Bordercollie
Senior Member
I'm sure that there could be an adapter for emergencies.
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- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
Bureaucromancer
Active Member
I will be interested to see how much commonality there actually is between the VIA units the 42Es. I rather suspect that the answer is "a lot", and that the addition of the traction power cars might well be a reasonable refit.
Hell, even if not, as weird as the Amtrak configuration is there's a lot to be said for the general concept of a mostly conventional diesel electric able to take outside power from a trailing unit that can be more or less whatever ends up needed in future.
Hell, even if not, as weird as the Amtrak configuration is there's a lot to be said for the general concept of a mostly conventional diesel electric able to take outside power from a trailing unit that can be more or less whatever ends up needed in future.
dowlingm
Senior Member
Both!
Bordercollie
Senior Member
The problem with Biofuels is that it takes so much energy to grow those crops that it is actually better to just burn plain diesel. Unless it's waste oil byproduct.Or biofuels.....the recent ruling from the US is huge for Canadian agriculture:
Canola Council of Canada says advanced biofuels a new opportunity for growth
Earlier this month the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposal which could open the export doors even wider for Canadian canola producers. The proposed plan would recognize renewable diesel and jet fuel made from canola oil as “advanced biofuels” under the U.S. Renewable Fuel...www.realagriculture.com
Also, biofuels are an easy transition. Mostly can be used in existing powerplants.
roger1818
Active Member
For emergencies (like after a derailment) yes, but that is just to tow the cars back to the maintenance yard for repairs. Such an adapter would likely be speed limited and not approved for use with passengers onboard. An adapter that can be used in active use is a whole other kettle of fish. It is not even certain that the other connections (such as HEP) would be compatible.
If they really needed the extra capacity by using legacy equipment, the easiest way would be to build a separate train with legacy equipment (including locomotive for HEP) and, if necessary, couple it to another train.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
You mean couple HEP cars and an F40 to a Siemens trainset?
smallspy
Senior Member
So, a bit about this....From what I have read, the ALC-42E will not be electric (like the ACS-64), but will be a diesel-electric locomotive, like its sibling the ALC-42. The difference is the ALC-42E will be designed to accept power from the first car in its consist. On most trainsets for use in the North-East corridor, the first coach will have a pantograph to supply this power when catenary is available. When catenary isn't available, they can lower the pantograph and turn on the diesel generator in the locomotive, saving them from having to change locomotives (a process that currently delays trains by up to an hour, presumably because of all the safety checks required). The exception will be trains on the Empire corridor (that don't have catenary), and those trains will have a battery in the first coach instead of a pantograph, allowing them to shut off of the diesel generator in tunnels and quiet zones.
Image courtesy steamcommunity.com
Interestingly, Amtrak will apparently be replacing all of its recently acquired fully electric Siemens ACS-64 locomotives (presumably selling them to commuter railroads) to allow for more flexible operations.
They're not replacing or retiring the ACS-64s.
A relatively small number of the trainsets ordered - I think it's about 10 or so - will have this special pantograph car that will plug in to the specially modified ALC-42s. These will be for certain trains that run on the Northeast Corridor but then travel off of it as well (think of the Springfield trains, the Vermonter, the Pennsylvanian). This will allow Amtrak to run those services through without the delays incurred by swapping the power.
The bulk of the trainsets ordered though will just have standard coaches, and will be pulled behind the current locos - including the ACS-64s.
Dan
roger1818
Active Member
Sorry, I should have been clearer. In my previous post HEP = Head End Power, not the cars that share the same name (due to them having been converted from steam heat to electrical HEP).
smallspy
Senior Member
There is. It's at the other end of the loco.
As for the back end, it's on the end of the cab car.
There are virtually no situations where a trainset will need to be broken apart on the road.
Dan
roger1818
Active Member
The following video says they are replacing most (though not all like I first said) of their ACS-64s. It is possible things have changed since, but he claims to have received his information directly from Amtrak.
His assumption in the video of what the ALC-42Es will look like was corrected in a later video (he clearly said that was an assumption), but I haven't heard him correct the fate of the ACS-64s and that was stated as a fact, though only time will tell. If you have a more recent source, please share.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
Hot axle on a particular car in the train set?
Allandale25
Senior Member
IMPACT: ‘I may well be forced to move’: Northumberland residents pleading to get commuter train back on tracks
For decades, Northumberland-area residents have relied on VIA commuter services to get into the Greater Toronto Area. But when COVID-19 hit, this changed.
www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com
kEiThZ
Superstar
That was true for ethanol made from corn. That's not universally true.
nfitz
Superstar
Was true? That surely is still where much of that corn grown locally goes. It's not for human consumption, and I don't think they need THAT much for livestock.
What do they use for biofuel then - I'd just assumed it was corn.
rbt
Senior Member
In Brazil (#2 producer after USA) it's mostly (75%?) soybean oil, with other random veggie and animal fats mixed in.
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