by STrRedWolf
MACTRAXX wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 8:27 pm Keep in mind the ICT is not only UNPROVEN and UNTESTED technology - these new locomotives are still on the drawing board and have yet to be built...Count me as a skeptic in the realm of this new battery based tech...That's... not entirely true. The ICTs are based off the Venture platform. A lot of the Venture sets are being run in the Midwest using Charger diesel engines. The only thing that is untested is the electric secondary engine and the battery secondary. Otherwise, it's all Chargers and Sprinters at both ends. Quite a modular platform.
Going back to the original topic - a 110 mile electrified extension into Virginia to the Richmond area would be a natural extension southward of the Northeast Corridor - Let's see what the CSX reaction to this proposal may be... CLE has a point - there will have to be the initial electrified trackage between Washington Union Station and the Alexandria Station area for this extension to get built...VRE as example to Fredericksburg could benefit from this...Agreed there. Putting it into the "grander scope of things," if MARC is to run through, and they switch to all electric on the Penn (NEC) line, there goes direct run using that service unless it's electrified. MARC would have to run their Camden Line (CSX/Diesel) equipment through... and no, I don't see Brunswick line run-through for numerous reasons I've stated elsewhere.