Meltdown on 94

[MARC Rider]

I'm riding NER 94, which left Washington at 205 pm. A bit past New Carrolton, we stopped. Then an announement about the horn not working. Then an announcement that we are going to have to back up tp Washington and either get a new motor or get put on the next train.

We are now slowly backing up, having just creeped past New Carrolton. I'll keep you posted.

Should have taken MARC.

 

[MARC Rider]

We're back in Washington. They say they're going swap out motors and send us on our way. I guess we should be leaving sometime after 4 pm. About 2 hours late.

I hope they test the horn on the new motor before they let us go. That's assuming the problem was just the horn.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I heard on FB (not from Amtrak) they were taking 94 back to DC. Now I know who to blame.

 

[MARC Rider]

We finally left Washington at about 4:20. Got into Baltimore around 5.

When they attach a fresh motor on the train in Washington, are they supposed to do some sort of checklist before they leave to make sure the locomotive is working? Seems strange to have a mechanical problem so early into the trip. I know, this sort of thing happened a lot with the HHP-8s, but I thought the ACS-64s were more reliable than those.

 

[west point]

Tongue in cheek. Where would the engineer have to blow the horn anyway, Have ridden from WASH - NYP with no horn blowing not even the starting two toots.

 

[MARC Rider]

Tongue in cheek. Where would the engineer have to blow the horn anyway, Have ridden from WASH - NYP with no horn blowing not even the starting two toots.

Not tongue in cheek, but there was some serious track work going on between Halethorpe and Baltimore, and I believe they always toot the horn when they approach track work.

 

[daybeers]

I understand regulations and blue flag rules but the NEC is still fairly bare so I don't understand why Amtrak decided to back the train up that long instead of just to New Carrolton and have a new motor meet the train there.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Not tongue in cheek, but there was some serious track work going on between Halethorpe and Baltimore, and I believe they always toot the horn when they approach track work.

There's track work in the Wilmington and Newark area too. And I'm sure many other places. Yes, they blow the horn when approaching workers in the ROW.
And let's not forget trespassers....

 

[Acela150]

Tongue in cheek. Where would the engineer have to blow the horn anyway, Have ridden from WASH - NYP with no horn blowing not even the starting two toots.

Where they have to blow the horn is irrelevant. The horn is a mandated safety appliance that must work. Their are certain rules in place if the horn doesn't work. Such as having the conductor riding in the opposite cab to sound the horn when the Engineer tells him or her to sound the whistle. If they're not to far from DC, PHL, NYP, NHV, BOS, etc. where protect motors are, then they can either take the train to one of the cities where a protect motor is, or if their is enough free railroad have the protect motor meet the train somewhere. It all depends on what the chief decides is best. (The chief=chief dispatcher)

Not tongue in cheek, but there was some serious track work going on between Halethorpe and Baltimore, and I believe they always toot the horn when they approach track work.

This is one place where the horn and bell are mandatory. It's also worth noting that train 94 goes to Boston, and on the shore line there are multiple grade crossings where the horn must be sounded.

I understand regulations and blue flag rules but the NEC is still fairly bare so I don't understand why Amtrak decided to back the train up that long instead of just to New Carrolton and have a new motor meet the train there.

This is something that ThirdRail could explain better then myself. But, depending on where the train was, currently it's only two track railroad. There is a ton of track work going on which has one track completely out of service. Another factor could be that there was no crew that could take the new motor to the train.

 

[Thirdrail7]

When they attach a fresh motor on the train in Washington, are they supposed to do some sort of checklist before they leave to make sure the locomotive is working? Seems strange to have a mechanical problem so early into the trip. I know, this sort of thing happened a lot with the HHP-8s, but I thought the ACS-64s were more reliable than those.

It is supposed to be tested during the calendar day inspection.

This is something that ThirdRail could explain better then myself. But, depending on where the train was, currently it's only two track railroad. There is a ton of track work going on which has one track completely out of service. Another factor could be that there was no crew that could take the new motor to the train.

Your explanation is accurate enough.