Passenger Trains > Amtrak CEO Boardman regarding "rash of engine failures"

In an Employee Advisory dated June 29, 2010, Amtrak CEO Boardman says that steps are being taken to address the recent rash of engine failures, particularly on the Northeast Corridor.

Boardman states, "saying that (failures happen) to aging engines when it’s hot is not an acceptable answer. We simply cannot afford any level of complacency on this."

He lists the following actions:

More Mechanical technicians on NEC trains to help with failures and hasten recovery.

New electric HEP output contactor to replace old mechanical ones on AEM-7 and HHP-8 engines; intended to make it easier to restore HEP after the main breaker trips.

New team in Washington to analyze and identify root causes for failures; modeled after a "Reliability Bad Actor" team in Chicago which has proven successful on forty units it has evaluated.

Expansion of training on Events Analysis to technicians at Ivy City, Washington DC.

Monitoring of voltage on catenary feed to observe irregularities that could cause problems.


In addition, technicians formerly based in Chicago are being sent to Mid-Atlantic and Southern divisions to address issues with diesel locomotive reliability, particularly propulsion systems.


"This is not about pointing fingers, it’s about knowing that we CAN do better and putting our minds together to make things right...

"I thank you for working hard to do that and want you to know that we’re taking steps to provide you and our passengers with healthier equipment."

And the P-42 failures will be addressed . . . ?

RailNet802, owevahhh

How 'bout if they just don't buy any more GEs. That wold fix their engine failures outside the NEC.

I love how Amtrak is consistently trying to reinvent the wheel.

Reliability Centered Maintenance was brought to them on a silver platter a few years ago, and, as predicted, they have dropped the ball. If it's good for the nation's nuclear power plants, military fighter jets, nuclear submarines, and all Boeing aircraft, I think it just might work on a choo-choo.

Amtrak is such a pitiful, pitiful company. They have a pretty good base of employees who are willing to do the work, but with the crappy leadership at the top, it's no wonder they are the butt of jokes so often.

coaststarlight99 Wrote:
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> I love how Amtrak is consistently trying to
> reinvent the wheel.
>
> Reliability Centered Maintenance was brought to
> them on a silver platter a few years ago, and, as
> predicted, they have dropped the ball. If it's
> good for the nation's nuclear power plants,
> military fighter jets, nuclear submarines, and all
> Boeing aircraft, I think it just might work on a
> choo-choo.
>
> Amtrak is such a pitiful, pitiful company. They
> have a pretty good base of employees who are
> willing to do the work, but with the crappy
> leadership at the top, it's no wonder they are the
> butt of jokes so often.


Reliability centered maintenance is an excellent technique when properly applied. But, it does require that people actually do the work they're tasked to do. And, that parts that haven't yet broken or clogged (like filters, etc) have to be removed. That takes discipline, as somebody has to do something that doesn't really NEED to be done right now.

The HEP failures have really increased in the past few weeks, I heard two just yesterday on the NEC. One in an HHP-8 for the second time in an hour, the other on an AEM-7

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Reliability centered maintenance is an excellent
> technique when properly applied. But, it does
> require that people actually do the work they're
> tasked to do.

Ah, very true! So this goes back to the same old thing.....LEADERSHIP! Amtrak doesn't have it.

Have better maintenance 'prior' to being turned loose for their train..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/10 12:49 by Agt-Highland.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> coaststarlight99 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I love how Amtrak is consistently trying to
> > reinvent the wheel.
> >
> > Reliability Centered Maintenance was brought to
> > them on a silver platter a few years ago, and,
> as
> > predicted, they have dropped the ball. If it's
> > good for the nation's nuclear power plants,
> > military fighter jets, nuclear submarines, and
> all
> > Boeing aircraft, I think it just might work on
> a
> > choo-choo.
> >
> > Amtrak is such a pitiful, pitiful company. They
> > have a pretty good base of employees who are
> > willing to do the work, but with the crappy
> > leadership at the top, it's no wonder they are
> the
> > butt of jokes so often.
>
>
> Reliability centered maintenance is an excellent
> technique when properly applied. But, it does
> require that people actually do the work they're
> tasked to do. And, that parts that haven't yet
> broken or clogged (like filters, etc) have to be
> removed. That takes discipline, as somebody has
> to do something that doesn't really NEED to be
> done right now.
>
> The HEP failures have really increased in the past
> few weeks, I heard two just yesterday on the NEC.
> One in an HHP-8 for the second time in an hour,
> the other on an AEM-7

what are we talking about here??? Schedule maintenance???
Why is this such a hard concept.

Bob

Boardman's in a tough position, and I can't imagine he's very happy about it.

He lacks disciplinary powers over shop workers, etc, and lacks the ability to meaningfully reward people for doing an outstanding job. He can switch around regional managers, but he can't touch the crafts, foremen, etc.

There's no reason why it should take 18 hours to turn, clean, and provision a train at Sunnyside, there's no reason why a shop worker who fails to remove and replace a filter shouldn't be disciplined, etc. It's part of your job.

Most people at Amtrak undoubtedly want to do a good job, and most succeed in doing a good job. But, a strong organization needs everybody pulling their weight to get the job done.

Just think for a minute about what could happen if Sunnyside, etc turned a LD train in four hours. You could double the number of trains on the NY to FL/Carolinas routes, and add another Pennsylvanian. Without any additional equipment.

How about if they actually follow the recommended maintenance proceedures? You know minor stuff like change the filters, lube oil, whatnot - instead of just gundecking them...

That would fix the problems too!

Chucksc Wrote:
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> How about if they actually follow the recommended
> maintenance proceedures? You know minor stuff like
> change the filters, lube oil, whatnot - instead of
> just gundecking them...
>
> That would fix the problems too!

That's the principle behind reliability centered management. Repair, remove, replace things based on their forecast for failure, as well as the recommended interval stuff. Don't wait for it to break down on the road.

WichitaJct Wrote:
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> How 'bout if they just don't buy any more GEs.
> That wold fix their engine failures outside the
> NEC.


They could just buy one of the many passenger types that EMD is making....

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Boardman's in a tough position, and I can't
> imagine he's very happy about it.


The way I see it, Boardman sees his main task as getting the taxpayers to foot the bill for
sixty new electric locomotives that will then go into the same maintenance maelstrom and
come out the same as what they have now.

As is so frequently the case when Government is involved, it is seen as easier to throw a
lot of money around than to fix the problems.

He's said nothing about the diesel issue, by the way.

As for the "Reliability Bad Actor" team in Chicago which Boardman SAYS has
proven successful on forty units it has evaluated, an Amtrak employee has this to say:

> Two weeks ago train 301 left Chicago with a total horn failure. It blew
> nothing but air. They limped across the CN, but once they got on UP (a
> GCOR railroad), they had to stop and flag every crossing, so the UP
> put them in siding at Dwight and let 303 couple up to them and pull
> them to St. Louis.
>
> The very next day, the very same locomotive, the very same train, the
> very same problem! 303 AGAIN had to tow the train to St. Louis.
>
> The other day a P42-P40 combo was assigned to 313. This combo had
> previously broken down just before arriving St Louis the previous day. As
> soon as 313 departed St. Louis, the lead P42 stopped loading, so the crew had
> to use the trailing P40 to push the train all the way to Kansas City.
>
> The FOLLOWING morning, after departing Kansas City on train 314, the P40
> stopped loading, so the train was dead in the water until the engineer
> somehow figured out how to make the lead unit load again.
>
> This is a recurring nightmare, and one that can only be fixed by the
> mechanical department doing their jobs! But of course Amtrak wants to
> buy new locomotives and is happily taking stimulus money to put locos
> back into service (the P40s) that should have never been stored to begin with.

coaststarlight99 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I love how Amtrak is consistently trying to
> reinvent the wheel.
>
> Reliability Centered Maintenance was brought to
> them on a silver platter a few years ago, and, as
> predicted, they have dropped the ball. If it's
> good for the nation's nuclear power plants,
> military fighter jets, nuclear submarines, and all
> Boeing aircraft, I think it just might work on a
> choo-choo.
>
> Amtrak is such a pitiful, pitiful company. They
> have a pretty good base of employees who are
> willing to do the work, but with the crappy
> leadership at the top, it's no wonder they are the
> butt of jokes so often.


Ain't that the truth, I'm still an Amtrak Supporter, but a fed up one because of what you exactly said, besides, wasn't the F40 problems back in the 80s like this? Or the GE problems a lot worse!

The equipment is just worn out. You can only repair so much so long, even at any cost. It is beyond time to purchase on an ongoing replacement basis new equipment.

kk5ol Wrote:
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> And the P-42 failures will be addressed . . . ?
>
> RailNet802, owevahhh


Amtrak does not exist outside the NEC. They have deisels?

gnr999 Wrote:
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> The equipment is just worn out. You can only
> repair so much so long, even at any cost. It is
> beyond time to purchase on an ongoing replacement
> basis new equipment.

Then how does Via manage to have older equipment in better mechanical shape and appearance?

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He lacks disciplinary powers over shop workers,
> etc, and lacks the ability to meaningfully reward
> people for doing an outstanding job. He can
> switch around regional managers, but he can't
> touch the crafts, foremen, etc.

Not true.

I agree with what you say a bit further in your message: that the majority of employees are good.

But it's not that they lack the power to discipline, it's that the front-line managers do not know how to discipline fairly and consistently. By using progressive discipline bad actors can be terminated. But there is no training of managers, and therefore nothing meaningful happens.

A few bad actors get terminated (for good) in each shop (for good cause, not made-up stuff) and everyone else will get the message real quick.

WichitaJct Wrote:
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> How 'bout if they just don't buy any more GEs.
> That wold fix their engine failures outside the
> NEC.

That isn't going to correct the F59PHI failures in California, Oregon, and Washington. Oh wait a minute;... Those aren't on the Northeast Corridor. How silly of me, those EMD failures just don't matter at all...

Maybe instead of hiring more managers they could just buy parts for the engine shops so they could do their jobs? Na, that doesn't have a cool buzz-word name, so don't do that!

Barry Draper

It won't last forever. VIA's equipment also only came from two railroads that were in a small degree of competition and a high degree of maintenance. How many road specific models did Amtrak get? How did the predecessor roads (say the PC for example) take care of the equipment they handed Amtrak?

Why didn't this same stuff happen with the same frequency under Claytor?


-Tom

coaststarlight99 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Then how does Via manage to have older equipment
> in better mechanical shape and appearance?