D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Oct 14, 2008 14:33:41 GMT -8
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Post by CN2972South on Oct 18, 2008 16:56:01 GMT -8
A few rail shots from my recent trip. Those are some neat shots. |
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Post by Mike C on Mar 26, 2009 11:48:09 GMT -8
I had the privilege to take Amtrak's Coast Starlight between Los Angeles' Union Station and Seattle's King Street Station, as well as Cascades between Seattle and Vancouver. Pacific Surfliner (AMTK 458)  Coast Starlight 14 (AMTK 150/470)  Empire Builder (AMTK 153)  Cascades 513 (AMTK 90278)  |
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Post by Canucks on Mar 26, 2009 12:42:44 GMT -8
Nice photos Newflyer. It is nice to see they still have some F40s around.
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FNS
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The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
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Post by FNS on Mar 26, 2009 15:22:21 GMT -8
Nice photos Newflyer. It is nice to see they still have some F40s around. Those F40s in the Talgo trainsets are non-powered. The engine is taken out and these act as cab units. At the other end, these sets usually have an F59 loco. These are staffed when the train is in pull mode. The F40NPCU (Non Powered Cab Unit) are staffed when the train is in push mode. Many of these hollowed out F40s are designated "Cabbages" (that's "Cab" and "Baggage" merged together in the same word) and have a baggage door at each side and carry baggage (in lieu of a traditional baggage car). The Empire Builder train you saw in Portland is the Portland branch. This contains the locomotive(s), a Sightseer Lounge Car, a Coach/Baggage, a Coach, and a Sleeping Car. This section leaves Portland at the same time the Seattle branch does and both mate in Spokane. The Seattle branch contains locomotives, a Baggage Car, a Transitional Sleeper (usually for the crew), two Sleeping Cars, a Dining Car, and two Coaches. At Spokane, the Seattle branch always backs into the Portland branch. The Portland loco(s) move to the siding and await the westbound train, which usually arrives a bit after the eastbound leaves. Just prior to the Seattle branch leaves Spokane and head west, the branches are uncoupled. After the Seattle branch leaves, the Portland loco(s) back in and couples to the Portland branch and that set heads to Portland. So, there is a bit of info for you on the northwest operations of the Empire Builder. |
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FNS
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The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
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Post by FNS on Jun 6, 2009 12:47:32 GMT -8
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Post by Mike C on Jun 20, 2009 14:56:44 GMT -8
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Aug 15, 2009 3:12:51 GMT -8
Just happened to be in the right place and quick enough to snap an Acela train as it passed by at 240 kph.  |
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Post by Northern Exploration on Aug 15, 2009 6:13:54 GMT -8
Just happened to be in the right place and quick enough to snap an Acela train as it passed by at 240 kph. If the Mayor of Quebec City has his way, an updated version of the Acela will soon be zooming between Quebec City to Montreal and then beyond to Ottawa and Toronto. One hour between Quebec City and Montreal would be a great boon to business. There currently is yet another fed/prov study into High Speed Rail in the corridor underway and hopefully it will come out viable. A recent 300 million investment into VIA Rail in the corridor is a step in the right direct direct. It will shave 20 to 30 minutes on the trip as it stands now. Maybe, soon or not so soon - ie. don't hold your breath. |
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Aug 17, 2009 8:01:40 GMT -8
Just happened to be in the right place and quick enough to snap an Acela train as it passed by at 240 kph. If the Mayor of Quebec City has his way, an updated version of the Acela will soon be zooming between Quebec City to Montreal and then beyond to Ottawa and Toronto. One hour between Quebec City and Montreal would be a great boon to business. There currently is yet another fed/prov study into High Speed Rail in the corridor underway and hopefully it will come out viable. A recent 300 million investment into VIA Rail in the corridor is a step in the right direct direct. It will shave 20 to 30 minutes on the trip as it stands now. Maybe, soon or not so soon - ie. don't hold your breath. I was reading a little about the Acela, and I found it interesting that it runs on what are essentially standard rail-lines and uses a tilting body to make up for the lack of banking on said existing lines. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela_ExpressThere were a lot of concerns originally with level crossings and problems with spacing with adjacent tracks, as well as limits to how well the electrical supply lines could handle high speed trains which limit overall speed to ~115kph overall from 200 kph overall. (All in the wiki...) So I guess my question on this would be, "Does the existing infrastructure need significantly more investment to handling the 200kph the Acela trains manage, or is there going to need to be a significant rolling stock investment, too?" |
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Post by Northern Exploration on Aug 18, 2009 14:13:39 GMT -8
If the Mayor of Quebec City has his way, an updated version of the Acela will soon be zooming between Quebec City to Montreal and then beyond to Ottawa and Toronto. One hour between Quebec City and Montreal would be a great boon to business. There currently is yet another fed/prov study into High Speed Rail in the corridor underway and hopefully it will come out viable. A recent 300 million investment into VIA Rail in the corridor is a step in the right direct direct. It will shave 20 to 30 minut es on the trip as it stands now. Maybe, soon or not so soon - ie. don't hold your breath. I was reading a little about the Acela, and I found it interesting that it runs on what are essentially standard rail-lines and uses a tilting body to make up for the lack of banking on said existing lines. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela_ExpressThere were a lot of concerns originally with level crossings and problems with spacing with adjacent tracks, as well as limits to how well the electrical supply lines could handle high speed trains which limit overall speed to ~115kph overall from 200 kph overall. (All in the wiki...) So I guess my question on this would be, "Does the existing infrastructure need significantly more investment to handling the 200kph the Acela trains manage, or is there going to need to be a significant rolling stock investment, too?" Better tracks would equal faster service. The Acela is made to do the best with what there is but the whole network is lacking. It isn't traveling at the speed it is capable of. There is a turbine version that can go much faster but the existing tracks can't support it. Dan can tell you much more about it. An Acela type train on existing tracks between Toronto and Montreal would be faster by about an hour. The problem is that the rail lines are owned by the railways and not VIA so it can be held up by freight trains. A third rail is being added in key locations for $300 million dollars with a recent announcement. It is a step to high speed rail. However, a true High Speed Rail would do the trip in 2.5 hours or so. So with the security at the airports that would be a truly competitive time. Porter flies from downtown Toronto to Dorval YUL (Trudeau) airport, Air Canada has hourly plus flights to YUL on just about every type of aircraft they fly. WestJet has a decent frequency as well. So the volume by air is quite something between the cities. The flying time in the air is only 55 minutes however with ground traffic etc. Add security, taxi time, and travel time to the airport and you get the true travel time of almost 2.5 to 3 hours downtown to downtown. Megabus (part of Coach Canada) has just started double decker intercity service between Toronto and Montreal. That is in addition to a number of other scheduled services including very frequent Greyhound. It is a 4.5 to 5 hour trip by car depending on stops and how much over the speed limit your drive. My car could do the trip on one tank of gas but I would often stop for gas before entering Quebec if the prices were better on the Ontario side. The fastest I have driven it is in 4 hours at a quiet time so no traffic delays in Toronto or Montreal. |
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FNS
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The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
Posts: 4,948
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Post by FNS on Sept 17, 2009 23:15:32 GMT -8
AT LONG LAST, A GREAT TOWN GETS RAIL SERVICE!In one week, the brakes will be squealing for a great purpose aboard Amtrak's Empire Builder as this train will begin serving the Bavarian Village city of Leavenworth, WA. YAY!!  The Seattle-branch of the Empire Builder leaves Seattle daily at 1645PT and serves Edmonds, Everett, soon Leavenworth, Wenatchee, Ephrata, and couples to the Portland-branch at Spokane before continuing to Chicago via Glacier Park. The train uses Superliner train sets. Here is the official news release from Amtrak: www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/News_Release_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1189639716475&ssid=180Leavenworth was quite a run down town in the early 1960s. Then, a bright idea came up to transform almost all the buildings into Bavarian-style ones. A lot of work was done. After the work was done, this became one of the most beautiful cities anyone could imagine seeing at the foot of towering mountains. A carillon was installed in one of the buildings. John Klein did a monumental recording of this in the 1960s and the LP title is "VILLAGE BELLS". One of my favorite albums!    Our musical moderator would really love this album. I can't wait now to take my mom on easy train rides to our favorite mountain town of Leavenworth! This is such a neat town to visit. Lots of activities. Christmas is special as this town is lit beautifully at night. Leavenworth, here we come!
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 18, 2009 1:41:11 GMT -8
The Seattle-branch of the Empire Builder leaves Seattle daily at 1645PT and serves Edmonds, Everett, soon Leavenworth, Wenatchee, Ephrata, and couples to the Portland-branch at Spokane before continuing to Chicago via Glacier Park. Those towns are familiar to me from a 1980 family road-trip. Is that the "Steven's Pass"? Does the railway follow the same route as the highway? Our road-trip went to Grand Coulee Dam, and then went north to Okanogan and across the border at Oroville. |
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FNS
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The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
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Post by FNS on Sept 18, 2009 10:22:22 GMT -8
The Seattle-branch of the Empire Builder leaves Seattle daily at 1645PT and serves Edmonds, Everett, soon Leavenworth, Wenatchee, Ephrata, and couples to the Portland-branch at Spokane before continuing to Chicago via Glacier Park. Those towns are familiar to me from a 1980 family road-trip. Is that the "Steven's Pass"? Does the railway follow the same route as the highway? Our road-trip went to Grand Coulee Dam, and then went north to Okanogan and across the border at Oroville. This parallels the Stevens Pass Highway, US2. The track runs under the Stevens Pass ski area in a 7.79 mile long tunnel, the second Cascade Tunnel. East of the Tunnel, the line runs east of the highway along the Chumstick line before rejoining the close proximity of the highway by Leavenworth. Prior to this new daily service, Alki Tours has been running a "Snow Train" using Amtrak's single level equipment (Horizon and Amfleet) usually with a former GN Great Dome (the full length one that was open only to sleeping car passengers in the 1950s consist). This leaves Seattle in the morning on December weekends with a stop at Edmonds and Everett. After spending part of the afternoon in Wenatchee, this train returns to Leavenworth to pick up happy folks for the trip back. Prior to the construction of Icicle Station, this was a flat area where school buses would meet the Snow Train to take the people to the city. |
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jun 8, 2010 9:04:38 GMT -8
The railroad corssing at the Steilacoom Ferry Terminal.
This crossing has a wayside horn, which is used in place of the train horn and is supposed to produce less noise.
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Post by Kahloke on Jun 8, 2010 10:13:00 GMT -8
The railroad corssing at the Steilacoom Ferry Terminal. This crossing has a wayside horn, which is used in place of the train horn and is supposed to produce less noise. I was down there on Saturday and heard that horn. It is kind of different, although it seems effective. |
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Post by lmtengs on Jun 8, 2010 14:21:51 GMT -8
How come all the AmTrack trains have those silly little raised areas at the beginning and end of each train?
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Quatchi
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Engineering Officer - CCG
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Post by Quatchi on Jun 8, 2010 14:41:42 GMT -8
Decrease air resistance.
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Post by Nickfro on Sept 21, 2010 11:19:27 GMT -8
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Post by Nickfro on Oct 14, 2010 15:22:59 GMT -8
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Post by lmtengs on Oct 14, 2010 15:36:18 GMT -8
Good for them!  I'm happy to see the tourist loads will keep on coming! |
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FNS
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The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
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Post by FNS on Oct 14, 2010 15:57:51 GMT -8
This is great news!
I took that new early morning train south to Seattle once from Vancouver. This was on the day after Canada won the gold medal in Hockey and my attendance of the Olympic Closing Ceremonies in BC Place Stadium.
Haven't been north of Everett on that northbound evening train yet. I've taken that one maybe a couple of times to Everett from Seattle. On one of those trips, they were showing that great Beatles movie (which also features the Fab Four riding aboard British Railways in a mix consist of Mark 1 and Stanier coaches on their way to their next venue).
I usually ride with my legs propped up on the Empire Builder, though, or riding Sounder on my "just for fun" train rides up to Edmonds or Everett.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 17, 2012 20:41:44 GMT -8
Amtrak station at Belton Montana, otherwise known as Great Northern's West Glacier station. - the historic building hosts a Great Northern museum.   |
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Post by Mike C on Sept 12, 2012 17:12:38 GMT -8
Amtrak in the Northeast  #919, Northeast Regional, Union Station, Washington DC by MileagePhoto, on Flickr  #919, Northeast Regional, Washington DC by MileagePhoto, on Flickr  #952, Northeast Regional, Washington DC by MileagePhoto, on Flickr  Acela, Penn Station, New York, NY by MileagePhoto, on Flickr  Acela, Penn Station, New York, NY by MileagePhoto, on Flickr |
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FNS
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The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
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Post by FNS on Sept 12, 2012 20:54:50 GMT -8
Nice photos, "MileagePhoto"! Engines 919 and 952 are AEM-7 electric locomotives ( ASEA Electro- Motive 7000 hp). They are also known as "Toasters". I have a cab ride video from Pentrex of a trip done from Washington DC to Philadelphia PA. This is part of it as placed on YouTube by a train fan: AEM-7's pull trains up to about 125 MPH. Here are Jim Hebner's photos of some of them in action: www.hebners.net/amtrak/amtaem7_900_909.htmlI have a couple of these "Toasters" on my HO track. |
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