So what does happen to the retired equipment? Can they be used on other routes?
Acela 21 (Avelia Liberty) development, testing and deployment (2Q 2024)
- Thread starter jis
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I would like to to see that. Hopefully the laptop is included.
Acela150
Super Buff
More than likely once the new fleet is established and the legacy fleet is completely retired it will sadly be scrapped. It's hard to find parts for the legacy fleet as it is now. It will have served a good 25 years.
I got a good chuckle out of the laptop comment! Lol!
Folks hope is on the horizon. That is all I can say for now.
Those things are so heavy and outdated that they'd be useless pretty much everywhere, even if we had another like corridor on which they could function.
They were kind of obsolete even when they were introduced because of their weight due to regulation, but they're even worse now.
Love the idea of one or two going to museums.
thefirewarde
Service Attendant
I agree with "It belongs in a museum!" - even if it's just one power car and a coach, or a short power car, cafe, coach, power car consist. I seriously doubt any will be preserved operationally.
As far as reuse and refurb, remember that Amtrak already made that choice when they picked Avelia instead of extending the Acela 1 trainsets and doing a full refurbishment. With an active production line, you'd spend a comparable amount to just buy the same number of new Avelia trainsets as refurbishing Acela 1. If the fleet still had a couple years of useful service left in them, maybe using them on the Keystone until Airo arrives would make sense, despite the hassle, but they're very much due for a rebuild on top of the operational challenges (deadheading to a service area each night, among other issues) that service pattern would present. Best to retire them on Amtrak's schedule rather than letting them schedule it themselves.
As far as reuse and refurb, remember that Amtrak already made that choice when they picked Avelia instead of extending the Acela 1 trainsets and doing a full refurbishment. With an active production line, you'd spend a comparable amount to just buy the same number of new Avelia trainsets as refurbishing Acela 1. If the fleet still had a couple years of useful service left in them, maybe using them on the Keystone until Airo arrives would make sense, despite the hassle, but they're very much due for a rebuild on top of the operational challenges (deadheading to a service area each night, among other issues) that service pattern would present. Best to retire them on Amtrak's schedule rather than letting them schedule it themselves.
Septa9739
Lead Service Attendant
Nobody wants them. They are obsolete, one of a kind, in poor condition, and so heavy they require a silly amount of electricity to operate. If you get close to one, you can see many of them look shot.
Buenos Aires did buy a bunch of equipment from Caltrain recently.
Buenos Aires did buy a bunch of equipment from Caltrain recently.
MikefromCrete
Engineer
It was Peru that bought the former CalTrain locos and cars.
For the folks asking about the train car usage...you do know that the electronics are the big hang up right? Just to jog people's memory Citing OIG-A-2023-013:
This isn't like mechanical parts you can cnc or pull from elsewhere, both the circuit board and it's programming are simply unsupported at all. This isn't a duct tape and shove back into the field job those sets are hosed once they are out of circulation. You might be able to do something with the coach cars but the power cars are rolling museum pieces
This isn't like mechanical parts you can cnc or pull from elsewhere, both the circuit board and it's programming are simply unsupported at all. This isn't a duct tape and shove back into the field job those sets are hosed once they are out of circulation. You might be able to do something with the coach cars but the power cars are rolling museum pieces
The only other electrified route would be the Keystones. I don't see this happening, I suspect Amtrak would want to retire the Acela-1's ASAP. Plus the Keystones are getting Airos eventually.
If this did happen (unlikely as it is) it would be a repeat of what happened when the Metroliners were retired off of NY - Washington service and relegated to the Keystone service for a few years.
Are all Keystone platforms high?.
Acela150
Super Buff
Maybe a portion of the one set that Amtrak actually owns will make it to Strasburg. The Canadian banks will likely cut the rest of them up.
