Amtrak Siemens Charger locomotive (SC44, ALC42, ALC42E) (2015 - 1Q 2024)

[Dutchrailnut]

Battery electrics have huge problem, gas, the explosive kind , not something any one wants in tunnels

 

[RailRide]

Considering NYCT just ordered 28 brand new work diesels, I doubt anyone is thinking of battery electrics down in procurement lol. Likewise, any such proposal for procurement of battery electrics would be met with stiff skepticism and opposition from within.

Is this the R156 order, or in addition to it?

---PCJ

 

[Fan Railer]

It's the R156 order.

 

[Thirdrail7]

The diesel was running straight through NYP. Technically there is an ordinance that prohibits diesel prime movers from running underground in NYC, but there are times when exceptions are made for various reasons under various conditions, as I understand it. At any rate, the Cummins diesel is EPA Tier IV compliant, and therefore emits far less in terms of exhaust particulates than the Tier 0 P42s.

People always say this. Here is the part of the rule that is relevant:

5. Diesel and Turbine engines in passenger service not capable of drawing propulsion

power from 3rd rail must be hauled by electric engines between east portal of the East

River Tunnels, west portal of the North River Tunnels and north portal of the Empire

Tunnel. (Diesel and Turbine engines may be idling while being hauled). They may

operate independent of third rail power only when authorized by the Dispatcher at

PSCC.

EXCEPTION: This instruction does not apply to diesel powered Sperry Cars, or

other track maintenance equipment equipped with proper exhaust attachments.

 

[Dutchrailnut]

note how it says " in passenger service" a test train is not ;-)

 

[jis]

And isn't this just a railroad regulation rather than a state or city statute? I thought the only statutory requirement was that no steam engines shall be operated in the Park Avenue tunnels or some such. Or am I remembering it wrongly?

 

[neroden]

Battery electrics have huge problem, gas, the explosive kind , not something any one wants in tunnels

No, they don't. Your information is out of date (actually a couple of decades out of date). That only applies to certain types of batteries -- now *obsolete* types of batteries. Certainly, railroad equipment has a tendency to use decades-out-of-date obsolete equipment (look at the signalling in the NYC subway, and when did BNSF remove its semaphores?) but if you bought new battery-electric locomotives this would be a non-issue.

 

[neroden]

Considering NYCT just ordered 28 brand new work diesels, I doubt anyone is thinking of battery electrics down in procurement lol. Likewise, any such proposal for procurement of battery electrics would be met with stiff skepticism and opposition from within.

NYCT management are troglodytes who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into ordering open-gangway cars years after they became standard worldwide. And I may have mentioned this earlier, but they still have to be sued on a regular basis just to get them to comply with the ADA, something which is not true of any other agency in the country -- they still seem to think it's the 1980s.

This is a *problem*. The fact that they are not considering battery electrics is more a sign that the management is overly conservative than anything else.

 

[railiner]

Or they're worried about lithium batteries burning

...Boeing 787

...Samsung Galaxy 7

Etc

 

[ScouseAndy]

Battery electrics have huge problem, gas, the explosive kind , not something any one wants in tunnels

Very true - I've lost count of the number of times LU battery locos have blown up under the streets of London killing 1000's,

 

[PVD]

Lead Acid batteries may be old technology, but they are still in very common use. Where weight is not the determining factor, they are still widely used. The battery electric locomotives in London still use L/A batteries. Proper maintenance of the batteries and charging equipment and diligence of proper charging cycles and ventilation keeps the risk very low.

 

[railiner]

Unfortunately, the way the 3R law was crafted, just like Amtrak was supposed to become profitable so was Conrail. Under L Stanley Crane (another ex-Southern man) with not inconsiderable help from the Staggers Act, it actually did, and then there was much pressure on the Hill to get rid of it and get it off the government's books, and so they did.

I am glad they did...I went "all-in" during Conrail's IPO

I was sorry to see CR split up the way it was.

Ed Jordan and Richard Spence did a great job, followed by Stanley Crane.

As the bumper stickers said:

"Let Conrail Be Conrail!"

That's a big "10-4"....

 

[railiner]

Lead Acid batteries may be old technology, but they are still in very common use. Where weight is not the determining factor, they are still widely used. The battery electric locomotives in London still use L/A batteries. Proper maintenance of the batteries and charging equipment and diligence of proper charging cycles and ventilation keeps the risk very low.

I am not sure if they still have any around, but when I was at NYP, until 1994, they still had some ancient 'Yale' electric baggage trucks in use, that must have been around since the station opened in 1910!

You may have seen them...the operator ran them standing on some treadle's up front, and steered the beast by means of a tiller. Took a lot of strength...those trucks weighed about three tons, empty, and had no power steering. They were built like a tank, and woe to anything that got in their way...

 

[Ryan]

Battery electrics have huge problem, gas, the explosive kind , not something any one wants in tunnels

When charging.

Charge them outside the tunnel, and you're fine.

 

[Agent]

I caught Amtrak #6(02) with the four MARC coaches that were used for the Charger tests making its station stop in Ottumwa, Iowa today. This Chicago-bound California Zephyr was running over three hours and forty minutes late.

 

[fulham]

Has Siemens only released 2 units for testing and these are the 2 that are shown in the above video heading back to Sacramento...correct? Does anyone know what the next step will be and when the units will be tested out of Chicago? The units tested in Pueblo and on the NEC so what is the plan going forward? I don't remember the electrics heading back to Sacramento once they finished testing on the NEC but I could be wrong.

 

[PVD]

The units that ran on the NEC are not the units destined for MARC.

 

[jis]

They are most likely going to show up in Chicago next, which is where they are destined to.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Has Siemens only released 2 units for testing and these are the 2 that are shown in the above video heading back to Sacramento...correct? Does anyone know what the next step will be and when the units will be tested out of Chicago? The units tested in Pueblo and on the NEC so what is the plan going forward? I don't remember the electrics heading back to Sacramento once they finished testing on the NEC but I could be wrong.

They obviously released more than two since the one that tested on the NEC is not part of the group that went to Pueblo.

 

[west point]

may have returned to Siemens to correct flaws found at Pueblo ? Or maybe Siemens modifications not originally planned that doing at Siemens guarantees conformity ?

 

[Fan Railer]

So far, we've seen 4601, 4602, and 4604. Is there a 4600? And I'm guessing 4603 never left the Siemens plant.

 

[Steve4031]

4600 has got to be assigned to the Chicago to honor the1985 bears 46 defense.

 

[Acela150]

I'm sure they numbered the IDTX units in the 4600's for that reason...... Not..

 

[Steve4031]

Lol

 

[Fan Railer]

Slightly OT, but guess a few of us spoke too soon on the NYC battery thingy:

http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/locomotives/new-york-city-transit-seeks-dual-mode-locomotives.html?channel=528