Does anyone know the status of the Caltrans Comet IB cars?

[afigg]

So I read through the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority report (hat tip to Calwatch for posting that).Since there appears to be some interest/confusion about these cars I thought Id summarize the highlights of the report (there's some new info here along with some old but interesting info):

The 14 Comet IB cars were purchased from New Jersey Transit for $75,000 each. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans/CDTX) paid $1.4 million per car to have them refurbished at Amtraks Beech Grove shops.

Caltrans is also leasing 3 Horizon café cars from Amtrak for food service for the trainsets. So that is where 3 of the Horizons cars will be for the next few years. Caltrans must have some plans on what to do with the refurbed Comet IB cars when all the corridor bi-level cars ordered so far are delivered. With the cars having been fully rebuilt and up to modern spec, perhaps the Comets could be re-sold or leased to another state looking to start up a new service at the end of the decade.

 

[Blackwolf]

The Division of Rail is pleased to announce that a remodeled Comet Car and Cab Control Car will be on display and available for viewing before and after tomorrow’s SJVRC meeting in Sacramento. The cars will be located on the Sacramento Museum rail track located behind the Sacramento Rail museum.
The meeting is at 1 pm May 31 at the Rail Museum and is a good opportunity to check it out.

I'll be there!

 

[Blackwolf]

So, just got back home after dropping by to visit the exhibit. All I can say is that for a 45+ year old beat-into-the-ground-commuter car, CDTX #5008 "The Redwood" is pretty darn spiffy. There was a slight delay in getting it open to the public as Amtrak P42 #173 was being cantankerous and did not want to start initially (the consist parked on the California State Railroad Museum trackage consisted of AMTK #173, CDTX #5008, AMTK #90218,) and the Road Foreman from Caltrans that was in charge did not want to allow people aboard until HEP was turned on for lights and air-conditioning. After about 10 minutes of fussing around, the engine start bell began to ring and was followed by the chugging of a prime mover coming to life.

There were a few people waiting, but all were aboard quickly enough after the lights snapped on. The interior is spartan, but it is not exactly bad either. These are hard-working cars and will see a steady stream of people who just want to get from point A to point B, and they will be pretty comfortable I do think. The seats are AmFleet I short-distance seats with 42" pitch. They are permanently mounted though and are not capable of being fipped, so half the car has seats facing one way while the the rest face the other. Due to the decision to retain the former NJT overhead racks, the cars have a very open feel. Now I know what "New Railcar Smell" smells like too!

The list of stuff replaced is extensive, and the man who is in charge of the whole entire Caltrans Division of Rail rolling stock procurement was on hand to show off his baby. Really nice guy, and very passionate (he's responsible for the retro CalTrain paint scheme on #90218, and the "Disco Stripes" at the car ends are very intentional as a nod to NJT and the car's roots.) There are brass builders plates being made that each car will wear stamped with St. Louis Car Company, using original font and company logos, as well as the original build date for each respective car (either 1968 or 1969.) Adjacent to these will be MK plates from the 1980's rebuild as well as Amtrak Beech Grove plates for the Caltrans conversion.

All-in-all, I think these cars will be a very nice ride. Really, they were torn down and stripped completely clean and only the stainless steel car bodies are left; everything else from the running gear to the windows are new; interior-wise only the overhead luggage racks are retained from NJT. It was confirmed, one set of single-levels will be running before June is closed out (the 18th is the target date, but absolutely before 4th of July week) and Amtrak did send out several AmFleet cars in order to make this happen. The second set will be running before Thanksgiving weekend.

 

[SubwayNut]

I have a trip planned going from the Bay Area to Los Angeles on June 18th and was going to go via the San Joaquin. Any word on which train turn is targeted to receive the single level cars first. I will try and plan my trip south around hopefully riding them?

Normally single-level equipment is something I avoid in California but I'd love to add a second out of New Jersey train line I've ridden their old Comets on to my rolling stock list (the first was on the FrontRunner in Utah).

 

[Agent]

All-in-all, I think these cars will be a very nice ride. Really, they were torn down and stripped completely clean and only the stainless steel car bodies are left; everything else from the running gear to the windows are new; interior-wise only the overhead luggage racks are retained from NJT. It was confirmed, one set of single-levels will be running before June is closed out (the 18th is the target date, but absolutely before 4th of July week) and Amtrak did send out several AmFleet cars in order to make this happen. The second set will be running before Thanksgiving weekend.

That explains why I saw Amfleets on the California Zephyr. I was really wondering about that. (Perhaps these threads can merged).

 

[calwatch]

On the bike issue the reason the bike racks are in the cabbage car is because of ADA. Basically you need to keep the spaces for the wheelchair users open, and a loose bicycle could fling itself at a passenger in a sudden stop which could cause injury. Therefore they are in the cabbage car and will only be loaded and unloaded at staffed stations, much like checked baggage.

 

[roadman3313]

Any updates on the timeline for the initial transition to the Comet set? The Amfleets are now sitting in the Oakland Yard. I know early rumors had a start date as early as next week. Seems like there are enough cars there to form a consist now. I assume it now comes down to logistical arrangements and any last pressing maintenance issues?

 

[roadman3313]

Train 718/711 rotation next month or in August after testing and training of Emergency personel along the train route is the latest and greatest... Sound about right?

 

[X]

Train 718/711 rotation next month or in August after testing and training of Emergency personel along the train route is the latest and greatest... Sound about right?

Still too many open items to make any kind of educated guess...

More cars and a NPCU are being released from Beech Grove soon, who knows how close to ready they'll be though.

Here's a news article to tide you over (although I'm sure you've already seen it on TO )

http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/06/19/3350752/old-rail-coaches-will-find-new.html

 

[roadman3313]

Thanks! Your insight is always greatly appreciated and very informative! Wait and see seems like the most realistic timetable

 

[X]

Thanks! Your insight is always greatly appreciated and very informative! Wait and see seems like the most realistic timetable

You're welcome.

It usually is with an Amtrak project.

 

[rickycourtney]

Heads up...

A user at TheOther rail forum says that NPCU #90225 (a "cabbage") is out of the Beech Grove shops and is expected to head west to the Oakland shops on the CZ later this week. The earliest it could depart CHI would be Tuesday because of the ongoing Donner Pass closure.


This is the second of three ex-F40PH that Caltrans has paid Amtrak to lease, refurbish and repaint. It will be used with the Comet IB trainsets as a Cab/Baggage car. It'll be interesting to see if this one is painted in the heritage "1980's Caltrain" livery or the standard navy blue and orange Amtrak California livery.

 

[rickycourtney]

As predicted NPCU #90225 is on 5(25). Departed Chicago about an hour late.

 

[Agent]

Here's 90225, which has been dubbed Sacramento, third out on the California Zephyr at Agency, Iowa.

 

[rickycourtney]

Great work Agent!

Always enjoy your videos of the CZ (especially when it's bringing cars my way!)

 

[Agent]

Great work Agent!Always enjoy your videos of the CZ (especially when it's bringing cars my way!)

Thank you!

 

[Agent]

Another Comet lB car is heading west on Amtrak #5(08). Here is a video of this California Zephyr in Fairfield, Iowa:

 

[Agent]

And here's my video from Agency, Iowa with a "Shave and a Haircut" from the engineer:

 

[rickycourtney]

So by my notes after today the Oakland yard should have:

3 Comet 1B coaches

1 Horizon dinette

2 NPCUs

3 Amfleet I coaches (Amtrak loaners)

1 Amfleet I dinette (Amtrak loaner)

Considering the single-level trainset was going to be made up of 4/5 coaches, 1 dinette and 1 NPCU it would seem that Caltrans now has more than enough equipment (plus shop spares) to make the switch.

Anyone out there know when the switch will happen?

 

[cirdan]

Where are these cabbages coming from?

Does Beech Grove have spare ones sitting around? Or are they being pulled off other trains, and if so, what is replacing them?

 

[rickycourtney]

From my understanding Amtrak has some NPCU's/cabbages to spare. The three that are going to California were also in pretty poor shape. Caltrans is paying Amtrak to lease these units and have them refurbished and repainted.

 

[Agent]

Another Horizon dinette (thank you, roadman) is heading to California right now on Amtrak #5(15). This one is CDTX (?) 53501. It has only been one week since the last Comet 1B was sent west. Maybe this means Beech Grove has gotten in the grove of shipping these out.

http://youtu.be/M5h2UX3DX4M

 

[PerRock]

A friend of mine sent me this today:

peter

 

[roadman3313]

I'd venture to say that's not a Comet IB, but instead a Horizon Dinette (Café) car. You can tell by the lack of ridges on the outside as well as the car number... 53xxx should be the Horizon Dinette cars and 50xx should be the Comet IB cars. I assume the Horizon Dinettes retained their Amtrak car numbers? Looks decent on the outside... hopefully we can see some inside pics of the Dinette soon!

 

[Agent]

A friend of mine sent me this today:

peter

Well now that I get a good look at it, that's a Horizon car. Whoops. :blush: