When do the new train sets Enter service? When they do Enter service what trains will they operate on? I'm planning a points run in October and hope to ride the new trains between Seattle and Portland.
Oregon Talgos
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gn2276
Service Attendant
I think that they are running now but only going north to Vancouver BC.
If Oregon paid for these trains, why would they only be running between Seattle and Vancouver? I could see if they operated only between Portland and Eugene. I was wondering if the new train set would be running north to Seattle? Thanks.
gn2276
Service Attendant
Because there will not have the train slots on UP for another 1 to 2 years.
Oh. I see. So this would be the train that goes up to Vancouver in the evening and returns in the morning?
fairviewroad
Engineer
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Uh, are you sure about that? I know they had a "ribbon cutting" for them last month
but my understanding is that they have not entered revenue service yet. I'm pretty
sure we'd have seen some photos or news articles on that, yet there's been nothing
of the sort.
Talgo sets that Washington paid for have been running in Oregon. These are the first that Oregon has actually bought. It is a partnership and all partners are trying to treat the whole Eugene-Vancouver, BC Cascade service as a single corridor. It makes for more efficient equipment utilization if all sets are treated as one pool. In fact, all trains except the 510-517 pair run on a rotation through all other schedules in order to land regularly at the Seattle maintenance center overnight. 510 and 517 are the only runs that don't participate in that rotation, so when a set needs to be taken out of service, it is 510 and 517 that have gotten the Superliner replacements because then only two schedules are impacted, not all the others with the attendant inventory problems of having different capacity and different products (business class, bikes) on the same schedule on different days.
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Still no word on when the Oregon Talgos will enter revenue service, but...via Facebook:
Sounds like Progress Charlie! Of course the word "Soon" in the Press Release could be anywhere from Next Week till the end of Time! To Paraphrase one of our Ex-Presidents: "It depends upon what your Definition of Soon is!" <_<
Friday my wife and I will be making a points run from EUG to PDX and returning to EUG about 12 hours after we left. It's sad to think that they are not using the set that came through the snow this spring is not in use out of Eugene.
Thanks for the update. Unfortunately, I will be there the previous weekend, not that weekend.
The rumor is that the Oregon Talgos will enter revenue service the day after the above celebration, i.e. October 20.
NorthCoastHiawatha
OBS Chief
Is it safe to assume that the two sets will be used on the extra Thanksgiving trains this year instead of Amfleets at least partially, as I believe three sets are needed for the extra trains.
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fairviewroad
Engineer
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Until the new sets actually enter revenue service, I don't think this is a safe assumption. If Mr. Hamilton's source is correct, and the new
sets do enter revenue service on Oct. 20 (or soon thereafter) then yes, you would certainly expect them to be used for the Turkey Week
specials. But I won't believe the new sets are running until provided with photographic evidence.
Edit to add: If they are in revenue service, they would be used during Thanksgiving week, but not necessarily on the extra trains.
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From yesterday's (11/16/13) AORTA meeting in Portland, some news:
Hal Gard, Oregon DOT Rail and Transit Administrator, says that the first new Talgo trainset (Mt. Jefferson) has been accepted, and ODOT now owns it. The second (Mt. Bachelor) will be accepted soon. As of yesterday morning, both sets were still parked at Seattle's King Street Station.
He says the new Talgos have been delayed by insurance, indemnification, and similar issues. I would guess that neither Talgo nor Oregon care to face each other in court, given the mess in Wisconsin, so I imagine that the contracts are being scrutinized more than usual.
There have also been some ADA compliance issues related to the rest rooms, but these have apparently been worked out, since he anticipates that at least one set will be in service by Thanksgiving. Josh from Talgo later confirmed that they are hoping to use one of the new trainsets for the extra Thanksgiving runs.
The new schedule will begin early December. The new Portland-Eugene trips will be southbound at around 6 am and northbound in mid-afternoon. These will not be additional frequencies, since the current mid-morning northbound train and the late evening southbound will be dropped (turned into a Thruway bus?)
As expected, there will be no changes Seattle-Portland-Vancouver, BC. The schedules are pretty much set by limited availability of slots and equipment. All Aboard Washington hopes that some adjustments can be made with the additional trainsets in the pool. There will be more significant changes in 2017 when 2 additional round trips are added between Seattle and Portland, after the track improvements paid for with stimulus funds are completed, although AAWA would like to see that happen sooner.
although WA and OR are managing the Cascades corridor together, it's hardly surprising that OR wants to improve the service in their state first with the equipment they purchased. Mr. Gard was clear that his first priority is to improve ridership on the PDX-EUG section. He says they have committed to the new schedule for a year, and if they don't see improvement, then they'll try something else.
As to the future, Mr. Gard is not overly optimistic. They were able to come up with the money to buy these Talgos from money saved when bids for other ODOT projects came in low in the downturn of 2008. He's not expecting that to happen again soon. He also says that they won't be looking at expansion of either frequencies or mileage until the current system is at capacity, which it isn't close to now. When asked what people in places like eastern Oregon could do to lobby for service, his response was that they need to fill up what they have first.
It sounded to me that ODOT has been spending most of their time and effort dealing with the Columbia River Crossing and the studies of possibly moving train service to the old Oregon Electric line -- both of which are red herrings, IMHO -- that they haven't been able to focus on improving Cascades service.
So it appears that the best thing we can do to get more train service is to ride what we have now, especially south of Portland. Anyone want to join me?
Hal Gard, Oregon DOT Rail and Transit Administrator, says that the first new Talgo trainset (Mt. Jefferson) has been accepted, and ODOT now owns it. The second (Mt. Bachelor) will be accepted soon. As of yesterday morning, both sets were still parked at Seattle's King Street Station.
He says the new Talgos have been delayed by insurance, indemnification, and similar issues. I would guess that neither Talgo nor Oregon care to face each other in court, given the mess in Wisconsin, so I imagine that the contracts are being scrutinized more than usual.
There have also been some ADA compliance issues related to the rest rooms, but these have apparently been worked out, since he anticipates that at least one set will be in service by Thanksgiving. Josh from Talgo later confirmed that they are hoping to use one of the new trainsets for the extra Thanksgiving runs.
The new schedule will begin early December. The new Portland-Eugene trips will be southbound at around 6 am and northbound in mid-afternoon. These will not be additional frequencies, since the current mid-morning northbound train and the late evening southbound will be dropped (turned into a Thruway bus?)
As expected, there will be no changes Seattle-Portland-Vancouver, BC. The schedules are pretty much set by limited availability of slots and equipment. All Aboard Washington hopes that some adjustments can be made with the additional trainsets in the pool. There will be more significant changes in 2017 when 2 additional round trips are added between Seattle and Portland, after the track improvements paid for with stimulus funds are completed, although AAWA would like to see that happen sooner.
although WA and OR are managing the Cascades corridor together, it's hardly surprising that OR wants to improve the service in their state first with the equipment they purchased. Mr. Gard was clear that his first priority is to improve ridership on the PDX-EUG section. He says they have committed to the new schedule for a year, and if they don't see improvement, then they'll try something else.
As to the future, Mr. Gard is not overly optimistic. They were able to come up with the money to buy these Talgos from money saved when bids for other ODOT projects came in low in the downturn of 2008. He's not expecting that to happen again soon. He also says that they won't be looking at expansion of either frequencies or mileage until the current system is at capacity, which it isn't close to now. When asked what people in places like eastern Oregon could do to lobby for service, his response was that they need to fill up what they have first.
It sounded to me that ODOT has been spending most of their time and effort dealing with the Columbia River Crossing and the studies of possibly moving train service to the old Oregon Electric line -- both of which are red herrings, IMHO -- that they haven't been able to focus on improving Cascades service.
So it appears that the best thing we can do to get more train service is to ride what we have now, especially south of Portland. Anyone want to join me?
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Latest rumors:
Peter KG6LSE
Lead Service Attendant
OH My! . My folks have asked me to come home for a few days to eugene .......... Hmmmm
I was gonna take the late train but Shoot ...the chance to be the first AUer on the" ugly Winnebago" for revenue .
* Ponders *
Speaking of names ........ I know there was a old Loco nick named the Winnebago ,
I purpose we re-use the name and call the new Talgos ,Winnebago's.
The Winnebago Tribe were known to be a rather mobile, just like the new Talgos ....
And the front I swear looks like a RV from the 80s
http://media.oregonlive.com/commuting/photo/130626-mt-bachelor---eugene-or-5jpg-cc6c4dfa7ba980c3.jpg
compare with
http://ballew.org/winnebago/images/78Chieftain1.jpg
I was gonna take the late train but Shoot ...the chance to be the first AUer on the" ugly Winnebago" for revenue .
* Ponders *
Speaking of names ........ I know there was a old Loco nick named the Winnebago ,
I purpose we re-use the name and call the new Talgos ,Winnebago's.
The Winnebago Tribe were known to be a rather mobile, just like the new Talgos ....
And the front I swear looks like a RV from the 80s
http://media.oregonlive.com/commuting/photo/130626-mt-bachelor---eugene-or-5jpg-cc6c4dfa7ba980c3.jpg
compare with
http://ballew.org/winnebago/images/78Chieftain1.jpg
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Go for it, Mr. Stibbons! I'm in Vancouver BC at the moment or I might be trying to catch 501 myself. The source of the rumor is good, but as we know, there have been last-minute changes before.
Hmm, maybe WinneTalgo?
Pretty Snazzy Charlie! I Like riding on Talgos, Especially in Biz Class! (Even if it does look like a Dust Buster! :lol: )
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I think it looks kinda cute... like something you'd find on a Children's show. Kinda looks like a face on the front...
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