by amtrakhogger
What is MAS on that segment?
You just shook the hand , that shook the hand, that shook the hand of John L. Sullivan!
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travelrobb wrote:Yes -- the timetable indicates an average speed of 30 mph for ten miles of what seemed to be relatively straight track between Springfield and Holyoke, and 44 mph form Holyoke to Northampton. But that strikes me as slow.Relatively straight? Once south of the now-closed Mt Tom generating station south of Northampton, the tracks follow every twist and turn of the Connecticut River. Throw in multiple bridges in Holyoke over water and highways, all of which are rather 'old looking' and thus have speed restrictions, I think the train goes about as fast as possible over the route. Having ridden south from Brattleboro NH a couple of times, I doubt the train went much over 45 for much of the route until south New Haven! Between Springfield and New Haven, before and after the speed restricted approaches and crossing the Connecticut River, there simply isn't enough straight running between stops to accelerate over 45 or so and still be able to stop accurately at the next station.
travelrobb wrote:I'm returning south on the Vermonter now approaching Springfield, and the last three miles in (from just south of MP S3) is a crawl on what appears to be straight-as-an-arrow track. You could literally jog past us as we're going over the CSX crossing at Springfield, but those last three miles easily took us 10 minutes. What specifically is the hold-up between Holyoke and Springfield?Pan Am issued a new timetable for the Conn River Line on 12/28/2014 - the day before the Vermonter started service on this line. In this timetable the MAS between MP S2.41 (Plainfield St in Springfield) and MP S0.38 (CPR 1) is 20 mph. From MP S0.38 to the CSX diamond the MAS is 10 MPH. As far as I am aware this speed is still in effect. Why, I do not know. Some people have suggested that its because of the two public schools on the west side of the tracks in this part of the city. Maybe someone on this forum can fill us in.
F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:Aren't there still a couple bridge speed restrictions on the Conn River still due to get closeout work before being lifted? As of last year that was still the case, and I know PAS is still doing siding renewal construction work along the line.
Train60 wrote: Yes. There are still, after almost three years since Vermonter Day 1, 15 mph speed restrictions on the bridge over the Deerfield River and the bridge over the Connecticut River. The Pan Am Timetable issued on 12/28/2014 lists the MAS (passenger) speed on these two bridges as 35 mph. So its safe to say that MassDOT still has closeout work to do on these bridges.I would love to see scans of the Pan Am timetable for this line, or a listing of the MAX and speed restrictions by milepost, if you're able to make those available. Thanks in advance...