NEC Extension or Maybe a new Route

[philmoberg]

... This thing? Its a neat idea... but if the engine pulling is just as boxy and square as the rest of the train, how much does this piece actually help

Yeah, Phil, that's the least extreme of the designs I've seen (and so far, the only one I've seen make it to bent metal). My question is really the same as yours, and since I don't know what all their assumptions are, I don't know who to answer it with any more than uninformed speculation. Possibly they're assuming a move to Euro-style boxcab diesels, in which case this would make at least marginally more sense. Those familiar with the U.S. trucking industry will remember similar ideas developed for tractor-trailer combinations a generation ago. In the last six months, I've also seen windcutters underneath at least three trailers, and at least one end cowl over the rear end of a box trailer. It may be one of these things that has become a policy issue and has taken on a life of its own, regardless of whether it effectively meets a demonstrated need in the world we all live in.

BTW Anthony, I thought the LRCs were handsome trains, but like most rail designs of the time, budget constraints and other problems prevented their being developed to a point at which the bugs were all worked out. Their descendents, the Acela Express sets, give us a hint of what might have been. I would have liked to see that.

Also BTW Buzz, the complaints about visibility from EMD and other cab units were something of a straw man. On Class 1s, and at least most Class 2s, switching moves with such units were typically handled by yard crews or hostlers,in both cases having ground men to govern the movement with hand signals. B Units were also equipped with hostler stations, consisting of an independent brake valve and a controller limited to the first point. Given that these moves were handled at yard speed (15mph or less, sufficient to stop in not more than half the sight distance), the rearward visibility was typically not a significant problem. At least that's what most of the guys who ran them told me.

(edit for spelling)

[buzz456]

Yes I would say that there have never been any serious studies of drag coefficients on large trucks and most of the things that have been added are more for show than to actually accomplish much of any significance. You certainly don't see any airplanes that look like the box cabs of recent passenger locomotives. In that regard the old E and F units other than a few weird offerings were probably the height of aerodynamics. I'm sure that's not significant when it comes to hauling freight on the rails however you'd think it might make some difference on the passenger trains.

[philmoberg]

Yes I would say that there have never been any serious studies of drag coefficients on large trucks and most of the things that have been added are more for show than to actually accomplish much of any significance. ...

It's partly because aerodynamic drag on large commercial combinations is a very complicated problem. Most of what I've seen - and there hasn't been much of it, apart from research conducted by some of the vehicle manufacturers - tended to draw the obvious conclusions. It appears they may have borrowed from and/or built on some of the research done for rail vehicles. The bulk of the rail-related research I've seen has been from what used to be the research arm of JNR - I think it's RTRI now, but I lost the link a couple of crashes ago - and it's quite extensive. One of the most surprising findings was the effect of underbody drag, and this is why the newer high speed designs have fully enclosed underbodies. The sense I get is that you have to get into the 90-100mph range for this to begin to make a significant difference in terms of aerodynamic efficiency. OTOH, if they'd gone to the trouble of enclosing the underbodies on Amfleet and Viewliners, we wouldn't have seen the major failures we saw a few winters back, when service was severely crippled by the plumbing freezing up on quite a number of cars. Many of those that didn't freeze up had 12-18"of ice under them, and one has to wonder what that did to power consumption and axle loadings.

[FanRailer]

Coming back on topic a bit; another ACS-64 photo was released on engine driver recently:

[Chacal]

Jeez, I had to take a long, hard look before I could tell if this was a real-life picture or an in-game sceernshot.

[imnew]

Jeez, I had to take a long, hard look before I could tell if this was a real-life picture or an in-game sceernshot.

Me too. That picture is amazing.

[FanRailer]

What are the actual road number groups the real '64s will be using? Arent the first batch 600 - 610? Wonder why they chose such a late one.

There aren't any "batches" in the ACS-64 delivery. It's a continuous production line from 600-669 (or 670 if they chose to skip 666). So theoretically, it makes sense to be able to operate any ACS-64 within the number range given.

[philmoberg]

... Me too. That picture is amazing.

Sometimes the Connecticut sky actually looks like that, too ...

[NSrailfan6130]

... Me too. That picture is amazing.

Sometimes the Connecticut sky actually looks like that, too ...

No clouds?.

[FanRailer]

... Me too. That picture is amazing.

Sometimes the Connecticut sky actually looks like that, too ...

No clouds?.

There are certainly days were there is not a single cloud to be seen...

[philmoberg]

... No clouds?.

When I started living up this way, back in the early-'70s, the first thing they'd say to me upon being introduced was, "Don't like the weather? Wait half an hour, it'll change." I thought this was strange, especially when it went on for almost two years; but they weren't kidding ...

It will be interesting to see how rapidly the weather changes on the forthcoming route.

[FanRailer]

cool deal - i stand corrected

I also know that 600 is a bit different from the rest - lights being standard and not the LEDs... wonder if they will go back and change it to the LEDs after things get going.

600 had mods done to bring it up to speed with the rest of the fleet long before it entered service just over a month ago. I doubt that you'll be able to tell any major sort of difference between 600 and any other ACS-64 at this point.

[Bermúdez]

DTG has added new screenshots to the album of the route. Look very nice.

[imnew]

DTG !

[evafan002]

I will be purchaseing this as soon as possible after release but only for that ACS-64 as I am not generally a north american commuter fan but danged if that don't look beautiful