NEC HIGH SPEED RAIL BACK ON HOLD - ACELA TEST RUNS HALTED In an article by the Washington Post, Amtrak officials are quoted as saying that the new Acela service will not start up until "at least mid-August." According to the Post, "cracked or missing bolts were found in several wheel sets during test runs over the weekend." The Post story was dated June 20. Meanwhile, in a follow up story, the Boston Globe confirmed the Post report--safety inspectors have discovered that bolts had broken off the undercarriages of at least two locomotives. According to the Globe, "The bolts are used to mount the gear case of the train's traction motor, which turns a locomotive's wheels. The problem occurred under stress when the locomotives logged up to 40,000 miles of testing...Upon further inspection, several more broken bolts were found in other locomotives." The Post story by transportation journalist Don Phillips quotes Richard Sarles, Amtrak's vice president for Northeast corridor high-speed rail, saying that "Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Canadian-French consortium building the 150-mph trains agreed that it would be best to halt the high-speed tests until engineers could determine what is going wrong." Just days earlier the Boston Globe reported, in an interview with Amtrak spokesman Rick Remington, that "there are three Acela test trains out on the tracks now. A fourth one went back to the Bombardier factory to be broken down for a complete evaluation." Asked when the new high speed trains would be in service, "We're still looking at late July," Remington told the Globe. This is the second setback for Amtrak's NEC high speed rail trains. Last fall Amtrak inspectors discovered wear and tear on the wheelsets when trains rounded curves at high speeds. The broken bolt and wheel wear problems are not connected. The high-speed electric trains that will go 150 miles per hour will come in complete sets, with six cars in the middle and a locomotive at each end. There will be 20 in all. The cost for a one-way trip between Boston and New York will be $130, $70 or so less than the air shuttle. Nevertheless, ridership is reportedly up on the new Acela Regional service. ------------------------------------------------------------- AMTRAK SUSPENDS HIGH SPEED TESTING -- Following the discovery of the broken bolts on Acela wheel sets ( see story above ) Amtrak's Northeast Corridor President Stan Bagley sent out the following Employee Advisory notifying of the suspension of testing: Dear NEC Co-worker: You may have heard or read in the papers this week that Amtrak has temporarily suspended the testing of our new Acela high-speed trainsets and high-horsepower locomotives. During the testing of one of the trainsets, a technical issue was discovered involving one of the bolted connections of the gear box to the truck of the power car. An inspection revealed that the same bolt issue was present on a couple of other power cars and high-horsepower locomotives. We found that the vertical bolt that clamps the gear box to the seat in the frame of the truck was broken or missing at one point of attachment. In a few other locations on the power cars and locomotives, the bolts were found to be loose. We think the solution will be to lengthen the bolt to extend it down through the frame, where it can be secured with a nut and lockwasher. But we will take the next couple of days to consider the options. While a short suspension in testing might be frustrating to some, let's remember that the purpose of the testing phase is to uncover these kinds of issues so we can identify remedies well before the trainsets go into service. We've lost a couple of weeks in our testing schedule, but as we've said from the beginning, Amtrak is committed to providing safe, comfortable, and enjoyable service for our guests and crew. We will begin high-speed service when we are confident we can provide just that. Amtrak and the FRA are currently in conversation about resuming testing once we have a fix at lower speeds, with the higher speed tests to follow. Be assured that we have our best people working on this and have dedicated the resources to address this issue. We will continue to keep you up to date with all significant developments ahead. ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine.
Pity about the delays, it's about time America got into high speed rail to challenge the Airlines. How on earth was the name Acela chosen? What does it mean, and how is it pronounced? Surely a much better name could have been found ------------------ Alan The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale! www.ac-models.com Andersley Western Railroad Alan's American Gallery Alan's European Gallery Alan's British Steam Gallery
Amtrak had many trains such as the ICE train from Germany tested on our system. Why didn't Amtrak choose one of those proven technologies rather than the mess they're in now?? ------------------
I know some people are gonna take this wrong, but from there past, you can tell the reason why they didn't get a proven technology is becuase they are very arrogent at some times. There may have been something in there head saying they would create jobs, although now that I think about it, the cars are being made in Canada! Did some one think on Amtraks part that they should have a shake down time? I mean, the cars I doin alot worse than most would think, but still-the progect would not be as late as it currently was. Also- wasn't this stuff tested before it went into production?!? You think that they would be able to fore see some of this stuff before it happened! Did they even talk to Europeans?!? Sheesh! Happy Railroading!! Dane N. ------------------ BC Rail King TAMR2860@Canada.com for TAMR info. BCRailKing@Canada.com
Dane is right. High speed trains have been running in Europe (and Japan) for a long time, and it seems strange that such elementary problems such as those described could occur. ------------------ Alan The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale! www.ac-models.com Andersley Western Railroad Alan's American Gallery Alan's European Gallery Alan's British Steam Gallery
You can find more about the Acela at www.acela.com, including the pronounciation of "Acela." I didn't want to copy it here because people these days are obsessed with copyrights Nick [This message has been edited by poohdawg10 (edited 23 June 2000).]
I was having a good discussion with some on on AIM about the Acela, and here were the cases presented. -It is a copied design with elementry parts changed -So they messed up the elemtary parts? -No -They must have, the track in France is not that dramicatlly different than here Something good brought up is that is there was double the amount of testing, almost none of these problems would be here. North Americans really need to get these problems ironed out. Although, our LART isn't bad! Happy Railroading!! Dane N. ------------------ BC Rail King TAMR2860@Canada.com for TAMR info. BCRailKing@Canada.com
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Alan: how is it pronounced?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> There you have it folks! A landmark event occurred right here on TrainBoard.com! It has never happened before - a Brit asking an American how to pronounce something! I'm more than glad to answer: It's "uh-sell-uh" If I can help the over-the-pond folks with more language help, don;t hesitate to call! ------------------ Ship It On The FRISCO!
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by E-8: There you have it folks! A landmark event occurred right here on TrainBoard.com! It has never happened before - a Brit asking an American how to pronounce something! If I can help the over-the-pond folks with more language help, don;t hesitate to call! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Ooooooooh, MEOW! At least Alan didn't ask for spelling.... hehe (that'll get back!). For learning how to build a high-speed railroad, go talk to the Europeans. They have been doing it for years. The track can be dramatically different. Do we have any civil engineering types onboard? Gary. ------------------ Gary A. Rose The Unofficial TC&W page N to the Nth degree!
This will take along time to reply too, but would some one run down the many many problems that Acela is having?? I know that there was a wheel wear problem, and the hole bolts falling out of the truck thing goin on too Happy Railroading!! Dane N. ------------------ BC Rail King TAMR2860@Canada.com for TAMR info. BCRailKing@Canada.com
The whole project is a problem. Starting with the advertising going on now for months with no train to ride. It looks like the ad campaign backfired. Still don't understand why we ran those demonstration runs with proven high speed technology. Reggie ------------------
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by E-8: There you have it folks! A landmark event occurred right here on TrainBoard.com! It has never happened before - a Brit asking an American how to pronounce something! I'm more than glad to answer: It's "uh-sell-uh" If I can help the over-the-pond folks with more language help, don;t hesitate to call! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Charlie, I had to ask, as Americans cannot manage to get the English language spelled correctly, so goodness knows how you pronounce something I still think Acela is a silly name, no matter how it is pronounced ------------------ Alan The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale! www.ac-models.com Andersley Western Railroad Alan's American Gallery Alan's European Gallery Alan's British Steam Gallery
Well, after a recent study on how well people in Canada, the UK, US, France and alot of other countries countries were educated now, I thought of a few names that would be approiraite. Canada Fast moving train that uses rails and a motor to propell its self forward US A fast train UK Fast moving peice of metal that has a bogie and a diafram. These trains run in the United Stes of America in the North Eastern part of the country. They use rails to be held up. Are trains are better France une train Aussie land Same as England Dane Danes' Trains Happy Railroading!! Dane N. ------------------ BC Rail King TAMR2860@Canada.com for TAMR info. BCRailKing@Canada.com
Dane, sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about ------------------ Alan The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale! www.ac-models.com Andersley Western Railroad Alan's American Gallery Alan's European Gallery Alan's British Steam Gallery
What we should be talking about is Acela & why it's not up & running. If Amtrak doesn't do something soon they're not gonna be able to dig their way out of the hole they're digging Reggie ------------------
I think a quote from the Simpsons is appropriate here: "Dig up, stupid" ------------------ Andrew Suerth University of Minnesota Duluth Andy's Amtrak Photos
Dane, you asked what some of the other problems Acela is having. One that I know of that has not been publicized is that the cars are 8" too wide for some platforms. After everything was built, the powers that be thought to run the trainsets minus head end power up through New England, low and behold there will be a number of cities that will be minus Acela regional service untill they can cut a wider space between platforms. That is fixable as the sevice will not be running up there for a few more years. Its just another example of "systemic idiocy" a common malady of corporate America. Also the stretch between New Haven and NYC will be limited to 79mph. That section of track is owned by the MTA(Metropolitan Transit Authority). MTA has decided for safety reasons that this is max speed. After speaking with a number of hoggers, they've remarked that that rule was put in years ago with other equipment and no one wants to stand up and put their A-- on the line. So much for high speed rail. Another glitch is the tilt mechanism is turned off through much of Connecticut because the radius of the curves are too sharp and the trains are not moving fast enough to benefit from the technology. Did you hear that the two companies that built the cantenary from New Haven eastward have been raided by the FBI. Seems there's some queston about cost overruns and a whiff of fraud. Now to Amtrak's credit they've been questioning these overruns for some time and there's no indication of shoddy workmanship. That's all I've learned so far. ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine.
