Acela II (Alstom Avelia Liberty): Design, Production, Delivery, Acceptance

Don't knock it. They do the same with race cars to suck 'em to the road. In this case, it's sucking the pano to the wire...

Although I kinda wonder about areas not under constant tension. Will the droopy lines in high-heat situations be pushed back up?

Technically I believe it called an airfoil and it creates lift. A spoiler or wing would create downforce and would push the pantograph down away from the wire. The pantographs on the current acellas and acs-64 have 2 small airfoils per pantograph

mcgrath618 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 11:57 am Re: the catenary issues, last I heard the issue was pan bounce and that it had been effectively mitigated by running with only the rear pan and by outfitting said pan with spoilers (which create lift and keep the pan in contact with the wire).

Sounds like what CTA did when they introduced the Skokie Swift in 1964.

When the train tilts, the pantograph is presumably tilted too vs. the catenary which is not tilted. Which seems weird but probably doesn't matter as there is only 1 contact wire - pressing against that wire at a 10°-15° angle.

BandA wrote: ↑Sun Mar 27, 2022 5:23 pm When the train tilts, the pantograph is presumably tilted too vs. the catenary which is not tilted. Which seems weird but probably doesn't matter as there is only 1 contact wire - pressing against that wire at a 10°-15° angle.

Considering that Amtrak and SEPTA contact catenary at an angle in daily service on the Harrisburg line, I'd agree that it isn't an issue.

Problem solved! Gyro monorail! Much easier to tilt on one rail than two. Imagine this at 160MPH.

Liberty parked at Union Station this evening. (My photo)

Two sets - one with power cars 2108/2109 and the other un-numbered - were at Race Street Yard on March 26. (My photo.)

Any idea as to why there are there, and what condition they are in (like seating installed or not)? And the 4th car in the closer set - it has fewer windows. Cafe car? The two trains appear to have different configurations. Though that may be from having ends switched.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 1:07 am Any idea as to why there are there, and what condition they are in (like seating installed or not)? And the 4th car in the closer set - it has fewer windows. Cafe car? The two trains appear to have different configurations. Though that may be from having ends switched.

Penn Coach Yard seems to be where they're all being stored.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 1:07 am Any idea as to why there are there, and what condition they are in (like seating installed or not)? And the 4th car in the closer set - it has fewer windows. Cafe car? The two trains appear to have different configurations. Though that may be from having ends switched.

One of those trains has 1st class to the south, and one has it to the north. I suspect they'll ensure they all have 1st class facing to the south before they start operations (assuming they run these like the Acela Is).

IMHO, Amtrak is doing nothing to help its own cause by giving out so little info on the A2's.

Lost track. Are 2100 - 2107 still at builder?

photobug56 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:10 pm IMHO, Amtrak is doing nothing to help its own cause by giving out so little info on the A2's.

What info would you like them to give out? They posted an update in the last report … They are still a year plus away from service, no crew training has started, and none of the sets have been accepted by Amtrak yet. The last thing they will do is post any negative about them….
https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?u ... #pageNum=1