Sprinter, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.
When I first learned of the new diesel-powered light rail line, in northern San Diego county between Oceanside and Escondido, I was quite pleased.
Then I rode it.
A number of assumptions on my part were destroyed. Yes, I know about assuming.
First assumption, sight unseen, was that diesel-powered meant diesel electric. Sprinter is not diesel electric. It's diesel mechanical or diesel hydraulic, a distinction without a difference in operations but perhaps crucial when it comes to maintenance.
Upon alighting from a Coaster at Oceanside I was looking forward to my first Sprinter ride. Ticketing was easy, boarding was simple, the motorman was a jovial chap who bade me good morning, and I was ready for a nice train ride.
And there the fairytale ended.
Sprinter is a bus on steel wheels and tracks. It sounds like a bus. It drives like a bus. It accelerates and decelerates like a bus, with the jerky shifting of gears like a bus. If not for the horn and grade crossings one might be forgiven for mistaking Sprinter for a bus. It's that bad.
And Sprinter is SLOW. The trainset seemed to mechanically complain upon leaving each station, and there were the bus-like jerks of shifting gears as Sprinter reluctantly accelerated (if that's the word) to a speed that many racehorses would find laughable. Several breeds of snails would be competitive with Sprinter.
Sprinter stations are very elaborate, and I found myself wondering whether the money required for them could not have been better spent on electrification of the line.
I had embarked upon my Sprinter sojourn as a joyride, but it quickly became a Journey of Torture.
Maybe this equipment works in Europe, where torture is a way of life, but it's not for SoCal. A mistake.
EDIT: The only cars passed in either direction were those held behind gates at grade crossings.
EDIT 2: And I seriously doubt any cars hit would have suffered more than minor dents. Sprinter is incredibly slow.
When I first learned of the new diesel-powered light rail line, in northern San Diego county between Oceanside and Escondido, I was quite pleased.
Then I rode it.
A number of assumptions on my part were destroyed. Yes, I know about assuming.
First assumption, sight unseen, was that diesel-powered meant diesel electric. Sprinter is not diesel electric. It's diesel mechanical or diesel hydraulic, a distinction without a difference in operations but perhaps crucial when it comes to maintenance.
Upon alighting from a Coaster at Oceanside I was looking forward to my first Sprinter ride. Ticketing was easy, boarding was simple, the motorman was a jovial chap who bade me good morning, and I was ready for a nice train ride.
And there the fairytale ended.
Sprinter is a bus on steel wheels and tracks. It sounds like a bus. It drives like a bus. It accelerates and decelerates like a bus, with the jerky shifting of gears like a bus. If not for the horn and grade crossings one might be forgiven for mistaking Sprinter for a bus. It's that bad.
And Sprinter is SLOW. The trainset seemed to mechanically complain upon leaving each station, and there were the bus-like jerks of shifting gears as Sprinter reluctantly accelerated (if that's the word) to a speed that many racehorses would find laughable. Several breeds of snails would be competitive with Sprinter.
Sprinter stations are very elaborate, and I found myself wondering whether the money required for them could not have been better spent on electrification of the line.
I had embarked upon my Sprinter sojourn as a joyride, but it quickly became a Journey of Torture.
Maybe this equipment works in Europe, where torture is a way of life, but it's not for SoCal. A mistake.
EDIT: The only cars passed in either direction were those held behind gates at grade crossings.
EDIT 2: And I seriously doubt any cars hit would have suffered more than minor dents. Sprinter is incredibly slow.
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