RFP issued for Amfleet I replacement

[jis]

Of all my travels on the EC with PVs I think Albany is by far one of the most efficient engine change locations.

DC can be a complete mess and generally it’s that way.

OTOH, it is Albany where we have sat on the LSL for 45 minutes waiting for the engine change crew to mosey over from wherever they were to start changing the engine. This caused our departure to get delayed, which caused us to get held before going onto the LAB because a train had been released from Schenectady onto the then single line section, which would have been held had we bothered to depart Albany anywhere near on time. And naturally now CSX had a great excuse to nail us all the way to Cleveland.

My experience at Albany on LSL comes nowhere near the best I am afraid.

 

[west point]

With the VA purchase of the RF&P the number of required cars should increase ? That should make a builder that gets the award more secure ?

 

[NeueAmtrakCalifornia]

With the VA purchase of the RF&P the number of required cars should increase ? That should make a builder that gets the award more secure ?

They can start modernizing it. This includes relocating the freight trains away and even electrifying it once frequencies and ridership are sufficient (I can imagine ACS-64s displaced by future EDMUs being used for VRE electric)

 

[jiml]

OTOH, it is Albany where we have sat on the LSL for 45 minutes waiting for the engine change crew to mosey over from wherever they were to start changing the engine. This caused our departure to get delayed, which caused us to get held before going onto the LAB because a train had been released from Schenectady onto the then single line section, which would have been held had we bothered to depart Albany anywhere near on time. And naturally now CSX had a great excuse to nail us all the way to Cleveland.

My experience at Albany on LSL comes nowhere near the best I am afraid.

I'd have to concur with this, having done many LSL and Empire Service trips. The alternate loco is often parked on the adjacent track on arrival (either direction), but it appears that the same crew move both engines. In other words, the "new" locomotive does not have a hostler onboard waiting. The problem is frequent enough that the dual-modes often run to Buffalo and occasionally even Toronto. (Obviously Chicago on the LSL would be impractical.) I've never noticed the Cardinal change in WUS taking very long - often barely enough time to hop off for a picture of it.

 

[Palmetto]

Dual modes have to carry diesel fuel and when it spills what then? Can remember GCT tracks that had the dual modes with the diesel fuel smell and track structure black.

Dual modes still run into GCT, don't they? Amtrak's 700 series P30 DCMs [or something like that!].

 

[PVD]

Metro North has their own (31) P32-DM fleet, and Amtrak P32-DM have gone into GCT during recent NYP maintenance projects.

 

[rickycourtney]

I wanted to draw attention to this part of Anderson's testimony...

"...we need to spend, probably about $2 billion, to re-fleet the Northeast Corridor, and the state-supported network. We aren't going to ask our state partners to help fund that, we want to fund it directly from Amtrak."

When I first heard him say that, I was pleasantly surprised that Amtrak was doing something nice for its state partners.

But, my cynicism has kicked in...

Amtrak and Anderson can use this new equipment as both a carrot and a stick with state partners: the new equipment will make them happy now, and over the long-haul, the fact that it's Amtrak owned will make it more difficult for States to dump Amtrak for another operator.

Take, for example, the San Joaquins train. They have made it no secret that they are interested in ditching Amtrak in favor of another operator. They can actually do that because all of the equipment necessary to operate the service is owned by California, not Amtrak.

 

[jis]

States still have a choice to get their own equipment.

Also, Anderson may not be entirely truthful about how nice Amtrak is being. The formula fees for Section 209 contracts includes an amount to create a replacement fund for the equipment for those states that lease equipment from Amtrak. So it is not like they are doing something out of the goodness of their heart. They are obligated to do so since they have afterall been collecting the money to do so. It is the size of that component that was a big bone of contention between Amtrak and NYSDOT at one time.

Incidentally, ditching Amtrak as an operator would only be feasible in those places where there is a trackage agreement in place with the host independent of Amtrak's participation. This was the primary reason that the so called "privately run" Hoosier State was actually operated by Amtrak throughout its entire "private" existence. It will be doubly challenging where Amtrak is involved as a host I suppose.

 

[Andrew]

Does anyone know what the status of the new rail car procurement is and how Coronavirus is impacting the purchase of new Amfleet cars?

 

[mainemanman]

I think the midwestern states ordered around 50 for their services, mostly Illinois and Michigan. One has been delivered; they're testing it on the NEC currently. I assume more will follow, and after some basic testing they'll go into service. I don't know about the status of the RFP, but the NEC testing points to the Viaggios being the probable pick.

 

[jiml]

One has been delivered; they're testing it on the NEC currently. I assume more will follow, and after some basic testing they'll go into service.

It's currently out west somewhere, last seen being pulled by UP power:

 

[NSC1109]

I think the midwestern states ordered around 50 for their services, mostly Illinois and Michigan. One has been delivered; they're testing it on the NEC currently. I assume more will follow, and after some basic testing they'll go into service. I don't know about the status of the RFP, but the NEC testing points to the Viaggios being the probable pick.

California gets their cars first. MI/IL are second.

 

[jis]

Isn't the car being tested one of the California cars?

 

[Green Maned Lion]

At the risk of being pedantic, aren't California Cars a type of bi-level?

 

[PVD]

Ouch. California Cars vs California's Cars. Not a bad catch......JIS is one of the sharpest members of this forum, I would probably feel guilty posting that...…but we all need a chuckle from time to time...

 

[Trogdor]

At the risk of being pedantic, aren't California Cars a type of bi-level?

At the risk of being pedantic, jis said California cars, not California Cars. California, in this case, being used as an adjective to describe the common noun “cars.”

 

[sttom]

Well there are California's Cars and California Cars. One is a batch of single level cars we are getting against our will and the other is our bilevel cars.

 

[Steve4031]

So is this a discussion of amgrammar or just grammar

 

[jiml]

California coach 1:



California coach 2:



California car:

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Dude, you are dating yourself.

That is a California car in 2020.

lol

 

[frequentflyer]

GML is right about the new California car, the Prius is so 2010s.

So many here think the Siemen's coach is most likely candidate for the Amfleet 1s. We will see, still think the NEC is getting DMU/EMUs.

 

[PVD]

I'm not sure it has to be either or...The states that pay for equipment may have things in mind. PA & NY as an example...

 

[Green Maned Lion]

The Viaggio design is available in EMU format iirc

 

[Andrew]

GML is right about the new California car, the Prius is so 2010s.

So many here think the Siemen's coach is most likely candidate for the Amfleet 1s. We will see, still think the NEC is getting DMU/EMUs.

If the NEC gets DMU/EMUs, than what happens to the Sprinter locomotives?

 

[Green Maned Lion]

They get a big bow placed on top of them and get presented to a politically connected scrapping operation, most likely.