Passenger Trains > CDTX F59?

What is the reason for Amtrak West's F59s(Surfliner paint) being up in the bay area so much? Are the CDTX F59s having a lot of mechanical problems?

muffhead wrote:
>
> What is the reason for Amtrak West's F59s(Surfliner paint)
> being up in the bay area so much? Are the CDTX F59s having a
> lot of mechanical problems?

It's been a while since I've done the math, but I don't think
there are enough CDTX F59PHI's and Dash 8's to cover all of the
San Joaquin and Capitol schedules. On the San Joaquin side,
you need one locomotive per day to handle 711/718, 712/717, 714/703,
702/715, 713, and 716. That's six of the eleven locomotives right
there. I don't have the time right now to work out how many
locomotives you need for the six Capitols each way per day, but
if it's more than 5, then even if all 11 CDTX locomotives are
functional, you'll still need additional units from Amtrak West.
And of course in the real world, locomotives do break down, come due
for inspection, etc.

Evan_Werkema wrote:
<snip>
> I don't have the time right now to work out how many
> locomotives you need for the six Capitols each way per day, but
> if it's more than 5, then even if all 11 CDTX locomotives are
> functional,

That's impossible! There's almost always one of them sitting idle in West Oakland, in front of the diesel shop, in the diesel shop, being fueled, etc. And then the Starlate might come along and grab up to 2 of them. I've even seen 4-car San Joaquins with 2 CDTX F59s!

Even with the highest possible turnaround times, it looks like the Capitols require 4 sets of equipment per day, which only leaves one unit free, not leaving much room for error.

Right now it looks as if 5 units are not available to be used on Capitols, so there ya have it. <a href="http://my.uprr.com/pub/pet/petServlet.servletx?carids=cdtx2004,cdtx2005,cdtx2006,cdtx2007,cdtx2008&quot; target="new">See for yourself</a>.