Cascades 510 trainset turned around

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
CHamilton

CHamilton

Engineer
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
5,301
Location
Seattle
I am traveling to Vancouver, BC this morning, and am surprised that the train (one of the old Talgos) is turned around. Business class is on the front (north) end, so the single seats of the 2+1 seating get the water side. Nice for me! I haven't seen a Cascades train in this orientation in a long time. The conductor said that it does happen.
 
Dumb question, wouldn't it make sense to put Business Class at the front of Vancouver-bound trains since all passengers exit at the front of the platform to head towards customs and immigration. I've crossed the border into Canada there once and the line wasn't too bad but it would seem like a good business class perk to get priority screening, and in tern be the first off the train to enter Canada?
 
I think for the most part is has to do with them wanting to have the engines/generator cars in one position. I want to say there's an overhang or something at King St. where its preferable to have the Cab Car near that overhang. Not to mention it simplifies loading for station personnel to direct passengers to the correct boarding location.
 
I took Cascades 510 on Wednesday and the Mt. Adams trainset I was on had the pairs side of business class on the waterside.

What I found weird was the trainset didn't have an NPCU (cabbage car).

Are they wyeing the entire trainset when they reach the end of the line or just the locomotive? Also, does anyone know what happened to the NPCU that was supposed to be used with this trainset?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
rickycourtney said:
I took Cascades 510 on Wednesday and the Mt. Adams trainset I was on had the pairs side of business class on the waterside.

What I found weird was the trainset didn't have an NPCU (cabbage car).

Are they wyeing the entire trainset when they reach the end of the line or just the locomotive? Also, does anyone know what happened to the NPCU that was supposed to be used with this trainset?
Click to expand...
The NPCUs for Cascades are numbered; 90250, 90251, 90252, 90253, and 90278.

I usually see 90253 on Mt. Adams (fixed to 510/517). Probably 90253 is under restoration?
 
We ended up backing into Pacific Central Station in Vancouver this morning, so BC was furthest from the station. But as has been done in the past, they unloaded everyone one car at a time, BC first, so we did get first processing.
 
I'm presently riding Mt. Adams, just leaving Vancouver on 517 and it STILL Lacks and NPCU, the crew decided not to bother to wye the train this afternoon so we the passengers had the pleasure of taking it for a nice long wye ride going through what felt like nearly abandoned rail yards with manually set switches before completing the wye move directly in front of the Rocky Mountaineer Station that already has a train in it. We also left the station at 5:38, 7 minutes early since customs closes at 5:30 and apparently everyone had been processed.

I road 510 up on Sunday, also aboard Mt. Adams that also lacked an NPCU, that day I know they wide the train without passengers because I saw the rear bare of an NPCU power car through the fence as I boarded my bus up to Whistler (the purpose of the trip was Spring Skiing).

I know this is an old thread, I'm intentionally bumping it to show the amount of time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top