Acela Exp/HHP8 question

[AmtrakerBx]

We know of the temporary fix on these engines...has anything

been said of what the "permenant" fix is?????

 

[Superliner Diner]

Amtrak and the Bomb are still working on a permanent solution, even despite the litigation taking place between them.

 

[AlanB]

We know of the temporary fix on these engines...has anythingbeen said of what the "permenant" fix is?????

I actually got a real nice view on my recent trip of the temporary fix, on an HHP engine while it sat in WAS. Sadly I had forgotten to bring my camera with me. However one could clearly see where they had bolted an extra metal bracket on top of the original.

 

[battalion51]

No offense Alan but, why would you even go near tracks without your camera? Personally I bring my scanner and camera every time I even go near tracks, just in case we get foreign power or something like that. Then again that might get a little heavy after a while for you since you ride so often.

 

[AlanB]

No offense Alan but, why would you even go near tracks without your camera? Personally I bring my scanner and camera every time I even go near tracks, just in case we get foreign power or something like that. Then again that might get a little heavy after a while for you since you ride so often.

Plus it was at 11:00 PM when the train got to DC. That makes it a little dark for taking photos, even with a flash. Since I wasn't intending to take any pictures at night, and I wasn't even sure if I could get near the engine, I didn't bother to carry my camera.

In fact, after about two minutes of standing near the head end, I was chased away by a worker. Thanks to security concerns, Amtrak is clamping down on people just wandering around the platforms.

When I was in NOL about to board the City of NOL, I walked past my sleeper car so that I could write down the consist numbers for the head end. Another employee came up to me and asked me what I was doing. I told him and he told me that they don't allow any one to wander around up there. I told him that I was sorry, and he said no problem that I would have no way of knowing that I didn't belong up there.

He then offered to escort me the rest of the way, so that I could take down all the numbers. He asked me why I was doing that and I told him that I would include the info in a trip report that I was writing.

He was quite polite and friendly about the whole thing, but he also never left me alone until we reached my sleeper on the way back.

Bottom line, it would appear that Amtrak is trying very hard to ensure the security of the trains and especially the engines.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Life will never be the same after 9/11.

At least he was polite.

But, man, it is all kind of scarey....the freedom we used to have to wander all around.......never again.

Another thing which hurts me is at the airport, how we cannot see our friends /relatives actually arrive at the gate anymore, or see them off at the gate. It will never be the same.

Hope you had a good trip all the way around. I look forward to reading your post.

 

[AlanB]

At least he was polite.

We'll the guy in DC, just kinda looked at me and told me to leave that area. However the gentleman in NOL, was absolutely polite to a fault. He was a perfect gentleman, smiling the whole time and engaging me in conversation.

Plus I thought that it was incredibly nice, that instead of just asking me to leave the area, he willingly and happily escorted me up to the front so that I could complete my task. That's good customer service, in fact that's above and beyond the call of duty.

 

[Amfleet]

As I've said before at South Station you can't even get on to Amtrak's platform as it has one of those rope barriers and some worker is always around.

 

[AlanB]

As I've said before at South Station you can't even get on to Amtrak's platform as it has one of those rope barriers and some worker is always around.

Not always.

 

[Amfleet]

That's always been my experience (from last year when I was there more frequently).

 

[tp49]

I really believe that the security level depends on the station. I walked outside on the platform this morning right next to 6 from the head end to the back and no one challenged me...of course I was going to my train on the adjacent track at the time, but even when I watch 14 come in on those nights I can't sleep I have never had any problem.

 

[AlanB]

That's always been my experience (from last year when I was there more frequently).

Amfleet,

You are correct, most typically Sou Sta is exactly like you say. However, last February my good friend Superliner Diner and I managed to board an Acela Express at South. The tensi-barrier was done and there was no one guarding the area.

It wasn't until after we had boarded the train, that a very rude Amtrak employee came to yell at us. I suspect that it was her job to have been guarding the gate, and she had failed to do so. Therefore in an effort to vindicate her-self, she felt it necessary to yell at us and basically scoff at our reason for being there.

As you know, I almost always travel in First Class, so I’m quite aware of the rules and the perks that are offered to those in the Club Acela and Metropolitan lounges. For those who may not know, one of the perks of the lounge is that you get to pre-board your train ahead of the crowds.

On this particular day since I was riding with Superliner Diner (SD) and his son, I held a business class ticket, as did SD and his son. However, using one of my approved methods for getting into a Club Acela lounge without a first class ticket, the three of us had enjoyed the lounge that evening. We did this in part, because as SD recently pointed out in another topic, sitting on those benches at Sou Sta in the winter is the pits.

Anyway, the lounge attendant came and told us that, and I quote exactly what he said, “Your train is now boarding on track 8”. So naturally we went down and walked right out onto track #8. When we reached the train only the FC car door was open. Knowing that we didn’t have FC tickets we went to stand next to the first BC car. A redcap came by and boarded a few BC passengers further up towards the head end.

About 5 minutes later all the doors on the train opened, so we boarded our car. A few minutes after that along came this wonderful employee. She demanded to know why we had entered the train, so I politely explained it to her. I told her the above story that we were in the lounge and he told us to come down and board the train. She rudely says “Well who told you that you could board?” I said, “Well if someone tells me that the train is ready and someone else opens the doors, I’m going to board the train.” I then told her “That I didn’t just decide that it was time to board, and I didn’t open the doors to the train.” “But when it’s freezing out there and I see an open door to a warm train, I’m going to get on.”

She then asks again “Who told you that the train was ready?” I explained that the Club Acela attendant told us. She then said “Well why aren’t you in first class?” So I went on to tell her the story of how we had been able to enter the lounge. She says in a huff “Well I never heard of that”, and storms off. Like just because she didn’t bother to read the memo, we had to be lying.

A minute later, I can hear her calling the station manager on my scanner wanting to know about this ridiculous idea that non-first class passengers can get into Club Acela. A few minutes later he replies that there is indeed a program that allows holders of certain types of Amex cards into the lounge. She radios back and tells the station manager to inform Jim, the lounge attendant; “that nobody boards HER train without HER permission”. Of course she had completely forgotten that SHE had given permission to the lounge to send down the FC passengers, and to the redcaps to board the train.

Now instead of coming back to apologize for her rudeness and mistake, she instead chooses to sic the conductor on us. He comes back and starts to lecture us about how we could have boarded the wrong train; we could have gotten hurt; and yada yada yada. We of course explain to him, that we are seasoned travelers who can tell one train from another. Plus we again try to repeat our story. He doesn’t want to hear any explanation and thinks that we should just listen to him lecture us. So he gets mad and storms off telling another conductor to deal with us.

The second conductor talked to us for a few more minutes, before he also left as I gave up trying to explain to him why we were right. We left Boston without any other incidents, although I noticed that the head conductor ignored us every time he walked by during our journey.

I sought out the head conductor as I was exiting the train at NYP, since I had now cooled off from what had for a brief time been a rather heated argument. I apologized for having lost my cool with him, and asked to just listen to my story for a minute. This time he did so without interrupting me and when I finished he was quite mad again, however this time he was now mad at the female employee in Boston. She had apparently never given him the full story, only telling him that we had snuck out with the redcap.

He then apologized to me for his conduct. Sadly, I should have sought him out sooner as he told me that upon hearing my story, he would have bumped the three of us up to the FC car. He never told me who the female employee was, but I assume that it was her job to watch the gate, since I know that she was neither the conductor nor the flag on our train that night. In fact I never heard her again that night on my scanner after her tirade into the radio.

 

[Amfleet]

WOW!!! Never knew things got that bad. I think I'll be even more extra cautious now. B)

 

[AlanB]

Amfleet,

At Sou Sta they usually have a redcap escort the passengers from the lounge down to the train, which would have avoided this whole problem. Oddly enough that night I guess that they didn't have enough RC's to do that, so Jim just sent us and the other passenger in the lounge who was in FC down to the train.

 

[tp49]

Hopefully that rude female employee received some sort of disciplinary action for her behavior. Talking with someone is one thing, yelling at passengers is something completely different.

 

[AlanB]

Hopefully that rude female employee received some sort of disciplinary action for her behavior. Talking with someone is one thing, yelling at passengers is something completely different.

Sadly, she was wearing her jacket over her name tag so I was unable to get her name and report her. I don't know if the conductor ever reported her or not.

 

[Viewliner]

Are there any problems lately at NYP? Sorry to hear that story.

 

[AlanB]

Are there any problems lately at NYP? Sorry to hear that story.

Viewliner,

Not that I'm aware of. Plus Penn is such a busy station, with dozens of stairs and esculators, that it's almost impossible to control access there. There are some tracks that only NJT uses and some that only the LIRR use. However most tracks are shared amongst all three RR's Amtrak, the LIRR, and NJT.

I suppose that if you were just wandering aimlessly on a platform that had no trains boarding or de-training, that someone might question you. I've never tried that though, and have no reason nor desire to try it.

 

[Viewliner]

I meant for photo purposes.

 

[AlanB]

Well at the platform level, pictures are a problem with the poor lighting. I don't know what would happen if you started taking flash pictures down there.

In the main station, you had better ask an Amtrak policeman for permission first. That's what I did when I shot a few photo's of the new NJT concourse. He told me that pictures are ok, but no video taping. He also cautioned me not to get crazy taking lots and lots of photos. They are indeed worried about people plotting things and using pictures to help them plot.

 

[battalion51]

When I was at Penn I didn't have a problem with taking pictures. Most turned out well, except for a P-32 on a Turboliner, whos reflective striping flashed. The employee who told me about the Turboliner actually asked me if I could come back Saturday for a behind the scenes tour, unfortunately I could't accept as my flight home was on Saturday (Dammit!).