Diesels back on the corridor?

[battalion51]

With the Acela cancellations, it doesn't surprise me to see this, but I don't know for sure. I saw some video over on Oaks Model Railroad of the Crescent (northbound) in Wilmington with its two regular diesels leading. Is this happening on a regular basis for just the Crescent, for all long distance trains, or just an isolated incident? (If it's regular that's gotta be great to see those big ole' GE's rumbling down the corridor again.)

 

[Viewliner]

Chief, I read on trainorders that with the extra need for motive power for Metroliners meant that for now at least 89, 91, 98 and 20 are changing engines in Philadelphia instead of Washington.

Personally I'd rather see electrics hauling these babies down to Washington than to have Diesels on the corridor especially for evironmental and accelaration purposes...but hey as long as every route is still running having a few P-42's on the corridor isn't so bad.

 

[engine999]

Didnt they use to have loco changes for one of the long distance changes in philidelphia? This is not really a bad move considering the shortage.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

I have also noticed that a lot more often now the Silvers are coming through the Orlando corridor with two engines rather than just one and was wondering why. 97 today had two.

 

[AlanB]

I too have seen first hand reports stating that all LD's are changing power in Philly for the duration of the Acela crisis. With the E60's all scrapped, Amtrak does not have enough electrics for the demand on the corridor with out the Acela power cars.

 

[battalion51]

I have also noticed that a lot more often now the Silvers are coming through the Orlando corridor with two engines rather than just one and was wondering why. 97 today had two.

It might be the whole accelertation thing on the corridor. They probably have it online for the PHL-WAS run, then offline after that. Gunn has said that they need to have second engines offline wherever possible to conserve fuel. The Vermonter is currently still running with two engines but only one (usually the trailer through Vermont) online.

 

[AlanB]

The Vermonter is currently still running with two engines but only one (usually the trailer through Vermont) online.

Why would you run the trailer online? :unsure: It would seem to me that you would want to be pulling and having the power where the enginer is, not pushing.

 

[battalion51]

Well you leave the trailer online simply because its less noisy for the Engineers. It really makes no difference efficency wise whether the dead weight is behind or ahead of the engine. Its the same reason why trains can run is push mode with no engine on the head end. You just have to be prepared to handle the train accordingly.

 

[battalion51]

I stand corrected for now on this issue. They have been running the leader the entire trip due to handling concerns. Apparently the software for the DASH8's does not show combined Amps on the engine load as a DASH9 does. Management is requiring the Engineers to run the leader so they can monitor how many Amps the engine is loading. It is prefereable to run the trailer due to the noise issue, and when there are wet rails as there are in New England right now due to the rain you get fewer wheel slips with the trailer pushing the train.

 

[Rail4Life]

Maybe they should make the engine change in Philly permanent and go back to hauling freight on these trains seeing how they have to run diesel to philly anyway. Some additional revenue is better than none.

 

[battalion51]

Not a good call. The freight slows the trains down (since most of it [except MHC's which are junk] are only good for 90). It puts a heavier load on the engines, require more power (from the prime mover), and cause switching delays. I won't argue with making the change permanent in Philly, but freight is not such a hot idea until the technology improves significantly.

On the Vermonter subject, the Road Foreman has said they should be getting Cab Cars sometime in the near future.

 

[engine999]

I rember seeing somewhere that there was a plan to build more or refurbish the existing cab cars. They were supposed to be used on the keystone corridor once electrification was complete and a few other services. I think one idea was to even convert a few amfleet one cars believe it or not.

 

[battalion51]

At this point it seems like the need is more urgent on the Vermonter since they're hauling dead weight. The refurbishments for the cab cars are only to upgrade the seating area to Capstone standards, nothing is being done to clean up the cab area into a more reasonable setup.