Silverliner Vs Out of Service - Schedule/Service Discussion

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Pretty sure I know the answer already, but how much relief would there be if the Amtrak Keystones were to make the major Paoli Local stops during the outage?

Same with Regionals Trenton-Wilmington.

I suppose something might be done if Amtrak can find crews and equipment to run extras, but adding stops to Keystones and Regionals would delay them to the point that regular through passengers would strongly object to being dragged into a situation they're really not connected with. There has been talk of SEPTA weekly and monthly, but not single-trip tickets being honored to and from scheduled stops, but even that might lead to some last-train-from-Berlin scenes on the platforms.

rider65 wrote:

loufah wrote:

dcipjr wrote: But come on, having NH&I and WCRR cover Warminster and Elwyn? You can't be serious.

It'll take 2 hours to meander from Media to 30th, but you get to spend them in a dining car!

Won't happen. The Crum Creek viaduct is being replaced. Nice thought of the dining car though

Don't give up hope; the new viaduct may be in place before the Silverliner V problem is fixed. Isn't the target date the Labor Day weekend?

brush fires are causing more delays today in addition to the problem SEPTA is having right now
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/loc ... 54061.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brush fires broke out near the Overbrook station, where passenger were asked to get off SEPTA trains.

Article reporting on options SEPTA is looking into: http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_top/385668861.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Of note:

-MTA was mentioned as a loaner
-The usual Amtrak yada yada
-NJT providing service between Trenton and 30th
-The biggest shock was no mention of the West Chester and New Hope RR's possibly helping out

At this time MBTA is thinking of using their option for more Bi-level cars,however the current batch in service is
not holding up well and glitch prone,and 2 cars are under inspection for metal cracks on their trucks,
which are a different design based off the truck used under the Kawasaki Bi- level cars.

ConnDOT via MN could loan out cars,but would need to be routed thru CSX Selkirk,they cannot go thru NY Penn.

Zebrasepta is right about Metrolink and MBTA. Briefly stated, MBTA almost cancelled the contract during early deliveries because the build quality was so incredibly bad. And Metrolink is no longer allowing their new supposedly supercrashworthy cab-control cars to lead the train after a serious grade-xing accident. Now borrowed diesel locos are on the head-end. And so it goes.

roadmaster wrote:Article reporting on options SEPTA is looking into: http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_top/385668861.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Of note:

-MTA was mentioned as a loaner
-The usual Amtrak yada yada
-NJT providing service between Trenton and 30th
-The biggest shock was no mention of the West Chester and New Hope RR's possibly helping out

What is interesting is that MARC isn't mentioned at all. One would think that the recently retired IIA cars would be a prime target for leasing, motive power issues aside.

The NJT option seems to be the most promising. Please correct any misunderstandings.

Equipment:
The current SEPTA pattern is to start the equipment at Trenton and then it "goes home" at the end of the day except for one set. This would seem to work out as the NJT equiment could start and end it's day at Morrisville. Additionally, since the train is not going into the Center City tunnel the power can be either diesel or electric. Refueling diesel engines will be an issue as I am not sure NJT can refuel at Morrisville. If I recall the NJT AC trains are fueled in AC due to Amtrak considerations.

The next question is how much equipment can NJT spare. Arrows might be a better fit than push pull equipment but some were scrapped and Morrisville may not be a maintainence base for them. If you use push pulls and do not run through you will need a motor/engine + 6 coaches for each trainset. Coaches may be an issue as some multilevels are out for warranty work (IIRC).
Power may be more of an issue. How many ALP's are constantly free? Not all that many I suspect. Don't even thibnk about using the ALP-44's. That is where using diesels may come into the picture.

Can spare Amtrak motors be used? Certainly. That raises another host of issues. Qualified crews on that equipment? Where/how will they be maintained/inspected? Who is qualified to do that? Spare parts are where (Ivy City?)? Braking systems are different (NJT EPIC with EP Hold) and are the motors compatible with the Cab Cars?

Crew:
It would be a plus if crew and equipment assignments be juggled so that trains from NY continue to Philly and then return for another trip to NY. If that is not possible you would need dedicated equipment and crews to run from TRE to 30th street. How big is the NJT extra board? Are enough crews qualified to 30th Street? Can an NJT crew run with a SEPTA crew member as a pilot? That would be more of a challenge.

It was reported today on one of the local channels today (6abc, I think) that this morning SEPTA reached out to Amtrak to help with overcrowding at Cornwells Heights, and Amtrak had 89 (the Palmetto) make an unscheduled stop there where it boarded about 260 passengers to 30th Street. The philly.com article posted above mentions that Amtrak is adding four extra Ardmore stops (three in, one out) to Keystone service trains, though there has yet to be any service advisory on Amtrak's site. Another note, the schedules that have been posted SEPTA's site have been updated (though I see no notice that they have done so)--at least the Paoli/Thorndale schedule has been (in addition to cleaning it up and correcting that time-traveling train, the earlier inbound express from Thorndale is now scheduled to make a few intermediate stops).

With all the crowding, why don't they just temporarily remove some seats from the other cars?

This is definitely not SEPTA's week. Just saw this:

https://twitter.com/SEPTA_WIL/status/751037373165764608" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Newark: Outbound service is operating with delays up to 20 minutes due to an auto blocking the rails."

Assuming this is a trespass rather than a work vehicle such as the one struck near Highland Avenue a few months ago, there aren't even any at-grade crossings on this part of the NEC ...

Running NJT trains between Trenton and 30th Street was discussed prior to the Pope's visit to Philadelphia. I believe the laws setting up NJT preclude it.

roadmaster wrote:Article reporting on options SEPTA is looking into: http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_top/385668861.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Of note:

-MTA was mentioned as a loaner
-The usual Amtrak yada yada
-NJT providing service between Trenton and 30th
-The biggest shock was no mention of the West Chester and New Hope RR's possibly helping out

Even if the whole idea of NH&I, or West Chester RR equipment being used was not just rampant foam production from the railfan community, the WCRR is isolated right now.
There is no track between Turner Rd and the Crum Creek bridge right now, and that doesn't take into account the status of the track between Elwyn and Glen Mills, which was excepted the last time I heard.

The other problem is that WCRR's cars and probably NH&I's are friction bearing equipped, so they are not allowed anywhere on AMTRAK's territory.

If you think the RR passengers are not going to complain about no air conditioning on those old cars, think again.
They complain about air conditioned busses even when they are getting rescued from what ever the crisis of the day is.....

Through the morning rush, just three inbound SEPTA trains stopped at Ardmore. When an Amtrack train stopped around 8:45 a.m. the conductor told potential riders they could get on to go to 30th Street Station but it would cost $11. A few people had prearranged with Amtrack. Most of those waiting continued to wait.

http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articl ... um=twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

LIRR has no usable equipment, all cars require high level platforms and engines are proprietary to the bi-Levels and do not have PTC yet.
MN could send Bombardier cars, but cab cars and engines do not have PTC yet.
all MN/CDOT EMU's (M-8) are for high level platforms only and will not power on 25 hz.