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Re: Tuscarora Almanac for September 25 (Steve B-8AVEXP)

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:47:53 GMT

Posted by Steve B-8AVEXP on 9/28/2026 4:47:53 AM EST
The only sign I remember is, "Next train out."

Re: Tuscarora Almanac for September 25 (randyo)

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 08:33:23 GMT

Posted by randyo on 9/28/2026 3:33:23 AM EST
The �Lefferts Ave� sign was not painted over. It was simply not used. There was a �repeater� indicator in the tower at 8th Ave that would illuminate when the platform sign illuminated. I managed to grab the lens from the repeater before the tower was decommissioned.

Re: MTA POP UP SHOP (B1bus)

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 02:50:28 GMT

Posted by B1bus on 9/27/2026 9:50:28 PM EST
Ave X off Stillwell ave around the cornerf rom the high school that me and David went to.

PHOTOS: NEXT GEN (Jersey Mike)

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 02:07:16 GMT

Posted by Jersey Mike on 9/27/2026 9:07:16 PM EST

In August 2025 Amtrak's Next Generation Acela equipment entered service after years of delays due to both the pandemic and disputes with Alstom. Although I caught one of the new trains on its first day of service, it was not until late October that I finally had the opportunity to ride one and actually confirm or disconfirm the many criticisms that had been circulating online. Also included in this set are photos of equipment in the Penn Coach Yard prior to departure as well as stuff encountered on the lead-in and lead-out of the trip.

On the way out to 30th St station I was lucky enough to catch a southbound NNJT Atlantic City Rail Line train heading through the Haddonfield Trench with GP40PH-2B #4216.

My PATCO ride for that day was provided by rebuilt car #1083.

For years Amtrak's Penn Coach Yards at 30th St station Philadelphia have been largely devoid of coaches or other passenger equipment. The Acela Next Gen saga changed this as delivered-but-not-accepted trainsets slowly filled the yard after being constructed by Alstom Hornell, NY. On this day in 2025, four sets were hanging out in the yard, Set 9, Set 10, Set 24 and an unidentified set whose numbers were not visible. Note that the sets were not delivered in order of their dispatch numbers and set 9 still has yet to enter service. Also in the yard was the first of the new Siemens Cascade Service trains making use of Charger locomotives and Venture coaches as well as three HHP-0 "Cabbage" conversions. .

The HHP-0 (or HHP-C depending on who you ask) cab car conversion project seems to have become just as fraught as the HHP-8 class of locomotives they were based on. After being withdrawn after barely 15 years of an expected 40 year life expectancy, the HHP-8's had to first clear a 20 year lease-back arrangement before Amtrak was free to acquire them outright.

To remedy some of the HHP-8's ride quality issues, Amtrak embarked on a cab car conversion project that likely involved removing weighty propulsion elements like motors and transformers. Originally planned to be used on the Ethan Allen express in 2022, the project was nearly 4 years late by this point. Numbers 9750, 9751 and 9752 were in the yard that day in the new Phase VII livery.

The lead example of the new Amtrak Cascades service train was also in the yard for high speed testing on the Northeast Corridor. Despite WSDoT owning 9 SC-44 Chargers to power its existing trains, the 8 new sets come with the new ALC-42E locomotives as the SC-44's are likely in need of overhaul. #70000` (later renumbered #7001) was paired with cab car #79501.

As mentioned before 4 Next Gen Acela sets were in the yard awaiting various levels of modification or fitting out. Three NG sets had been accepted by August 2025 to allow for the start of revenue service with a pair of BOS-WAS round trips, but by October 2025 7 sets had been accepted. Penn Coach Yard was doing more than just storing the delivered NG trains as some amount of interior fitting out, like the cafe equipment, was also being performed.

After the unsustainable costs involved with getting the Government of Canada to pay for a bespoke high speed train design, Amtrak was forced to procure an off the shelf European spec product. The winner was Alstom's Avelia Horizon platform that was planned to replace the TGV Atlantique, Duplex and Reseau fleet. Off the shelf is somewhat misleading however as Amtrak's 28 lightly localized trains were constructed and delivered before SNCF's planned service entry date of 2026. Power cars like #2151 seen here develop only 4700hp compared with the Classic Acela's 6000hp.

Sitting in the Race St engine terminal were GP38H-3 #523, GP38-3 #729 and #742, ACS-86 #650 and #646 and P42DC #112 and #129. Phase 3 heritage painted P42DC #145 was off by itself by the fuel tanks.

I was booked on train #2153 using Next Gen Set #14 lead by power car #2141. I also did not appear to be the only one taking photos of the new rolling stock.

I might as well comment on the seats, which seem to draw the largest amount of criticism. Yes, the padding was quite firm and there was no recline, however for my short Philly to DC ride the hardness was not an issue and the seat backs were set to what I would call my default level of recline as opposed to being straight up and down like the older seats would default to. The new cars also had much more space above one's head which is likely to reduce the common Acela issue of hitting one's head on the luggage rack.

Luggage capacity was the other major complaint. The increased headroom has shrunk the overhead racks to just barely the height of a standard rolling bag.

The new Acela sets pack 20% more riders into a space only 20' longer than the Classic set by ruthlessly removing non-revenue space like end-of-car luggage storage. While the official baggage space is much less, it seems that sufficient slack space still exists for overflow.

Acela Classic power car #2015 at the Wilmington, DE station platform. It is not uncommon for Acela and Regional trains to meet across the platform at Wilmington.

Amtrak had already started to dispose of the Classic sets with Set #20 visible in the old Chrysler Yard in Newark, DE.

Passing Bayview Yard in Baltimore with NS AC44C6M #4012 and a local set with GP38-3 #5821 and OLS painted GP38-2 #5670.

At the end of its journey #2141 pulled into Washington Union Station track #19 next to Classic power car #2011. I am privileged to be able to get photos of the old and new Acelas side by side like this seeing as how I was far too young to have caught similar photos of Metroliners, GG1's and AEM-7's. Note #2011 seems to be suffering from the standard Acela battle damage.

I'll finish with some bonus photos of DC Metro 3k stock at the Mount Vernon Convention Centre Station.

Well that's the story and review of my first ride on the Next Gen Acela equipment. While the NG equipment could have certainly been better, Amtrak's new pricing strategy gives them far better value for money than the Classic sets offered over the first 20 or so years of their life. If passengers complain enough maybe they can get replacement seats, but with the current demand exceeding supply, I don't see that happening any time soon.

Re: MTA POP UP SHOP (Q4)

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 00:29:43 GMT

Posted by Q4 on 9/27/2026 7:29:43 PM EST
Thanks

Re: MTA POP UP SHOP (Jackson Park B Train)

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 23:44:18 GMT

Posted by Jackson Park B Train on 9/27/2026 6:44:18 PM EST
check the ny transit Museum for details.

Re: HIGH GROUND ? (Q4)

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 23:08:12 GMT

Posted by Q4 on 9/27/2026 6:08:12 PM EST
The MTA has put out contracts and had work done throughout their entire network dealing with flood mitigation and resiliency including at CI Yard Complex and the Rockaway line (https://www.mta.info/project/rockaway-line-resiliency-and-rehabilitation) which is what he could have been referring to.

Re: MTA POP UP SHOP (Q4)

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 22:49:59 GMT

Posted by Q4 on 9/27/2026 5:49:59 PM EST
Where will it be held. Thanks.

Re: PHOTOS: Double slipswitch (Fisk Ave Jim)

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 20:55:25 GMT

Posted by Fisk Ave Jim on 9/27/2026 3:55:25 PM EST
Aside from the excess and unfair taxation, the biggest hit the railroads took was from the Eisenhauer Interstate System. Ike got the idea from seeing the autobahn when he was in Germany. On came the trucks and affordable cars and many never looked back. As far as firemen working on diesel engines, that was a collective bargaining issue fought for years (and quite successfully) by the RR unions to keep the firemen. I believe that practice was called featherbedding. But in time they went away shortly followed by the caboose.

Re: Preventing 12-9's (Stephen Bauman)

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 16:27:20 GMT

Posted by Stephen Bauman on 9/27/2026 11:27:20 AM EST
I was invited, in the sense that I'm on the mailing list of two of the sponsoring organizations. There are many webinars and in person conferences about transportation and related topics that I attend. Some are free and others cost money to attend. The sponsors are mostly academic institutions, government agencies, publications and not for profits. I do get satisfaction from keeping up with technology. There are also unconferences, where attendees make the presentations. I've made several presentations at unconferences. My subjects have been about CBTC, NYC bus speeds, the IBX and calculating average vehicle speeds in NYC. They've been quite technical, with the emphasis on methodology. There's a scheduled unconference in a few weeks. I'm working on a presentation that compares NYC bus speeds and stop spacing with buses in other cities. (Hint - NYC bus performance fares a lot better in comparison to other large cities than redesign advocates would have us believe. The presentation emphasis will be on finding data and methodology to reach this conclusion.) I've attended many yearly conferences on autonomous vehicles (AV's) and connected autonomous vehicles (CAV's). The material has progressed from the theoretical to actual implementations. The presentations have progressed from academics to small companies that are trying to sell their products. The company that mentioned the app to avoid track intrusions on the CTA mentioned many more applications that concerned rubber tire vehicles on public highways. I mentioned this application because 12-9's are a continuing problem that appears to stump the MTA. Their 100% solutions have been centered on platform doors that are prohibitively expensive for retrofit. Prohibitive cost has been a perennial excuse for the MTA to do nothing. Their partial solution has avoided using new technology. I thought it important to mention that other organizations have found solutions that embrace new technology.