Passenger Trains > 160 mph NextGen Acela through Princeton Junction

Almost TGV speed on American rails

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Nice!

Excellent video - thanks. The trains look good, and at a spot that long been a favorite to see them at or near top speed.

MC

Very good! I love seeing trains at speed.

I notice that the horn is different in the two videos. First video is European type sound, second has a more American sound.

Posted from iPhone

czephyr17 Wrote:
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>
> I notice that the horn is different in the two
> videos. First video is European type sound, second
> has a more American sound.
>

Indeed, the second horn is actually not that of the Acela, but rather a NJ Transit Arrow III arriving over on the Dinky branch

Not to be a doubting Thomas here, but have they really been operating at 160 mph through Princeton Junction? I've seen close to 150 and today was one of the larger numbers I've seen at 153 mph for Acela 2154. Not trying to nitpick and I know speeds can certainly vary by location, but I've not seen them fully reach the 160 mph mark.....But listen, anything over 150 mph for Amtrak in the United States passenger rail industry - it's a win. I just worry about consistency......with Amtrak. 

I've seen one hit 160 according to the tracker along this stretch once, and 157, 158, 159 several times.  Based on the train length of 698.5 ft, if I time that second one on a stopwatch my estimate is somewhere between 155 and 158 mph for that pass.

I'm surprised they're only using 1 pantograph for those kinds of speeds!

coach Wrote:
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> I'm surprised they're only using 1 pantograph for
> those kinds of speeds!

Why? How many pantographs do the European and Chinese 200+ MPH trains use?

coach Wrote:
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> I'm surprised they're only using 1 pantograph for
> those kinds of speeds!

The TGV uses a high voltage bus along the roof of the trainset to feed both locomotives from a single pantograph. When the first gen Acela was designed, the FRA wouldn't allow that configuration. I guess they became convinced to allow it for the second gen, which is more of a true TGV.

That's also why some of the first tests with reputed 'rough wire' on the NEC caused such an issue about specs vs. reality.    One pantograph for the whole train.

I question your 160. I was told that fastest speeds in NJ under the new catenary would be 150 max, and the only 160 would be in CT and NH where 150 was allowed on the original Acelas.

PRR1361 Wrote:
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> I question your 160. I was told that fastest
> speeds in NJ under the new catenary would be 150
> max, and the only 160 would be in CT and NH where
> 150 was allowed on the original Acelas.

This afternoon's 2170 hit 156.

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hsr_fan Wrote:
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> I've seen one hit 160 according to the tracker
> along this stretch once, and 157, 158, 159 several
> times.  Based on the train length of 698.5 ft, if
> I time that second one on a stopwatch my estimate
> is somewhere between 155 and 158 mph for that
> pass.

That's good to hear! The straight-aways is where they can really stretch the legs to compensate for the tilting mechanism that is / is not working per some accounts. But only "temporary." 

keelhauled Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PRR1361 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I question your 160. I was told that fastest
> > speeds in NJ under the new catenary would be
> 150
> > max, and the only 160 would be in CT and NH
> where
> > 150 was allowed on the original Acelas.
>
> This afternoon's 2170 hit 156.

I've also been watching the speed tracker. This past week it seems that the straight-away in NJ (the old PRR NJ Racetrack) I've been tracking more consistent higher speeds than when first rolled out in revenue service. 

Almost as fast as the United Aircraft Turbo Train run back in 1967. Not quite 170.8, but all in good time. Perhaps in another 58 years?

/Mitch

Well the UA Turbo wasn't hitting that daily with paying passengers on board, but point taken. Perhaps more to the point is that we're just finally reaching the original revenue speed target of the Budd Metroliners! I do wish they'd take one of the new Acelas up to 186 mph on a demo run along this stretch, or at least officially break the UA Turbo record!

Incidentally, here's this morning's train:



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/25 06:10 by hsr_fan.

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coach Wrote:
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> I'm surprised they're only using 1 pantograph for
> those kinds of speeds!

They don’t want more than one pantograph at those speeds. Too much bounce on the following pantograph. The two locos are interconnected with the one pantograph.

Posted from iPhone

Mgoldman Wrote:
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> Almost as fast as the United Aircraft Turbo Train
> run back in 1967. Not quite 170.8, but all in
> good time. Perhaps in another 58 years?
>
> /Mitch

That was a publicity stunt. In service the turbos went 100. For 3 miles. In one direction only. Rest was 90. And not reliably even at that rate. They were all gone within 7 years. They never achieved more than a 50% reliability.

Posted from iPhone