Home Open Account Help 352 users online

Passenger Trains > It is cold in New England


Date: 02/02/25 05:04
It is cold in New England
Author: Chessie1963

-9 at my place on the farm in the west of NH, -12 at my son's place on the Maine coast near Freeport, and the Downeaster (692) is 12 minutes late out of Brunswick, heading to Boston.  My guess is that the Vermonter will originate in St. Albans as well.

I find it nteresting given all the cancellations this winter in other parts of the country.



Date: 02/02/25 05:31
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: joemvcnj

Amfleet and I guess a couple of Horizon cars in Maine all hauled by GE's.
Wait a few years for the Siemens' junk to show up. Then it is game over. Register an account with Trailways.



Date: 02/02/25 06:27
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: aehouse

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Amfleet and I guess a couple of Horizon cars in
> Maine all hauled by GE's.
> Wait a few years for the Siemens' junk to show up.
> Then it is game over. Register an account with
> Trailways.

How is it that Via runs SIemens engines in Canada without winter issues?

Art House



Date: 02/02/25 07:04
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: tomcough

The Downeaster’s equipment is stored inside at night. The building was constructed maybe 10 years ago in Brunswick, ME.

Tom Coughlin
Stow, MA

Posted from iPhone



Date: 02/02/25 07:19
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: joemvcnj

aehouse Wrote:

> How is it that Via runs SIemens engines in Canada
> without winter issues?
>
> Art House

Who told you they have no issues ?

Over the last week, 2 sets were replaced with 6 car LRC's hauled by an F40 and a P42, and another pair of trains in the Corridor are cancelled every single day due to equipment issues. 



Date: 02/02/25 08:00
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: mp208

ah yes.  The "GARAGE MAHAL"... built for $15,000,000 in Brunswick.  Wonder what the heating bill is.



Date: 02/02/25 08:13
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: RuleG

mp208 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ah yes.  The "GARAGE MAHAL"... built for
> $15,000,000 in Brunswick.  Wonder what the
> heating bill is.

How much should an indoor storage facility for passenger rail equipment cost?  Can you cite examples of similar passenger rail equipment indoor storage facilities built at lower costs?



Date: 02/02/25 09:24
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: ironmtn

mp208 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ah yes.  The "GARAGE MAHAL"... built for
> $15,000,000 in Brunswick.  Wonder what the
> heating bill is.

All they absolutely need to do is keep it above freezing. That considerably lessens heating costs. Yes, the temp may need to be higher to facilitate cleaning and maintenance work overnight. But after the work period is done, the temp could be lowered, and raised again as the next night's work period approaches. I'm sure that some good engineers can figure out an ideal temperature profile that optimizes heating costs cooling down the building then raising it up again for work periods.

It seems like a good idea to have such facilities in the Maine winter climate. We could certainly use them here in the Midwest too, particularly in Chicago, where equipment freeze-ups have long been a problem. Those greatly affect reliability. Yes, that can be handled other ways, and it requires a sharp mechanical staff who do their jobs well every cold day and night. But an enclosed building, either for complete parking of equipment not in use, or for thaw-out purposes, seems a good idea as well.

Urban bus transit systems seem to have all figured this out. Every medium to large city in cold weather states that I can think of here in the Midwest with a bus transit system now has fully enclosed garages for buses in regular service. At the ones I know of, the only buses parked outside are those awaiting major service or major repairs, or such spare / reserve buses as the system may have. That not only enhances the ability to perform regular service, but keeps the buses at a temp when out of service where they will more likely reliably start for the next day's service. And that supports reliability for riders, which should always be the first priority. I also know of some school districts that also have enclosed garages for their school bus fleets.

As a practical matter, though, the chances of such facilities ever being built in Chicago for Amtrak, or at some other cold-weather locations, is probably next to nil. So be glad for what you've got in Maine. And by the way, the $15M price tag does not seem inordinately high for what a large structure goes for these days for just about anything. And I'm guessing that the cost-benefit analysis is pretty favorable towards having the structure.

MC
Muskegon, Michigan



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/25 13:23 by ironmtn.



Date: 02/02/25 09:47
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: jp1822

It's amazing to me that something indoors has NOT been worked out for Chicago over time. Long overdue, but agree it's a tough road now!



Date: 02/02/25 13:32
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: joemvcnj

mp208 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ah yes.  The "GARAGE MAHAL"... built for
> $15,000,000 in Brunswick.  Wonder what the heating bill is.

All that is minimally needed is to heat to 38 degrees. Compare that to the cost of busted pipes, train cancellations, crews out of place, and deadheading back to Boston to repair. 



Date: 02/03/25 10:04
Re: It is cold in New England
Author: MEKoch

Chicagoo has an S & I building with two? tracks for indoor maintenance and inspection.  



[ Share Thread on Facebook ] [ Search ] [ Start a New Thread ] [ Back to Thread List ] [ <Newer ] [ Older> ] 
Page created in 0.0564 seconds