Passenger Trains > A few more BrightLine notes

The Orlando Sentinel has an article about the start-construction order on the West Palm to Orlando end of the line, and the connections with Sun Rail, and the new colors.

The trains will be repainted in red, joining the branding of Virgin properties.  So, get your BrightPink, BrightRed, etc color photos soon. 

BrightLine is negotiating with the Orlando Utilities Commission to use an existing coal train line to gain access to the airport.

There are plans to connect with the existing Sun Rail commuter train, and carry Sun Rail passengers on Bright Line to the airport.  Originally, there were vague plans to have a separate Sun Rail access to the area.

Start-work may begin in 30-60 days on the overall extension

Orlando Sentinel and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel have done an outstanding job in tracking the twists and turns of this saga over the years.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/transportation/os-cfb-brightline-virgin-outlook-20190103-story.html

Would Brightline use the same rails as the coal trains or a new track on that ROW ?

Sounds like good news.

The BrightLine scheme was so "Florida". I hate to see it go. I wish Virgin could have found a way to combine its scheme/branding with BrightLine's.

Coach USA (and Coach Canada) do not seem to allow deviation from livery on all their member bus companies (unlike Trailways member companies). It is philosophy on branding.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/19 08:22 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Would Brightline use the same rails as the coal
> trains or a new track on that ROW ?

Good question.  I'll take a look at the map later and see what the alignment looks like.

 

I believe Virgin now runs the East Coast mainline in the U.K. But trains aren't painted Virgin red. So it's not a system wide mandate. 

Some of the East Coast Mainline trains are in Virgin livery (although that isn't all over red).   However, they (and their majority partner who were the actual operators - only 10% Virgin) gave up on the Franchise so it's now run by the government "operator of last resort" trading as LNER.   They've stuck their own vinyls over the livery but not repainted the whole thing.Virgin class 91 LNER Class 91

Separately, there's an initiative by the government to get the same (white!) livery on many trains with just a vinyl showing the name of the TOC.   However, it's either not being mandated or the TOCs are ignoring it!

Did the UK government get rid of the requirement of yellow front ends ?

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Would Brightline use the same rails as the coal
> > trains or a new track on that ROW ?
>
> Good question.  I'll take a look at the map later
> and see what the alignment looks like.

Better question, will coal trains start using the high speed section to Cocoa and start originating on NS via FEC?

The article said that the Orlando Utilities Commission owns the track to the plant, so the final miles would be their call.  Assuming the plant remains open.  There are two major natural gas pipelines delivering new gas supply to Florida, so things could change.

Florida East Coast sees ocasional coal trains on its own tracks, I saw a cut of empties returning north last week.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The article said that the Orlando Utilities
> Commission owns the track to the plant, so the
> final miles would be their call.  Assuming the
> plant remains open.  There are two major natural
> gas pipelines delivering new gas supply to
> Florida, so things could change.

There isn't infinite new supply of natural gas, so the coal plants aren't all just going to shut down because some gas is available.

abyler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The article said that the Orlando Utilities
> > Commission owns the track to the plant, so the
> > final miles would be their call.  Assuming the
> > plant remains open.  There are two major
> natural
> > gas pipelines delivering new gas supply to
> > Florida, so things could change.
>
> There isn't infinite new supply of natural gas, so
> the coal plants aren't all just going to shut down
> because some gas is available.

We're in agreement on that.  However, we will see what the Orlando Utilities Commission decides.

FWIW, there's a lot of industrial level solar farming in central / southern FL.  Huge amount of growth.

abyler Wrote:

> There isn't infinite new supply of natural gas, so
> the coal plants aren't all just going to shut down
> because some gas is available.

Should be interesting when a gas "shortage" develops, prices spike, and the plants' capacity to burn other fuels (such as coal) has been scrapped.

There's some research in the market contending the --expanded-- use of natural gas is causing spikes in pollution.

Probably junk science, but it is a matter of interest.

Posted from Android

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did the UK government get rid of the requirement
> of yellow front ends ?

Yes but only on the latest trains with a revised headlight specification.   Afraid I don't know the details.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> abyler Wrote:
>
> > There isn't infinite new supply of natural gas,
> so
> > the coal plants aren't all just going to shut
> down
> > because some gas is available.
>
> Should be interesting when a gas "shortage"
> develops, prices spike, and the plants' capacity
> to burn other fuels (such as coal) has been
> scrapped.

Oh absolutely.  Glad I live in an area with a lot of nuclear, hydro, coal and gas power and sources. Its going to hit places like New England and New York hard though.

So will SunRail passengers now have to be searched like the criminals brightline thinks everyone is?

Posted from Android

It’s certainly true that there isn’t an infinite supply of natural gas. After all, the planet is only 8000 miles across and the gas is only a tiny portion of the outer crust. 

But it it’s a wildly flawed argument. There is plenty of gas available, so much that the principal risk to exploration and production companies is low prices. Not the supply of gas,  the problem is finding enough customers to use the stuff and enough transmission capacity to deliver it.  Tweak the prices a bit and you can have as much as you want. 

The economics have really, really changed. With the exception of some politically motivated “demonstration” projects, there will probably not be a large scale coal fired power plant built in the continental US for the next 20years.

And hmmm, in a place called the “Sunshine State” , can anybody think of another alternative for power generation?  Power that you need mostly to run air conditioning?  Anybody?

march_hare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And hmmm, in a place called the “Sunshine
> State” , can anybody think of another
> alternative for power generation?  Power that you
> need mostly to run air conditioning?  Anybody?

That topic was already covered in other threads. Electricity generated for the life of a solar panel (about 30 years) was LESS THAN the electricity required to manufacture it, until about a decade ago. So until recently, solar energy was NOT SUSTAINABLE. Efficiency improvement is marginal enough that it is barely sustainable today. I had a real expert tell me this almost a decade ago, but once you wade through the hype, this information is universally known, and can be found. Sorry to ruin your cleverness.

I can understand solar energy in places where it barely rains (desert in the South and the West), but it does rain in Florida, despite its name as "Sunshine State." Despite that, I already gave an example of a smarter use of solar energy in Nevada (near Las Vegas), which is solar-thermal generation of electricity, which is far more sustainable than solar panels.

Solar power means different things to different people.

Here in FL, my brother in law installed solar hot water to replace a propane system in their large community pool.

Short payback, always warm water. He went on to install several more hot water conversions.

Bump propane, bump gas, match the energy to the need.

People often think solar as electric, but there are alternatives. Some of Phil's jobs are supplemental hot water, delivering 90 degree water to the residential water heater. Saves a buck...

Posted from Android