In another thread I presented some ideas of how the current levels of fuel consumption of Amtrak corridor trains could be greatly improved with some equipment changes.
Much of the discussion had centered on whether load-factor assumptions are a “fair” way of assessing train fuel efficiency and whether load-factor could be increased by pricing policies. Now that Amtrak (looks like it may) have capital money to acquire new corridor equipment, what changes from standard practice would be practical to address fuel efficiency by reducing the fuel used per revenue seat?
A “standard” Amtrak corridor train is operated push-pull and has a 125 ton locomotive or NPCC “cabbage” care at each end. Don Oltmann suggested that the heavy, non-revenue “cabbage” car was an expedient when the F40s were retired as locomotives – prior to that, I understand that they used Metroliner cars with the electric motors, transformers and pantographs taken out. Even the Pacific Cascades Talgo, back in the pre-stress crack days when they were running Talgos, had this locomotive-cabbage book ends of the consist. In fact, the conditions of the FRA waiver for the lightweight Talgo were to have a non-revenue 125 ton mass at each end, either a locomotive or an NPCC.
I have picked out the NPCC as a fuel waster – not only is it the mass of two revenue cars, but the mismatch in height between it and the Horizon or Amfleet roofline results in added wind drag. When I had suggested dispensing with the NPCC to my local advocacy group, it was suggested that I wanted to take away life-saving safety measure to the train crews. On the other hand, the Pacific Surfliner is operated with a commuter-style cab car and does not use an NPCC.
Would it be plausible to operate cab cars or DMUs on Amtrak corridor trains, or are the days of having revenue seats at the end units of passenger consists over? Commuter services as wel
I’m not sure about the Talgos because of their light weight, but I think the safety issue is a phantom when it comes to conventional equipment operated as push-pulls. Almost all suburban operations use cab cars and electric MU cars aren’t that different in weight and construction from DMU’s. About the only time I see this issue raised is when there’s any accident similar to the recent Metrolink collision and derailment. I’m sure that there are a lot of commuters out there who had their ride to work delayed (locomotives are usually on the outbound end) because of a grade crossing accident involving an automobile and no derailment.
In the northeast, the “Downeaster” to Portland Maine, the “Vermonter”, and the Atlantic City line is “Push Pull” operation!! Also most commuter trains.
All the rest of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor Trains are “locomotive hauled”, 8 or more cars. Then you have the 20 Acela Train Sets. All Corridor trains are “Reserved” trains, tickets equal the number of seats, but no seat number, (no overbooking) and often sold out at peak hours. The corridor already runs the HHP8 (8 thousand HP) and the AME-7 (7 thousand HP) at 110 plus mph, the Acela (12 thousand HP) up to 150mph. The DMUs are not designed for that kind of service. (My initials of my name have nothing to to with the Railcar with the same letters)
All passenger trains in the U.S. must meet federal safety and crash testing standards.
The F40PH is very safe although same can’t be said for the Genes#!+, remember this was caused by a SUV had a F40PH been leading that train the results would have probely been far less tragic.
The Metrolink accident may have been caused by an SUV; but it appears that the major damage was cause by the jack-knifing between cars.
A heavy locomotive will not always stay on the rails after hitting an object on the tracks.
The mass of the trailing train needs to be absorbed in a crash; and the heavier the train, especially with a 131 ton car at the end, the more pronounced the momentum.
I think the X2000 had a safety cage around the cabs in the locomotive and end cab-coach for push-pull service. Swedish railways are not fully grade-separated.
Similarly, I know The Netherlands and Denmark had emu and dmu trains with reinforced cabs and noses.
I second this opinion. Cab cars are more than safe enough. There is no such thing as absolute safety - just reasonable trade-offs.
I suspect that Amtrak’s “cabbages” were born more out of a need to create cab cars on the cheap than for safety considerations. After all, they operate Keystone trains in push mode with Metroliner cab cars at 110 mph over road Xings…
Am I reading this right, are cab cars non-revenue? The last time I rode an Amtrak push-pull was 1992 to and from San Diego, although I’ve been on commuter rail push-pull since then. The cab cars carried passengers. What does NPCC mean? Is it non-passenger carrying car? That’s a new acronym to me.
I often wondered how safe trains were in push mode with nothing but a regular coach at the front end. I didn’t know the cab car had ballast. Is it all just ballast? I remember GO Transit in Toronto had what appeared to be locomotives at both ends, it turned out one of them was an APCU Auxilliary Power Control Unit, a former locomotive sripped of a few things so that all it could do was to provide hotel power and a cab. The locomotive at the other end was the one that gave motive power and did not have the ability, head end power, to run air conditioning and passenger lights.
Kind of like married pair MU’s, one car has the pantograph and air conditioner, the other car has the brake compressor and air tanks. Any thoughts on the merits of similarly distributing functions between the 2 controlling units at each end of a push-pull consist so you get equal weight without too much dead weight? GO Transit’s example seems like a lot of extra weight but the trade off may have been that they took a broken locomotive and made something useful out of it.
Like a few other posts here I really don’t see much safety difference in front end protection between an old fashioned electric MU, of which the US has many examples for over 80 years at high speeds, and a locomotive pushing a cab car. I do think there must be the added danger though of that heavy locomot
Cab cars aren’t ballasted. An NPCC is an Amtrak F40 with the engine removed and a baggage door installed in the side. It functions as a cab-baggage car, hence the slang “cabbage”.[:)]
Tightlock couplers and strong buff strength requirements for passenger cars make the chances of the pushing locomotive telescoping into the cars ahead unlikely.
Certainly, a cab car provides less protection for the operator and perhaps the passengers, but the number of occurences of bad things happening is very, very small. Perhaps the risk can be reduced more for less money by doing other things. At some point, grade Xing eliminations are cheaper than pushing NPCCs around all over creation, for example.
It might be worth remembering that 2 AEM7s an an empty Amfleet car were not enough protection for the 17 folks who died at Chase MD year ago.
The only perfectly safe way to travel is not to go.
No. Only that the arrangment and design of equipment is no panacea.
That one arragement can be determined to be “safer” than another does not mean that one arrangment is a “safety problem”.
Safety on the NEC was better served at lower cost by installing LSL on the frt. trains than it would have been if the reaction would have been to beef up passenger car stength and/or train consist requirements (e.g. placing three empty passenger cars at the front and rear of the trains.)
The slight additional risk from operating cab cars at the head end of the train is more than outweighed by the operational benefits.
The Los Angeles Metro incident was a horrible event. It was a freak though. How often is someone going to attempt suicide by train and everything happen as it did. That there would be a freight train involved as well becomes a mathematical improbability.
These cars first used on GO Transit have a tremendous safety record when one considers the number of commuters transported safely each and every work day in these cars in the push -pull mode one sees just how safe these cars really are. They are not used in just Los Angeles and Toronto but Seattle, Vancouver, Stockton, New Mexico, Miami, and Salt Lake City.
I ride these cars occasionally when I need to get to the bay area and spend a day I feel perfectly safe and ride the cab car on my return.
I think the question of cab- car safety has been blown out of all proportion over the one incident. The cabbage cars are a waste and were really just a quick expedient. I still do not see the need for Acela to have power on each end. Additional cars could be pulled and passengers carried if one power unit was eliminated. There are turning facilities at Washington, New York and Boston.
Al, without a cab on both ends the Acela would need more sets to operate the schedule, also I don’t think that there is enough capacity in the East River Tunnels to take the trainset to Sunnyside Yard to turn the train. Finally Acela needs both power cars to have enough horsepower to make the schedule.
A gutted F40PH with side doors to act as a Baggage car/ Control cab. On the “Downeaster” it gives Baggage and Bike capacity to a run between Boston and Portland ME. Northbound locomotive hauled, southbound the engineer has a full F40PH cab to work in.
Another factor — the F40PH fuel tank is loaded with SAND for weight! This gives it the (aprox) braking power on the back of the train as the locomotive up front has.
Amtrak’s NPCC (Non-Powered Cab Car) were ballasted to replace the weight of the Diesel and the Alternator (which were parted out or sold) because if they weren’t ballasted Amtrak would have had to modify or replace the trucks. The brakes as designed for a locomotive would have been much too powerful for a much lighter car , which would have resulted in the wheels sliding on even a light brake application. Secondly the springs would have been much too strong resulting in the track being hammered by the wheels since the springs would provide very little cushioning. Modifying or replacing the trucks were beyond Amtrak’s financial capabilities. Parts would have had to be Engineered and manufactured as there were no off-the-shelf replacements. The NPCC solved two problems, a shortage of cab cars, and a shortage of baggage cars.
Any time the crew is inchs from the font of the vehicle there are going to be more injuries than if they are not if for no other reason then that is the crumple zone. The PRR streamlined the last of the P5a engines because of a crew being killed in a box cab. That is the reason for the cab location on a GG1. Now if a crew could be seriously hurt in a cab built with 1/4" or thicker plate and a cast steel underframe I think I would opt for another location if I had a choice. Wouldn’t you?
Looking away from North America, Japan has innumerable classes of trains (including Shinkansen) which carry passengers in the first and last cars. A lot of them have the driver in a cab no bigger than a North American vestibule at the head end, with one sheet of steel between him and the wind.[:O]
One very popular extra-fare fast (but not super-speed) train has a lounge section at the extreme front end, with the driver’s cab above and behind it. (Do people pay an extra fare on top of the train’s extra fare to put themselves in harm’s way?)[}:)]
I have traveled thousands of kilometers aboard Japanese DMU and EMU trains, watching through the front windows (over the driver’s shoulder.) I never felt the slightest fear for my safety. OTOH, I have traveled considerably less distance on Japanese roads, and have put innumerable buttonholes in automotive seat cushions. Which would I prefer to do?[(-D][(-D]
So, Metrolink has had a FEW accidents, a SMALL NUMBER of fatalities and injuries (both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of ridership,) and is so unsafe that the FRA wants to put bulletproof buffers at both ends of every train. How many were killed and injured on Southern California freeways over the past holiday weekend? Going by the FRA/‘Advocate’ way of thinking, we should all be driving around in Abrams tanks…[|(]
Just my [2c]. Other opinions will differ, but the facts won’t.
Much safer than traveling in an automobile, operating at commonly driven speeds, do you consider driving a car too dangerous? How much is the added safety worth to you if you have to pay for it personally? Convince me that you haven’t traded off safety for transportation convience by driving a car.
ndbprr: putting the GG1 cab in the center of the locomotive body certainly afforded lots of extra crew crush protection, but at a visibility cost. Like steam locomotives, camelbacks, and any long nosed loco, it was tough to see out front, especially around curves. Another part of the trade off was most of them had 2 man crews, presumably with an alert fireman looking out the left side while the hand on the brakes looked out the right side. Oops, I mean the eyes of the man with the hand on the brakes.
beaulieu: sometimes people think they’re getting more safety when they leave the driving to themselves. In another thread I mentioned a friend of mine who felt unsafe trusting a public transit operator, she emphatically said that she felt safer when she was at the wheels of her car.
Related to that, a car commercial had a little baby in a car seat give a voice over: another driver cut mom or dad off, hero parent saved the day by accelerating; a truck lost its load in front of the car, again the car’s magnificent performance averted the crash because the stable controls allowed them to swerve into another lane, avoiding the obstacle. Conspicuously absent from the commercial was any mention of going for the brakes to avoid the accidents. I think that this is Madison Ave playing to an unfortunate nature in many of us to think that action, pushing and aggression are better than pulling back, slowing down, or relying on the safe, courteous transportation profesionile
beaulieu: I’d tend to agree with you. TGV and Shinkansen have power cars at both ends, and I expect the general consensus is that they are the epitome of high speed rail.
The Acela design was throught to need 12,000 hp to reach and hold 150mph., one 6,000 hp locomotive at each end. When they go “throttle up” at Westerly after clearing the last Grade Crossing, it does take time to build up to 150mph by Kingston.
To pull enough power from one pantograph riding one wire at 150mph, is it possible, don’t know. If you were to double the size and weight by combining two locomotives into one??? Don’t know, what did the Spec. say. The French and Canadians know a lot more about this type of train than we do.
had a F40PH been leading that train the results would have probely been far less tragic.
