Regional New England Rail (Amtrak & State DOT & NEC)

Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

I'm not convinced that ex-Metroliner cabs (and other equipment) are in such dire short supply as to threaten a once-weekly service. As of October 2018, there were indeed 17 available cars. Only 10 were in active revenue service; one was a revenue deadhead, two were bad ordered, two were stored and unlikely to return to service, and two were "standing by". The 19 NPCUs had a similar ratio, and one could also easily be displaced from the Chicago routes or the Heartland Flyer by a P42.

I find it highly doubtful that Amtrak's notoriously conservative management would agree to this if they believed it would cause an equipment issue.
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

If the T is going to replace all of its flats with doubles, why not sell a couple of consists to NY? Cab cars, check. Fit into Penn, check (I think). Still doesn’t solve the locomotive problem, but better than nothing.
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

Riverside said:
If the T is going to replace all of its flats with doubles, why not sell a couple of consists to NY? Cab cars, check. Fit into Penn, check (I think). Still doesn’t solve the locomotive problem, but better than nothing.
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Same issue: a 5-year timetable for delivery on a new order. Physically can't get the new cabs fast enough. Amtrak WILL have a straight-diesel surplus soon as new Siemens Chargers just ordered will displace most national Genesis P42DC's...but that doesn't help at all with the dual-mode shortage. Single-level Horizon coaches will soon be freed up by the ongoing Siemens coach order for Chicago Hub...but that is plain coaches, no cabs. And the freed up NPCU "cabbage" units made up from gutted ex-F40 locomotives will be more plentiful from the same Siemens order...but those cabs can't fit into Penn, only the Metroliners.

In the meantime there are no single-level commuter cab cars available anywhere in North America, save for a handful of T 1500-series MBB cabs stored in Rochester, MA stripped of all signal equipment. They're in very bad condition and rated only for 79 MPH, much too slow for the 90-110 MPH stretches of Empire corridor that the NY-ALB schedules are dependent on. So nothing to scrape that's actually usable unless they can secure a guaranteed (i.e. not vulnerable to cascading shortages) Metroliner assignment.
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

The new high-speed trains for Amtrak ARE being made as we speak! And the good thing about it is that they WILL retain that same luscious wonderful side shape of the Viewliner cars!!!! 8)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-x_PjfQ-Gk
 
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Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

You may recall that a few years ago the MBTA came out with plans to rebuild the Newton commuter rail stations for accessibility as single side platforms. To successfully achieve RER like frequencies, this needs to be a two-track stretch. It was walked back by Sec. Pollack.

Here we have a public meeting on the stations. I wonder what the recommendation will be? As these three go, so goes urban rail as it will telegraph the T's seriousness. .

https://mbta.com/events/2019-07-25/newton-stations-accessibility-improvements-project-public-meeting
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

If electrification is going to get as far as Haverhill, shouldn't the case be made that it be extended onward to someplace like Pease air Force Base (a great place for a maintenance facility) and Portland?
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

Arlington said:
If electrification is going to get as far as Haverhill, shouldn't the case be made that it be extended onward to someplace like Pease air Force Base (a great place for a maintenance facility) and Portland?
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There are a lot of very tight spots on the line, and it'll be pretty much maxed out of vertical clearance by the time Pan Am starts running double-stack freights. Expect Haverhill to be the very last regular MBTA schedule to be electrified because of the extreme difficulty under the Lawrence-N. Andover overhead bridges.

Ideally if you want an electrified Downeaster that's actually fast it would get swapped over to the Eastern Route Boston-Portsmouth, the Newington Branch Portsmouth-Newington to end-of-track, and a few miles of new ROW off the shoulder of NH 16 (highway built over the rest of the ancestral Newington Branch ROW) to Dover Station. The rest of the Western Route in ME has attainable vertical clearances. You would, due to the Eastern's straightness, be able to sustain 100-110 MPH speed if the grade crossing protection on the Newburyport Line were upgraded accordingly. That's much better than electrics at the same old meandering 50-65 MPH on the Western.
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

F-Line to Dudley said:
Ideally if you want an electrified Downeaster that's actually fast it would get swapped over to the Eastern Route Boston-Portsmouth, the Newington Branch Portsmouth-Newington to end-of-track, and a few miles of new ROW off the shoulder of NH 16 (highway built over the rest of the ancestral Newington Branch ROW) to Dover Station.
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Does that mean going via Newburyport and new bridge over the Merrimac?

800px-1849_Railroad_Map_of_New_England_%26_Eastern_New_York%2C_Cropped_and_with_Eastern_Railroad_Highlighted.jpg
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

Arlington said:
Does that mean going via Newburyport and new bridge over the Merrimac?

800px-1849_Railroad_Map_of_New_England_%26_Eastern_New_York%2C_Cropped_and_with_Eastern_Railroad_Highlighted.jpg
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A new swing span and a replacement for the chunk they took out over the N'port harbor walk. An MPO study on Portsmouth commuter rail did an engineering assessment on the approach spans and found them in decent condition for rehab, which should bring the cost down. It could be retrofitted with a new bascule or lift span.


Newington Branch is not depicted on that old map, but is preferable to the Kittery routing for avoiding the lift bridge, having fewer miles on the NH 16 footprint to restore to Dover vs. Kittery-North Berwick, and hits a larger catchment at Dover than the rural surroundings to N. Berwick.
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

F-Line, you are a fount of knowledge.
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

Valley Flyer* (extending Amtrak's New Haven - SPG Shuttle service northward to the Amtrak stops** in MA) is hoping to launch August 30.

https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/...-test-trains-running-overnight-this-week.html

*as in Pioneer Valley or Connecticut River Valley, take your pick, it seems

**Currently only served by the Vermonter's single round trips, but now getting two additional round trips.
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

The nose looks modern and fast, but the windows look 1980s to me
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

The trend in transportation is bigger windows to make your personal space feel bigger. If anything the 1980s were the era of little windows (e.g. the little slitty windows on Amfleets of the late 70s early 80s)

Cruise Ships instead of portholes on Ocean Liners;
787 big widows vs 757,
Car's Panoramic glass roofs vs the original concept of a car sunroofs

You'll look at these from the outside from 10 minutes each trip vs enjoying them for 200 minutes from the inside.
 
Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread

Arlington said:
The trend in transportation is bigger windows to make your personal space feel bigger. If anything the 1980s were the era of little windows (e.g. the little slitty windows on Amfleets of the late 70s early 80s)

Cruise Ships instead of portholes on Ocean Liners;
787 big widows vs 757,
Car's Panoramic glass roofs vs the original concept of a car sunroofs

You'll look at these from the outside from 10 minutes each trip vs enjoying them for 200 minutes from the inside.
Click to expand...

This is true for American stock, but I was actually thinking about older European trains, like older Talgo models.
 
Renamed the thread to Intercity Rail instead of Regional Rail, as RR is often used to describe commuter rail systems, while Amtrak is more about Intercity Rail service.
 
I think the Eastern Route will be reactivated around the time that Seabrook Unit 2 goes online.
 
Scalziand said:
I wonder what impact this will have on eventually reactivating the eastern route.

https://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20190815/seacoast-rail-trail-to-become-reality
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It was never going to happen soon, but unified state ownership is a prerequisite so at a transactional level this is a good thing. Pan Am could've sold in pieces to abutters or to the towns to build Route 1 bypass roads (for-real proposed by some local yokels). Owning MA state line to the active freight yard allows for integrated planning, including rail-with-trail compatibility for any sooner trails.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the ROW goes well inside the fence for Seabrook? If that's the case, how do they plan on allowing a trail through, let alone reactivating the rails for the downeaster?
 
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