Guys,
Yesterday, I was sitting at the Metrolink Station in North Corona, waiting for my boss to return my call, when a westbound Amtrak passed through the station. I noticed that it had three Genisis engines but I can’t seem for the life of me wonder why they would need three when the trains was only about 12 cars or so long. I’ve seen this in pictures of other Amtrak trains too. Why is this?
Repositioning power or bringing a cripple back to First Street/Redondo where they have a bigger hammer to fix GE’s with.
Doesn’t the Chief usually have 3?
What’s the purpose then. Do they really need 3? It just seems like a whole lot of power for such a short train.
Well, some of the power goes to to the train (lights,AC,ect.). I would say that 12 cars is small for the Chief. Mabee the next run of that trainset will have more cars. Or it could be what MC said and they are takeing a unit to the shop. I know here we are short on power for the San Diegans. We had a couple P42s down here recently (rare event) and even a Cascade F59PHI come down from Washington.
Getting over Raton and making 90 mph track speed on other portions of the route. Suspect having enough TE to get over Raton w/o stalling is the main reason.
Some trains have more than enough power because it is an important train and the extra unit(s) are there incase a unit breaks down.
California Zephyr and Southwest Chief both have 3 x Genesis on, for a combination of the reasons mentioned above.
Expect this to be reviewed, though, in the light of power reduction on Florida services.
Well maybe Amtrak needs to abide by Title-24 for reduction of power (joke for all the electricans who know what Title-24 is)
I think I took this before you got there but I took this the day we met at 582. I would have posted my pics from that weekend before this but the idiots at walgreens put them upside down on the CD even though I specificly asked them to make sure they were right side up !!! I’m never takeing pictures there again.
Yep that’s the guy. You see, three engines and (I said 12) 13 cars. It seems like plenty enough power so maybe it is for generating electricity for the cars. That’s why I’m coming to you guys to info.
They did that to me once too. Then when I went to a new Walgreens they some how put the film in the wrong way and everything came out mirrored
This is actually the second time they did this. That’s why I specificly asked them to make sure they were done right. It’s just not worth the saveings to have my pics screwed up. They also got the color balance wrong and all the pics look blue / green ish.
Well, Mabee I can duplicate this consist in my MSTS and take it for a spin and see how it does.[;)]
Amtrak…The best way to be late
First of all…i cant speak personly for amtrak since i dont work for them, but it would be my guess that is is a power move…just becouse the train has 3 units dosnt mean that all 3 are being used for power… the 3rd unit could be in route to someplace that is down a unit and is needed for a train in that location… or to balance the power pool… also the unit could be in route to a shop for inspection and or repairs… just becoues a train has 3 units for 12 cars dosnt mean they are all running and being used for power… railroads move engins around in consists all the time from one place to another for what ever reason…
csx engineer
I have ridden the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Albuquerque three times - one round trip in 2002, and one way in 2006. In 2002, we had four Genesis engines for the usual passenger cars and quite a string of express boxcars and trailers, and in 2006 it was three engines for just the passenger cars - no express boxcars (although the train was pulling the four cars of a BNSF inspection train, dropped in Kansas City). The climb over Raton was about the same in both cases, with one exception. In 2002, as we neared the tunnel at Raton westbound, one of the engines tripped offline, and we passed through the tunnel at about 5 mph. It sure started to smell bad from the exhaust in the lounge car! We were told about this while it was taking place, and we were stopped at the next station longer than normal while the engine was reset. I can’t say for sure while in the flatlands, but as we climbed Raton in both directions, all the engines were running, except for the tripped unit.
Do they need any extra HEP if the outside temperature is high 90-100s. I would assume that the A/C units on the superliners must draw a large amount of power, but maybe one HEP provides more than necessary for a normal consist.
One unit at a time is all that can supply HEP, but the draw with 12 cars could be near 2000 hp. diverted from traction. On Raton and Glorieta grades, 2 units with half of one diverted to HEP would not be enough to maintain even the slower speeds on the grades, and if it were raining they might not be able to climb the grade because of wheelslip. So 3 are reasonable on that train. Amtrak used to pull the third locomotive off at La Junta, CO in the old days, but there is no one to look after the locomotive there anymore, and of course reliability isn’t what it should be either.
125kW ‘hotel power’ per car seems very high, given that (as far as I know) a typical high-spec European passenger car probably uses less than half that amount. I know Superliners are much larger, but it still seems high in comparison (I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just curious).
Tony