Amtrak Cascades Service discussion

[Trogdor]

Can't they just use a cabbage?

I suppose the real question is, what’s the procedure for removing the cab car from the consist and is there some other unit that can cap it? The Talgo cab cars are essentially permanently coupled to the rest of the train, sharing a single-axle truck with the car behind it. You can’t just take it off and put a cabbage on there, as the adjacent car doesn’t have standard couplers, probably doesn’t have a simple way to close off the end, and probably also doesn’t have something that can hold onto that pair of wheels.

And you wouldn’t couple a cabbage to the severely damaged cab car and run it in service.

 

[AFriendly]

I think its safe to say that Talgo cab car is totaled and I don't see how that set operates without it. Is there *any* spare equipment anywhere that can be subbed in? Last summer I noticed there was a Horizon set with a Viewliner baggage car at the end and no NPCU running but I think I only saw it once or twice.

 

[trimetbusfan]

I think its safe to say that Talgo cab car is totaled and I don't see how that set operates without it. Is there *any* spare equipment anywhere that can be subbed in? Last summer I noticed there was a Horizon set with a Viewliner baggage car at the end and no NPCU running but I think I only saw it once or twice.

Yeah I highly doubt they would fix it considering the impending arrival of the airo's.

 

[Maelstrom]

Last glimpse I got of it on Wednesday at the Seattle Amtrak yard. They moved it somewhere else when I went back on Thursday to get a better look.

 

[TheMalahat]

Is there an extra set of Horizons that's being used, now?

 

[trimetbusfan]

Is there an extra set of Horizons that's being used, now?

Not sure if it’s extra but there’s a set running without a cab car again. It has engine 1406.

 

[trimetbusfan]

511 is also now canceled due to ‘mechanical issues’

 

[flitcraft]

Regarding the Talgo episode: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...ngineer-nearly-impaled-by-tree-hitting-train/
In case this is paywalled, the upshot is that the engineer was nearly impaled when the tree crashed through the front window. Although he was apparently not seriously injured, he was taken to hospital for observation. The passengers were provided 'other transportation,' aka bustituted. At that, I would have been happy just to get where I was going!

The bomb-cyclone in question was no joke! We were without power for almost three full days, and the neighborhood is a mess with downed trees. On 35th St, a main arterial in our neighborhood, 16 trees lining the road came down late that night--most with trunks well over a foot thick. Now, days later, 35th is closed for a 30 block length while the trees are being cut up and removed. Our neighbors to the south had a three story tall pine tree come down, just missing the house but smashing into the detached garage.

 

[west point]

It appears that Amtrak was lucky not to have more damage. I do think it was very wise not to send the EB and CS to Seattle during the high wind forecast times. The tall Superliners were certainly more likely to get blown around by those high winds or impaled by high wind debris. Amtrak has to be very risk adverse with its lack of any spare equipment. Worse case 2 train sets out of service with the holidays coming up.

Who ever made that decision needs an at a boy.

 

[Harmon Shay]

Is there an extra set of Horizons that's being used, now?

No extra Horizon set yet, but that damaged Talgo is probably out for months at least, if not for good. The Cascades are now running with no backup equipment except for locomotives, and there's already been one round trip bus substitution. There are two extra Horizon coaches at Seattle maintenance but they seem to be out of service with unspecified ills. We were already a little short, as two of our Horizon coaches were recently sent to Beech Grove without being replaced. Haven't heard yet what Amtrak and the Washington state Department of Transportation are planning.

 

[Amtrak25]

Can side-lined Sounder commuter coaches be leased for Amtrak service, perhaps in mixed consists with Horizons ?

 

[TrackWalker]

Amtrak added another train and used Sounder coaches between Seattle and Bellingham in 2013 when the Interstate 5 bridge collapsed in Skagit County.

 

[Harmon Shay]

Amtrak added another train and used Sounder coaches between Seattle and Bellingham in 2013 when the Interstate 5 bridge collapsed in Skagit County.


View attachment 38458

Can side-lined Sounder commuter coaches be leased for Amtrak service, perhaps in mixed consists with Horizons ?

It's never been done that I know of, but I imagine that 135-or-so people in a Sounder car with one restroom would be problematic on a four-hour-or-more run. Perhaps they could get away with limiting the Sounder cars to 70 riders, as they do with the new Venture coaches and their single restrooms. They'd also probably have to use a special low fare because of the lack of reclining seats or use the cars strictly for shorts. I'm assuming Sounder coaches are compatible with Horizon cars, but I've never gotten around to asking anyone in the know. It would be nice to be able to use one Sounder coach per Cascades trainset right now, eight trainsets in all, at least Thursdays through Sundays, and Sounder should have as many as 20 spare coaches available at the moment. That would reduce Seattle's additional Amtrak car need to just one additional Horizon club-dinette. All this is theory, of course.

 

[Amtrak25]

I was thinking of one Sounder car per consist, charge 3rd class fares. They haul identical Metrolink coaches on the head end of the Chief all the time to Talgo in Milwaukee. At least the HEP and brakes are compatible.

If the Airo cars will have the same wretched seats as the Ventures, the Sounder seats can't be that much worse of what is to come.

 

[Cal]

They haul identical Metrolink coaches on the head end of the Chief all the time to Talgo in Milwaukee.

Those aren't in revenue service. Anything with the basic coupler can be hooked onto anything else. Now, the bilevels are compatible with horizons. Frontrunner routinely has bilevels and single-levels in the same consist.

If the Airo cars will have the same wretched seats as the Ventures, the Sounder seats can't be that much worse of what is to come.

I find Metrolink seats very comfortable actually, they're not bad at all. There is substantially less legroom, however. Also the Ventures really aren't that bad.

 

[Amtrak25]

The passenger car coupler is the least of it. Even so, some PV's or tourist railway cars are not Amtrak-compliant with the right kind of knuckle coupler (I think called Type H).

The 480 volt HEP has to be compatible, with voltage and positioning, being at the head end. VIA has 2 separate circuits requring special cables to mix with Amtrak equipment, and GO Transit cars which look identical to Sounder's and Metrolink's, but have always been 560 volts HEP (unless they changed it in recent years). Metrolink cars, whether deadheading or not, is unknown to such cables. The interior lights are generally turned on (to spot light hobos who broke in ?)

I have ridden the VIA Venture cars. The seat backs are awful as is the so-called recline. Put 1" of padding on an ironing board, 2" on the upper half, and there you have it. Take a hot shower soon after you get off to loosen up those back muscles.

 

[Harmon Shay]

Those aren't in revenue service. Anything with the basic coupler can be hooked onto anything else. Now, the bilevels are compatible with horizons. Frontrunner routinely has bilevels and single-levels in the same consist.


I find Metrolink seats very comfortable actually, they're not bad at all. There is substantially less legroom, however. Also the Ventures really aren't that bad.

You're right about compatibility. I should have remembered that about Frontrunner.

 

[west point]

Are the sounder cars set up for blended braking? If not -------------

 

[Amtrak25]

Are the sounder cars set up for blended braking? If not -------------

Doesn't seem to matter when Metrolink's run in the same consist for over 2,300 miles with Superliners, Viewliner baggage, Horizons, Midwest Ventures, and even coupled to 75 year old PV's as we saw last week.

 

[TaseMeBro]

Some more video of the damaged train from the Cyclone:

 

[trimetbusfan]

Sounds like a coach is going to removed form each horizon set to create a new set.

 

[Cal]

Sounds like a coach is going to removed form each horizon set to create a new set.

Love seeing transit being promoted for Swift, hopefully it will put some people onto trains!

 

[Amtrak25]

They should lease several Sounder tri-level coaches, sell their seats as 3rd class tickets. I have heard 20 of them are in storage.

 

[Harmon Shay]

I hope they don't shorten the other Cascades Horizon sets to build a seventh Cascades Horizon set. What they should do is take four Horizons off the Downeasters and replace them with Amfleets from the NEC. It's past time for the NEC to do a little sacrificing. Remember, too, that Amtrak took two of Seattle's Horizon coaches back to Beech Grove recently, apparently for work. It's time to get them and any others back on the road. There's no room for any Horizon retirements right now and won't be until the first Airo trainsets get (reliably) into service.

 

[Cal]

I hope they don't shorten the other Cascades Horizon sets to build a seventh Cascades Horizon set

From the tweet I think that's exactly what they plan to do.