Railway age has a comprehensive outline of plans for the eventual Elizabeth - Trenton speedway work. Although only the parts that are getting the upgraded CAT are covered in detail the outer points are listed somewhat for future plans. I find it interesting that several of our other threads have pointed out parts of these plans but this is very comprehensive. Some items are the loop turn around, the express vs local track routings, the LD plan to run at 125 MPH once heritage cars are retired, higher speed turnouts, daily Cardinals, operational plans, and more. Interesting reading. Comments ?
http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/passenger/high-performance/amtrak-sprints-toward-a-higher-speed-future.html?channel=54
What's exciting about a train that takes over 24 hours from CHI to DC? The LD trains are restricted to 79mph in the NEC by the out-of-date use of ancient baggage cars. The new ones will allow higher speeds in the NEC, but that does nothing to improve their slow speeds elsewhere in the US.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
I didn't see anywhere in the Railway Age article whether the new cat would be 25 or 12 kV , and 60 or 25 Hz.
Without reading the specifications, I am certain the catenary is designed for 12500V 25Hz with insulation and inductance and capacitance protection so it can just as easily be used at 25000V 60Hz. Moving to 60Hz power at higher volage requires new substations, not just catenary.. They are not going to introduce two power change for a relatively short distance. Probably, the question of eventual use of 12,500V 60 Hz or 25,000V 60Hz requires considerable thought. It may be impossible to introduce 25,000V 60Hz into the East River and Hudson River tunels and the Baltiimore tunnels because the distance between wire and tunnel ceiling is too small. Then the question is how worthwhile is it to have 25000V elsewhere if four power chanes are necessary.
DaveKlepper has hit on the main problems and restrictions.
Converting the NEC just to 60 HZ is very complicated. Anyone remember the amount of time MNRR took just to convert from 25 to 60 HZ. Wasn"t it several weeks.? Of course not all their rolling stock was capable of 60 Hz so those cars had to be taken out of service and changed. Since some SEPTA equipment is still not 60 Hz capable Trenton would have to remain 25 Hz.
This is only speculation but probably all the CAT will be 25 Kv capable. That assumes that there are no engineering problems such as lightning protection, etc to be considered ?.
As far as NYP some changes are already happening. Starting at east end ---- MNRR appeared that all the rebuilding of New Haven station & yard CAT was 25 Kv capablev but 12.5 Kv service. Amtrak switches from 25 Kv to the 12.5 Kv NH power somewhere east of the NH station. Some MNRR equipment is still only capable of 12.5 Kv. One exception is the new M-8s which are beiing built dual voltage in case SLE ever decides to use them. & for planned NH - Springfield when Amtrak builds new 25 Kv 60 Hz CAT on that route.
Have never studied the NH - New Rochelle CAT to see if it is 25 Kv capable but have read that 12.5 Kv was picked because some of the horizontal supports could not clear 25 Kv ? That may not be the case since the M-2s and subsequent may not have been economically convertible to 25 Kv ?
Amtrak rebuilt the CAT from Shell to a point close to Harold interlocking. Amtrak converted that section to 12,5 Kv 60 Hz probably due to the fact that route's equipment was even older than the PRR equipment. Anyone seen that section of CAT to determine if it is 25 Kv CAT? Also Amtrak does not have to coast thru the very busy Shell to change to 25 Hz anymore. The switchover point now appears to be a much better location.
Oncce all NJ Transit equipment is capable of operating on dual frequency ( 25 & 60 Hz ) then Amtrak can convert NYP , the East river tunnels, North river tunnels and Sunnyside Yard to 12.5 Kv 60 Hz. All insulators & CAT should work converting from 12.0 Kv 25 Hz to 12.5 Kv 60 Hz. But all relays, transformers, & etc probably would need to be replace as the very old transformers & other equipment probably would be very inefficient if they would work on 60 Hz at all. Last 10 - 20 Yrear new equipment probably will work ? . Sometime in the not too distance past Amtrak started to purchase efficient dual frequency transformers for replacement & new power sources. Where to switch back to 25 Hz ? Pobably just west of the Midtown direct interlocking?.Next could convert the segment from Midtown to east of Trenton but stoill not go to 25 Kv?.
Presently CAT thru Newark station cannot be built for 25 Kv until the ancient platform sheds are raised or changed to provide more clearances.
I do agree that the CAT and connections when rebuilt on the replacement section south of New Brunswick will be 25 Kv capable but will only carry 12.0 Kv 25 Hz .
schlimm What's exciting about a train that takes over 24 hours from CHI to DC?
What's exciting about a train that takes over 24 hours from CHI to DC?
Because its ridership is very high and often sells out. Don't fixate on the endpoints. Anyone that's doing DC to Chicago for actual travel is taking the CL anyhow.
The 2010 PRIIA report called for improvements to the Cardinal, but the schedule stayed the same, just 7 days rather than the previous 3. days per week operation It was the 2nd worst LD train at the time of the report; also it was one of the first targeted for improvements, based on various factors, including Customer Satisfaction, On time Performance and financials. Implementation was a thus a priority.
http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/536/878/PRIIA-210-Cardinal-PIP.pdf
On page 23-24 of the Monthly Performance Report it shows the Cardinal on a comparison of Apr 2012 -Apr 2013 and the Oct 2012 - Apr 2013 (6 months) comparisons of ridership and revenue. The numbers still seem low and not improving, I suppose because it is still a 3-day per week operation, 2 1/2 years later, awaiting equipment:.
http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/782/779/Amtrak-Monthly-Performance-Report-April-2013.pdf
As you say, much of the ridership is between intermediate nodes, in the east and a second in the midwest, which only slightly overlap. For some reason, Amtrak rejected splitting the train into two routes (the Don Oltmann notion) which could offer more service to all the stops.
Not doubting your contention about "sold out" but wondering where those numbers come from?
I THOUGHT THE LIMITATIONS ON FREQUENCY RELATED TO SIDING LENGTHS ON THE BRANDYWINE BRANCH PORTION OF THE LINE AND NOT SO MUCH ON EQUIPMENT AVAILABILITY
Dave: The US Navy has finally decided that all correspondence now does not need all capitals. That reverses a tradition that dates back before WW-2?
blue streak 1 Dave: The US Navy has finally decided that all correspondence now does not need all capitals. That reverses a tradition that dates back before WW-2?
A friend told me that yesterday....It harkens back to the old teletype news machines we read from courtesy of Associated Press and United Press...the latter on yellow paper with blue ink! Even today I tend to write commercial copy in uppercase and double spaced...but am weaning myself off of it.
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