Amtrak to replace high-speed Acela trains

CNN Money ^ | December 13, 2012: 3:21 PM ET | James O’Toole

[Olog-hai]

Amtrak announced plans Thursday to replace its fleet of high-speed trains on the East Coast.

The railroad said that early next year, it would begin the process of replacing its 20 existing Acela Express train sets, which run on the Northeast Corridor rail line between Boston and Washington, DC. …

Amtrak said Thursday that it had scrapped a previous plan to add 40 new passenger cars to the existing fleet, deeming it too expensive and “insufficient to handle new ridership growth projections.” …

[American Constitutionalist]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC6W0XEqOLw

[Alter Kaker]

Funny how the major airlines, who don’t have piles of taxpayer money at their disposal

HA! Funniest thing I've read all day. Airlines get far more taxpayer largesse than little old Amtrak ever did. It's an industry that only exists because of taxpayers subsidies.

[Olog-hai]

One of the biggest union-related scandals after the dieselization of railroads (which started in the 1930s, paused during WWII and resumed with a vengeance in the 50s) was how the unions strong-armed the railroads into keeping the firemen employed, even though it was a defunct position and the firemen basically had very little to do except keep the steam heat boiler fired in the winter (trains back then used to take heat directly from a steam locomotive’s boiler, and when railroads retired steam, they installed small oil-fired boilers on passenger diesels to keep the passengers warm in the winter—this has been replaced with head-end power, where an electric generator run from the diesel’s crankshaft supplies HVAC to passenger cars).

You ever hear a steam locomotive’s exhaust? Ear-splitting. Never mind the whistle. They are nice in small doses, but for them to be all over the place would be worse on the nerves than living near an international airport. They’re quite a bit more labor-intensive than diesels, and of course a great deal less heat-efficient (best ones were about 6 percent efficient; compare that to diesels at 35-40 percent efficient, and electrics yet higher than that). With coal burners, the railroads now worry about “track fires” all the time; that’s why Union Pacific converted all the locos from their steam program to oil burning.

Most Chicom high-speed trains are unoriginal designs, either licensed or stolen from other countries. After some of those high-profile accidents on those trains, I sure wouldn’t want them running in the USA any time soon.

[Olog-hai]

I saw those running for New Jersey Transit (who kept them in their Penn Central-era black paint); they retired them in 1984. The last route they served was New York to Bay Head; they ran as far as South Amboy, where they were exchanged for diesels.

[boop]

"Super Train"? Wasn't that a show in the late '70s?

No, not Soul Train. That was the only "successful" train made in decades.

[NoCmpromiz]

Best looking locomotive ever.

I agree. Also a successful locomotive, not designed by some government idjets...

Unfortunately, most of the ones left don't look anywhere as good now...

[MasterGunner01]

I was being facetious about the old steam trains. They are nostalgic, but would not be economic — the diesel-electrics replaced them for very good reasons and they've been improved continuously since first introduced in the 1930s.

I remember the big fight over firemen on the diesels — this as typical union make-work feather bedding at the expense of the rail roads.

I don't know whether Amtrak will go back to the OEM to replace the Acels, but don't rule out the Chicoms. Yes, I know theirs are pretty much substandard copies of other people's products, but never underestimate the stupidity of the federal bureaucrat. These cretins could opt for Chinese given the morons we have making policy decisions.

[9YearLurker]

Why would they need to take the present trains out of service? Seems like they could continue the Acela and add a super-Acela, faster service as well.

[American Constitutionalist]

The first " BUD " Metroliners... close in relation to the MU cars.

[American Constitutionalist]

The colors and color scheme that the GG1 looked good in was the Tuscan Pin Stripe Green or Pennsylvania Railroad Tuscan Pin Stripe Red... or Black.
The Penn Central Logo looked good also, but, Amtrak colors look awful.

[American Constitutionalist]

When they first put the new engines in service they had to call upon the old GG1 to tow the new engines to the shop because the GG1 was so dependable.