NEC from Alexandria to Newark (engine change in DC)

[sleeper car]

Hello all,

I don't want to "assume", but when we took the NEC to Alexandria the other day, we stopped for about 40 minutes in D.C. so they could switch engines ( diesel to electricity or vice versa, can't remember).

My question. Is that going to be the same ( 40 minutes engine switch) on the way back as D.C. is our first stop once we get on the NEC to go home.

Just wondering

Posted a pic of our Business class car while stopped and an engine across the way!

Thanks

 

[zephyr17]

Any train that goes south of DC must switch engines there from electric to diesel-electric because electrification ends at DC.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Southbound they take off the electric and put on the diesel.
Northbound they take off the diesel and put on the electric.

 

[sleeper car]

Any train that goes south of DC must switch engines there from electric to diesel-electric because electrification ends at DC.

O.k. Thank you!

 

[me_little_me]

Or you can take an electric Metro train between Alexandria and DC.

 

[JontyMort]

O.k. Thank you!

Just to add to what others have posted, 40 minutes would normally be generous for a traction change in isolation, so you were probably the victim of padding in the timetable. In cases such as the NEC - where you have a core service (Washington-New York-Boston) plus some add-ons for some, but not all, through trains - the operating imperative will be to get the train away from WAS on time. As an insurance policy against late running in Virginia, the dwell time at Washington Union for trains running through from the south may well be longer than would strictly be required.
Of course, in the absence of proper timetables on Amtrak’s website, it’s harder to test this hypothesis. Grrrr!

 

[Anderson]

Yeah...for the most part the allowance is about 30 minutes or so, but a few trains have substantially more. For example, there was a Regional that had about an hour in DC Southbound so as to have a departure at, I believe, right around 4 PM. Northbound there are also some longer holds to allow for more regular Regional departures (since it is sometimes easier to just leave some extra padding in than to fight with the host(s) and the state).