I know about a year ago, Amtrak decided to put only one locomotive on the Eagle. There use to be two. So why did they do this? Any other long-distance routes have one locomotive?
Chris
Chris
One Texas Eagle Locomotive
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battalion51
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Many long distance routes in the east have only one pony, among them Silver Meteor/Star (with no RoadRailers), Palmetto bug (no RoadRailers), Sunset SFA-NOL, City of New Orleans, Cardinal, Pennsylvanian, and the LSL ALB-NYP. The one engine saves maintenance one using two engines vs. one and allows Amtrak to use less fuel (in theory), and store other engines that aren't needed (most P-40's). Two engines are more reliable and produce better load times, but Amtrak for now uses one engine on most routes where no severe grade is encountered.
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panamaclipper
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No trans dorm on the northbound Eagle that just pulled out of Dallas. I've noted that more often lately. Two sleepers but no crew car.
Running 1 loco for the last two years, has created a few horrible situations. 
The P-42 has one generator, while most locos have a main and auxilliary generator. The purpose of the aux is to provide HEP at a lower RPM setting, when the consist is sitting for a long period of time.
The P-42 has two sets of slip rings mounted on one shaft, the main and aux.
Last August, a consist went bad in a woody area and alot of passengers had to be hospitalized for heatstroke. Both generator brushes were not locked in the brushholders during the inspection and blew up from the heat. This generated a fault in the AUX computer and shut down the air compressor. Not being able to release the brakes, the passengers cooked for hours until fire-rescue could get to them.
I think Amtrak should have 2 locos on all LDT's. Reliability is more important than cost savings!!
Miami Joe B)
The P-42 has one generator, while most locos have a main and auxilliary generator. The purpose of the aux is to provide HEP at a lower RPM setting, when the consist is sitting for a long period of time.
The P-42 has two sets of slip rings mounted on one shaft, the main and aux.
Last August, a consist went bad in a woody area and alot of passengers had to be hospitalized for heatstroke. Both generator brushes were not locked in the brushholders during the inspection and blew up from the heat. This generated a fault in the AUX computer and shut down the air compressor. Not being able to release the brakes, the passengers cooked for hours until fire-rescue could get to them.
I think Amtrak should have 2 locos on all LDT's. Reliability is more important than cost savings!!
Miami Joe B)
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panamaclipper
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NB Texas Eagle just departed Dallas again with no dorm transition car. Two sleepers, three coaches, diner, obs and baggage. And does that mean there is no in-train access from the Superliners to the baggage, correct?
That's correct, without a trans/dorm there is no way to reach the bag from the train. The only access would be from the ground.panamaclipper said:
Yes, it usually does. In part because it still does haul a bit of freight on the rear, in part because the extra power is needed to climb the mountains.mustymom said:
The Texas Eagle encounters no large mountains during its journey.
Lately its just been two or three locos, as the amount of freight has gone way down. I don't think that it has seen 4 in a long time.engine999 said:
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