Passenger Trains > Cascade Talgo(s) out of service

This morning (Thur) I took Cascades Talgo #504 to Portland. On that trip I heard that Talgo #501 (SEA-PDX) was out of service, bad order. The #501 turns in Portland to become #506 so there was no #506. By the time I got to Portland at noon the #507 had been pulled in Seattle. I returned to Salem on a half hour late #11. Then I heard that all of the Talgos had been pulled. I don't know if all have been pulled or just my #507 and the #506. Have to wait and see.

Supposed to be some kind of a problem with cracks in the suspension towers. (Don't have a clue as to what I said there....)

jb

I didn't see any trainsets in Seattle this afternoon...

Odd...

I'll keep an eye out for them though...

Brian

This is what is on AMTRAK web site. Take it for what it is...


"Information Unavailable: Sorry, due to a service disruption, we are unable to provide estimated departure and arrival times. For additional assistance, please contact us at 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245)."

Heads up -

Talgo are indeed getting pulled out of service. More information soon....

Brian

Macster Wrote:
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> Heads up -
>
> Talgo are indeed getting pulled out of service.
> More information soon....
>
> Brian

Thats too bad if they are. They are much better than the Amfleet cars. Very cool and comfortable too. Also much more photogenic!

Never saw an Amfleet car I didn't dislike.

BLS

From KGW News http://www.kgw.com (you may need to register, so below is the text)

Amtrak cancels trains between Eugene-Vancouver B.C.

Amtrak canceled routes in Oregon and Washington Thursday night after small cracks were found in the suspension support structure of some cars. The company said its’ Cascades trains will be canceled between Eugene, Oregon and Vancouver, B.C., Friday, August 3 for inspections.

No alternate transportation plans for passengers were announced and the company would not say if refunds would be available. A spokesperson said passengers have can call 1-800-USA-RAIL to find out more. The coast Starlight was operating on a normal schedule.

#508 out of PDX tonight will be the last Talgo for while. Believe CHI and LAX will be sending out cars to replace the spanish junk...

The route could possibly be covered with Amfleets. Superliners should be reserved for the long distance trains, but they may be needed to fill in for a short interim, until the Talgos are back in service (if short term) or Amfleets are in place. I think the Horizons in the Midwest are at their limit there aren't they? And of course the stored Amfleets in Delaware would require some lead time to get up and running. I know the storage of these Amfleets is saving the company money, but its times like this that the storage of this equipment backfires.

Wasn't Amtrak in the process of overhauling the Talgo train sets? I thought they were being cycled through some sort of overhaul program, hence the need for the Superlier train between Seattle and Vancouver, BC to cover one Talgo route as a set is taken out of service for repair.

Is the Superliner train set continuing to run between Seattle and Vancouver, BC? I would think Amtrak could at least operate that train set, or perhaps shift it to Bellingham-Seattle-Portland runs in the interim, and allow the north and southbound Coast Starlight receive and discharge passengers on the Amtrak Cascades route. I know the northbound Coast Starlight is discharge only in the Amtrak Cascade corridor, but if it is filling another time slot, Amtrak could try and sell tickets for it.

Too bad and hope a solution can be found. The Talgos are in the top three of my favorite train sets.

jp1822 Wrote:
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> Superliners should be reserved for the long
> distance trains, but they may be needed to fill in
> for a short interim, until the Talgos are back in
> service

The State of Oregon ran a train between Eugene and Portland many years ago. It was Superliners and an F-40.



> I know
> the northbound Coast Starlight is discharge only
> in the Amtrak Cascade corridor, but if it is
> filling another time slot, Amtrak could try and
> sell tickets for it.

You can't make a reservation going north from Eugene on the Starlight but you can still ride it. Walk up to the ticket window and they will sell you an open ticket and the conductor will take it. I saw Salem do it a couple nights ago and I am told that Portland can board several northbound passengers every trip.

jb

"Many years ago" Amtrak had more available Superliners in its system to operate such.

That's some positive news regarding the northbound Starlight. Glad Amtrak got a little more open to that type of thinking. Customer takes a risk that the Starlight is reasonably on time, but at least the "offer" is made. Makes me wonder if the northbound NEC long distance trains should do something similiar when things become hectic on the corridor and capacity can be had on these trains. But that's another story to itself.

jdb Wrote:
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> jp1822 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Superliners should be reserved for the long
> > distance trains, but they may be needed to fill
> in
> > for a short interim, until the Talgos are back
> in
> > service
>
> The State of Oregon ran a train between Eugene and
> Portland many years ago. It was Superliners and
> an F-40.
>
>
>
> > I know
> > the northbound Coast Starlight is discharge
> only
> > in the Amtrak Cascade corridor, but if it is
> > filling another time slot, Amtrak could try and
> > sell tickets for it.
>
> You can't make a reservation going north from
> Eugene on the Starlight but you can still ride it.
> Walk up to the ticket window and they will sell
> you an open ticket and the conductor will take it.
> I saw Salem do it a couple nights ago and I am
> told that Portland can board several northbound
> passengers every trip.
>
> jb

I think they don't do it simply for the likelihood that it will be 3 or 4 hours late. Most people on a short haul are slightly more time sensitive. Sort of a "I can be X% of total travel time late" thing.

510 and 517 will continue in service. That turn uses a Superliner set.

Why not use Sounder equipment on Sat and Sun.

Not deluxe, but a seat on a moving train.

Thanks for this info, John. I hope the Talgos are only out of service short-term......long-term could be a significant problem.

How old are these Talgo trainsets? And are these identical cars used anywhere else in the world? The first question that comes to mind with something like this is, if anyone else is using these same trainsets, have they had any similar problems on equipment of similar age? Or is this Amtrak specific? I'm sure Amtrak is investigating this, but it's an interesting question.

Amtkrd4man Wrote:
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> #508 out of PDX tonight will be the last Talgo for
> while. Believe CHI and LAX will be sending out
> cars to replace the spanish junk...


And those of us working on what LA and Chicago have to offer pray for a Talgo set (without suspension cracks naturally). Actually, without pressing the Del mar trainset back into regular service LA probably doesn't have much in the way of spare cars either... and it would be suicide to run less than 8 cars on that train.

mundo Wrote:
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> Why not use Sounder equipment on Sat and Sun.
>
> Not deluxe, but a seat on a moving train.

This is a pretty good possibility although I'm pretty sure the Amtrak employees aren't qualified on the Sounder equipment... That might take some time. Perhaps putting the Cabbage at one end of a trainset so the engineer doesn't have to learn a new set of controls would help.

At least one and I believe two trainsets have been serviced at CEECO, with another one there now. At minimum they were re-painted.

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

Thursday's service to Vancouver BC was not affected by the latest "crack" in the Talgo case. Here's a photo of southbound train 517 along the beach at Ocean Park MP125.6 New Westminster Sub at 19:02. Superliners are expected to continue on the Vancouver BC service through the end of the year.

cp1400

---

cp1400 Wrote:
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> Thursday's service to Vancouver BC was not
> affected by the latest "crack" in the Talgo case.
> Here's a photo of southbound train 517 along the
> beach at Ocean Park MP125.6 New Westminster Sub at
> 19:02. Superliners are expected to continue on the
> Vancouver BC service through the end of the year.
>
> cp1400

It looks like the middle car is a diner. I thought this train was supposed to have a Sightseer Lounge?

smitty195 Wrote:
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>
> How old are these Talgo trainsets? And are these
> identical cars used anywhere else in the world?

The Cascades Talgo is an adapted version of the Talgo 200, which is used for long-distance traffic all over Spain.

> The first question that comes to mind with
> something like this is, if anyone else is using
> these same trainsets, have they had any similar
> problems on equipment of similar age? Or is this
> Amtrak specific? I'm sure Amtrak is investigating
> this, but it's an interesting question.


Could be the track quality. Among railroads in the developed world, overall North American track alignment is noted for being rather poor.