I’m rather confused about the history of electirifcation on the portion of the Northeast Corridor from NYC to Boston. My grandparents, long time Rhode Island residents, told me once that the line through Kingston, RI, was only half electrified in one direction and the opposite was still diesel powered. Also of interest to me is the history of the replacement of the wooden sleepers to concerete, this same portion. I also find it strange that the only remaining grade crossings on the NEC are on this portion of the line, where the Acela reaches its highest speeds on the entire route.
Drawing from personal expierence as well, I recall visiting Kingston station in the late 90s/early 2000s, and wodden sleepers were still existent, and I don’t remember any overhead wires.
I kind of feel like the kid in the classroom about to ask the stupidest question in the world, but . . . if it were only electrified in one direction, wouldn’t you eventually have quite an excess of electric power at one end of the line and quite a dearth of power at the point that you need it?
Or do they just dead head the electrical power back with the diesels?
Only 1 direction was electrified for a while: Quite possibly true. The entire project from New Haven to Boston took something like between 3 and 5 years - 2 or so for the contractor and Amtrak to ‘‘ramp up’’, and 3 to install and get it operating - there were a lot of delays. One cause was construction coordination, and not having both tracks out of service at the same time. As a result, the in-service portions were staggered. Within the last 3 months or so I saw a U.S. DOT or FRA Inspector General’s report or similar that had a neat diagram of that situation - I’ll see if I can retrieve it and post a link to it here.
Concrete ties are usually installed by Amtrak alone with its own forces, and that was probably postponed here to avoid interfering with the catenary contractor’s work, and/ or budget and track time constraints. The Acela is light enough that the wood ties could carry it even at high speed safely enough - the track would just need more frequent re-surfacing
Gabe’s remark above reminds me of dead-pan comedian Stephen Wright’s joke about living at the wrong end of a ‘One-Way Street’ - he can’t ever go home again . . . [swg]
Here it is - see the ‘‘SCHEMATIC MAP OF CORRIDOR SECTIONS AVAILABLE FOR HIGH SPEED SERVICE IN JANUARY 2000’’ on page 3 [Page 5 of 12 of the PDF version] of the U.S. DOT’s Office of Inspector General’s ‘Audit Report’ on ''Amtrak’s High-Speed Rail Electrification Project - Federal Railroad Administration, Report Number: RT-2000-020, Date Issued*: December 14, 1999,* at:
P.S. - Although Kingston was near the middle of a lengthy section where both tracks were to have been completely electrified by January 2000 per the Schematic Map referenced above, at that point there would have still been lengthy single-track only portions west of Bradford and east of Cranston. Also, it may be that even the double-track portion near Kingston was actually installed only 1 track at a time.
Johnny - OK, that’s a possibility, but - to get this more or less back ‘On-Topic’: Can you imagine living on a street without any convenient electricity supply ? 'Cause how are you going to plug into it if . . . ‘‘No Outlet’’ is there ? [swg]
I just can’t belive that there are still grade crossings on the NEC. Trains Ferquently do 80mph at times, and if the poor Acela were to hit a car going that speed(120mph) … I imagine that it would obliterate the power car (Locomotive) And would kill the driver of the car for sure.
Better have informed people living on that street!
Paul, yes I can–for I have stayed for two months on a farm that had no electricity–kerosene lamps, woodburning stoves, an icebox, and an outhouse. There was no telephone, either.
Larry, it is possible to own an electric car while living on a street with no electrical outlet; it just can’t be recharged there.[:)]
There are several streets around here that have that sign at the inlet. I prefer the “dead end” sign.
Concerete ties went in first except at some switches and station platforms.
Next the drilling of catenary supports, one track at a time. Highway Bridges had to be raised, grade crossings terminated, and some station modified or moved (Kingston RI station was lifted up and moved back to a new location as was Canton Junction, The Canton Viaduct was widened). Acela Bullet Train service started in the year 2000, Amtrak had 3 Acelas at the time.
Today, the year 2009:
Two or more tracks from New Haven to Boston, two stretches posed 150mph. Amtrak owns 20 Acelas, 15 should be in service each day. Add to this the Northeast Regional Service with HHP8s and AEM7s and you have 18 trains each way each day Boston to Washington. As for Grade Crossings, 4 or 5 are still in place between New London CT and Westerly RI, all with 4 Quardrant Gates in normal speed reduction zones do to Stations, Curves, or the Long Island Beaches access.
IIRC it was proposed at a city council meeting a number of years ago that Chicago do away with “Dead End” signs and replace them with “No Outlet” signs because it was de-moralizing to come home every day and see “Dead End.”
I think it was a clever idea to stagger the new wire so the electric loco.'s could return.
Who said: “The only dumb question is the one never asked?” Ben Franklin? No, he said: “What the f***?”. I dunno. “I shall return”. Hays, not MacArthur.
Amtrak has four grade crossings left on the NEC between New Haven, CT and Providence, RI that I know about. From the south to the north the grade crossings are located in New London, CT (2 grade crossings), West Mystic, CT and Mystic, CT. The grade crossing in Mystic, CT is located at the Broadway Avenue Extension on a curve just west of the Mystic station. It is protected by four quadrant crossing gates so the trains do not sound their horns for that grade crossing
Last year while I was trying to photograph a southbound Acela Express rounding the curve at Mystic a driver of a pickup truck hauling a utility trailer crossed the track as the Acela Express approached and the grade crossing lights were flashing and the bells were ringing. The gates were being lowered, but they raised up when they hit the trailer. When I saw what was happening I moved well back from the track, but luckily the driver made it across the tracks before the train came. Thankfully what I got was a broadside view of the Acela Express crossing Broadway Avenue Extension with both gates down.
Actually there has been at least one fatal grade crossing accident involving the Acela Express. On September 28th, 2005 in Waterford CT which is just west of New London CT. There were two fatalities. See link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/28/national/main887971.shtml
I was fortunate enough to have gone to school in Boston during the transition period from all diesel to all electric on the New Haven to Boston segment. During my frequent trips between school and home, I get to witness the locomotive changes during my first trips as well as witnessing the first revenue runs of the Northeast Regional electric service with AEM-7 as well as the inugeral runs of the Acela Express. I actually do recall the partial energizing of the catanary and having to switch back and forth from the eastbound and westbound tracks.
Three dead, the child in the hospital died. An older women was taking her Grand Kids to a nearby School Bus Stop and was late. With lights flashing she tried to cross the double track line when the gates started to come down, she stopped on the tracks between the gates. The Acela was only up to about 60mph and had little damage (fiberglass).
The trains are fast and quiet — persons walking on or near the tracks is a problem. Sad to say about one a year has been killed in the Northeast Corridor.
First off I’d like to express my feelings to the family of the victims.
You say the train was only going 60mph. Can you imagine what it would have done if it were going 120mph? The other child would have been killed instantly. The power car would be totally destroyed.
Not necessarily. The same curved shape that makes the Acela aerodynamic also makes it very strong. Certainly there would be significant damage to the nose area, but there’s a good chance it could be repaired - they wouldn’t have to scrap the whole unit.
But you are correct - the sheer G-forces of a 120-mph impact would have made survival, even if just for a little bit, that much further away for the victims of the crash.
You would most definitely be right. A comparison would be the Hoover Dam. The curved shape makes it a very strong structure. It displaces the weight of the water on the canyon walls. So in an impact with an automobile the Acela power car would displace the energy created around the power car itself. This energy would then be sent through the couplers and down the rest of the train.
I recall a crash (it’s on you tube) where a trucker got stuck at a traffic light. She was actually sitting on a crossing. Then Amtrak California came booking through, and obliterated the trailer. A later photo showed the fiberglass front of the F59PHI that was pulling the train was split in half. The rest of the unit was virtually untouched, except for a few nasty scratches. [xx(]
