WPF 6/20 to 6/27

[e-paw]

I was working on Pier C in Hoboken and was able to get a few shots of the rebuilt clock tower on the DL&W (now NJT) station.

   

   

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Here are some Amtrak locomotives at 30th Street station in Philadelphia. I wish I could embed video, since I also took a video of one of Amtrak's new ACS64 locomotives passing by.

Many of these engines are odd balls or quickly approaching the end of the line.



The Philadelphia Art Museum is in the background. A ballast train is stored here. Note the solar panels on each car. I hope they can withstand ballast when loading!



Also of interest, the new face of Baggage cars- the "Viewliner" baggage car. Amtrak also has a diner car using the Viewliner body.



Out in the back, a few metroliner cab cars.



Once again, at the Cherry Hill station, my plans to ride the train TO 30th street were dashed, as my girlfriend had accidentally read the weekend schedule, and we needed to be in Philadelphia before the next train.

Still, I took pictures and video. 4202 is a GP40PH-2B.

[Ralph]

I hadn't heard about solar panels on cars like this before so I did a search and learned that they re related to a system that regulates the flow of ballast on the tracks from each car. Its done by remote control instead of manually opening the hopper. Pretty cool but, like you, I'd wonder about the risk of damage during loading.


After a little more online research I found this thread (by Gary) on our own forum that has photos of ballast cars with the panels on the side.. <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2357">viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2357</a><!-- l -->

[jwb]

My wife and I took Metrolink downtown the other day to take care of some business. Here are some grab shots from the train as it passed the main mechanical facility at Taylor:

   

891 is the first loco I've seen with a "PTC" decal applied. Metrolink is implementing this as part of changes following a 2008 head-on with numerous fatalities that happened when the engineer was texting his boyfriend instead of watching signals.

   

Another change is replacement of the former Bombardier "lozenge" cab cars with new ones that have crash-absorbing noses and an elevated cab. Rather than convert the cab cars to cabless mid-train ones, they've simply withdrawn them, and the other cabless Bombardier cars seem to be on the way out as well -- most of the cars in this view are new Rotems from Korea. In addition to the new cab car configuration, most of the seats in the cab cars have also been removed as an additional safety buffer. Let me see: we're adding PTC so the trains won't hit each other. On the other hand, when they do, we're making things safer by keeping people from sitting in the safe cab car. The head spins!

   

An example of how you can add junk and clutter to a modern engine facility.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I hadn't heard about solar panels on cars like this before so I did a search and learned that they re related to a system that regulates the flow of ballast on the tracks from each car. Its done by remote control instead of manually opening the hopper. Pretty cool but, like you, I'd wonder about the risk of damage during loading.


After a little more online research I found this thread (by Gary) on our own forum that has photos of ballast cars with the panels on the side.. <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2357">viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2357</a><!-- l -->

I figured that might have been the case. I imagine it increases the lifespan of the batteries on those cars quite a bit!

Another change is replacement of the former Bombardier "lozenge" cab cars with new ones that have crash-absorbing noses and an elevated cab. Rather than convert the cab cars to cabless mid-train ones, they've simply withdrawn them, and the other cabless Bombardier cars seem to be on the way out as well -- most of the cars in this view are new Rotems from Korea. In addition to the new cab car configuration, most of the seats in the cab cars have also been removed as an additional safety buffer. Let me see: we're adding PTC so the trains won't hit each other. On the other hand, when they do, we're making things safer by keeping people from sitting in the safe cab car. The head spins!

I noticed Florida Tri-Rail is receiving similar cars. I think those big Hyundai-Rotem cab cars look ridiculous, but then if I suppose I couldn't come up with a much better cab car design if I wanted to keep the engineer high up like that and still keep it somewhat streamlined.

Then again, I'm used to Comets and those cars derived from them.

As far as the Bombardier Bi-levels go, I wonder it the design is just old. While the Metrolink cars seem to be from the 90s, I know the original design is from the 1970s. This is the same reason NJ Transit's ALP44 electrics are all retired (and will likely be scrapped), as even though they were new, they were basically mildly updated AEM7s of the early 80s.

Speaking of Comets, have any of those ex Comet-IB (exx Jersey Arrow I MUs) started to show up yet? or are they not part of this line? I know they scrapped a lot of the old Erie Lackawanna Comet Is in 2011, but I hear Amtrak is rebuild these former EMUs now for California.

[modelsof1900]

A picture from Fremo meeting this weekend in Unna/Germany.

[Ralph]

I like the ruined barn n the background. Are those hobos the policeman is talking to or were they up to something more sinister?

[Sumpter250]

I like the ruined barn n the background. Are those hobos the policeman is talking to or were they up to something more sinister?

Perhaps they were simply discussing the "Still" of the afternoon. hock:

[Ralph]

I wondered about that!

[mountaingoatgreg]

A little progress on my Central Oregon Pumice Company building.

[kamerad47]

Looks like the carloads are up this month for the PRT at the Dundee tranload yard !!!! :o hock:

[cn nutbar]

Grand Valley RS1200 #43 is spotted in the industrial north end of Leetown

[ray_m]

3 Scratch built N scale LPB's working at the freight depot.

[Sumpter250]

" 3 Scratch built N scale LPB's"

There, are 3 LPB's, that easily could have turned out as Little Plastic BLOBS

Nicely done !!!

[BR60103]

Not railway, but fun. The University's new entrance guard.