jmx53
Train Attendant
This was posted on TO: ACS-64 photo
ACS-64 and VL II's... Status?
- Thread starter Acela150
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sitzplatz17
Lead Service Attendant
Nice, thats a pretty cool looking loco.
W
Woody
Guest
Sorry. I don't have the hang of it for replying, much less for editing quoted Comments.
Let me see if my cut-and-paste skills are adequate:
To aflgg: Thanks for the link. I had read it before but .... Somehow I not paid ANY attention
to the photos at the bottom of the Attachment. Good pix, needed better captions.
Let me see if my cut-and-paste skills are adequate:
To aflgg: Thanks for the link. I had read it before but .... Somehow I not paid ANY attention
to the photos at the bottom of the Attachment. Good pix, needed better captions.
Acela150
Super Buff
Looks like crap IMO..
Looks generations better than the Meatballs. By far, the UGLIEST locomotives ever placed on Amtrak's roster. Then again, as long as they run like a Singer sewing machine and do their duty with faith and little fuss, who cares what they look like?
Swadian Hardcore
Engineer
What's a meatball?
N
Nathanael
Guest
Looking at this photo, I *still* can't tell how many roomettes the bag/dorm cars are going to have. It's not clear to me where the baggage door goes and it's not clear to me where the shower and bathroom go. I've been trying to figure this out because I'm trying to figure out how many extra roomettes are likely to be added to various trains when these enter service.
The ACS electric locomotives look nice to me. Bad side visibility; that's probably due to the FRA "corner post" requirements, though.
The ACS electric locomotives look nice to me. Bad side visibility; that's probably due to the FRA "corner post" requirements, though.
Acela150
Super Buff
AEM-7 nickname, along with toasters.
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Acela150
Super Buff
If you zoom in on the photo you can note that the loco number shown is 600. It's on the 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.
Swadian Hardcore
Engineer
Dude, the AEM-7 looks wayyy better than an ACS-64!
rickycourtney
Conductor
From the photo there appears to be a baggage door on the far end of the car (away from the camera.) There are also four sets of windows on that side along with the opening to insert the prefab rooms. Depending on if there is a roomette behind that opening or not... there could be 8 or 10 roomettes in these baggage/dorm cars.
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Acela150
Super Buff
Just as long as it works and I can take photos of it. I really don't care what it looks like. My opinion is it look like crap. If it functions like an Electric Unit and Runs well. I won't give a hoot about the look. All I care is it works.
battalion51
Engineer
The interesting item with the numbering in the 6xx series is what happens to the HHP-8s while the ACS is being rolled out. IIRC the HHPs are the last ones that will be taken offline, and even then it seems like there was a plan to keep some of them around for work trains and the like (even though the AEM-7s are probably more suited for that service). So what will the new numbers be for the HHP-8s in that interim, guess we'll have to see...
Acela150
Super Buff
It's possible they would leave it the same. But I don't see that happening. It'd be interesting to see the renumbering. I guess that Amtrak would put them in the 300 or 400 Series. Just a guess.
Swadian Hardcore
Engineer
The HHP-8 is not that old. Amtrak should not retire them yet.
Well the oldest is already 15 years old and it will be approching 20 by the time all of thE new engines are delivered. And with all the problems that Amtrak has with the HHP engines, I agree that they won't last long. Besides Amtrak has more or less confirmed that they don't plan to hang on to the HHP's for very long.
The bag/dorms will have 9 roomettes. If one is standing in the vestibule or "B" end of the car looking towards the baggage area, the odd numbered rooms 1-9 would be on the left starting just inside the door. The even numbered rooms 2-8 would be on the right with room #2 opposite #3. The shower is next to room 9, while the bathrooms are next to room 8. After opening the internal door between the crew area and the bag area, there will be two luggage modules on each side, followed by baggage loading doors on each side, followed by two more luggage modules on each side.
Acela150
Super Buff
In the 15 years or so that the HHP has been in service it has been a troublesome locomotive. I was on 163 once and a HHP was leading. We were in the East River Tunnels about half a mile away from NYP the Pantograph stopped collecting electricity from the Caternary. It took 10 minutes for the problem to be solved. The train lost 20 minutes because of that. I enjoy the ride behind a HHP, I think it's a very aerodynamic unit and picks up speed quick. But I believe Jis pointed this issue out and I agree with this. Is that the HHP sways a ton when it's going full speed, same with AE sets, but the AEM-7's have a very steady ride.
The AE video is at 150MPH and you can notice the sway in the beginning and end of the video.
In the videos below it shows the sway of the HHP's, AE's, and AEM-7's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oOzFRiJ3TU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da5Q_v5zYy4
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Swadian Hardcore
Engineer
I guess the HHP-8 is the G4500 of Amtrak. It looks cool but runs poorly.
Heading North
Service Attendant
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2008
- Messages
- 178
The baggage-dorms make me wonder: with 9 rooms, what happens on a train where not all crew rooms are filled? (Thinking about you, Cardinal.) I get the purpose of separating the crew (and frankly they deserve it, and it's better for them!), but could they be used for passengers? Similarly, on a train like 66/67, the Boston Lake Shore, or an extended Pennsylvanian, again without much of an overnight crew, could one of these cars function as a sleeper in a pinch? On 66/67 for example, I can't really see someone demanding a bedroom for a short trip. Then again, presumably there's no ADA capability so there may need to be a full sleeper in the consist as well. (Or as another possibility, could these accompany a Transition Sleeper, making the transition car all-revenue or close to it?) Just thinking out loud about how to make more rooms available, since Amtrak really should be trying to maximize sleeper space (and revenue) and I know it will never have as many sleeping cars to match demand, especially in the east.
Alternate uses for the baggage-dorms have been discussed here many times. Remember the order is for 25 bag-dorms and 25 diner cars, suggesting they generally one of each will be used on a single level LD train. If a baggage-dorm has 1 or 2 roomettes open, probably too much trouble to use it as an revenue room. The crew likely prefers to have their own space and the LSA would have to service it from the adjacent car.
Using a baggage-dorm as the only sleeper car would present ADA compliance issues. Also, a LSA who supports only 8 other roomettes is a poor use of manpower.
As for the Cardinal, the plan reportedly is for it to get 2 sleeper cars and a baggage-dorm which suggests that it would get a full service diner as well.
Heading North,
I've heard of no such plans to split the car into potential revenue rooms vs. crew rooms. And it would be pretty hard to do it. On the Superliners there is a clear dividing line between crew and pax at he stairs.
On most trains save the Cardinal, there will only be one or two unused rooms anyhow, so it's not even worth the effort to try & split things. On the LSL I'm not sure if both legs will actually get a bag/dorm. It is possible that only the NYP section will get the combo car, while the Boston section gets a standard bag.
As for 66/67, that's an unusual situation as that trains requires no crew rooms anyhow. So it is possible that Amtrak could save two full sleepers for the LD's by using a bag/dorm as a revenue car & selling 8 rooms. The stumbling block could however well be ADA requirements as there would be no ADA room on the train.
Finally, there really aren't enough of the combo cars to equip the bi-level trains with them. However the orignal plans were to have no full bags at all and build all of the cars as bag/dorms. Along with that Amtrak would have converted the existing Superliner Trans/Dorms into full revenue sleepers. That idea died at least in part due to costs. A full bag costs far less to build than a combo bag/dorm car which requires water, toilets, AC, & heat, along with the actual rooms. And then there would have been the extra costs to convert the Trans/Dorm cars.
I've heard of no such plans to split the car into potential revenue rooms vs. crew rooms. And it would be pretty hard to do it. On the Superliners there is a clear dividing line between crew and pax at he stairs.
On most trains save the Cardinal, there will only be one or two unused rooms anyhow, so it's not even worth the effort to try & split things. On the LSL I'm not sure if both legs will actually get a bag/dorm. It is possible that only the NYP section will get the combo car, while the Boston section gets a standard bag.
As for 66/67, that's an unusual situation as that trains requires no crew rooms anyhow. So it is possible that Amtrak could save two full sleepers for the LD's by using a bag/dorm as a revenue car & selling 8 rooms. The stumbling block could however well be ADA requirements as there would be no ADA room on the train.
Finally, there really aren't enough of the combo cars to equip the bi-level trains with them. However the orignal plans were to have no full bags at all and build all of the cars as bag/dorms. Along with that Amtrak would have converted the existing Superliner Trans/Dorms into full revenue sleepers. That idea died at least in part due to costs. A full bag costs far less to build than a combo bag/dorm car which requires water, toilets, AC, & heat, along with the actual rooms. And then there would have been the extra costs to convert the Trans/Dorm cars.
rickycourtney
Conductor
I think it's highly unlikely that Amtrak will sell any of the room in the baggage/dorm cars. They will likely use the rest of the roomettes for "Business Travel" (employees traveling on official company business or just riding on their pass.)
cirdan
Engineer
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2011
- Messages
- 3,653
I don't actually even think it looks that cool. It's way too plasticky for my taste.
battalion51
Engineer
The one thing that most people forget about is the Conductor/AC on the long haul trains. Most crews usually split the train in half, one guy works the sleepers/bags and one guy works the coaches. So it really is ideal for the guy who is working the sleepers/bags to be able to setup shop on that end of the train. If there is a room open that can quickly become his "office" so that he's just a few steps away from the baggage car.
Also, I don't foresee the bag/dorm taking the place of too many full baggage cars. Instead I think the idea is that they will supplement space on most routes where space can be tight. So for example on the Meteor going north you could put all of your New York and Washington bags in the dorm and then put everything else in the main baggage car. The only train I can really envision the full baggage car going away on is the New York side of the LSL. Since the vast majority of the OBS is headed to NYP you send the dorm that way and put any NYP bound bags there. The Boston side keeps the full baggage car and you work it that way. That's just my crazy thought though, we'll see how things actually pan out once they start rolling off the line...
Also, I don't foresee the bag/dorm taking the place of too many full baggage cars. Instead I think the idea is that they will supplement space on most routes where space can be tight. So for example on the Meteor going north you could put all of your New York and Washington bags in the dorm and then put everything else in the main baggage car. The only train I can really envision the full baggage car going away on is the New York side of the LSL. Since the vast majority of the OBS is headed to NYP you send the dorm that way and put any NYP bound bags there. The Boston side keeps the full baggage car and you work it that way. That's just my crazy thought though, we'll see how things actually pan out once they start rolling off the line...
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