Acela testing for 165mph in the works

[NE933]

First revealed in the most recent 'Amtrak Ink', as we get closer to the time (Sept. 2012, which is next month), interest is becoming sort of frenzied. On another rail website, the trainset with locomotives 2001 and 2003 is receiving special upgrading and care.

Yesterday while passing through Midway, some preparation in the form of work equipment being staged on the south side of the Corridor, where the single electrified track splits off towards Monmouth County, had I believe lots of spike removers (I think, it was hard to see even in daylight as we were flying!!). Just south of New Brunswick, in that maintanance yard where freshly made concrete ties are loaded, there were dozens of such loaded flatcars. Also, the God-awful Track 1 (NB local) has new rail lying on both sides, so I guess the long awaited fixing of Track 1 will come with the package of replacing all the turnouts and switches of Midway with new high speed switches on firm concrete.

Midway interlocking is near one of two easy curves in the 27 mile territory in which 165 mph speeds shall be tested. By now it's out of the bag that one of the test's purposes is to see the effects of passing trains on windows, given track spacing is closer than FRA's itchy factor. Expect the special Acela to be tested going past in opposite direction a Keystone trainset (running in typical push-pull, so as to observe the performance of in particular the front windows of the cab), along with NJT equipment. Unknown is whether other Viewliners will joint simply because the windows are identical to Amfleets I and II. Heritage Diners and baggages probably no, since they'll be out by the time revenue 160 mph is established, although one never knows.

I would expect to see a bunch of precast snap track switches for the interlockings very soon, so as to do a maintenance blitz on this crucial area.

 

[jis]

Unknown is whether other Viewliners will joint simply because the windows are identical to Amfleets I and II.

Viewliner windows are identical to Amfleet I and II windows only in HO models. Not in the real thing.

 

[NE933]

Unknown is whether other Viewliners will joint simply because the windows are identical to Amfleets I and II.

Viewliner windows are identical to Amfleet I and II windows only in HO models. Not in the real thing.

Lol! Ok, do tell.. How are they not identical? Thickness?

 

[PRR 60]

Unknown is whether other Viewliners will joint simply because the windows are identical to Amfleets I and II.

Viewliner windows are identical to Amfleet I and II windows only in HO models. Not in the real thing.

Lol! Ok, do tell.. How are they not identical? Thickness?

Vertical dimension, at least for the lower Viewliner windows. The lower Viewliner windows have a greater vertical dimension than the Amfleet II window. I'm guessing the Amfleet II window is not dimensionally FRA compliant for emergency access.

 

[jis]

Unknown is whether other Viewliners will joint simply because the windows are identical to Amfleets I and II.

Viewliner windows are identical to Amfleet I and II windows only in HO models. Not in the real thing.

Lol! Ok, do tell.. How are they not identical? Thickness?

Vertical dimension, at least for the lower Viewliner windows. The lower Viewliner windows have a greater vertical dimension than the Amfleet II window. I'm guessing the Amfleet II window is not dimensionally FRA compliant for emergency access.

Right. They are dimensionally different.

Also BTW, all the equipment that you see lined up there is for tie and rail replacement on track 1. Not much work funded by the $450 Million grant is scheduled on that segment this year. The real work starts next year.

The change at Monmouth Junction will be massive, since they will dig down to the base and build up from there before they put in higher speed moving frog switches increasing the length of the interlocking considerably.

 

[NE933]

Not much work funded by the $450 Million grant is scheduled on that segment this year. The real work starts next year.
The change at Monmouth Junction will be massive, since they will dig down to the base and build up from there before they put in higher speed moving frog switches increasing the length of the interlocking considerably.

Well this is good news/ bad news. Good that Track One is getting the blessings of the good witch of the rails, but 165mph trains flying through Midway's bumpy uneven trackage is worrisome. Oh well, we did say test, didn't say if it fails or not...

 

[jis]

Not much work funded by the $450 Million grant is scheduled on that segment this year. The real work starts next year.
The change at Monmouth Junction will be massive, since they will dig down to the base and build up from there before they put in higher speed moving frog switches increasing the length of the interlocking considerably.

Well this is good news/ bad news. Good that Track One is getting the blessings of the good witch of the rails, but 165mph trains flying through Midway's bumpy uneven trackage is worrisome. Oh well, we did say test, didn't say if it fails or not...

I doubt very much that they will do any 165mph testing at Midway. It is already near a curve as you said. It is not the ideal place to do initial teasting. I bet testing will be mostly in the Princeton - Hamilton area.

 

[afigg]

If part of the purpose is to test the pressure effects of passing trains at the tight spacing of the PRR tracks, they should put someone in the left side window seats. Hook them up to a heart monitor, give him (or her) something to make them a little drowsy (or give them a boring book to read), and as they start dozing off, arrange to have the 165 mph Acela pass by in the other direction. See how startled they get and what happens to their heart rate. :lol: One way to wake up!

Do this for a person sitting in the Amfleet car for a 125 mph Keystone against an opposing 165 mph Acela and in an Acela for two passing 165 mph Acelas. There could be an argument for some human factors testing in these trials. Wonder what they would have for noise and pressure sensors in the coach car cabin spaces?

 

[NE933]

..they should put someone in the left side window seats... give him (or her) something to make them a little drowsy (or give them a boring book to read), and as they start dozing off, arrange to have the 165 mph Acela pass by in the other direction. See how startled they get and what happens to their heart rate.

I think even if you doubled the amount of crap i'm taking, i will still break my corneas with excitment, like this (8-D

As for jis, you said that these tests will likely be in Princeton Jct. and Hamilton areas, do * you * mean * AT THE STATIONS??!!! (my sad face just lit up like a million volt shock of lightnighg, betcha never knew ya had such power!!!!!)

lol

 

[Texan Eagle]

As for jis, you said that these tests will likely be in Princeton Jct. and Hamilton areas, do * you * mean * AT THE STATIONS??!!! (my sad face just lit up like a million volt shock of lightnighg, betcha never knew ya had such power!!!!!)

lol

I believe between the stations in that stretch, or maybe even extending through the stations. The stretch from Hamilton to Princeton Junction and beyond to the north is nice and straight and Princeton doesn't even platforms for the two middle tracks so it should be smooth sailing. During my last trip there, even the lowly "commuter" NJTransit train with 11 bi-level cars pulled by a single locomotive hit 100 miles/hour in that stretch, I was checking on GPS app on my phone and even saved a screenshot of the "achievement" (see below), so that seems like a nice stretch for Acela to hit 165 miles/hr

 

[gswager]

Isn't it showed as km/h, not mph?

 

[Texan Eagle]

Isn't it showed as km/h, not mph?

Of course it is. Read my post. I said the lowly commuter train did 100 miles/hr between Princeton and Hamilton, which in metric units is 160 km/hr, so 161 km/hr is a wee bit over 100 miles/hr.

 

[railiner]

This is the territory where back in December of 1967, the United Aircraft TurboTrain set a US rail speed record of 170.8 MPH, flying past the Princeton Junction station. The original MU Metroliners also got up to speeds above 150 MPH on Pennsy's 'racetrack'.....

The only thing faster, 183.85 MPH, was a specially equipped NYC Budd RDC sporting a pair of jet engines on its roof on a run near Bryan, Oh., back in July of 1966.

 

[VentureForth]

They need to stop trying to increase the to speed and concentrate on upgrading the rest of the ROW to 135 mph.

And, expanding to RVR//RVT.

 

[jis]

Isn't it showed as km/h, not mph?

Of course it is. Read my post. I said the lowly commuter train did 100 miles/hr between Princeton and Hamilton, which in metric units is 160 km/hr, so 161 km/hr is a wee bit over 100 miles/hr.

After this upgrade is completed, some of those lowly commuter trains will be doing 125mph in that segment. Tracks 1 and 4 are going to be upgraded to 125mph from 110mph. NJT claims that they will certify the MLVs for 125mph and they will be hauled by ALP46As which aqre 125mph capable.

 

[stonesfan]

How much time will what will surely be a brief spurt to 165mph actually save?

 

[PRR 60]

How much time will what will surely be a brief spurt to 165mph actually save?

The trains will be tested at 165mph, but will operate at 60mph. Over this approximately 30 mile upgrade, the speed increase from 135mph will save a little under 2 min 30 seconds.

EDIT: Corrected from "under 30 seconds." The 30-second savings was between the present Acela maximum speed of 150mph verses 160mph.

 

[VentureForth]

They could make that 25-mile stretch good for 220 MPH, but they GOTTA GET THE REST OF THE NEC UP TO SPEED FIRST

 

[George Harris]

They could make that 25-mile stretch good for 220 MPH, but they GOTTA GET THE REST OF THE NEC UP TO SPEED FIRST

Exactly! You gain more time from speeding up the slow zones that by increasing the top speed in the zones that are already fast. Unfortunatley, most of the the speed ups that can be done to the slower areas without extreme cost have already been done.

 

[stonesfan]

They could make that 25-mile stretch good for 220 MPH, but they GOTTA GET THE REST OF THE NEC UP TO SPEED FIRST

Exactly! You gain more time from speeding up the slow zones that by increasing the top speed in the zones that are already fast. Unfortunatley, most of the the speed ups that can be done to the slower areas without extreme cost have already been done.

Shaving a few minutes off here and there is all well and good until you end up hitting a major artery like NYP, or being stuck behind a commuter train. All that extra energy expended counts for nothing!

 

[VentureForth]

To go from 150 to 165 will reduce the time by 1 minute. They're only talking about testing to 165, revenue would be 160. How many millions to save 40 seconds? It' doesn't even alter Acela's margin of OTP error!

 

[PRR 60]

To go from 150 to 165 will reduce the time by 1 minute. They're only talking about testing to 165, revenue would be 160. How many millions to save 40 seconds? It' doesn't even alter Acela's margin of OTP error!

While the speed is the PR aspect of the project, all the stuff going on in the background is far more important. The catenary power supply system (a huge problem) will be reinforced (expanded convertor capacity, two new substations), the catenary will be replaced, signaling will be improved, and there will be track and interlocking improvements. This would be a worthwhile project without the speed increase.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

What is the maximum possible speed for current Acela hardware if a whole new ROW was created with the straightest possible track and most precise tolerances?

 

[PRR 60]

What is the maximum possible speed for current Acela hardware if a whole new ROW was created with the straightest possible track and most precise tolerances?

I'm thinking that 160 is about it for the existing trainsets. That is 10 mph above the original spec. Given the issues Amtrak had getting the existing sets qualified for 150mph, I think that Amtrak has their fingers crossed about 160. I don't think it is a given.

The FRA is in the process of revising the testing rules to permit speed qualifying to only be 5mph over the target, not 10mph as presently required. My supposition is that they knew that Acela could not achieve 170mph under any circumstances.

 

[stonesfan]

I thought the Acela was designed with a theoretical maximum of 162mph if given the infrastructure?

Either way, whether it only saves a few mins, it should be a damn good thrash charging down the Northerly parts of the NEC at 160mph!! I've always been a fan of the Acela, and its currently the fastest train in the World to travel on a 'mixed' railway.