Amtrak NYC Lehigh Valley service (Reading - Lebanon - Harrisburg)

There's nothing on the table for Amtrak to operate this line. They're only providing an inspection train. That's it. Any commuter service would be someone else's operation.

Jeff Smith wrote:Inspection run by Amtrak at request of area officials; for discussion of the potential resurrection, I've put a topic here in the LV forum (who knows who would run it) for discussion of any potential restoration: Lehigh Valley Passenger Resurrection?

Something like that has been discussed (somewhere in the NJT forum) and the problem is NJT will need to run on NS to do it and that seems to be something NS is opposed to. Of course if Harrison and CP get hold of NS, then the pruning and sell off in the name of shareholder value may change things.

Re: P32ACDM, Amtrak doesn't have enough for service out into the boonies; from what I understand they're all dedicated to Empire Corridor service. It'd be nice to have 3rd rail to Newark though, for rescue purposes and potential future Lehigh and Scranton service, but Amtrak would need a substation to supply power from the Jersey side.

strench707 wrote:A P32AC-DM would work fine, third rail extends to the west portal of the Hudson tubes. Of course, there probably aren't any of those to spare from Hudson River services.

Davis

From what I understand, the 3rd rail power only gave enough "juice" to move the train at much less than full speed, and since they are ONLY used for empire service, track speed through THAT tunnel is quite slow if I remember correctly.

The same 3 rail supply also power to the LIRR i guess ?

everyone keeps forgetting this will be a ONE TIME only demonstration run, Amtrak has no intention to run from Lehigh Valley.

There's a good thread in the LV Fallen Flag forum to discuss how to operate the service. I'm not sure if the above posts are meant to discuss the inspection train or the service. But a P32 and extending DC to Newark would not be needed when there's already perfectly good tech for DM using catenary, and the fact that the equipment used for this run would probably originate in Philly, as previously posted.

I posted this on the P'burg thread on the NJT forum.I'll say it here as I said there. Amtrak ran over the cutoff in 1979, we see where that has gone in 36 years.

Third rail does extend thru the north river tunnels to NJ. Amtrak restored the third rail to allow an Amtrak DM or LIRR third rail equipment to extract a stalled or lost power AC train. The grades in the tunnels are too steep for a single DM DC to maintain track speed which would decrease total number of trains thru put. Remember the short time HP rating of the ACS-64s is 8400 and AEMs & HHP-8s some what less. 3000 HP with HEP off verses 8400 HP no comparison.

It's a moot point regarding the inspection train.

Are we about to start another "epic" around here like Lackawanna Cutoff over at NJ TRANSIT Forum?

Not in this topic! It's a finite topic only about the Inspection Train

OK - so let's see it run next year and see where THIS one goes............Honestly, if the Lehigh Valley wants "train service" they need to enlist ALL local leaders (especially on the PA side of the Delaware River) AND get the Universities and colleges in the area seriously involved. I would not discount the influence Lehigh University could have on not only the success of the "test train" but also the success of any corridor that emerges.

Am I correct in surmising that the only way to get a train from Philadelphia to Allentown these days is the long way around through Reading? As though Lehigh Valley-NYC service wouldn't raise eyebrows at NS headquarters on its own.

You appear to be correct: http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/Burea ... parail.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;