assembled at a boat manufacturer that had space.

I suspect at this point, Talgo has basically written off the US market.

I'm not so sure they have written off the US market completely, they will still try to make more sales.
As for the viability of Seattle to build more cars, why did Oregon have theirs built in Wisconsin?
I suggest Talgo could open up manufacturing facilities just about anywhere will a large enough building.
I would suggest close to their next customer they sell Talgo trains to.

Talgo might want cash in advance, lol.

They did get their money from Wisconsin they were due after all.
Want and need are two different things.

Nasadowsk wrote:I suspect at this point, Talgo has basically written off the US market.

Not quite . . .

Talgo returns to Milwaukee

Though Talgo has been out of Wisconsin since removing the trainsets in May 2014, the Spanish train maker is expected to return to Wisconsin in the coming months to open a light-rail remanufacturing facility.

MILWAUKEE — Spanish rail manufacturer Talgo will be moving back into its old Milwaukee digs after earning an LA rebuilding contract. Sources close to the company say that Talgo workers will remanufacture light rail cars from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, widely known as LA Metro.

Wow, that would probably be at the very top of my list of "unexpected developments in U.S. rail".

And it's not even April 1st!

9/27/2016

Talgo will reopen its manufacturing plant in Milwaukee to refurbish rail cars under a new contract with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced yesterday.

The Spanish train manufacturer will return to Milwaukee's Century City business park, where it once built high-speed trains for Wisconsin and Oregon. Under a $73 million contract over 56 months, the company will overhaul L.A. Metro cars that began service in the 1990s, according to various Milwaukee news media.

L.A. Metro's board approved the contract last week, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported yesterday.

In his 2017 budget address to Milwaukee's Common Council, Barrett noted that Talgo could have located anywhere in the United States, especially after Wisconsin state officials pulled out of a contract with the manufacturer to build the high-speed trains.

"Despite the hard feelings between Talgo and the state, the company recognizes its Milwaukee location is a great place to manufacture," said Barrett in a prepared text of his speech.

In 2009, Wisconsin was awarded $810 million in federal high-speed rail funds by the U.S. Department of Transportation under former Gov. James Doyle. The state contracted with Talgo to build the two trainsets at a plant it leased in Milwaukee's Century City development. Talgo also had the contract to build trainsets there for Oregon.

But in 2010, during his campaign for governor, Scott Walker promised to kill the high-speed rail line if elected. The line would have run from Chicago to Milwaukee and on to Madison, Wis. Prior to Walker's inauguration in January 2011, the USDOT took back Wisconsin's funding and distributed it to other states' high-speed rail programs.

Later, the state refused to pay for the trains Talgo built for Wisconsin's program, and Talgo sued the state.

Talgo has maintained a lease on the property in Milwaukee, and Barrett has maintained communications with the company.

The mayor, who Walker defeated in the race for the governor's office in 2010 and again during Walker's recall election in 2012, took the opportunity yesterday to take a dig at Walker.

"As hard as the governor worked to kill this project, we worked even harder to build a solid relationship with the company. And that has paid off," Barrett said.

gokeefe wrote:Wow, that would probably be at the very top of my list of "unexpected developments in U.S. rail".

The problem wasn't doing business IN Wisconsin but WITH Wisconsin