Fastest Metro-North train

merrick1 wrote:

DutchRailnut wrote:If a train were to leave a station early, the crew would enjoy a unpaid vacation. railroad has train tracking and time out of stations and passing of interlockings is logged.
it would be a blatant violation of MNCR time Table rules, and would not take more than a few minutes to get caught.

I wondered about that at the time. But it did happen.

When Peter Stangl was President of Metro-North, he would ride out of Chappaqua. One day, the train departed as he was coming down the stairs. He complained to Don Nelson, who was VP of Operations. They checked the train tracking and saw that the train passed CP 132 at the departure time for Chappaqua, so the train probably left a minute early. The engineer and conductor received letters of reprimand. One night in Poughkeepsie, passengers who were taking train 49 to Chicago complained that the train had left early and train tracking confirmed that the train had passed CP 75 at the posted departure time for POK. Not sure what discipline Amtrak took in that case.

DutchRailnut wrote:Don't remember restriction on Bombardier cars, timetable speed for Bombardiers is 100 mph, only restriction was for BG curve on Harlem at 50 mph till springs were replaced.
F10's max speed was 83 and FL-9's were restricted at 89 mph their speed was reduced to 79 mph on upper Hudson due to super elevation issues.

The Mechanical Dept. put a 79 MPH restriction on the first Bomb cars due to them not having disc brakes. I remember seeing those "79 MAX" labels affixed to the ADU's of both FL-9's and Bomb cab cars. This restriction was only for the upper Hudson and not for the New Haven Line. I'm sure Pierce remembers it to.

DutchRailnut wrote:Two fastest parts are from just north of Manitou on Hudson to Poughkeepsie at 90 mph
and just east of CP217 to just short of Harrison also 90 mph but on New Haven line.

I thought that area was 79 mph tops territory, north of Manitou to Poughkeepsie

not when I posted that, but now max speed is 80 mph as all speeds were lowered on metro North

DutchRailnut wrote:not when I posted that, but now max speed is 80 mph as all speeds were lowered on metro North

Wow fast reply! I was wondering about the top speeds of the M7's & Bomb express trains from north of Spuyten Duyvil to Croton Harmon, and Amtrak as well. I keep seeing YT videos of commuter trains that are supposedly going 70-75mph but it seems like Metro North's and Amtrak on the Hudson line go faster than that. So it the MAS speed there 60 mph or 70 mph. I even rode a M7 express last summer that was going really fast from Tarrytown to Yonkers, I've never heard the machinery underneath work so hard and it was noisy too!

DutchRailnut wrote:not when I posted that, but now max speed is 80 mph as all speeds were lowered on metro North

Fastest M7 Express I've ridden video

speed in that section was 75 mph, I believe its now 70 mph

DutchRailnut wrote:speed in that section was 75 mph, I believe its now 70 mph

Awesome thank you! I knew that M7 ride was slower than when I rode Arrow III's on the NEC at 79 mph. The fastest commuter trains I've ridden are the NJT Multilevel super express from Princeton Junction at 100 mph which was amazing how comfortable they felt going that fast. Now I feel like going on a train ride

monica012077 wrote:

DutchRailnut wrote:speed in that section was 75 mph, I believe its now 70 mph

Awesome thank you! I knew that M7 ride was slower than when I rode Arrow III's on the NEC at 79 mph. The fastest commuter trains I've ridden are the NJT Multilevel super express from Princeton Junction at 100 mph which was amazing how comfortable they felt going that fast. Now I feel like going on a train ride

Agreed- the NJT bilevels and Metro-North Shoreliners are both much smoother rides than the M7s, with those noisy/rattling trucks.

R36 Combine Coach wrote:I'd say #59 ("The Clipper") non-stop from SEC to Harriman (West-of-Hudson).

This train never exceeds 80 MPH anywhere.

I don't believe it goes over 70 east of Harriman. Nevertheless, its probably the best train to ride anywhere on the NJT tracks in terms of speed and time to the the stations.