Acela 21 (Avelia Liberty) development, testing and deployment (2018 - 1Q 2024)

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jis said:
Surely you mean NS between Collier Yard and Petersburg? It is CSX from Richmond to Petersburg upto Collier Yard south of Petersburg Ettrick atation, where the Norfolk trains transfer over to NS.


It is the axle loads of almost everything that runs on the NEC. The NS Coal trains! Those are the ones that cause more damage than a few CSX locals, And it is likely that the heavy passenger diesels used by some causes more damage traveling at higher speeds than the slow speed CSX locals.

The excessively heavy locomotives used by many users, including many passenger ones. Additionally it is more difficult to keep tracks in good conditions with the frequency of track maintenance that one apparently can afford for the NEC with such heavy rolling stock.

Just as an example TGVs generally have axle loads in the vicinity of 20 tonnes, whereas the diesels used by MARC clock in at something like 32 tonnes and NJT ALP45DPs clock in around 34 tonnes, SC44s/ALC42s are around 30 tonnes. In comparison ACS64 are some 25 or so tonnes,

This is one reason that the dual modes on the Airos will have the traction equipment weight distributed across eight axles instead of four.

Usually what happens is that tracks are very smooth immediately after a solid maintenance cycle, and then they deteriorate over time until the next maintenance cycle. If the maintenance cycles are few and far between then the tracks can be pretty bad just before a cycle kicks in. The railroads are obligated to keep the tracks upto what is required for the particular track class. The minimum FRA requirement is not guided by smoothness but by safety, and a pretty rough track still can be within FRA safety parameters.

Having said that, I suspect CSX has done a round of track maintenance through the summer. The last two times I traveled by the Silvers, there were long segments of remarkably good quality tracks even at the interlockings along the Atlantic Coast Line.
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TGVs are limited to 17 tons axle load. We could design to that but we don’t. The British HST diesels were just over at 17.5 tons. So even a diesel is possible. So the tracks get beat up pretty quickly.
 
The NYT reports that computer modelling is finally finished and testing of the trainsets on the NEC will begin:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/13/us/politics/acela-amtrak-avelia.html
After years of delays and safety and design disputes, Amtrak is one step closer to bringing new high-speed trains to the busy Northeast Corridor.

Amtrak officials said late Friday that the new trains, which had failed an extended series of computer modeling tests, had passed on the 14th try and had been cleared by the Federal Railroad Administration to begin testing on the tracks that run from Washington, D.C., to Boston.

[...]

The testing on the tracks will be “the next step in the safety certification process that leads toward launching revenue service,” Amtrak said in a statement.
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I would expect things to get pretty agressive for testing very quickly. I could be wrong. I have a guess of when they may see service. However it's a guess and with this project it's been an adventure. A guess says the summer. Just in time for the heat restrictions.

I'll add that I can see the whole testing, certification, and revenue service process to occur in a timely manner.

I will keep everyone posted with any insight that I can publicaly spill.
 
eldomtom2 said:
The NYT reports that computer modelling is finally finished and testing of the trainsets on the NEC will begin:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/13/us/politics/acela-amtrak-avelia.html
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Under the terms of the contract, Alstom was required to create a computer model to predict the performance of the trains before even starting to build them — a crucial stipulation, since the Federal Railroad Administration, which enforces rail safety regulations, must approve a model that demonstrates a train is safe before it can be tested on the Northeast Corridor tracks.

The corridor’s curves, bridges, and tunnels presented a particular challenge for Alstom. The region’s tracks are estimated to need more than $100 billion in repairs and upgrades for the new trains to reach max speeds through the entire corridor.

By 2019, the company had run into trouble. According to Amtrak officials and Alstom representatives, the train manufacturer told Amtrak that computer modeling showed the new trains could not run safely on the Northeast Corridor tracks. Nonetheless, Alstom said the company could work out the problems and wanted to move ahead.

Amtrak gave Alstom the go-ahead to build the trains despite the computer modeling problems because, Amtrak officials said, they thought they had no other choice. More recently, Amtrak officials acknowledged that they failed to put safeguards into the contract with Alstom to protect themselves in the event the company struggled to develop working trains.
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New Haven to New Rochelle has been the black hole for decades.

I am hopeful that will soon change.
 
Fenway said:
New Haven to New Rochelle has been the black hole for decades.

I am hopeful that will soon change.
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Yeah, but for New Haven to New Rochelle, the top speed is only about 75 mph or so, if you're lucky enough to be able to travel that fast at all. My understanding is that they were having problems with performance at the higher speeds.
 
Hopefully I'll get adequate heads up for when some go south to DC, but being so close to PHL, I'd have to get the heads up while I'm already at or near my rail fanning station. Seems the southbound ones go 'after dark'.
 
Acela150 said:
TS is scheduled to return to Philly tomorrow night behind 179 per a Facebook group. How in the world people find out about this stuff before me or anyone else who work for Amtrak is beyond me. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Being in the community for a while and seeing what I've seen, railfans along with human resources apparently have more power then the entire federal government lol. I've watched videos of the new Acelas testing and I'm impressed by the train itself, but also in the back of mind I'm going, how did these guys know when and where to be when the train is testing? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ I just go with the flow.
 
Caesar La Rock said:
Being in the community for a while and seeing what I've seen, railfans along with human resources apparently have more power then the entire federal government lol. I've watched videos of the new Acelas testing and I'm impressed by the train itself, but also in the back of mind I'm going, how did these guys know when and where to be when the train is testing? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ I just go with the flow.
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As the exhausted soldiers from the Dunkerque evacuation arrived in England, they were moved out rapidly on trains made up of carriages scrounged from all over. How do we know? British railway enthusiasts were on the scene writing down the unusual consists.
 
Acela150 said:
TS is scheduled to return to Philly tomorrow night behind 179 per a Facebook group. How in the world people find out about this stuff before me or anyone else who work for Amtrak is beyond me. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Caesar La Rock said:
Being in the community for a while and seeing what I've seen, railfans along with human resources apparently have more power then the entire federal government lol. I've watched videos of the new Acelas testing and I'm impressed by the train itself, but also in the back of mind I'm going, how did these guys know when and where to be when the train is testing? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ I just go with the flow.
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Could be that other Amtrak employees (perhaps with higher inside knowledge), are in that FB group, and are not as discrete as they should be?
 
railiner said:
Could be that other Amtrak employees (perhaps with higher inside knowledge), are in that FB group, and are not as discrete as they should be?
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Why would they need to be discrete about the test runs? 🤔

It could also be that the rail fans know what the "call numbers" are for the charter/extra moves and check for those each day on Amtrak's status page.
 
AmtrakBlue said:
Why would they need to be discrete about the test runs? 🤔
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I don’t know any reason in particular for that, but in general, employees do have to sign a “confidentiality agreement”, and are not supposed to disclose any “insider information” without official permission…🤷‍♂️
 
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