Amtrak Accepts First Rebuilt Turboliner

[AlanB]

The New York State Department of Transportation and Amtrak accepted the first Rohr RTL-III Turbotrain rebuilt by Super Steel Schenectady.

The small story from Trains.Com can be found here.

 

[Viewliner]

I'd Love to see it make its first revenue run.

 

[jccollins]

If you would just like to read it, instead of having to register on the site, here it is:

B)

First rebuilt turbo train accepted for service in New York

The New York State Department of Transportation and Amtrak accepted the first Rohr RTL-III Turbotrain rebuilt by Super Steel Schenectady.

Officials accepted the train on Thursday, November 7, after an overnight test run between Rensselaer and Penn Station, DOT spokeswoman Melissa Carlson told the Albany Business Review. The train may enter revenue service between Albany and New York by the end of the month.

The train is the first of seven to be rebuilt under a $74 million state-funded project. The remaining sets are supposed to be completed by late next year, state officials have said.

 

[Superliner Diner]

The old adage, "I'll believe it when I see it" certainly applies here. How long have the rebuilt Turbo's been "almost ready to enter service"?

My feeling is that since most likely the assignment of the RTL-III trainset to one or more of the runs would necessitate a schedule change, they might just wait until January, when another timetable change is planned along with the release of the hardcopy Northeast timetables. The RTL-III and its older sibling the RTL-II are supposed to coexist on the Empire Corridor for a while, as the older set (known as Set 7) is not set to be taken out of service until the second rebuilt RTL-III is in service.

Since the older set has been assigned to 256 southbound and 259 northbound, I am not certain if the rebuilt RTL-III will get this run, or another one when it begins service.

 

[AlanB]

My feeling is that since most likely the assignment of the RTL-III trainset to one or more of the runs would necessitate a schedule change, they might just wait until January, when another timetable change is planned along with the release of the hardcopy Northeast timetables.

Actually, they haven't completed the necessary track upgrades needed to run the new Turboliner at the higher speeds. So therefore no schedule change would be needed. They could simply free up some Amfleet equipment by pressing the Turboliner into service to replace an existing run.

 

[Amfleet]

Once all the Turboliners are rebuilt, I beleive that's 7 trainsets, will that be able to fill the entire schedule for NYC-ALB trains.

 

[AlanB]

I suppose if they only ran between NYP and ALB, then it might just be possible to cover all of the runs with the Turboliners, once they are all in service. However, last I knew at least one or two runs west of Albany were also supposed to use the Turboliners. This was to help reduce travel times across the western part of the state too. If they do indeed send even one Turboliner per day west of Albany, then no they can't fill out the whole NYP - ALB.

Also any routine maintenance would require the removal of one set, and therefore a substitution with an Amfleet set. So based upon that, my guess is that no you won't see the entire NYP - ALB schedule filled out with Turboliners. I'm also not considering the fact they there is also a plan to increase the number of trains per day between NYP - ALB, so that again would prohibit an all Turboliner schedule.

 

[Viewliner]

I've heard the first set is going to replace an Amfleet set, and Subsequent Turboliner Sets will be added trains on the Empire Corridor.