1) Do the non-powered coaches sold by Colorado Railcar to be used with a DMU depend entirely on the powered DMU for their electricity (a/c, lighting, etc), or do/can they have their own generator for power when they're freestanding?
Giving a relevant example... suppose a hypothetical future intercity rail service in Florida ran from Miami to West Palm Beach with an Orlando-bound coach and DMU pulling a Tampa-bound coach. After making the trip from West Palm Beach to the Tampa-Orlando rail somewhere parallel to I-4, it would stop, unhitch the Tampa-bound coach, then continue onward to Orlando. Then, a few minutes later, a Tampa-bound DMU + coach from Orlando (or maybe Jacksonville) would come from the opposite direction, connect to the parked Tampa-bound coach, connect, then push it the rest of the way to Tampa.
If it's not obvious, the main idea is to offer the convenience of direct service between MIA/FLL/WPB and Tampa without having to pay for a separate DMU (and drivers)... ultimately, they'd get to Tampa a little faster than they would if they had to disembark from an Orlando-bound train and board the next Tampa-bound train, and enjoy a much more convenient trip.
1b) If the unpowered coaches don't have generators of their own (and depend 100% on the powered DMU for electricity and A/C), could they be built with a socket so that they could be parked at a station (probably somewhere around Winter Haven or Davenport) and plugged into a special power outlet adjacent to the track by an employee (kind of like jets parked at an airport gate, boats in a marina, or RVs at a campground) for power after being unhitched, then unplugged prior to departure once the next train arrives and hitches up to them?
2) If a powered DMU hits the limit that requires its engine to be overhauled, but the railroad isn't quite ready to do it right that instant and needs the coach capacity, could it be legally hitched to a "normal" diesel unit and pulled like an unpowered coach in the meantime? Ie, if it's the DMU's "engine-ness" that's triggering the requirement, could the requirement be temporarily sidestepped by simply refraining from the use of those capabilities?
3) I saw a maximum speed of something like 90 or 100mph listed somewhere. Is that just the maximum speed that they're allowed to run under their own power, or also the maximum speed at which they can be pulled? Going back to the southeast Florida->Tampa/Orlando example, suppose traffic between southeast Florida and Tampa were to pick up a bit. Could a train be run that had a normal diesel engine capable of 110-120mph, 3-8 coaches, and a DMU at the tail end, whereby the DMU were pulled at 110-120mph as an unpowered coach, then upon reaching the Tampa-Orlando line, be unhitched (along with one or two unpowered coaches) and continue under its own power at its rated speed for the final ~50 miles to Tampa (while the rest of the train, pulled by the normal engine, continued towards Orlando)?
Or, as a slight variant, if similar train were to race to West Palm Beach from Orlando at 110-120mph while pulled by the normal engine, then immediately unhitch from the DMU and tail-end coaches after coming to a stop in WPB & proceed nonstop at full speed to Miami... while meanwhile, the DMU gets powered up and used to push the remaining coach or two onward from WPB to Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale (shaving ~10-15 min from the Orlando-MIA time by sparing Miami-bound passengers from the intermediate stops)?
Giving a relevant example... suppose a hypothetical future intercity rail service in Florida ran from Miami to West Palm Beach with an Orlando-bound coach and DMU pulling a Tampa-bound coach. After making the trip from West Palm Beach to the Tampa-Orlando rail somewhere parallel to I-4, it would stop, unhitch the Tampa-bound coach, then continue onward to Orlando. Then, a few minutes later, a Tampa-bound DMU + coach from Orlando (or maybe Jacksonville) would come from the opposite direction, connect to the parked Tampa-bound coach, connect, then push it the rest of the way to Tampa.
If it's not obvious, the main idea is to offer the convenience of direct service between MIA/FLL/WPB and Tampa without having to pay for a separate DMU (and drivers)... ultimately, they'd get to Tampa a little faster than they would if they had to disembark from an Orlando-bound train and board the next Tampa-bound train, and enjoy a much more convenient trip.
1b) If the unpowered coaches don't have generators of their own (and depend 100% on the powered DMU for electricity and A/C), could they be built with a socket so that they could be parked at a station (probably somewhere around Winter Haven or Davenport) and plugged into a special power outlet adjacent to the track by an employee (kind of like jets parked at an airport gate, boats in a marina, or RVs at a campground) for power after being unhitched, then unplugged prior to departure once the next train arrives and hitches up to them?
2) If a powered DMU hits the limit that requires its engine to be overhauled, but the railroad isn't quite ready to do it right that instant and needs the coach capacity, could it be legally hitched to a "normal" diesel unit and pulled like an unpowered coach in the meantime? Ie, if it's the DMU's "engine-ness" that's triggering the requirement, could the requirement be temporarily sidestepped by simply refraining from the use of those capabilities?
3) I saw a maximum speed of something like 90 or 100mph listed somewhere. Is that just the maximum speed that they're allowed to run under their own power, or also the maximum speed at which they can be pulled? Going back to the southeast Florida->Tampa/Orlando example, suppose traffic between southeast Florida and Tampa were to pick up a bit. Could a train be run that had a normal diesel engine capable of 110-120mph, 3-8 coaches, and a DMU at the tail end, whereby the DMU were pulled at 110-120mph as an unpowered coach, then upon reaching the Tampa-Orlando line, be unhitched (along with one or two unpowered coaches) and continue under its own power at its rated speed for the final ~50 miles to Tampa (while the rest of the train, pulled by the normal engine, continued towards Orlando)?
Or, as a slight variant, if similar train were to race to West Palm Beach from Orlando at 110-120mph while pulled by the normal engine, then immediately unhitch from the DMU and tail-end coaches after coming to a stop in WPB & proceed nonstop at full speed to Miami... while meanwhile, the DMU gets powered up and used to push the remaining coach or two onward from WPB to Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale (shaving ~10-15 min from the Orlando-MIA time by sparing Miami-bound passengers from the intermediate stops)?