Passenger Trains > VRE 305 at Brooke VA

VRE 305 southbound at Brooke VA.
Thursday March 5, 2020 at 4:42pm.
V63 - MP36PH-3C
The "James Hugh Payne Sr" references a VRE Board Member.

Rusty
Stafford VA

 

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Like.  I guess you don't sit in the first coach if you want to get off at Brooke.

BTW, did you get to Quantico to check out the progress of the 3rd main project?

HI.
Yeah VRE has set doors to exit.
People generally know the routine.
If in the first car walk back. If in the last car, walk forward. Then exit.
The long term goal for VRE is to lenghten their station platforms.
And to also add platforms on the opposite track.
The Brooke platform is 400 feet.
But if you look up Woodbridge VA VRE you will see that one platform is 400 feet.
While the opposite track platform is 600 feet.
Of course it goes without saying that allowing riders to enter and exit from wide doors from each individual car.
Allows them to exit quicker which in turn allows the train to then be on it's way quicker.
The VRE Fredericksburg line has 13 stations including Union Station.  
Shave off even a minute per station outside the main one and that could make the train trip 12 minutes quicker.

As for Quantico. No not yet. But I need to get over there just to check out what's happening.

Rusty
Stafford VA
https://www.youtube.com/user/rustyr0824/featured


 

More on this, just cause I wanted to know.
A typical VRE consist for 303 and 305 is 1 engine plus 6 passenger cars.
Just the length of those cars is roughly 510 feet.
If the Brooke platform is only 400 feet that means, roughly 1 engine and 1 front car plus 1 rear car will not be next to the platform.
A car is roughly 84 feet in length. So 600 feet / 84 feet is 7.14 cars that can fit inside a 600 foot platform.
So with the long far side platform at Woodbridge VRE could haul a 7 passenger trainset, with the engine beyond the platform, all 7 cars would easily fit along the platform.
They could even run an 8 passenger train with the engine and just under half of the first car beyond the platform.  But the engineer would need to be spot on as to not 
place those double doors beyond the platform.  But typically there is a conductor towards the front of the train and 1 towards the rear of the train.
And it's their responsibility to ensure the doors can be safely opened. And I'm pretty positive they have the ability to open one half of the doors while leaving the other half closed.
So I would think that would be VRE's long term goals.  To be able to run 8 car trains. Extend platforms from 400 feet to 600 feet. And to have passengers exit at all eight of
the double door sets.
And hey that's Way too much information. But I'm a computer guy and the son of a mechanical engineer and sometimes my brain says "Humm, I wonder".
Grin

Rusty
Stafford VA
 

I was on the VRE website, and they do plan to lengthen some platforms.  IINM, the MBTA in Boston has 800' platforms.

Yes which will be a good thing.
The next 10 to 20 years along the ole RF&P should be exciting times.