why no tilt on MNCR

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Your pic didn't display. Guess Webshots blocks pix from being displayed on message boards or other web pages.

What are the track centers on the Shore Line, 11 feet or 12 feet? And relative to the answer, why was a width of 10' 4" chosen for a tilting train that would be operating on that line?

It looks like there could be 2' of separation - the Acela is only 4" over-dimension it its girth. How much more separation is there between the Amtrak tracks north of New Haven?

Neat picture - how did you take it? Is this on the westbound approach to Stamford? How fast were the two trains going?

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That's a 57K image. As a point of courtesy--especially to dialup readers--can the size be cut? Or better yet, replaced with a standard URL link?

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I still have dial-up at home I'm afraid, but a 57k image isn't too painful.

Cool picture, but knocking on the window of the adjacent train, even if the two trains' speeds are equal or nearly so, still seems slightly dangerous to me.

<i>Cool picture, but knocking on the window of the adjacent train, even if the two trains' speeds are equal or nearly so, still seems slightly dangerous to me.</i>

Yeah, didn't you ever hear when evacuating an Amtrak or NJT train to another next to it that if you touch both at the same time, you'll get electrocuted? (It never ceases to amaze me how many people actually believe this, because an 11kv potential between two exposed conductors sitting on the ground even 10 feet apart would be extremly dangerous in the rain)

More off topic - I'm on dialup - it's not the image size that slows me down, it's all the other fluff on the webpage as it loads. But I agree that size should be kept small, or at least a warning about big (i.e., ovewr 200k) images. I'd love DSL, but VerrrrrrrIIIIIIzzzzzon still isn't offering it by me >:(

That's a 57K image. As a point of courtesy--especially to dialup readers--can the size be cut? Or better yet, replaced with a standard URL link?

57K is not at all large for a dialup connection, it's nothing to complain about. Anything under 200K is fine by me, and believe me I hate this slow connection. I had to click on the URL to see the photo, since for me it refused to display within this page, but I would have preferred it to be the other way around. As Nasadowsk pointed out, the header and menu buttons on the Webshots page took a full 15 seconds to load for me, but the actual photo was downloaded in less than 5s. So, it would have been much faster to have only needed to download the photo directly from the server (if they'd allowed it).

Back on topic, I had seen a reference somewhere to the Acela's tilt system being disabled along a certain stretch of track, and I always wondered why. Apparently this is the answer, which makes surprisingly pefect sense.

Dutchrailnut, how did you physically get the photo? Did you lean out an open window? And boy, I would love to have seen the look on the nose-picker's face!

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Getting back to "Why no tilt?"

1. Acela Express is 2" wider on each side than a Plate C boxcar! Somehow the desire for more passenger 'room' overshadowed the fact that the extra width required ALL platforms on the NEC to be "shaved" by 2" prior to the startup of Acela Express service. There didn't used to be a 'gap' between Amfleet cars and the platform. Nowadays, the gap claims many a luggage-cart wheel!

2. The two extra inches on each side, coupled with a top-edge horizontal movement while tilting of 4-8" or so, would easily consume the 12" gap between the Acela Express and a non-tilting car on a curve. Hence, no tilting allowed.

It's not likely they will widen the separation between tracks on the MNCR, so tilting there probably will never happen.

I wouldn't be suprised if the old-style catenary may also add some restrictions to tilting as well, assuming the power-cars tilt, too.

I second the motion on either using hyperlinks or else editing pictures for lower bandwidth consumption.

Some of us use dialup because we have other things to spend our money on besides bandwidth, like Amtrak trips, cameras, and our children.

Mr Moderator, is there a way you can edit the pic and re-post it in Mr DR's behalf???

John

The power cars do NOT tilt. as far as never having had gaps, not true.
the gaps on NEC are still same as before acela, since FRA requires a minimum of 4 " for carbody sway. and for all whinners ill remove the picture and follow up post from me, since story is not worth anything without that picture.

"Acela Express is 2" wider on each side than a Plate C boxcar!"

As I recall, many US passenger cars are 10 ft 4 inches or wider. If you look at a Comet, for instance, you'll see it's 10 ft wide at floor level but a few inches wider at armrest level.

"...the extra width required ALL platforms on the NEC to be "shaved" by 2" prior to the startup of Acela Express service."

Last time I looked at the platforms in NY Penn there was no sign of recent shaving. Or anywhere else that I can recall. Is Acela really wider than 10 ft at platform level?