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[quote user="Paul Milenkovic"] Ha! I am so cheap, my choice is Metropark-Trenton on NJT, Trenton-Philly on SEPTA.  You are talking about going all the way to DC?  Who needs to go to DC, anyway? Seriously, now, about that rough riding.  The intuitive notion is that the track is in need of maintenance. The track alignment and compliance (its springy-ness) are factors.  But there are two other important factors, each of which involves the train car.  One factor is the cone taper of the wheel-rail interface, and wear of either the rail or the wheels or both can make ride at speed deteriorate.  Fixing the wheels requires wheel grinding, and fixing the rails requires rail grinding.  In other words, the track geometry can be fine, but if the rail has a worn profile -- bad ride.  The second factor involving the train car is the compliance of the suspension.  The British experience (BR were masters of cutting corners on car maintenance and watching ride quality go bad at speed) indicates that as trucks wear and bushings loosen, things can go bad. Do you suppose an Acela is kept as a unit train set and hence every car in a consist is on the same wheel grinding schedule?  One think that would satisfy my curiosity about y'all riding Amtrak out there is whether a bad ride is specific to one or more cars or whether it is uniform throughout a consist,  The second question was how was the ride at low speed -- was it bad across all speeds, or did it start getting bad at speed. I have mentioned this before, but my Poppa told me that when the opened the Shinkansen line in Japan, maintenance crews would go out at night and tweak the gauge and alignment of the rail line, and the train cars went into the car barn every night for a touch-up wheel grind.  Don't know if they require such a rigorous maintenance now.  The one time I rode the Shinkansen, my impression was the ride was rock-solid smooth going through the outskirts of Toyko, where I was told they were doing 80-per, whereas out in the country where I was told we were doing 150 MPH, there was ever so little of the swing-hanger dance -- the lateral rocking that is so characteristic of passenger trains. My other data point is that I have ridden Metra a couple years back, clocked them at 60-per using stop watch and mile markers, and don't remember much swing-hanger sway.  I remember that back in the day on the C&NW North Line, however, getting a good rollicking ride on the gallery cars, even when the local train reached max speed between stations. [/quote] Cheap is unnecessarily harsh.  I prefer thrifty.  I recommend a ride on the Acela as well as a trip to the nation's capital.   Washington is a beautiful city.  The monuments, museums, government buildings, Kennedy Center, etc. are inspiring.  And Union Station is great.  I visit Washing every year or two.  I never come away without additional inspiration.  It makes me proud to be an American.   The roughness was noticeable at the higher speeds, although I have no way of determining when it started.  I did not notice it at the lower and intermediate speeds. And I did not leave my car, so I don't know how the other cars rode.
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