Passenger Trains > Hiawatha Charger Woes today

Amtrak 331(16) departed Chicago with two P42s.  Both the Chargers assigned to that set broke down and Chicago had no more, so P42s were substituted.

Amtrak 332(16) made it seven miles out of Milwaukee before its Chargers broke down.  Amtrak 331 tied onto it near Milwaukee Airport and took it back to Milwaukee.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/21 10:03 by GenePoon.

Maybe we should contract with Metra to run the Hiawtha service!

mp51w Wrote:
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> Maybe we should contract with Metra to run the
> Hiawtha service!

Just extend UP-N from Kenosha to MKE, done.  Additional stops at Racine and Oak Creek would be better than the middle of nowhere (Sturtevant)  Don't know of losing the airport stop is busy enough to be worth worrying about or not.  Sure, it would go to Ogilvie instead of CUS, but compared to not going at all it sounds like a win.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/21 14:23 by jello.

UP-N would be much too slow. But I agree, it should be contracted out to Metra. Amtrak must be shown it can be done and they are not indispensable. Perhaps acquire the released F40's from Coaster Service, which Metra knows how to maintain, lease the Amtrak Cabbage-40's and fix them, and lease the Horizon coaches from Amtrak, which are already on a lease arrangement by PRIIA-209. Use Gallery cars to fill in. 
 

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> UP-N would be much too slow. But I agree, it
> should be contracted out to Metra. Amtrak must be
> shown it can be done and they are not
> indispensable. Perhaps acquire the released F40's
> from Coaster Service, which Metra knows how to
> maintain, lease the Amtrak Cabbage-40's and fix
> them, and lease the Horizon coaches from Amtrak,
> which are already on a lease arrangement by
> PRIIA-209. Use Gallery cars to fill in. 
>  

The Coaster F40s were aquired by Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum in Campo, CA. They are being stored until they can be moved by rail from San Diego to Campo. This has previously been discussed.

Another Charger fail. 

They are Chargers alright. They lead the Charge in failures. Just wait for the long haul versions. I predict massive failure akin to or worse than the P30's. If not power to Amtrak, they got lucky. At that point questions should be asked regarding purchase of sub-standard equipment given operating conditions and known defects.

They did eventually get the bugs worked out of the P30CHs, and the engineers that ran them on the Auto Train and Sunset Limited loved them.

YoungOldHead Wrote:
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> Another Charger fail. 
>
> They are Chargers alright. They lead the Charge in
> failures. Just wait for the long haul versions. I
> predict massive failure akin to or worse than the
> P30's. If not power to Amtrak, they got lucky. At
> that point questions should be asked regarding
> purchase of sub-standard equipment given operating
> conditions and known defects.

It seems everything based in Chicago suffers from sub-standard equipment.   Other bases not so much.

masterphots Wrote:
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> YoungOldHead Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Another Charger fail. 
> >
> > They are Chargers alright. They lead the Charge
> in
> > failures. Just wait for the long haul versions.
> I
> > predict massive failure akin to or worse than
> the
> > P30's. If not power to Amtrak, they got lucky.
> At
> > that point questions should be asked regarding
> > purchase of sub-standard equipment given
> operating
> > conditions and known defects.
>
> It seems everything based in Chicago suffers from
> sub-standard equipment.   Other bases not so
> much.

Not equipment.  Maintenance.

These Siemens things seem as fragile as Texas' power grid. There ought to be Zoom conferences going on right now among Amtrak, state DOTs , and Siemens, but it seems everyone wants to hide behind excuses of Covid and Polar Vortex.

Wonder if VIA Rail is getting any wind of this and having 2nd thoughts. I think it snows and get cold in eastern Canada this time of year. 

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/21 06:10 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> These Siemens things seem as fragile as Texas'
> power grid. There ought to be Zoom conferences
> going on right now among Amtrak, state DOTs , and
> Siemens, but it seems everyone wants to hide
> behind excuses of Covid and Polar Vortex.
>
> Wonder if VIA Rail is getting any wind of this and
> having 2nd thoughts. I think it snows and get cold
> in eastern Canada this time of year. 
>
>  

Serious wonder about VIA outside corridor.  Service minimized to begin with. When you don't run for long enough Id think hard to get back. 
Plus those eastern provinces are so in love with their bubble and Canada is becoming even more restrictive I wonder when their will be a path forward.

Current operation of Canadian is a bad sign.  Once you go down the road of restrictions and micro management it is hard to say, lets run trains.

Bob

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> These Siemens things seem as fragile as Texas'
> power grid. There ought to be Zoom conferences
> going on right now among Amtrak, state DOTs , and
> Siemens, but it seems everyone wants to hide
> behind excuses of Covid and Polar Vortex.

A lot of similarities here. Like having only half of your supply available and ignoring all recommendations for cold weather come to mind.

> Wonder if VIA Rail is getting any wind of this and
> having 2nd thoughts. I think it snows and get cold
> in eastern Canada this time of year. 

Won't be a problem. VIA doesn't go to Chicago anymore.

What about the reliability of the Chargers elsewhere?   Like Florida and MARC ?