Passenger Trains > Are these things aver going to be on the Starlight?

†his was a special train that ran back in February 2020 that I photographed along the Sacramento River at Gibson.

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

---

Hard to believe its been that long ago already. Great photo as usual Bob.
 

Excellent shot - thanks.

Yes, they will probably be on the Starlight in the not too distant future, but in the long-distance version and different paint scheme. And that livery will probably look quite good at this location with the river in background. And...we'll look forward to another fine image from you at this location when that happens!

MC

Yes- coming soon on a train near you Bob. I'm hopeful they'll work out the bugs in them newfangled things and eventually prove their worth. And the Genny's will be sorely missed.

Pretty picture.

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/23 20:10 by SPbird.

SPbird Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes- coming soon on a train near you Bob. I'm
> hopeful they'll work out the bugs in them
> newfangled things and eventually prove their
> worth. And the Genny's will be sorely missed.
>
> Pretty picture.
>
> Posted from Android

They got so many bugs to work out it's amazing how they're still having issues after almost a year!

ProAmtrak Wrote:
_________
> They got so many bugs to work out it's amazing how
> they're still having issues after almost a year!

Yes, it is. That's a pretty long teething period. And rather embarrassing for Siemens. They have simply got to do better.

But Amtrak is stuck with them, for better or worse - so they and Siemens just have to make 'em work right. There's probably more than a few of us, me included, who are wishing Amtrak could have found a way to have stuck with EMD or GE. I would have been perfectly satisfied if they had used a up-geared current or recent model freight hood unit (the "Pepsi-can" paint scheme on a hood unit always looked perfectly fine to me - if not a more current scheme as in this thread today: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,5619431, and with an HEP capability added. 

They would have avoided a whole huge teething and training cycle, and the risks of going with a new and unproven-in-service-type medium-speed Cummins prime mover. Not to mention the Teutonic propensity for over-modularization, complexity and over-redundancy in design (at least ten ways to do anything when only one or two are needed). And they would have gained substantial commonality, maintainability and repairability where needed for emergencies, or even in regular usage cycles if contracted to do so, by freight railroads. 

But for whatever reason, unfortunately that wasn't done. It's not time to throw in the towel...yet. But it's getting there. Siemens and Amtrak have got to get these things to run and perform service reliably -- and soon.. Reliability is one of Amtrak's top needs right now. It's never not a priority need, but when there are serious and regular service issues as there are these days, it becomes even more critical. Getting those Chargers to perform reliably is a critical and top-tier need.

MC



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/23 11:31 by ironmtn.

From the few guys I've spoken with, not a one of them is looking forward to having these things on the Starlight.

irhoghead Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From the few guys I've spoken with, not a one of
> them is looking forward to having these things on
> the Starlight.

Well they better got over it because they are coming.