Speed tests on the NEC with an Acela

[Mario_v]

After all it seems atrak has been doing some speed tests. I don't know but the last pass seems to be really fast .... 170 Mph? Maybe ...

I wonder how the venerable catenary stood all that effort, since it's some 70 years old

watch?v=3Vs1IXGbxG4

This other video even shows the possible speed the train is doing. It also seems to be a longer than usual trainset

watch?v=d4gpZiUyy U

[John WR]

Well, Mario, the catenary did withstand the effort.  Still, Amtrak intends to replace it with a new constant tension catenary.  

John

[Jim200]

This is Amtrak's 165 mph testing for future 160 mph travel on the NEC. Using a one hundredth of a second stop watch, I averaged about 2.9 seconds for the Acela final pass in the first video for a speed of 169 mph with lets say +/- 2 mph accuracy. To obtain the actual speed, a frame by frame video analysis is required. It looks like some of those Acelas can go faster than their stated maximum speed of 165 mph.

[timz]

Why do you figure the train is 719 feet long? Doesn't 750 feet seem more likely?

I'd say 3.0 to 3.1 seconds for the last run on the first video.

[Jim200]

Thanks, 750 is more likely. Putting our stop watch times together comes up with 170 +/- 6 mph. I hope someone has a program for video analysis.

[Overmod]

There was an interesting discussion on RyPN about this testing a few months ago.  One of the things in there was a 'pirated' picture of the in-cab display showing 171 mph -- not 'legal' but breaking the Turbotrain's record.  We were promised some tales about just how fast the system can go... but nothing showed up since.

TECHNICALLY the testing is programmed so the speed does not go over 170 ... so far.  You will certainly wantto wait for the constant-tension cat before actually going that fast on a more regular basis...