Acela & Amtrak NEC (HSR BOS-NYP-WAS and branches only)

[F-Line to Dudley]

Not to be really nit-picky and argumentative, but isn't the Surfliner fleet (as opposed to the California Cars) partially owned by Amtrak and partially owned by Caltrans?

As far as the Midwest bilevels, there have been whispers that WI will move forward with re-equipping the Hiawatha trainsets with bilevels, which I imagine would require exercising some of the options. And MN/WI are currently examining an additional train CHI-MKE-MSP, which could mean additional bilevels as well. Now, whether the WI legislature will go along with funding those purchases...

It's complicated because LOSSAN, the amalgamation of 9 regional transit agencies covering San Diego to L.A. to San Luis Obispo has a % share too splitting the vote, isn't subservient to Caltrans, and money gets exchanged round-and-round-they-go between all parties on this contract. My head started to hurt reading up on it.

In short. . .

-- Amtrak has the upper hand on ownership.
-- Caltran and LOSSAN pay a very unfavorable rate vs. a 'clean' buy of the new cars, and so the state is dead-set on scooping up every single new unit it can get and has already structurally approved the funding conduit of that.
-- They're scheming to get the Coast Daylight (first) going sooner than later if Union Pacific stops being a dick about freight slots, then hopefully advance the San Joaquin's extension and the Coachella.
-- That's their leverage play for round-and-round-they-go getting the Surfliners to land back in their control, so sending them back to Amtrak is a transactional ploy.
-- If they get stuffed on any of these routes (I'd wager Daylight's got the current head of steam, Coachella doesn't, San Joaquin extension somewhere in between) then Amtrak putting them back in the national pool limits the state's liability vs. holding onto a glut of cars it may not need, so that suits Caltrans' risk mgt. comfort level.


It's transactional chess at its most arcane, but both Amtrak and Caltrans are getting something good in the deal so they gladly do the kabuki dance. And they are well-inoculated enough for still getting the options drained if one of the flaky Midwest buyers drops out so long as it doesn't become a bloc of >1. Because they do use vanilla Superliners on some corridor routes. They don't like to, but as long as it's just the Hiawatha that's a lot less than they currently use and the national/LD pool stays flush. It's if the Midwest bails on most/all of the options where they're going to be stuck keeping those godawful Horizons with their harsh lighting, manual doors that stick in cold weather, and malfunctioning restroom plumbing in service in constant spot rotation. They'd much rather mothball them year-round and only pull them out a couple weeks per year for handling the crush-load holiday extras on the East Coast like Thanksgiving/Xmas rush.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

For the record, the Superliners rock. I rode the Coast Starlight about 6 years ago south out of Portland when I was taking a Cali vacation at the end of a business trip. Far and away the nicest, most comfortable train trip I've ever been on. Huge windows which were great for watching the sunset/twilight scenery go by. Very spacious interior, which I wasn't expecting on a bi-level. Good sound-dampening so it was quiet enough to not hear nearby conversations, even with families with curious toddlers sitting across the aisle. Pleasant indirect lighting. Rides smooth as silk despite being top-heavy on the upper level. And the whole lower level of the coach had this cocoon-like feel despite the roominess that was great for catching a nap after a long day and sleep deprivation. Too early for the onboard wi-fi era, which the Starlight now has, but had all the usual stuff like electrical outlets.

It's too bad I didn't think in my bleary-eyed state to go check out the antique Pacific Parlour Car lounges unique to the Starlight. Most historic equipment in active service on Amtrak and the 3 states on that route hoard them jealously.


Superliners are low-level boarding only with the design having no structural means of rigging up a high-platform version (not that it would fit on the NEC to begin with), but highly recommend them (the more spacious non-corridor version at least) if you're ever riding south of D.C. or Midwest/West. I hope the eventual Viewliner coaches eventually replicate the experience in the east, but Superliners are right mix of everything for the rest of the country.

 

[Scalziand]

If I may through another curve straightening option onto the table, here's one that increases the minimum radius to 1/2 mile from 1/4 mile, keeping the speed in line with neighboring segments, at the cost of taking a charter school and some nondescript industrial properties.

This alignment would also still be useful if/when Amtrak does the tunnel bypass of the 30th street station, which I believe is supposed to head off down the freight spur in red.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

And BTW, Amtrak has suffered yet another mishap when a diesel loco caught fire in yet another train snafu!

No, the train didn't derail or crash, and no one was injured at all, but it DID happen.

Per some RR.net engineers who've seen that type of fire before: fuel injector leak. Fire looked more impressive than it actually was because of fiberglass panels on the roof that got a bit melty and contributed to the prodigious smoke.

Repairable, but probably out-of-commission for a few months while they do the body work to replace the burnt fiberglass. T locomotives can shoot out some impressive fireworks from the roof stacks too when they blow a turbocharger. One of the two new(ish) MP36's did that a few months ago. To onlookers it looked like the thing got wrecked...but it was repaired and back in-service like nothing happened within a couple weeks.

 

[EricS]

And I doubt that locomotive fire would have gotten much attention at all, if not for the facts that it occurred days later and occurred in a major city (just south of downtown Milwaukee, so easily accessible to multiple media outlets).

 

[Arlington]

And I doubt that locomotive fire would have gotten much attention at all, if not for the facts that it occurred days later and occurred in a major city (just south of downtown Milwaukee, so easily accessible to multiple media outlets).

I agree total copy-cat coverage of a non-story (frankly, I'd like to see it deleted here, it is so profoundly irrelevant).

 

[datadyne007]

Developing today:
NTSB has teamed with the FBI to open a new line of investigation...

A crew member on board the Amtrak train is reporting overhearing the following:
A SEPTA engineer reported over the radio to the Amtrak engineer that his train may have been "hit with a rock or shot at." The SEPTA engineer reported he had a broken windshield and placed the SEPTA train into e-stop. The Amtrak engineer shortly after reported that he too thought his train might have been hit by something. A "circular pattern that emanates outward" in the left windshield is being investigated. Everything from a rock to a ...bullet... is being investigated.

The engineer is also being fully cooperative with the NTSB. He does not remember the crash or derailment. The last thing he remembers is ringing the bell at 30th St.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Developing today:
NTSB has teamed with the FBI to open a new line of investigation...

A crew member on board the Amtrak train is reporting overhearing the following:
A SEPTA engineer reported over the radio to the Amtrak engineer that his train may have been "hit with a rock or shot at." The SEPTA engineer reported he had a broken windshield and placed the SEPTA train into e-stop. The Amtrak engineer shortly after reported that he too thought his train might have been hit by something. A "circular pattern that emanates outward" in the left windshield is being investigated. Everything from a rock to a ...bullet... is being investigated.

The engineer is also being fully cooperative with the NTSB. He does not remember the crash or derailment. The last thing he remembers is ringing the bell at 30th St.

North Philly station--i.e. the last place the speed readout was reading normal--was the exact place where the SEPTA engineer radioed about their train's window strike at 9:10pm. Unconfirmed reports that southbound Acela 2173 was hit in the same exact area at 9:05pm: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150516_Train_derailment_investigation_widens__Did_a_projectile_hit_the_windshield_.html


SEPTA train's engineer's window:
http://media.philly.com/images/300*400/20150513_septa_1_768.jpg

Sprinter's engineer's window:

http://media.philly.com/images/600*450/20150513_loco_1024.jpg

Go ahead and book the Warren Commission in a Holiday Inn Express tonight and trade theories, because the media coverage is going to start getting sensational. Er...more so.

 

[Scalziand]

Alright, I was able to tweak my proposed alignment so the charter school can be saved.

 

[datadyne007]

^ Yay for a plan that saves the charter school! (Thank you for caring to save it unlike some other people's proposals on Twitter)

 

[Jahvon09]

For the record, the Superliners rock. I rode the Coast Starlight about 6 years ago south out of Portland when I was taking a Cali vacation at the end of a business trip. Far and away the nicest, most comfortable train trip I've ever been on. Huge windows which were great for watching the sunset/twilight scenery go by. Very spacious interior, which I wasn't expecting on a bi-level. Good sound-dampening so it was quiet enough to not hear nearby conversations, even with families with curious toddlers sitting across the aisle. Pleasant indirect lighting. Rides smooth as silk despite being top-heavy on the upper level. And the whole lower level of the coach had this cocoon-like feel despite the roominess that was great for catching a nap after a long day and sleep deprivation. Too early for the onboard wi-fi era, which the Starlight now has, but had all the usual stuff like electrical outlets.

It's too bad I didn't think in my bleary-eyed state to go check out the antique Pacific Parlour Car lounges unique to the Starlight. Most historic equipment in active service on Amtrak and the 3 states on that route hoard them jealously.


Superliners are low-level boarding only with the design having no structural means of rigging up a high-platform version (not that it would fit on the NEC to begin with), but highly recommend them (the more spacious non-corridor version at least) if you're ever riding south of D.C. or Midwest/West. I hope the eventual Viewliner coaches eventually replicate the experience in the east, but Superliners are right mix of everything for the rest of the country.

The Viewliner rail cars rock also.

At times I was so scared out of my wits, thinking that the train might rock itself right off the tracks!

Tuesday evening's derailment has also sparked a news debate as to which car would be the safest one to ride in. It says that the first & last cars are the most dangerous ones to be in, and that the safest car to be in is one of the ones in the middle.

The last of the cars were hauled away the evening before. The Sprinter and the wreck first car still remain at the scene of the crash. The NTSB is still investigating, but it has turned the site back over to Amtrak.

It will begin repairing the tacks, support poles for the overhead catenary wires and the wires themselves.

 

[Jahvon09]

Developing today:
NTSB has teamed with the FBI to open a new line of investigation...

A crew member on board the Amtrak train is reporting overhearing the following:
A SEPTA engineer reported over the radio to the Amtrak engineer that his train may have been "hit with a rock or shot at." The SEPTA engineer reported he had a broken windshield and placed the SEPTA train into e-stop. The Amtrak engineer shortly after reported that he too thought his train might have been hit by something. A "circular pattern that emanates outward" in the left windshield is being investigated. Everything from a rock to a ...bullet... is being investigated.

The engineer is also being fully cooperative with the NTSB. He does not remember the crash or derailment. The last thing he remembers is ringing the bell at 30th St.

A friend of mine who is in the hospital, was telling me about this.

Then whoever it was that threw the rock at the train may be at fault, especially if it had distracted the driver!

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Alright, I was able to tweak my proposed alignment so the charter school can be saved.

That's really, really good! The only property takings are the scrap metal yard and the city paratransit ("The Ride"-esque) vehicle storage yard + shop...which are relocatable anywhere.

Throw in a flying junction for the Atlantic City Line and it solves nearly every performance issue with Frankford Jct. The tanker yard can go because that spur has wrap-around spurs to another tanker yard underneath the 95 interchange. That secondary yard is half-abandoned and can just have its former storage tracks re-laid on the sandy areas adjacent to the active yard. That lets you swap the tanker storage out of Frankford with no loss of storage.

 

[Jahvon09]

Developing today:
NTSB has teamed with the FBI to open a new line of investigation...

A crew member on board the Amtrak train is reporting overhearing the following:
A SEPTA engineer reported over the radio to the Amtrak engineer that his train may have been "hit with a rock or shot at." The SEPTA engineer reported he had a broken windshield and placed the SEPTA train into e-stop. The Amtrak engineer shortly after reported that he too thought his train might have been hit by something. A "circular pattern that emanates outward" in the left windshield is being investigated. Everything from a rock to a ...bullet... is being investigated.

The engineer is also being fully cooperative with the NTSB. He does not remember the crash or derailment. The last thing he remembers is ringing the bell at 30th St.

The FBI has been called in to try to check that out.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/16/ntsb-examining-damage-on-derailed-amtrak-train/

 

[Nexis4jersey]

A friend of mine who is in the hospital, was telling me about this.

Then whoever it was that threw the rock at the train may be at fault, especially if it had distracted the driver!

I don't think it was a rock...more like bullets from a gun...

 

[Scalziand]

That's really, really good! The only property takings are the scrap metal yard and the city paratransit ("The Ride"-esque) vehicle storage yard + shop...which are relocatable anywhere.

Throw in a flying junction for the Atlantic City Line and it solves nearly every performance issue with Frankford Jct. The tanker yard can go because that spur has wrap-around spurs to another tanker yard underneath the 95 interchange. That secondary yard is half-abandoned and can just have its former storage tracks re-laid on the sandy areas adjacent to the active yard. That lets you swap the tanker storage out of Frankford with no loss of storage.

It doesn't bring it up to 'true' HSR standards(160+mph) like some of the crazy pitches floating around that want to take a mile or two of new ROW, but it does bring it in line with the surrounding signal blocks (~100mph) while being about as low impact a build as possible. The scrap yard taking can just be swapped with the old ROW, and the transit lot can be moved to the adjacent vacant lot, since the garage isn't even touched. The scrap yard could even get it's own siding. Oh, yeah, the bridge over the river remains on a section of tangent track too.

Thanks for the F-line stamp of approval.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

I don't think it was a rock...more like bullets from a gun...

Unconfirmed, of course. But that spider-web pattern seen both on the SEPTA train's and the Regional's front windows isn't usually possible from a rock or brick strike acting solely on the forces of gravity. That's what bulletproof glass does...and locomotive windows have very nearly the properties of bulletproof glass. Takes a small and very fast-moving projectile for the spider-web pattern. Whereas heavy, slow objects make a random shatter pattern...akin to the rash of Mansfield, MA turkey suicides of aught-thirteen:

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/16/us/philadelphia-amtrak-train-derailment/index.html

BTW...when service resumes the cab signal system will already have been modded for extra speed enforcement. So, yes, it is officially confirmed that signal layout was a problem and that properly placed cab signals would've prevented that degree of overspeeding even without PTC. Same exact conclusion as the '13 Metro North and '90 Back Bay derailments.


EDIT: See the lower video on the CNN article. Shows a passenger pic of the Acela that was hit, since that strike was instead on a passenger car. Same exact spider-web pattern.

 

[Matthew]

Haha, my old turkey strike pic.

 

[Jahvon09]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/16/us/philadelphia-amtrak-train-derailment/index.html

BTW...when service resumes the cab signal system will already have been modded for extra speed enforcement. So, yes, it is officially confirmed that signal layout was a problem and that properly placed cab signals would've prevented that degree of overspeeding even without PTC. Same exact conclusion as the '13 Metro North and '90 Back Bay derailments.


EDIT: See the lower video on the CNN article. Shows a passenger pic of the Acela that was hit, since that strike was instead on a passenger car. Same exact spider-web pattern.

The '90 Back Bay derailment was supposedly caused by a rookie who didn't know what he was doing behind the controls.

Miraculously, no one was killed in the accident! But the speeding Amtrak train had knocked out one of the station's main support columns that had to be replaced. The MBTA'S Orange Line was not affected by the accident.