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So Amtrak and CHSR have sent out a combo RFI for 59 trainsets, requiring 220mph operational speed and currently being in service today, for use on both the Northeast Corridor and California's LA<->SF route. Looking at the internet the options would seem to be: Alstrom AGV Max speed: 220mph In service with NTV in Italy Why it will win: The AGV is basically the next generation TGV, and Amtrak already operates and maintains a ton of TGV tech on Acela. Why it won't win: Too unproven. Politics.  Siemens Velaro Max speed: 236mph In service in multiple variants with a variety of customers Why it will win: It's had widespread success across the world, and Siemens can build and maintain them in the US. Why it won't win: Politics, price.  Bombardier Zefiro Max speed: 236mph In service with Italian and Chinese national railways Why it will win: Bombardier helped build and support the current Acela, and they can maintain them in the US. Why it won't win: Less proven and... yeah, politics.  E Series Shinkansen Max speed: 217mph In service in Japan and China (variants based on Shinkansen tech) Why it will win: Incredibly successful and proven technology base, large political and financing efforts behind bringing the technology to the US. Why it won't win: There's someone else with just a little more political and monetary clout.  Sifang CRH380A Max speed: 236mph In service with Chinese national railways. Why it will win: Ok, so this is really just a lightly copied and changed E2 Shinkansen rebranded by the Chinese, as is their long tradition. That means proven technology, plus Chinese government incentives and loans, plus political pressure. Why it won't win: Not much chance of US based production or support, and copyright problems with Japan. 
Cygni fucked around with this message at 07:27 on Jan 26, 2013 |
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Jan 26, 2013 07:25
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Amtrak branded E2 Shinkansens would be amazing. 
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Jan 26, 2013 15:41
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Cygni posted:Why it won't win: Politics. The politics of government train contracts can certainly descend into madness. Last year, Maryland's MARC commuter service denied a contract to the French company SNCF on the grounds that during the Second World War, they transported Jews from France to the death camps, making them enemies of Israel. MARC then awarded the contract to Bombadier Transportation, the German subsidiary of Canadian Bombadier, a successor to Henschel, the company that built the Tiger tanks for the Nazis, as well as the locomotives hauling those trains of Jews to the death camps. More here: The Baltimore Sun, "State expected to give MARC contract to Bombardier." Brother Jonathan fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Jan 26, 2013 |
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Jan 26, 2013 23:29
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That's, maddeningly stupid. Just,  who loving cares which label was applied to the machines that took people to the death camps, the people that did that are dead or retired
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Jan 27, 2013 01:05
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It's not like SNCF just said "Hey, we'll send you a few trainloads of Jews, please don't invade our country". How the hell are you meant to be responsible for how an occupying power chooses to use your infrastructure?
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Jan 27, 2013 15:29
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InitialDave posted:It's not like SNCF just said "Hey, we'll send you a few trainloads of Jews, please don't invade our country". How the hell are you meant to be responsible for how an occupying power chooses to use your infrastructure? Exactly. But most people don't see it that way. It's like the British rebuild of the VW factory in Germany. No wait, it's not. Sorry. They avoided the stigma of that. Probably overridden by something the Germans happened to be kind of in trouble for.
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Jan 28, 2013 00:22
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InitialDave posted:It's not like SNCF just said "Hey, we'll send you a few trainloads of Jews, please don't invade our country". How the hell are you meant to be responsible for how an occupying power chooses to use your infrastructure? They should've thought about that before they got occupied, clearly.
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Jan 28, 2013 20:32
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IOwnCalculus posted:They should've thought about that before they got occupied, clearly.
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Jan 28, 2013 23:07
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Off to Engineer School!!! Got the call over the weekend.
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Jan 29, 2013 00:49
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9axle posted:Off to Engineer School!!! Got the call over the weekend. Good luck! BTW - Whats up with the sudden hiring frenzy in the LA hub?
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Jan 29, 2013 01:06
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9axle posted:Off to Engineer School!!! Got the call over the weekend. Awesome. I hope you enjoy it, frankly I'd love to be an engineer but I know I'm too much of a wimp to deal with the hours and the bullshit. I'll keep my desk job.
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Jan 29, 2013 01:26
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I have a question for you butt-nuts. I've been seeing this for awhile and I don't know what it is really, or more like what they are doing. Two engines (mostly it's a UP up front and a SP behind) and only two cars. Hauling loving rear end. 99% of the time it's oil cans, but I've seen two like belly dump highwalls before. No idea what the gently caress they are doing but it's Nevada and I see them between Locklock and Fernley with this. Are they refueling something, but it doesn't explain why they are winding the train out. Two engines, two cars, hauling rear end.
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Jan 29, 2013 22:34
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InterceptorV8 posted:I have a question for you butt-nuts. Just going for a moonlight drive man. I know if I worked for the RR, and could get away with it, I would totally do that. Or maybe they're just hauling one of the locos to a shop for maintenance and they didn't want to wait for a full train to make the trip.
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Jan 29, 2013 22:48
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InterceptorV8 posted:I have a question for you butt-nuts. 50 MPH most likely. Are they big wide nose's on the front or regular older looking engines? Most likely a local job... If your on a mileage job, your goal is to get done as quick as possible. If your on a standard job and over time doesn't start till after 8 hours then your not in a hurry.
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Jan 29, 2013 23:03
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Could it have been a power transfer or a pair of helpers which they're using to transport some minor load with "while you're at it"? I know on the CSX Boston line there used to be massive power transfers where you'd get 10-15 locomotives hauling nothing at all. They moved pretty fast too as most of that line is 70 mph I believe.
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Jan 30, 2013 00:04
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:Could it have been a power transfer or a pair of helpers which they're using to transport some minor load with "while you're at it"? Most likely a local. Several things out here dictate what can be done blah blah blah. More or less there is no "while your at it" around here. Unless you have paper work to do something we don't do it. When there is massive amounts of power being moved, its generally going to be sidelined. When the economy took a poo poo, we had massive amounts of power being moved to be stored. When the economy recovered, it has been a trickle of power coming back online. Of course this isn't always the case, but that's what I have seen in my area, and I work on what is called the "Overland Route". Basically, its the main artery of the Union Pacific.
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Jan 30, 2013 00:14
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Power transfer, most likely. The couple of freight cars with it give the engines a higher speed limit than just two engines by themselves.
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Jan 30, 2013 02:06
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It's just strange because it's the same two engines. I'm starting to wonder if they are moving fuel oil or something because we are a emergency area right now. Could be so much poo poo now that I think about it. Since it's Nevada, I'll just say Aliens.
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Jan 30, 2013 05:37
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InterceptorV8 posted:It's just strange because it's the same two engines. I'm starting to wonder if they are moving fuel oil or something because we are a emergency area right now. Could be so much poo poo now that I think about it. Since it's Nevada, I'll just say Aliens. They're recovering wreckage from a crash. An ordinary crash, of an ordinary object. Nothing to worry about, move along. 
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Jan 30, 2013 05:47
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Boomer The Cannon posted:Power transfer, most likely. The couple of freight cars with it give the engines a higher speed limit than just two engines by themselves. Thats completely off. Light power = 70 mph Power with cars = 50 mph (there are exceptions, reefers, stack/piggy back, autoracks, and passenger cars are good for 70) InterceptorV8 posted:It's just strange because it's the same two engines. Its definitely a local job. Usually there is assigned power for locals. About what time and where at are you seeing these units? I can take a look on a train line up and see what they are doing.
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Jan 30, 2013 17:37
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This picture popped up on Imgur, a picture of the Frankfurt am Main Central Station: (click for big)
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Feb 2, 2013 06:55
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BrokenKnucklez posted:Its definitely a local job. Usually there is assigned power for locals. About what time and where at are you seeing these units? I can take a look on a train line up and see what they are doing. I'm going to have to say about 3-430 Sunday around Lovelock NV, before crossing Highway 95 south. Might have been a couple of weeks since I saw them.
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Feb 2, 2013 09:36
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EightBit posted:That's, maddeningly stupid. Just, or running the catholic church.
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Feb 2, 2013 15:33
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InterceptorV8 posted:I'm going to have to say about 3-430 Sunday around Lovelock NV, before crossing Highway 95 south. Might have been a couple of weeks since I saw them.
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Feb 4, 2013 22:46
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:
The max speed on the B & A is fifty for freights, and the power moves are because there are more trains going east than west, and several times a week they send the excess engines and any with major problems that can't be fixed in Boston back to Selkirk.
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Feb 5, 2013 01:31
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9axle posted:The max speed on the B & A is fifty for freights, and the power moves are because there are more trains going east than west, and several times a week they send the excess engines and any with major problems that can't be fixed in Boston back to Selkirk. Really only 50? Well I'll tell you something, when you're standing on a track level platform down in the I90 trench and an intermodal that got diverted onto the inner track is storming past 10 feet away 50 sure looks, sounds, and feels (from all the leaves and poo poo getting blown in your face) more like 70. I know they usually try to keep the through trains on the track farther from the MBTA platforms but they do (or did) occasionally run them on the near track. It's quite an experience when you've got an old shelter above and behind you that's boxing you in with the sound and the fury. When I was high school if I had a period free after or before lunch I'd walk over to the Newtonville station and watch the trains while I ate. http://goo.gl/maps/sgUFW Wow the old shelter is still there, I figured they would have modernized it by now.
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Feb 5, 2013 03:46
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9axle posted:The max speed on the B & A is fifty for freights, and the power moves are because there are more trains going east than west, and several times a week they send the excess engines and any with major problems that can't be fixed in Boston back to Selkirk. Haha, we always send our junk power back to Chicago to get "fixed". Usually comes back just as useless and broken down as before... What kind of RCO system do you guys use? We are using about a 13 year old Cattron system, and its just awful.
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Feb 5, 2013 16:11
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Disgruntled Bovine posted:Wow the old shelter is still there, I figured they would have modernized it by now. This is the MBTA. Of course it's not modernized.
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Feb 5, 2013 22:05
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I just saw this picture on Tumblr with people saying "Oh my god, imagine how great this would be" and all I could think of was "This won't work at all and I can give a million reasons why":
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Feb 5, 2013 23:33
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Zeether posted:I just saw this picture on Tumblr with people saying "Oh my god, imagine how great this would be" and all I could think of was "This won't work at all and I can give a million reasons why": Well, to be fair it would be pretty great, as long as it was cheaper and far less hassle than flying. No comments were made about the logistics / operation of such a system.
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Feb 6, 2013 00:44
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Black88GTA posted:Well, to be fair it would be pretty great, as long as it was cheaper and far less hassle than flying. No comments were made about the logistics / operation of such a system. Not to mention exactly where those lines go. Continental divide? gently caress it, just go full bore from Omaha.
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Feb 6, 2013 00:45
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Zeether posted:I just saw this picture on Tumblr with people saying "Oh my god, imagine how great this would be" and all I could think of was "This won't work at all and I can give a million reasons why": Are you a follower of choo choo logic? Clearly high speed rail won't work because the fast bullet train will collide with a slow freight train at some point. How do we know this is true? Because the budget office says it will be too expensive  Black88GTA posted:Well, to be fair it would be pretty great, as long as it was cheaper and far less hassle than flying. No comments were made about the logistics / operation of such a system. Hell, I'd gladly pay more if it meant not having to deal with the gestapo at airports. Nothing beats getting to the airport 3 hours early and still having to run down the concourse and board your flight just before they seal the door... Geoj fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Feb 6, 2013 |
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Feb 6, 2013 01:48
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The main thing is the US isn't as close together as a country like Japan or England, and a country wide high speed network like that is a bit ridiculous over such a wide area. If it actually happened and was proven to be more viable than flying, though? I'd probably use it. Geoj posted:Are you a follower of choo choo logic? Clearly high speed rail won't work because the fast bullet train will collide with a slow freight train at some point. How do we know this is true? Because the budget office says it will be too expensive I know Beck has said really dumb things before but this is just ridiculous.
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Feb 6, 2013 02:06
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Geoj posted:Hell, I'd gladly pay more if it meant not having to deal with the gestapo at airports. Nothing beats getting to the airport 3 hours early and still having to run down the concourse and board your flight just before they seal the door... That's one of the benefits of rail travel. The platforms are right there at the station, not half a mile away, and with no gauntlet of humiliating security checks. The only hassle is that train stations have more stairs. 
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Feb 6, 2013 02:08
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Geoj posted:Hell, I'd gladly pay more if it meant not having to deal with the gestapo at airports. Nothing beats getting to the airport 3 hours early and still having to run down the concourse and board your flight just before they seal the door... that's so cool! We should have abolished the TSA a long time ago. quote:"We are not the Airport Security Administration," said Ray Dineen, the air marshal in charge of the TSA office in Charlotte. "We take that transportation part seriously."  : papers please, citizen!
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Feb 6, 2013 02:14
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kastein posted:
NO MUTANTS ALLOWED!
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Feb 6, 2013 02:18
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kastein posted:
I was under the impression that Amtrak told the TSA to eat a baggage car full of dicks after the botched Savannah GA operation and that the "spot checks" like in the article were little more than the TSA agents giving the uniform an airing out while other police forces were trolling for drug and immigration violations. Does all high speed rail (or even the 110mph being proposed in some areas) require electrification to be implemented?
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Feb 6, 2013 02:49
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I fly like 100-140 segments a year and while airport security is annoying, I have never managed to experience one of these multihour horror stories. Wonder what I'm doing right? HSR would be tight. I'd like to be able to take the train to DC rather than fly from central NC.
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Feb 6, 2013 03:12
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HSR will work great in some areas, and not it all in others. And given the cost of freeway and airport expansion/construction, hopefully people at least recognize its value in those places that it does work.
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Feb 6, 2013 04:02
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Zeether posted:I just saw this picture on Tumblr with people saying "Oh my god, imagine how great this would be" and all I could think of was "This won't work at all and I can give a million reasons why": Any national plan like this would suffer the same problem the Florida High Speed rail project was facing: Every congressman/senator/mayor/city council/department of commerce on the entire right of way is going to want a stop in their podunk town, so that their citizens can ride the magical choo-choo full of low-carbon-emission ponies and bio-fueled rainbows all the way to Disney World. The Florida version was proposed at a 170-190mph operating speed, but probably would have had average speeds less than half of that. Additionally, the state rightly pointed out that while the fed was gleefully trying to shove money into the construction project (HEY LOOK WE'RE CREATING JOBS,) when it invariably went over budget, the fed would be nowhere to be found, and when ridership ended up being a quarter of projected, the fed would be similarly difficult to locate. The project was quietly taken out back of the Capitol building in Tallahassee and shot. The only people that would have won would have been Disney.
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Feb 6, 2013 04:55
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