WASH CAT failure

[blue streak 1]

This afternoon Amtrak Cat power for Wash US and environs failed around 1600 and was restored around 1730. Do not have a reason yet but may have been due to high heat. Hopefully the ARRA work will have the necessary duplications by next year. Amtrak and MARC electric motors both took delays with MARC as much as 90 minutes.

[Warren J]

blue streak 1

This afternoon Amtrak Cat power for Wash US and environs failed around 1600 and was restored around 1730. Do not have a reason yet but may have been due to high heat. Hopefully the ARRA work will have the necessary duplications by next year. Amtrak and MARC electric motors both took delays with MARC as much as 90 minutes.

Yesterday, I was aboard the 4:55 MARC to Martinsburg (Blue Ridge Express) and we had an unusual five-minute hold as we were leaving Union Station, totally unaware that the catenary system had failed. Our line is one of the two CSX-operated MARC diesel lines which ran pretty much on schedule except for CSX-mandated heat restrictions which resulted in ten- to twenty-minute delays due to reduced speed limits. Interestingly, the NEC/Penn Line does not have reduced-speed heat restrictions. Not being a Penn Line rider, I had no idea that the NEC's catenary system as well as all of those electric locomotives were so fragile as to cause total shut-downs in high heat.

[aegrotatio]

 CSX had become especially paranoid about sun-kink after a number of derailments a few years ago.  Of course, it's due to the sorry state of their physical plant.

NS is not so paranoid and doesn't need to issue slow orders due to "sun kink" that often, even though they're in the same region.  Norfolk's physical plant is also not in the same condition as CSX is.

 

[Alan F]

The report that I read was that the catenary was pulled down south of BWI station by a tree that fell over in a thunderstorm. One of the projects funded by the stimulus money is clearing and cleaning up of the parts of the NEC and Keystone East ROW that Amtrak owns. I have noticed aggressive clearing and cutting down of the trees recently along the ROW in parts of NJ and northern MD all the way to the fence line. Aggressive enough clearing that some local communities are complaining about it. But Amtrak obviously want to reduce the possibility of trees fouling the NEC tracks or taking down the catenary as much as they can. Picking up the trash and junk alongside the NEC ROW will make it look better - at least out to the edge of the ROW. Amtrak can't do much about the view outside of the NEC ROW.

[UPReading85]

Warren J

Not being a Penn Line rider, I had no idea that the NEC's catenary system as well as all of those electric locomotives were so fragile as to cause total shut-downs in high heat.

Warren,

I had heard that it was a combination of weather in DC and the down wires at BWI courtesy of the tree. On the MARC issues, it isn't so much the heat that causes the issues as it is the simple lack of funding for good equipment. The HHP-8 locomotive that failed Monday (#4913) and MARC's others may be only 10 years old, but they are junk. To the point where when MARC offered them to Amtrak a few years ago, Amtrak said "Thanks, but no thanks" Unfortunately, no one wants to admit that commuter authorities mainly have lowest bidder equipment or second-hand rebuilds that are 40 years old. With equipment like that, it's no wonder we have the heat issues we do.