acela consist?

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lennie

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Does the Acela's Consist ever exceed 6 passenger cars? I dont think ive ever seen it with more or less than 6
 
No, it is a fixed consist. It requires time in the shop to add or subract cars, as it does not have couplers like regular trains. It has a fixed drawbar connection between cars.

That said, at one point there was a consist running with only 5 cars, since the first class car for that consist had been damaged in a derailment. So the train ran with no First Class for several months. It was assigned to cover one Boston - NYP run only.
 
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The Acela can run with Geometry car 10003 and does so every 3 weeks or so.

the car gets spliced next to one of powercars making the consist 7 cars.

the cars do not have drawbars but a semi permanent coupler, mounted inside the diaphram.

here is picture of 10003 and the non standard height couplers.

amtk10003.jpg
 
The Acela can run with Geometry car 10003 and does so every 3 weeks or so.the car gets spliced next to one of powercars making the consist 7 cars.

the cars do not have drawbars but a semi permanent coupler, mounted inside the diaphram.

here is picture of 10003 and the non standard height couplers.

amtk10003.jpg
Ok, that brings up another question, especially considering the recent power outage. Are there standard couplers on the engines, so that in case of a power failure, or engine failure a rescue engine could connect to the set? Also, how do they normally move the engines around off of a electric set.(heard one was going to CO for testing...)...
 
Ok, that brings up another question, especially considering the recent power outage. Are there standard couplers on the engines, so that in case of a power failure, or engine failure a rescue engine could connect to the set? Also, how do they normally move the engines around off of a electric set.(heard one was going to CO for testing...)...
There are standard couplers under the nose cone of the Acela power cars, so that they can be hauled by a diesel locomotive.
 
Ok, that brings up another question, especially considering the recent power outage. Are there standard couplers on the engines, so that in case of a power failure, or engine failure a rescue engine could connect to the set? Also, how do they normally move the engines around off of a electric set.(heard one was going to CO for testing...)...
Yes Acela has standard AAR passenger coupler under the shroud including two HEP receptacles to feed the train.

The power cars can not move on mainline as single unit they can run as a pair with no cars due to FRA incompatibility of coupler height etc.

The unit that went to Pueblo Colorado was not Acela powercar but a HHP-8, it went to AAR test center to check the new FRA geometry thru its paces.
 
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The power cars can not move on mainline as single unit they can run as a pair with no cars due to FRA incompatibility of coupler height etc.
I'm confused, are you saying that they can't just tow one power car solo? That they must always move two together? :unsure:
 
Don't confuse "can" with "are allowed."

If they don't put two power cars together, they won't have a standard coupler on each end.
 
Don't confuse "can" with "are allowed."
If they don't put two power cars together, they won't have a standard coupler on each end.
Correct even towing a powercar by itself on Mainline would be FRA violation since all equipment must have couplers and draftgear at required height.

They can tow as long as the intermediate couplers are not exposed to other trains, by either coupling two powercars together, or use of shield car with compromise coupler.

In that case they can use the two power cars as light enginemove under their own power.

In yards anything goes as shop move.

If a car had to be moved it would need two shielding cars and compromise couplers to comply with the FRA rules
 
Correct even towing a powercar by itself on Mainline would be FRA violation since all equipment must have couplers and draftgear at required height.They can tow as long as the intermediate couplers are not exposed to other trains, by either coupling two powercars together, or use of shield car with compromise coupler.

In that case they can use the two power cars as light enginemove under their own power.

In yards anything goes as shop move.

If a car had to be moved it would need two shielding cars and compromise couplers to comply with the FRA rules
Very interesting. Thanks! :)
 
It is this sort of non-standard for the sake of being non-standard that makes me want to scream. Looking at the picture of the car end, I see nothing that would have prevented them from using a standard coupler at standard height. The Eurothink in the design is apparent from the use of buffers in the low corners. Except, they went one further and have buffers in the upper corners as well. With the top ones in particular if you go through a small turnout with too much rocking, you could get this interesting phenomena they call "buffer lock" That is where the ends of the cars misaalign to the point that the buffers bypass each other. These things are spring loaded. when that happens, you get some real damage. The least being you tear off the buffer. It can derail the car.
 
George the crash pads are not buffers like in Europe they do not touch and there is no danger of them locking in turnouts.

The coupler is not at standard height because of a enlarged drawgear with much longer trow/spring than ordinairy cars.

And no a bolt on coupler(compromize) would still not be legal as the drawgear would be at least one foot lower than the coupler preventing any crash energy managment even at slower speeds.
 
Dutchrailnut: I stand corrected. Crash Pads, huh? Still wondering if there could not have been a way to have a standard height coupler. There always seem to be some "reinvent the wheel" types in the design of these things.

If you can tell anything about the concept and function of these crash pads it would be appreciated.

By the way, the Shinkansen equipment has something like 3 to 4 shock absorbers across the interface between cars plus a couple of other bolt on devices, so it is probably about a 30 minute job to couple or uncouple a coach, and then the train can not run with a reduced consist as some mechanical and electrical devices are shared between cars.
 
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