Freight trains, getting ready to marry off children, and random posts!

[Ken]

Just dropped my daughter off at the Amtrak station this morning to catch the Amtrak Cascades to Seattle. I guess I should have taken a video. But others have already done it for me. The cars are interesting because each one has only one single set of trucks and they appear that they must be all permanently attached to each other

[barnhart]

That is a unique train system. It looks like they didn't bother to produce engines for that system but just tacked on a standard locomotive and painted it to match.

[Ken]

That is a unique train system. It looks like they didn't bother to produce engines for that system but just tacked on a standard locomotive and painted it to match.

Yeah. They have a mixed bag of rolling stock and locomotives salvaged from other systems. I think they are getting all new rolling stock soon to make the trains faster. They are getting new faster Siemens trains out of Germany that can go 120 mph and will have higher passenger capacity per train, upgrading to 6 trains per day in each direction. The Amtrak Cascades is basically the fast service in the Northwest that currently runs back and forth from Eugene to Portland to Seattle to Vancouver BC four times a day in each direction. My daughter uses it go back and forth to college. All the other Amtrak trains around here are long distance services that go slower. The Empire Builder trains to Chicago. Or the Coast Starlight that runs back and forth to Los Angeles.

It is already as fast or faster than using a car for travel between Portland and Seattle. With the new trains in 2024 it should be substantially faster. Ultimately there are dreams and proposals for true high speed rail all the way between Portland and Vancouver BC. But that is a long ways off still and would be hugely expensive because they would need all new tracks and couldn’t use the existing freight tracks they use now.

[barnhart]

I think you on the west coast are substantially ahead of passenger train service on the east coast.

[ohio jones]

The cars are interesting because each one has only one single set of trucks and they appear that they must be all permanently attached to each other

Lightweight articulated cars, shorter than standard railcars, with shared bogies and a tilting mechanism that allows higher speed limits on curves. Made by Talgo, a Spanish company; some trains in Spain also have a gauge-changing mechanism that allows for connections between standard gauge and Iberian gauge rail lines.

That is a unique train system. It looks like they didn't bother to produce engines for that system but just tacked on a standard locomotive and painted it to match.

The matching locomotives are F59PHI units (which have since been replaced by Siemens Charger locomotives), but as the video shows they often sub in a standard Amtrak P42 diesel. The video is a little old because it mostly shows sets with a loco on each end and fins on the baggage cars. Those are Talgo Series VI sets which were retired in 2020 (the reason for the current mixed bag of rolling stock). The two Talgo sets now in service are Series 8 and have a loco on one end and a (very ugly) cab car on the other. I think you can see one of these at 5:15 in the video.

I think you on the west coast are substantially ahead of passenger train service on the east coast.

The east coast has a ton more frequency, more route connections/extensions, and is getting new Acela hardware soon. An order for new cars replacing the old Amfleet coaches is also being finalized. Incremental increases all over the system, really, but everything takes time.

[Szdfan]

The cars are interesting because each one has only one single set of trucks and they appear that they must be all permanently attached to each other

Lightweight articulated cars, shorter than standard railcars, with shared bogies and a tilting mechanism that allows higher speed limits on curves. Made by Talgo, a Spanish company; some trains in Spain also have a gauge-changing mechanism that allows for connections between standard gauge and Iberian gauge rail lines.

The Germans also had a couple of sets, which they used on InterCity night trains.




Deutsche Bahn is currently waiting for 23 new next generation sets from Talgo branded as ECx.

The Russians also have a few sets and run them Moscow — St. Petersburg and Moscow — Samara. I’ve seen pictures of these Russian sets in Berlin, which is where Talgo’s gauge changing technology is helpful, switching between standard and Russian broad gauge.

The east coast has a ton more frequency, more route connections/extensions, and is getting new Acela hardware soon. An order for new cars replacing the old Amfleet coaches is also being finalized. Incremental increases all over the system, really, but everything takes time.

One of the big issues in the East is the age if infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor is over 120 years old and Acela has never been able to really reach its potential because speeds are restricted to less than 80 mph.

[Ken]

The cars are interesting because each one has only one single set of trucks and they appear that they must be all permanently attached to each other

Lightweight articulated cars, shorter than standard railcars, with shared bogies and a tilting mechanism that allows higher speed limits on curves. Made by Talgo, a Spanish company; some trains in Spain also have a gauge-changing mechanism that allows for connections between standard gauge and Iberian gauge rail lines.

That is a unique train system. It looks like they didn't bother to produce engines for that system but just tacked on a standard locomotive and painted it to match.

The matching locomotives are F59PHI units (which have since been replaced by Siemens Charger locomotives), but as the video shows they often sub in a standard Amtrak P42 diesel. The video is a little old because it mostly shows sets with a loco on each end and fins on the baggage cars. Those are Talgo Series VI sets which were retired in 2020 (the reason for the current mixed bag of rolling stock). The two Talgo sets now in service are Series 8 and have a loco on one end and a (very ugly) cab car on the other. I think you can see one of these at 5:15 in the video.

I think you on the west coast are substantially ahead of passenger train service on the east coast.

The east coast has a ton more frequency, more route connections/extensions, and is getting new Acela hardware soon. An order for new cars replacing the old Amfleet coaches is also being finalized. Incremental increases all over the system, really, but everything takes time.

The train today was using regular Amtrak coaches with 4-wheel trucks and there was a locomotive at each end that I guess were the new Siemens locomotives. It was still painted in Amtrak Cascades colors, but looked like new locomotives with older coaches. I don't know how many total trains they have but each one seems different. Sometimes they use the regular old Amtrak locomotives still painted in Amtrak colors.

I guess I should start paying more attention to this stuff. I'll take a picture when she gets back on Monday.

[steve-in-kville]

Sunday morning railfanning wouldn't be complete without a trash train....

[Ken]

Picked up the daughter this evening. Every time they seem to have a different train. This one had a regular Amtrak engine in Cascades colors with regular Amtrak cars.

[ohio jones]

That's an F59PHI locomotive with Horizon coaches.