Equipment failures

[stan]

Lately there seems to be a whole lot of equipment failures. On the 21st we were on 5 in a sleeper that had an electrical fire that also took out the locomotive power unit.

From the recent posts there seem to be a whole lot of equipment failures lately, a lot more then in previous years.

This has to be costly to Amtrak and also is a big negative to its passengers. I am sure that the freight railroads are also not happy as it can tie up a mainline.

On the plus site the new conductor tool is providing a lot more data in electronic form so hopefully the front office is getting more accurate information.

To me it looks like deferred maintenance is finally taking its toll.

Stan

 

[Ryan]

We get a thread saying the exact same thing every 6 months, it seems.

Sounds a lot like this, unless someone has some actual data that indicates a problem:

http://www.psmag.com/culture/theres-a-name-for-that-the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon-59670/

 

[jphjaxfl]

The equipment failure is due to the fact that Amtrak's equipment is getting older and there is no serious capital plan for replacement of Superliner equipment. A transportation system like Amtrak should be ordering new equipment every 10 years at least. The private railroads ordered new equipment periodically until the late 1950s when they mostly decided to stop investing in passenger trains. A few still built some new coaches as late as the mid 1960s. Since Amtrak has no older equipment to use during peak periods, congress needs to appropriate some capital funds for new cars and locomotives to lessen equipment failures and also fund complete rehabs on older equipment to provide backup. I know; Congress doesn't like Amtrak. As the current long distance equipment gets older and there is equipment failure there will be shorter, fewer trains until the long distance trains go away with some states continuing to operate the routes under 750 miles that will be most funded by states. These will be coach/business class trains with snack bars providing food service. The handwriting is on the wall and has been for several years.

 

[ACS-64]

It always comes back to all these problems could be solved with $$$. Raise your hand if you're willing to open up your checkbook..

 

[Ryan]

/me raises his hand

 

[tonys96]

It always comes back to all these problems could be solved with $$$. Raise your hand if you're willing to open up your checkbook..

Hand raised. My checkbook gets opened for airport security, airport operations, road and bridge construction and repair, etc...why not for better and safer Amtrak equipment?

 

[Ryan]

/me puts his hand back down since Tony offered to pay.

 

[afigg]

The equipment failure is due to the fact that Amtrak's equipment is getting older and there is no serious capital plan for replacement of Superliner equipment. A transportation system like Amtrak should be ordering new equipment every 10 years at least.

There is a fleet strategy plan that calls for the replacement of the Superliners along with the Amfleets and P-42s. The plans, of course, have been pushed further off into the future because Congress has been in the grips of advocates for austerity budgets. As the annual budget deficits continue shrink as the economy slowly recovers, the political situation will change.
But Amtrak and the states are ordering new equipment, with 2 of those orders that leave a path open with options to address the age and capacity of the LD fleet. First, there is 130 Viewliner II order which is an LD equipment order. The ACS-64s are for the NEC, but will help Amtrak's bottom line. Then, there are also orders for:

A. 130 bi-level corridor cars with options for 300 more. If the funding is made available, provides Amtrak with a path to order coach cars in LD configuration and an active production line for follow-on contracts for cars in sleeper, diner, lounge car configurations.

B. 35 Next gen diesel locomotives with options for 225 additional locomotives. the RFP for the contract spelled out options for 150 to 175 locomotives in "LD" configuration, so the provisions are in the contract for Amtrak to replace all the P-42s and P-40s for the LD trains once the funds are made available.

Adding up the numbers, there are orders for 365 pieces of new rolling stock, so it not as if there are no orders.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

It should not be hard to design and build a Superliner 3 series as the current fleet will serve as the model. They seem to be well designed and laid out and perhaps the only addition would be a reconfigured Sightseer Lounge to serve as a Parlour Car on the Long Haul trains.

Now putting money in the Kitty-that's another story! Liberal or Conservative folks need to realize for America to continue to survive and thrive we need to update our Infrastructure.

 

[jphjaxfl]

The equipment failure is due to the fact that Amtrak's equipment is getting older and there is no serious capital plan for replacement of Superliner equipment. A transportation system like Amtrak should be ordering new equipment every 10 years at least.

There is a fleet strategy plan that calls for the replacement of the Superliners along with the Amfleets and P-42s. The plans, of course, have been pushed further off into the future because Congress has been in the grips of advocates for austerity budgets. As the annual budget deficits continue shrink as the economy slowly recovers, the political situation will change.
But Amtrak and the states are ordering new equipment, with 2 of those orders that leave a path open with options to address the age and capacity of the LD fleet. First, there is 130 Viewliner II order which is an LD equipment order. The ACS-64s are for the NEC, but will help Amtrak's bottom line. Then, there are also orders for:

A. 130 bi-level corridor cars with options for 300 more. If the funding is made available, provides Amtrak with a path to order coach cars in LD configuration and an active production line for follow-on contracts for cars in sleeper, diner, lounge car configurations.

B. 35 Next gen diesel locomotives with options for 225 additional locomotives. the RFP for the contract spelled out options for 150 to 175 locomotives in "LD" configuration, so the provisions are in the contract for Amtrak to replace all the P-42s and P-40s for the LD trains once the funds are made available.

Adding up the numbers, there are orders for 365 pieces of new rolling stock, so it not as if there are no orders.

The fleet strategy plan is at best, a wish list. Those of us who use the Silver Meteor and Silver Star on a regular basis have been waiting to use the newly to be built Viewliner Dining Cars that will replace Dining Cars that I rode on as a child when they were close to new. Will the Sliver trains survive long enough to include the new equipment?

 

[Ryan]

Now you're just being rediculous. The cars are about to roll out next year (which stars in 2 days).

 

[afigg]

The fleet strategy plan is at best, a wish list. Those of us who use the Silver Meteor and Silver Star on a regular basis have been waiting to use the newly to be built Viewliner Dining Cars that will replace Dining Cars that I rode on as a child when they were close to new. Will the Sliver trains survive long enough to include the new equipment?

If the FY2014 appropriations for Amtrak has sufficient funds for the operating subsidy for the LD trains, yes, the Silver service will survive long enough to get the new Viewliners. I base this in part on that the budget agreement is a 2 year deal that provides the same total amount in FY15 for the non-DOD discretionary spending. So whatever amounts Amtrak gets for FY14, they are likely to get in FY15. Since the new Viewliners should enter revenue service in quantity in FY15, the Silvers are going to get new diner and probably baggage-dorm cars.
Besides, despite Congressman Mica's obsession with beating Amtrak over the head about food service losses and that he is no longer Chairman of the House transportation committee (was rotated out due to term limits as ranking member & Chairman), he is a powerful Congressman with seniority and he is not about to let the Silver trains to Orlando and FL get terminated. So be patient for another year, new single level diners, bag-dorms, and sleepers are coming.

 

[stan]

We get a thread saying the exact same thing every 6 months, it seems.

Sounds a lot like this, unless someone has some actual data that indicates a problem:

http://www.psmag.com/culture/theres-a-name-for-that-the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon-59670/

Just completed our latest trip. 5 long distance trains taken on this trip and 2nd long distance trip in 2013/14. Overall impression is that employee service on the train has seen a real improvement and is now very good overall. Actually I rate it as excellent. Station personnel is another matter.

Equipment problems of late from our vantage point seem to be increasing. And the on-board personnel are frustrated by it. Its not just a matter that some of the equipment is old. When you have older equipment you need to spend more time on maintaining it and alas we encountered a host of problems in equipment. Much of these problems can be solved by spending more attention to maintaining the existing fleet. And the problems on some cars are apparently reported time and time again.

In addition to the car electrical fire and locomotive failure on the way out following are some of the problems encountered on the way back.By themselves not hard evidence but coupled by other reports on this forumI think it is a problem worthy of discussion.

1) Car doors at end of cars not working properly and staying open (3 cases) (note this can result in really cold cars this time of year)

2) Frozen toilets, showers and water lines ( 2 cases)

3) leaking pipes causing campartments to be closed off (1 case)

4) Heating system not working properly (5 cases)

5) Interior doors on toilets not closing properly (3 cases)

6) Brake line hose not working properly (1 case) (solved by a liberal application of duct tape and ties.)

7) Train service delays causing trains to depart late (2 cases)

Thats a pretty hige incidence of cars not working properly over the 5 trains.

Stan

 

[Ryan]

It's still a ridiculously small sample size.

Edit:

And in the real world, you expect to see things like that, it's just part of random variation:

http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2013/11/11/the-patterns-in-the-stonework/