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Possible future Amtrak wire train ?

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Possible future Amtrak wire train ?
Posted by blue streak 1 on Thursday, March 20, 2014 12:59 PM

The Denver contractor has brought in an Italian wire train for the electrification of the commuter rail to Denver airport.  It is claimed to be able to string wire 4 times as fast as present equipment.  Does anyone know what Amtrak's wire train(s)  look like ?  Here is a link to a picture.  

This type equipment may be able to string the replacement CAT for Amtrak faster ?

 

http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/ep3_104

 

 

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, March 21, 2014 9:18 PM

I have no idea of what Amtrak uses for a wire train or it's efficiency.  However, the article mentions 4600 feet per day for the Italian equipment - to me that doesn't sound especially fast, but I have absolutely no experience with hanging wire.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by CJtrainguy on Saturday, March 22, 2014 10:53 AM

Here's a video of a Swedish wire train in action. The caption states that they manage 2km (6548') per day.

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, March 22, 2014 11:07 AM

Could Amtrak borrow this for the NYC-DC stretch? It's a little faster than the Italian variety.

Johnny

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Posted by Overmod on Saturday, March 22, 2014 11:57 AM

Could Amtrak borrow this for the NYC-DC stretch?

I have no idea of what Amtrak uses for a wire train or its efficiency.

Gotta love railfans.   ;-}

See here for the news (from September 2012) regarding what Amtrak chose for constant-tension wirework.  (You may need to enable 'issuu' temporarily in your browser to view it.)  I do not know the details of how Amtrak handled the contract specs for constant-tension, or who the other bidders were  -- but this was the result.

To my knowledge, this is still what Amtrak will be using to implement CT cat going forward.

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Posted by CJtrainguy on Saturday, March 22, 2014 1:19 PM

Overmod

See here for the news (from September 2012) regarding what Amtrak chose for constant-tension wirework.  (You may need to enable 'issuu' temporarily in your browser to view it.)  I do not know the details of how Amtrak handled the contract specs for constant-tension, or who the other bidders were  -- but this was the result. 

To my knowledge, this is still what Amtrak will be using to implement CT cat going forward.

Notice that the Amtrak wire train is of Italian origin too. The wire train in the Swedish video I linked to is built by Plasser & Theurer in Austria.

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Saturday, March 22, 2014 3:53 PM

42 route miles with 4 and sometimes 6 tracks means ~ 175 track miles to be constant tensioned ? Since old wire will probably be replaced 2 machines one to remove and another to install will be needed.  Cannot imagine that replacement will be any less  than 3 - 4 times as long being 4 tracks ? 

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