Problem still not cleared at 1650. Tracking sites show delays even later. Other web site says it is a signal power problem. That may still be the 4400 V 100 hZ power. What is unknown is why has Amtrak not continued the program of getting the standby commercial power setup for signal power along this corridor ?
Train 490 (450 pm Dpt WUS) is cancelled due to signal outages between Washington Union Station, and Bowie State Station. The next train departing WUS will be Train 492 (530 pm Dpt WUS) departing approximately 70-75 minutes late. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934
Penn line signal problems again from WASH - BAL
MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> Penn Line delays, Noon update: Train 482 will depart Washington on time at 12:30pm. It will experience 30-45 minute delays en route to Baltimore due to ongoing Amtrak signal issues. Train 487 (1:55pm departure from Penn Station) will depart Baltimore on time but will also experience significant delays en route. Amtrak estimates that the earliest the signal problems will be corrected is 3:00pm. Updates will follow as information is received.
Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> All northbound and southbound MARC Saturday train service will incur minor delays due to signal issues to and from Union Station to Bowie State Station. Updates will follow when they become available. Thank you for riding the MARC. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934
More signal issues at Odenton today.
MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> Train 612 (7:55AM Dpt Penn Station) will have a 15- 20 minute delay due to signal issues at Odenton. Correction: Train is 612. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934
blue streak 1CAT too hot today so some slow orders on NEC. Guess Amtrak just makes it a blanket restriction for even diesel pull trains. MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> Amtrak has issued heat-related speed restrictions for parts of the Penn Line. Trains must reduce their speed to 80mph between Washington and New Carrollton and 100mph between New Carrollton and Odenton. Minor delays are possible. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934 To MTA Maryland Alerts Subscriber Today at 1:09 PM Amtrak has issued heat-related speed restrictions for parts of the Penn Line. Trains must reduce their speed to 80mph between Washington and New Carrollton and 100mph between New Carrollton and Odenton. Minor delays are possible.
MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> Amtrak has issued heat-related speed restrictions for parts of the Penn Line. Trains must reduce their speed to 80mph between Washington and New Carrollton and 100mph between New Carrollton and Odenton. Minor delays are possible. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934
Track has issues in the heat as well as the catenary.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Went 5 weeks with signal problems . Now some today MARC bulletin.
MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> At this time, signal issues are being encountered near New Carrollton Station. As a result, MARC trains are anticipated to incur delays due to single tracking between Bowie and New Carrollton Stations. Delay times should be minimal, but may exceed 8-10 minutes, further information will be issued as it is received. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934
CAT too hot today so some slow orders on NEC. Guess Amtrak just makes it a blanket restriction for even diesel pull trains.
Another bad day on the NEC signal problems. Was there bad weather there ?
MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> All southbound MARC Trains are currently holding at Bowie State due to signal issues south of the station. A signal maintainer is en route, however at this time southbound trains are anticipated to experience significant delays. Metro has opened for Penn Line commuters as a travel option. Updates will follow as more information is received. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934
blue streak 1Weather causing signal and switch problems at WASH Union station. MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> Due to the weather Union Station is experiencing switch problems on the Penn, Brunswick and Camden Lines, Washington Metrorail will honor MARC tickets. Please show your MARC ticket to the Metrorail Station Manager, and he or she will permit you to enter through the gate next to the information kiosk. Please note that Metro parking charges, however, are not included and must be paid upon exiting the parking lot. Reimbursement is not provided. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934 To MTA Maryland Alerts Subscriber Today at 2:53 PM Due to the weather Union Station is experiencing switch problems on the Penn, Brunswick and Camden Lines, Washington Metrorail will honor MARC tickets. Please show your MARC ticket to the Metrorail Station Manager, and he or she will permit you to enter through the gate next to the information kiosk. MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> MARC trains departing Union Station (all three lines) due to weather may experience delays due to Amtrak switch and signal problems at Union Station. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934 To MTA Maryland Alerts Subscriber Today at 2:43 PM MARC trains departing Union Station (all three lines) due to weather may experience delays due to Amtrak switch and signal problems at Union Station.
MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> Due to the weather Union Station is experiencing switch problems on the Penn, Brunswick and Camden Lines, Washington Metrorail will honor MARC tickets. Please show your MARC ticket to the Metrorail Station Manager, and he or she will permit you to enter through the gate next to the information kiosk. Please note that Metro parking charges, however, are not included and must be paid upon exiting the parking lot. Reimbursement is not provided. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934
Feature that - switch and signal problems with day long heavy rains and Thunderstorms.
Weather causing signal and switch problems at WASH Union station.
That is new wire, and the problems must be related to the recent storm.
According to the engineer of train 56 (the Vermonter) that should have left New Haven, a tree came down over the wires which then came down on top of an Acela that was moving from one track to another, and a maintenance vehicle on another of the tracks. Thus all tracks were blocked. I was on tr 56 and after an hour delay, a bus bridge to Springfield was set up where the southbound Vermonter was held.
Judging from what I saw on the arrival/departure board inside the New Haven station, an Acela each way was cancelled. Based on an Acela sitting next to us on track 4 for more than an hour, I think it was turned to go back to Washington as there were two large boardings in the hour before we got to go inside to wait for buses. Perhaps there was a similar bus bridge for the Acelas as well as the Boston regionals as well.
Even New Haven <> BOS CAT can have problems but certainly is less than old PRR especially PHL - WASH.
EDIT As of 10:30 PM problem exists between NHV - OSB ( Old saybrook ? )
March 22, 2017 2:00 p.m. ET
Due to overhead wire (catenary) system issues east of New Haven, customers may experience delays on the Northeast Corridor between Boston and New York in both directions.
Another problem today. The following Amtrak bulletin does not say exactly what the problem but maybe someone knows ?
Trains between Wilmington, DE (WIL) and Baltimore, MD (BAL) are disrupted due to power system issues. Repairs are underway, but delays are expected. Confirm your train's status on Amtrak.com or our mobile apps. Thank you for your patience.
Another CAT power failure in Baltimore today.
MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> Train 407 (5:45 am Baltimore departure) is canceled due to Catenary Power failure in Baltimore. Train 409 (6:13 Baltimore is the next southbound expected to operate with a 20 to 30 minute delay. Expec
Amtrak had a failure of an electric switch MOTOR south of Boston. Nothing works all the time but trains have for most part only taken 15 - 30 minute delays with an occasional 1 hour. Probably with the way that section is designed. ? But no service disruptions indicates a good design.
https://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Alert_C&pagename=am/AM_Alert_C/Alerts_Popup&cid=1251648302292
EDIT. After further review changed post to read it was a switch failure not a CAT electric switch failure. Sorry ! ! !
EDIT 2 Amtrak has changed the above notice that it is a downed wire-------------- Guess this poster will give up.
another diruption for MARC Penn line unknown what problem is / was ?
MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> Due to the service disruption this morning on the Penn Line, Washington Metrorail will honor MARC tickets this afternoon. Please show your MARC ticket to the Metrorail Station Manager, and he or she w
blue streak 1Once again the limitations of the variable tension CAT appear to have caused more problems
Guys: Calling the ex-PRR arrangement 'variable tension' as the supposed opposite of constant-tension is as wrong as saying the opposite of antifriction bearings is 'friction bearings'.
The older cat is FIXED tension (the tension is 'engineered in' at adjustment time, and doesn't have the self-adjusting constant tension that the newer setup does). That doesn't mean the tension doesn't "vary" with temperature, age, and other factors: it does. But calling the setup 'variable tension' indicates that active varying of the tension is the point of the system, when in fact the varying is an undesired consequence of the fixed adjustment.
Once again the limitations of the variable tension CAT appear to have caused more problems
MARC Service Alert <alert@mtamarylandalerts.com> MARC Train 447 (5:50p dpt Balt) is operating 25-30 minutes behind schedule due to catenary issues. OptOut: http://mtamarylandalerts.com/u.aspx?336934
You can design diesel or electric, diesel really being diesel-electric, for any top speed that is practical for topographpy and track. The top speed of a diesel prime mover is not directly related to the top speed of the train. The diesel train, whether mu or loco hauled or pusj-pull, will weigh a lot more than the electric, assuming the electric does not need ballasting to assure sufficient traction on starting on steep grades.
In case you aren't aware, MARC is replacing all of its electrics with Siemens Charger diesel-electric locomotives that are designed for 125 MPH.
MARC doesn't run their electrics that fast, today, anyway. There was an interview with an engineer who said that they like keep them around 119-121 MPH for passenger comfort reasons and the distance between stations since it's commuter rail.
MARC's Penn Line is still the highest-speed commuter rail line in the US and possibly the world.
NorthWest The high speed diesel solution gets you a bit higher, to probably about 150 MPH. Be aware of the problems that doomed the ICE TD sets, though, including high fuel consumption. More likely would be a JetTrain type diesel+gas turbine solution.
The high speed diesel solution gets you a bit higher, to probably about 150 MPH.
Be aware of the problems that doomed the ICE TD sets, though, including high fuel consumption.
More likely would be a JetTrain type diesel+gas turbine solution.
Keep in mind the top speed for ICE TDs is 125 mph (200 kmh). I believe they will all be retired by the end of the year. In 2014 I boarded a DSB (from Copenhagen) unit coupled to a ICE 3 (electric)in Hamburg, running to Berlin. Compared to the ICEs, they are quite noisy.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Paul of CovingtonJust a thought for the mechanical engineers (which I am not): what about using higher RPM diesels?
The difficulty is in getting proper combustion with compression ignition (even assisted with pilot injection, promoters, and lasers) at the higher speed. Remember that there is a limited time (in degrees of crank arc translating to piston position) in which combustion has to go to completion (to produce the gas pressure that makes the engine horsepower) without quenching the combustion reaction early (this, in part, producing the nanoparticulates that are thought to be the most dangerous component in diesel exhaust).
In a locomotive engine that does not use urea but needs to adhere to Tier 4 final (and later) standards on NOx, there are limits on how much fuel you can burn even with high nominal boost and/or molecular sieve oxygen enrichment per 'combustion event', and this combined with the combustion time (and the need to avoid some of the detonation issues) will fix the output power of the engine. Since you're not concerned with mechanical transmission there is no reason to overspeed the engine at lower nominal efficiency to make higher speed.
Of course at higher speed other characteristics of a practical compression-ignition engine begin to cause problems or enhanced losses. The Russians built a high-speed diesel (TEP80-0002) that was able to reach 168mph, and I believe we have discussed the technology involved there in previous threads.
I have very little doubt, however, that for any road speeds much in excess of the 125mph or so of an HST, either a gas turbine with bottoming or a free-piston engine would be highly superior, the latter having very little limitation on the efficient production of 'just' the right amount of combustion gas for instantaneous horsepower, and the ability to run a positive-displacement expander for low speed or part load work.
Did Bombardier ever get that wacky second-generation JetTrain transmission to work properly? I suppose a little tech transfer from the B-mod Osprey might help if necessary.
Just a thought for the mechanical engineers (which I am not): what about using higher RPM diesels? Don't they produce higher HP per weight? As I recall, reduction gearing is used to drive the alternator in recent designs, but couldn't alternators be designed that could run at the higher RPM's? The higher RPM diesels supposedly would wear out more quickly, all else being equal, but would it make a difference that it would not be asked to drag the heavy loads that a freight engine would? ---Just thoughts unencumbered by detailed knowledge.
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"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Let me restate the questions with modifications.
My questions did not suggest restricting the trains to the NEC or taking down the existing poles and wires. Given the constraint of operating into and out of Manhattan, that probably is not going to happen.
Using existing technology, how fast could a diesel electric locomotive run pulling a train similar to the Acela? I had in mind power units at the front and back of the train, which is similar to the arrangement for the Acela.
If the development engineers - those that can think outside of the box - pushed the outside of the development envelope, what is the potential top speed attainable by a diesel electric locomotive.
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
Another difference is that electric locomotives and train sets accelerate much more quickly than diesel-powered trains.
JPS1 BaltACD Run diesels and catanary isn't needed. For me a train speeding through the countryside is a beautiful sight. Put it under a lot of wires, however, and it becomes ugliness personified. What would be a maximum attainable speed today of a train like the Acela if it were pulled by a diesel electric locomotive? What technical constraints would prevent the building of a diesel electric locomotive that could attain top speeds of 160 to 180 mph?
BaltACD Run diesels and catanary isn't needed.
Run diesels and catanary isn't needed.
For me a train speeding through the countryside is a beautiful sight. Put it under a lot of wires, however, and it becomes ugliness personified.
What would be a maximum attainable speed today of a train like the Acela if it were pulled by a diesel electric locomotive?
What technical constraints would prevent the building of a diesel electric locomotive that could attain top speeds of 160 to 180 mph?
Consider that a Siemens Sprinter electric weighs 215,000 lbs and developes 8600 hp (hourly rating), while an "EMD" F125 weighs 280,000 lbs and developes 4700 hp. It would take 2 diesels for the same hp. Do you really want half a million pounds running down the line at high speeds on a constant basis? Plus they would need extra weight for the dual power for NEC tunnels.
daveklepper Catenary can be esthetically pleasing if designed right.
Catenary can be esthetically pleasing if designed right.
Have to disagree on that. Some might be less ugly than others, but still ugly.
Mac
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