Passenger Trains > Amtrak California NPCU in Downtown Fresno

Caught Amtrak California's newly refurbished NPCU #90218 as it stopped in Downtown Fresno on a rainy thursday morning.
This is the second test run down the San Joaquin Valley for the "Oakland." Train 712 still has a cab car in the consist immediately behind the NPCU.

In a few months this NPCU will be leading a set of single-level cars (4/5 refurbished Comet IB's and a Horizon Dinette) when it will live up to it's "cabbage" nickname with crews loading it with baggage, but for now it's just being used as a control unit.

A tip of the hat to HoggerMatt for letting us know about the test runs.

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#1 NPCU #90218 rolls across Tulare Street as it heads into Fresno's Santa Fe Station.

#2 NPCU #90218 waits to depart from Fresno. (Notice the baggage door is well beyond the south end of the platform. I would guess that the NPCU will be placed on the north end of the consist when it's being used as a "cabbage" car.

Video: Southbound 712 with NPCU #90218 arriving and departing Fresno as a northbound BNSF freight passes through the station.

(Apologies for slightly shaky video, I was filming it on my iPhone and without the help of a tripod)

Ricky Courtney
Seattle, WA

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Was something wrong with the cab car that required the 90218 to be on that train?

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

RNinRVR Wrote:
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> Was something wrong with the cab car that required
> the 90218 to be on that train?

No. Just a test run for the recently refurbished cabbage car.

Would any engineers care to comment on how these NPCUs ride? I'm curious since all of the weight of the engine is gone, as well as the weight that would normally be in the fuel tanks. Is it a bouncy, rough ride? How about the noise level inside---is it fairly quiet? Thanks.

coaststarlight99 Wrote:
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> Would any engineers care to comment on how these
> NPCUs ride? I'm curious since all of the weight of
> the engine is gone, as well as the weight that
> would normally be in the fuel tanks. Is it a
> bouncy, rough ride? How about the noise level
> inside---is it fairly quiet? Thanks.


The fuel tank is full of cement n the trucks now have a shock absorber on each axles(8 total)but its still a bumpy F59 type ride(especially on the freight heavy BNSF valley line). But atleast its quiet, lol.

They've been using these cabbage cars on the Cascades in Washington State for quite a while. I don]t know about the ride, but they say it is indeed a quiet ride. Anybody out there who runs on the Cascades that can comment?

Off topic, but anybody know how long has Fresno has had quiet crossing?

thetuck Wrote:
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> Off topic, but anybody know how long has Fresno
> has had quiet crossing?

The quiet zone was completed in May 2010. A big portion of the funding came from a donation by a hospital that the tracks run in front of.

Posted from iPhone

Ricky Courtney
Seattle, WA

thetuck Wrote:
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> Off topic, but anybody know how long has Fresno
> has had quiet crossing?

In 2009, the Community Regional Med Center loaned the City of Fresno $600K in order to allow the quiet zone to be completed by 2010. The quiet zone extends from Ventura on the south end up to Olive on the north end including the crossings that are involved where the BNSF right-of-way wraps around the hospital's main center. The City also completed other quiet zones in 2010 including the BNSF crossing at West Ave in NW Fresno. There may be others but I am not certain.

We traction types would call 90218 a "Control Trailer". NPCU sound more like a government entity, a labor organization or a credit union. (Yes, I know it's the official Amtrak designation for these cars.)

rickycourtney Wrote:
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> thetuck Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Off topic, but anybody know how long has Fresno
> > has had quiet crossing?
>
> The quiet zone was completed in May 2010. A big
> portion of the funding came from a donation by a
> hospital that the tracks run in front of.
>
> Posted from iPhone


It was not a donation, the hospital actually loaned the money to Fresno. If anyone thinks that the loan was phony, stay tuned to the Fresno Bee, if it was phony, they will sniff it out..

Wow, $600K for a quiet zone?!? No wonder health care is going broke ponying up for stuff like that. too... sheesh?!? Oh well, only in the land of fruits, flakes and nuts!!!

Frontrunner Wrote:
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> The fuel tank is full of cement n the trucks now
> have a shock absorber on each axles(8 total)but
> its still a bumpy F59 type ride(especially on the
> freight heavy BNSF valley line). But atleast its
> quiet, lol.


Wow, cement in the fuel tanks! Neat---thank you for the info.

IC_2024 Wrote:
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> Wow, $600K for a quiet zone?!? No wonder health
> care is going broke ponying up for stuff like
> that. too... sheesh?!?

This is indicative of quite the opposite. The health car industry is far from going broke; we, however, *are* as we try to pay them.

Nice timing for that BNSF double stack train to roll by replete with flattened wheels right after the passenger train.

Phil Blommendahl
Getzville, NY

IC_2024 Wrote:
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> Wow, $600K for a quiet zone?!? No wonder health
> care is going broke ponying up for stuff like
> that. too... sheesh?!? Oh well, only in the land
> of fruits, flakes and nuts!!!


Repeat for IC 2024's benefit... The hospital didn't pay for it, they only loaned the money to the City and the loan has been repaid with interest!!!

buckeyetom Wrote:
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> Repeat for IC 2024's benefit... The hospital
> didn't pay for it, they only loaned the money to
> the City and the loan has been repaid with
> interest!!!

buckeyetom-
My mistake. I didn't thoroughly read the press release.
The project cost $1.2 million. The project was completed over a year early as a result of the hospital donating $245,000 to the project and giving the city a $600,000 loan. I'm not sure where you saw that the loan has been repaid with interest... the city's press release said it was an interest-free loan.

But I don't know much about the project beyond that... I didn't live in Fresno when the Quiet Zone was put in.

Ricky Courtney
Seattle, WA