Passenger Trains > Today's Acela Liberty move

Another new Acela train set departed the Alstom plant in Hornel NY bound for Philadelphia. The first leg of the trip was west on the NS to Buffalo where it was handed over to CSX for its trip east toward Albany NY and then south to Philly. Seen here westbound on the NS through Darien NY on the former EL and then eastbound on CSX through Bergen NY on the former NYC.

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Nice video clips, sad it's gonna be sitting at 30TH St. Yard rotting away like the other sets since it seems they can't find a way to get them in full service yet which should've happened 2 years ago!

Good  video  for  sure. I  don't  get  it. If  the  23 year old  Acela  fleet  can 'interface'  with  the  less than perfect  right of  way of  the  NE, what is  the problem  with the  new Acela  version?  Do  they want  to  run  faster everywhere?

I love the sound of the new articulated set as it runs by at track speed ... reminds me of the passing TGV trains in Barbentane France when I lived near the tracks.  

cutboy1958 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Good  video  for  sure. I  don't  get  it.
> If  the  23 year old  Acela  fleet  can
> 'interface'  with  the  less than perfect
>  right of  way of  the  NE, what is  the
> problem  with the  new Acela  version?  Do
>  they want  to  run  faster everywhere?

My impression (no inside information):

The new sets are very different than the original sets. Much lighter weight, smaller power cars, shorter passenger cars, and one truck shared by two cars. They are more like European high-speed rail. Basically, how these sets behave on the NEC is not how the very heavy, more conventional Acela I’s behaved.

The problem is not specifically the NEC track, but that they cannot get the computer modeling of the trainset’s behavior to match the behavior being measured by testing on the NEC. It is not possible to physically test trainsets for every potential operational scenario, so computer models are developed for that purpose. The computer models are refined and verified by testing the sets in the real world. The verified models can then predict a wide range of behaviors. That seems to be the problem Alstom is facing. The computer models and the real-world test results are not correlating. Until they find out why and develop a model that accurately predicts how these sets will behave on the NEC, they are stuck.  At least that what I think is happening. 

And, the trainsets are not “rotting” at 30th Street as suggested in another thread. They are going out on test runs and are being fully maintained (as I saw Tuesday with crews working multiple sets in the yard)..


 

PRR60   You have a pretty good explanation.

Sadly your namesake continues to rot in Yorklyn, DE.   

prr60 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cutboy1958 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Good  video  for  sure. I  don't  get
>  it.
> > If  the  23 year old  Acela  fleet  can
> > 'interface'  with  the  less than perfect
> >  right of  way of  the  NE, what is  the
> > problem  with the  new Acela  version?  Do
> >  they want  to  run  faster everywhere?
>
> My impression (no inside information):
>
> The new sets are very different than the original
> sets. Much lighter weight, smaller power cars,
> shorter passenger cars, and one truck shared by
> two cars. They are more like European high-speed
> rail. Basically, how these sets behave on the NEC
> is not how the very heavy, more conventional Acela
> I’s behaved.
>
> The problem is not specifically the NEC track, but
> that they cannot get the computer modeling of the
> trainset’s behavior to match the behavior being
> measured by testing on the NEC. It is not possible
> to physically test trainsets for every potential
> operational scenario, so computer models are
> developed for that purpose. The computer models
> are refined and verified by testing the sets in
> the real world. The verified models can then
> predict a wide range of behaviors. That seems to
> be the problem Alstom is facing. The computer
> models and the real-world test results are not
> correlating. Until they find out why and develop a
> model that accurately predicts how these sets will
> behave on the NEC, they are stuck.  At least that
> what I think is happening. 
>
> And, the trainsets are not “rotting” at 30th
> Street as suggested in another thread. They are
> going out on test runs and are being fully
> maintained (as I saw Tuesday with crews working
> multiple sets in the yard)..
>
>
>  

And computers were supposed to make it easier for everyone, each time I hear reports like this I just shake my head since all that learning from grade school about computers was a joke!

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