Silver Meteor Speed

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Just Returned from Round Trip on the Meteor from NWK To Orlando- First time Riding this train in some time as Im usually

on the Auto-Train

While I know the "max speed" is 79 MPH I believe we left that behind somewhere in the Carolinas

Anybody have any actual speed readings from both Penn Stat. NY to Wash. (which Im guessing is 100-110?) since

the Viewliners max speed is 110. and then from Wash South and it seemed we were moving fast....

FYI The Genesis Amtrak put on in Washington were DOA after a while and had to wait approx 90 minutes

for new engines Even with that we were only 30 minutes late into Orlando

On the NorthBound Trip we were 25 minutes late leaving Orlando and 1 hour - yes 1 hour early into NWK Penn Station-

that was a Saturday trip with minimum CSX Freight in the way.

Thanks
 
I just went up and back, PAK-NYP last month on the Meteor, and I clocked a maximum speed of around 110 mph on the corridor in NJ. Just under 33 secs. per mile using my watch and the mileposts.

Ocala Mike
 
There are official speed limits, and there are truer speed limits. In the 80's thru early 90's whenever a Silver Star/Meteor/Palm reached Virginia and the Carolinas and even Georgia at night, we all noticed the Amfleet IIs rumbled with more frequency and the sense of speed nicely noticeable, as the two F40 engines laying on the horn, and throttle. Lights streaked by the windows faster. The onboard Chief of Onboard Services stated on the PA that we were flying 6 feet above sea level at 120 mph. It was safe, and everything ran like clockwork. More recently when returning solo from Miami running 4 hours late, we were passing NEC milemarkers twice per minute. The present Heritage Diners and Viewliners can handle these high speeds safely when necessary, it's just it bangs the hell out of the trucks and shock absorbers which means higher maintenance and more downtime.
 
Currently the 79 mph speed limit is very strictly enforced. There is quite a bit of slack in the current schedules. Unless recently increased, the maximum speed limit on the former RF&P is 70 mph.
 
They won't go over the speed limit now. I don't think they did in the 80s either. There are event recorders in the engines. And sometimes there are people who use radar guns to check a trains speed. An engineer experiences harsh consequences for speeding.

IMHOs if it is dark outside it seems like the train is going faster. I've heard many people state that the train runs faster at might to make up time.
 
I ride the Silver Meteor often and have never clocked it over 79. I usually go only as far as WAS, however, today, I will be traveling from ORL to NYP. I will try to remember clock the speed in the NEC using my GPS.
 
Many railfans are prone to over-estimate the speed at which they are traveling, and some are even prone to to just making up stories as they go :)

But rest assured that at least in today's railroading, consistent overspeeding is cause for severe disciplinary action, and remember engines have event recorders today. Furthermore, with the introduction of ACSES such overspeeding will actually become even more difficult since the CSES part will prevent them.

As for what happened 40 years back specially before Chase MD, is another matter. As the astute may recall, the Colonial was overspeeding by 18mph when it was involved in that crash. The technique used for monitoring speed back then was FRA agents standing trackside with hand held radar guns!
 
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I clocked the northbound Crescent at 120 mph for a stretch or two in the NE corider. It was December 31, 1983.

I can always remember the exact date. Why? Because I was going to Times Square to ring in 1984.

Yes, I actually admit to being in that mob crowd and surviving. My hotel was half a block away so it was really quite simple for me.

Back to the speed, it was not that I was deliberately checking it but instead it called attention to itself.
 
They won't go over the speed limit now. I don't think they did in the 80s either. There are event recorders in the engines. And sometimes there are people who use radar guns to check a trains speed. An engineer experiences harsh consequences for speeding.
It's not just event recorders & speed guns that prevent going too fast. The P42's computers are programed for the maximum speed limit that the engine will encounter for that run. There is a small allowance built in for very brief periods of being over the limit, like for example the engineer didn't react quite fast enough for a downhill leg. But any prolonged over-speeds or getting above 84 or 85 on a route with a max of 79MPH will see the engines computer applying the emergency brakes and stopping the train. And that of course will call attention to the engineer's mistake.

And this works with or without PTC, since the computer is simply monitoring the engine's speed indicator.

Now mind you this doesn't help if the speed limit is 50 for a section of track, but the overall top speed limit is 79. So for example, an engineer doing 60 in a 50 won't get shut down by the computer. PTC would shut him down, but not the engine's current computer systems.
 
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