XPost: nyc.transit   
      
   On 13.10.16 15:24, Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:   
   > In article ,   
   > hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk  wrote:   
   >> On 13.10.16 2:43, Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:   
   >>> In article ,   
   >>> danny burstein   wrote:   
   >>>> [Hartford Courant]   
   >>>>   
   >>>>  17-Car Construction Train Works Its Way North,   
   >>>> Laying Track On Hartford Line   
   >>>>   
   >>>> With just 15 months before the Hartford Line's commuter service is due to   
   >>>> begin, a 17-car construction train is slowly laboring north through   
   >>>> Wallingford, putting down as much as a mile of track a day.   
   >>>   
   >>> It's less impressive than you might think.  That whole thing was 2 tracks,   
   >>> with considerable sections through industrial areas between New Haven and   
   >>> Meriden that actually had a continuous side track for switching, for a very   
   >>> long time.  It is on a deep bed of gravel over cinder over gravel that was   
   >>> heavily refurbished (maintaining its original width) when they reduced most   
   >>> of the line to single track in the mid-late 1990s.  But all the   
   >>> clearances are adequate for double track and then some, and they were   
   >>> _mostly_ careful that the new single track alignments weren't   
   >>> straight-down-the-middle.  This is really more like a track/tie   
   >>> replacement job than laying a whole new track -- think what Metro- North   
   >>> uses the same automation to do every few summers, beefed up.   
   >>>   
   >>> Double-track but not electrified... like the old Shore Line East service,   
   >>> and about the same travel time from "Fairfield County jobs".  Even with 17   
   >>> trains a day -- roughly one in each direction every other hour -- it's hard   
   >>> to believe this will be tremendously successful.   
   >>>   
   >> Do any M8s run in revenue service beyond New Haven State Street?   
   >   
   > Evidently not.  I'm a little shocked that Amtrak is still allowing them to   
   > run diesel service on the corridor north (east) of New Haven -- with the poor   
   > accelleration and 79MPH gearing of the old diesels and the frequent stops of   
   > the SLE service, it has to pose a nontrivial scheduling problem for Acela.   
   > You'd think they could have bought some beat to heck AEM7s or E60s to replace   
   > their beat to heck old F units, when the line was electrified.  They still   
   > wouldn't have matched the acceleration of the electric MUs but it'd be   
   better.   
   >   
   > According to   
   > http://passengertrainjournal.com/shore-line-east-to-go-electric-in-2018/ when   
   > the Springfield Line is operational in 2018, the current diesel equipment   
   > serving Shore Line East will be moved over and Conn DOT-owned M8 equipment   
   > will take over Shore Line East service.  That is expected to increase   
   > ridership from the current 660,000 per year.  Ponder that for a moment.  They   
   > are predicting 1,000,000 trips per year on the Springfield Line when the   
   > longstanding Shore Line East service is only at 660,000 today.  Just a little   
   > optimistic, don't you think?   
   >   
   >   
   I see. I thought that one of the reasons that they got the M8s was to   
   run SLE.   
      
   What's up with the M4s and M6s, BTW?   
      
   --- SoupGate/W32 v1.03   
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- UseNet FTN Gateway (1:2320/1)