Passenger Trains > An Acela Comparison - old vs new

Spent a few hours at Perryville, MD today, and while waiting for the new version to show, the old came by first. Quite a difference in outward appearance to begin with and the devil lies in the details thereafter. Hard to believe the original version is twenty years old.

Your thoughts ?

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/20 19:57 by cr2581.

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I remember trainwatching at Perryville one night 20ish years ago when they were testing the first Acela sets.  The engineer let my dad and I take look around the cab....crazy modern in those days!   Personally, I think the new one has a little more personality to it with that nose.  

-Sean

New Acela's nose owes design credit to Matt Groening's Simpson family characters.
 
 

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cr2581 Wrote:
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> Your thoughts ?

You had a good day. Thanks for sharing.

I vote for the new.

The nose makes it look like a face. Gives it some life!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

cr2581 Wrote:
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>  Your thoughts ?

My thought is those PRR signals still look great!
lol, but true  

20 years old doesn't seem like that much. Will the original train sets be placed in service elsewhere? Could they even be diesel hauled. Or used on the slower Corridor trains. They are so superior to the other ancient equipment being used there.

Lurch_in_ABQ Wrote:
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> New Acela's nose owes design credit to Matt
> Groening's Simpson family characters.

Ha!  Hilarious.

I guess I'm not a fan of either version really; give me a 900 or a 600 and some Amfleet any day.  But your shots are excellent nonetheless; wonderful views of the tower, signal, catenary and ROW.  I do like Corridor shots.

Andy

I believe it's correct -- that the current Acela's have been on lease (not owned) all these years -- and if Amtrak wants to keep them, they will have to buy them
(at some undisclosed price).

So naturally, the customer-deaf, cost-cutter, mentality of Amtrak management wouldn't DREAM of increasing costs by purchasing this equipment -
even if they ARE excellent equipment, and very popular with riders.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/20 06:25 by ronald321.

The new one is uglier, if that could be possible.

TJY

Yup, somebody needs to draw eyebrows above the headlights to give it a Thomas the Tank Engine look.


MojaveBill Wrote:
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> The nose makes it look like a face. Gives it some
> life!

"New" is beautiful - I don't care how ugly it is!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/20 08:09 by ts1457.

I like the exterior paint job on the new, improved version. Especially the fade on the engine, and the contrasting colors. How do the interiors compare? 

The only door that’s red goes to the first class car. Easy to identify when boarding

Posted from iPhone

Man you guys are superficial...
It's no wonder the political funding rants and unsolicited operational suggestions of foamers aren't taken seriously by policymakers and company officials.

Molino Wrote:
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> Man you guys are superficial...

Well, the OP asked, so we answered.  What's your opinion?

> It's no wonder the political funding rants and
> unsolicited operational suggestions of foamers
> aren't taken seriously by policymakers and company
> officials.

Is there a world that exists where this DOES happen?  Like the guy last year who thought UP company officials made steam program desicions based on what they read on Trainorders?

We're railfans.  These are the things we talk about.  And it's nice to see fellow railfans' photos from places we don't often visit.

Andy

I seriously doubt that the original Acelas will be used for any purpose. There was some discussion that Pennsylvania might pick them up for the Harrisburg service but I believe that was nixed. The sets are leased and Amtrak would have to buy out the lease. They are expensive to maintain, replacement parts are difficult to procure, they are inefficient due to excessive weight brought on by government regulations at the time. They need to go and the bank is not happy, this is a very good decision on Amtrak’s behalf.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/20 08:46 by another_view.

another_view Wrote:
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> I seriously doubt that the original Acelas will be
> used for any purpose....

Amfleet replacements are planned, next generation of HS equipment on its way ...

Keeping the Acela fleet would mean having  expensive and worn out misfits.

I'd like to see a comparison of interior shots if anyone has them. 

Sure...BO an entire train because of a problem with one car. Not to worry; Amtrak’s legendary PM will make that a non issue.