Train of the Week

Road to Portland

2012-03-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

And of course by road I meant railroad.

I took a little weekend trip to the beautiful city of Portland, Oregon. Had to drive a few hours to get to the town of Shelby, Montana to board the Empire Builder and then it was nonstop fun for 2 and a half days. I hope you like these photos and I'll post photos from Portland another week (absolutely love their tram system).

Stadler FLIRT

2012-03-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

The FLIRT is a popular regional trainset built by Swiss firm Stadler Rail. FLIRT stands for Fast Light Innovative Regional Train. She is an articulated electric multiple unit, with all intermediate cars, or sections, sharing a single Jacobs bogie at either end. Unlike other EMUs, the FLIRT has very few powered bogies. In fact, a 4-section FLIRT only has two powered bogies at either end of the train (2-section trains have 1 at one end, and longer trains may have an optional 3rd). Each powered bogie provides 1,340 tractive horsepower and depending on configuration, the FLIRT can have a top speed of 75 to 125 mph. Though most operators ordered the intermediate 100 mph FLIRT.

Swiss Federal Railways FLIRT

Norwegian State Railways FLIRT

The FLIRT was first built in 2004 and hundreds of sets were ordered from operators in more than 10 different countries since then.

Some shots from an outing

2012-02-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

Well since this is after all just a blog, I'm gonna use this week to share some pictures and video footages I've taken at a public crossing near the little town of Indus, Alberta. It's quite a nice and open area where both the Rockies and the small city by the name Calgary are in sight. The line you see here here is Brooks Subdivision of transcontinental mainline of Canadian Pacific and as you'll witness from the photographs and video, CP's mainline fleet is predominately GE. Enjoy and if your bandwidth permits, please do watch the video in 720p resolution.

Click here to view the entire photo album

Regina X55/SJ 3000

2012-02-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Regina X55 or SJ 3000, as Sweden's SJ have branded, is the new flagship intercity train replacing the aging X2 or SJ 2000 (one of the two European trainsets tested on the NEC in early 1990s). The train was designed by Bombardier in Västerås, Sweden. She is the finished product derived from the 7-year Green Train project SJ commenced in the 2000s. As the title suggests, the X55 is an extremely efficient EMU with 20% reduction in energy consumption while maintaining a higher speed and 30% cost reduction than previous generation trains (including previous Regina trains). Over the life cycle of the X55, the EMU produces as little as 0.14 oz. of carbon dioxide per passenger per mile (up to 95% lower than a car, bus, or airplane). The X55 had undergone extreme weather testing in the arctic circle and was designed specifically to operate reliably under the harsh Nordic climate conditions. The X55/SJ 3000 was officially announced by Bombardier and SJ earlier this month.

The X55 has a 4 car consist and is over 11 ft. 3 in. wide and will do 155 mph in service once line upgrade is done to raise the track speed from the current 125 mph. Please do check out the beautifully done promotional video of the SJ 3000. Welcome on board.

Electroliner

2012-02-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Electroliner was an articulated interurban EMU built by the St Louis Car Company in 1941 for the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad. It was smaller than standard mainline railroad equipment in size and was designed to be able to fit within the clearance of the Chicago L and serve downtown stations. It also ran on the streetcar tracks in Milwaukee. The Electroliner shared trucks between cars and ran in 4-car sets. Two sets of the Electroliner were ever built. The Electroliner could reach a top speed of 110 mph but was only permitted to operated at 90 mph, because the streamlined EMU would arrive at a grade crossing faster than the gates could come down.

Electroliner at the Illinois Railway Museum

Electroliner on the Chicago L

Sadly, due to decrease in ridership (with the completion of the interstate freeway system and wider adoption of personal automobiles), the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, along with the Electroliners ceased operation in 1963. The Electroliners were able to enjoy a few more years of livelihood at the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, but were eventually withdrawn in 1976. Today, one Electroliner trainset is preserved and restored into operating condition at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL.

Consist of the Electroliner

EMD JT42CWR (British Rail Class 66)

2012-02-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

The EMD JT42CWR, or better known as the British Rail Class 66, is a successful diesel-electric freight locomotive in European heavy-haul service. English Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS), now known as Deutsche Bahn Schenker Rail (UK), first purchased the Class 66 in 1998. The components used on this unit are similar to those found on domestic freight units built by EMD, including the patented active self-steering 3-axle truck.

Power comes from a 12 cylinder 710 engine tightly tucked into the full-width car body. The Class 66 weighs 140 US tons and produces a healthy 3,040 tractive horsepower. A standard Class 66 (top speed 75 mph) can produce a maximum of 92,000 pounds force of tractive effort (just over half of what the SD70M-2 produces), a specially geared Class 66 for CWS’s heavy trains (65 mph) can produce 105,000 pounds force.
The proven success of the Class 66 in Britain has pushed this locomotive into Continental European and Egyptian markets. Over 650 of these units have been built to date from EMD’s plant in London, Ontario.

Click here (YouTube video where user disabled embedding) to hear the beautiful and familiar sound of the Class 66 with her EMD 710 starting up.

JNR ED10

2012-01-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

The ED10 is one of the early electric locomotives adopted by ex-Japan National Railways (JNR) following the electrification of the narrow gage (3.5 ft.) Tōkaidō Main Line in 1925. The locomotive was designed and built by Westinghouse Electric (electrical components) and Baldwin (mechanical components) in 1928.

The unit has a B-B wheel arrangement and is powered by 4 DC traction motors producing a total of 1,100 horsepower. The ED10 is a light little unit and weighs in at just over 67 tons and has a top speed of just 40 miles per hour. Two ED10s have ever been built.

Preserved ED10 2

Coradia X60/61/62

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Check out 2 new additions in the Other Sites section, on Canadian railways featuring freight and passenger topics, and on the trains of VIA Rail Canada! Thank you Eric for sharing with us your trackside experience!

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The Class X60/61/62 are some of the more recent trainsets ordered by transport agencies in Sweden. They were built since 2005. These electric multiple-units belong to the Coradia family designed by the famous French train manufacture Alstom. The main difference between the 3 different designations is consist and interior setup (X60 are commuter trains operated by Greater Stockholm Transport and have 6 cars, X61 are regional trains operated by Skånetrafiken and Östgötatrafiken and have 4 cars, X62 are X61 with one of the cars being a bistro car operated by Norrtåg).

SL X60 at Stockholm Central Station

Östgötatrafiken X61

The X60/61/62 are designed with safety, comfort, and high environmental standards in mind. The cars are fitted with nonflammable and self-extinguishing materials and 95% of the car is recyclable. The 6-car X60 weigh a total of 227 tons and have a total power output of 4,020 horsepower. Top speed in service of the trainsets is 99 mph.

Cab of the X61

Swedish State Railways Class Rc

2012-01-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

First I'd like to apologize... this was the first time I missed the Thursday night midnight (PT) posting time due to some time mismanagement. I've had a hectic week but it's no excuse.

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The Class Rc locomotive is the most used electric locomotive in Sweden. It is designed by ASEA for both freight and passenger service and has originally been purchased by the Swedish State Railways in the late 1960s.

The domestic Rc locomotives come in 8 variants with a total of 360 units produced. At an overall length of 51 feet and weighing from 85 to 88 tons, the Rc is quite powerful at 4,800 horsepower for her small stature. Traction effort however suffers from such light weight and ranges from 53,000 to 65,000 pounds-force (ES44DC produces over 100,000 pounds at maxes out at 142,000 pounds), but it was sufficient for the designated uses of the Rc. Top speed of the Rc ranges from 85 to 112 miles per hour.

A number of railroads also operate the Rc or her derivatives, these include Norwegian State Railways, Iranian Railways, and our own lovely Amtrak (you guessed it, the 125 mph workhorse on the NEC, the AEM-7).

AEM-7, the little toaster or meatball we love and cherish

It's picture time again

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

After a year of absence, the tradition of spending Christmas on the transcon continued (or so I hope since this really was only the second time in 3 years; see last week's post for food pics and links to pages about the train). This VIA train never disappointed. The crew was friendly and enthusiastic, the food was among the best I had tasted anywhere, and the ever changing landscape through those big, bright train windows and the dome continued to awe. Since I had taken lots of pictures of this train ride in 2009 (see post from 2 weeks ago for pictures), I could be a little more selfish this time and try to enjoy the ride more. Though hope you still enjoy the few tens of thousands of words worth of pictures here.

Let's Talk Food

2011-12-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

So as expected, the train trip from Edmonton to Toronto was absolutely fantastic. What's better is that I am saying it not only from a passenger train nut's point of view. Today I will post a few pictures of something which matters to all travelers - the dinning experience.

Please, do not let my paper cup distract you... it does not belong to the dinning car, I have simply brought it along from the cafe in the lounge car

There is no better travel experience anywhere on VIA Rail's system than its Train 1/2, The Canadian (well, sort of the Canadian). Dining on this train is no exception. In the 1954's stainless steel dining cars, you will find plentiful of views with beautiful decors above the windows, comfortable seating, ceramic tableware and stainless steel cutlery. Meals are freshly prepared in the kitchen of the dinning car with gorgeous presentation on every dish and served by very friendly staff. Better yet, pricing of the meals in the dinning car is very reasonable (a bargain even compared to mediocre restaurants in cities like Calgary). There is also a nice selection of alcoholic beverages including, in the case of my recent trip, some very delicious micro-brews from Winnipeg. I have never had a bad meal on this VIA train and I don't think you will either.

For only $9 on the lunch menu - the best salmon fillet taco I've ever had

Again on the lunch menu for $9, a delicious Yorkshire pudding bowl

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and I am off to ride the rails again! Here are a few pictures of the same trip two years ago.

Plus check out all the great work VIA Rail Canada has been doing to improve passenger rail service in Canada. Have a safe holiday!

Turkish State Railways HT65000

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

The HT65000 is the first high-speed train to enter revenue service on Turkish soil. Spanish firm CAF, with her design based on Spain’s own Renfe Class 120, has built the electric multiple-unit. Each trainset is expanded from 6 cars from 4 found on the Renfe. Since the train operates on standard gage tracks only, she does not inherit the dual gage design found on the Renfe.

The HT65000 operates on the 360 mile Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway with a top speed of 155 mph. Twelve trainsets were ordered by the TCDD (Turkish State Railways) and were in service since the opening of the high-speed line in 2009.

Bombardier Itino

2011-12-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Bombardier Itino is a light, nimble little diesel-hydraulic multiple units built in the early 2000s at the company’s Hennigsdorf, Germany plant. It was originally developed by ADtranz, a company Bombardier purchased in 2002.

Y31 operated by Tåg i Bergslagen (Sweden)

The Itino is made up of 2 or 3 cars weighing around 30 tons each and is powered by diesel engines and hydraulic transmissions with mechanical automatic gearboxes found in diesel trucks. This little train pumps out just over 1,700 horsepower and have a top speed of 100 mph. There are a total of 40 sets of the Itino built and they are used in regional services in Sweden and Germany.

Krösatågen Y32 (Sweden)

Arlanda Express X3

2011-12-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

As the name suggests, the Arlanda Express is a train service operated by A-Train linking the busy Arlanda Airport and the City of Stockholm, the second largest Nordic city, a metropolis of 2 million residents. The service runs between Stockholm Central Station and the 3 Arlanda Airport stations over the Arlanda Line every 10 minutes using the X3 Coradia electric multiple units built by Alstom in Birmingham, UK in the late 1990s.

The Arlanda Line branches off from the East Coast Line, the mainline railroad linking Stockholm with cities to the North, including Sweden’s 4th largest city, Uppsala, home to over 200,000 people. Other than the Arlanda Express, the line also serves intercity trains to destinations along the East Coast Line with stops at the airport. The East Coast Line and Arlanda Line have a permissible maximum operating speed of 124 mph with the exception of some trains at 127 mph (i.e. SJ's X2). Below is a short film showing some of the traffic on the Arlanda Line (X3, X60, and X2).

The Arlanda Express X3 consists of 4 cars. Two of which are powered at a total output of 3,000 horsepower. The top speed of the Arlanda Express, among most other trains on the Arlanda Line and East Coast Line, is 124 mph.

VR Class Sm3

2011-11-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Class Sm3 is a tilting EMU based on the Italian ETR 460 Pendolino operated by VR Group of Finland. Due to the long distances and low population in Finland, the Finnish stated-owned railway company chose to run higher-speed trains on existing network rather than building entirely new high-speed railways. After years of extensive testing, the Pendolinos began service in 1997. The introduction of these trains saw a pleasant increase in train ridership in Finland.

The Sm3 consists of 6 self-propelled carriages with 2/3 of the axles being powered. The train has a total power output of 5,400 hp, total weight of 362 tons, and a top revenue speed of 140 mph. Because of her tilting capabilities, the Pendolino is able to operate 35% faster than regular trains on Finland’s board gauge (5 ft.) network.

Tilting bogie of the Pendolino

EMD SDP40F

2011-11-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

When Amtrak was formed in 1971, the passenger railroad inherited locomotives (F and E units) and cars from the freight railroads who abandoned passenger operations. The locomotives were poorly maintained and often broke down en route of Amtrak trains. In 1973, Amtrak bought the first of their new locomotives, the SDP40F, an interim solution to their locomotive requirements, before cars with electrically heated arrived. As the name suggested, the SDP40F was a full car body passenger version of the 6-axle SD40 freight locomotive. It had the same 16 cylinder EMD 645 engine as the SD40 and the same 500 hp traction motors, but was geared for a top speed of 100 mph. Steam generators were equipped on these units to provide heating to the old passenger cars.

SDP40F (2nd and 3rd units) on the San Francisco Zephyr

The SDP40F was a reliable locomotive like her freight cousin, but had several high speed derailments. The cause were unclear but was believed to be the uneven weight distribution caused by the addition of the steam generator and water tanks on board. Eventually the SDP40F was withdrawn from service. Amtrak was able to trade these units in for credit towards the newer Head End Power equipped F40PH and 18 units were traded with the Santa Fe Railroad for 43 switchers. The SDP40F made her last appearance on Amtrak in 1985.

Tilt Train (Queensland Rail)

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Queensland Rail Tilt Train is a narrow gage (3 ft. 6 in.) tilting train from the State of Queensland in Australia. Two sets of the Tilt Trains are manufactured and 3 sets are still in service today. The Tilt Train comes in 2 flavors. The electric version is an Electric Multiple Unit and is built by Hitachi; the diesel version is a push-pull trainset with locomotives on either end built by EDI Rail of Australia using EMD technology.

The push-pull diesel Tilt Train

The electric Tilt Train

Despite the fact that the Tilt Train runs on narrow gage track, the electric Tilt Train is still the fastest train in Australia. It is the Australian speed record holder with a top speed of 130 mph. The top speed in service of the Tilt Train is 99 mph, same as that of the standard gage XPT from New South Wales. Enjoy this short little documentary on the Tilt Train.

Express Passenger Train (CountryLink)

2011-11-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

The XPT, or eXpress Passenger Train, is a push-pull diesel-electric trainset operated by New South Wale’s CountryLink in Australia. It is made up of two Commonwealth Engineering power cars based on the British Rail Class 43 used on the famous HST InterCity 125 and up to 7 Budd coaches (rather than the Mk3 on the BR InterCity).

XPT at Sydney Central Station

British Rail InterCity 125 at York

The exterior of the XPT’s power cars are quite similar to the Class 43. They are also powered by high-speed diesel engines produced by Paxman (now owned by MAN). However, the engines are detuned to 2,000 hp from 2,250 hp and cooling systems are improved to accommodate hot and dry Australian operating conditions. Top speed in service of the XPT is also slower than the HST at 100 rather than 125 mph. Also, unlike the HST, which operates in intercity services, the XPT is a long distance train and offers sleeping accommodation for overnight services.

Coach Class of the XPT

Sleeping accommodation of the XPT

VIA Rail F40PH-3

2011-10-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

The F40PH shares the same gene as ElectroMotive’s reliable lines of freight locomotives, the GP40 and SD40. It is the passenger version with a full width car body and geared for 103 mph. Many commuter railroads in America and VIA Rail Canada still operate variants of this locomotive today. On this post I’ll focus on the latest of the rebuilt F40s, what is referred to by railfans at the F40PH-3, rebuilt by CAD Railway Industries in Montreal, QC.

Corridor train with the rebuilt F40PH-2 in Kingston, Ontario

Instead using the 3,000 horsepower 16 cylinder 645 engine for traction and head-end power, the -3s have a separate Caterpillar engine to provide 500 kW of HEP and the 645 is upgraded to EPA Tier-0 compliant. Electrical components have also been modernized on these locomotives and a new painting scheme similar to the P42DCs has also been applied. A list of modifications done to the unit can be found here.

Both versions of F40PH-2 leading the transcontinental passenger train

The rebuilt program breathes new life into these work horses of the Canadian national passenger rail system and these F40PH-3s are to serve VIA Rail’s corridor and long distance trains for many years to come.

SoundTransit Central Link

2011-10-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

The Central Link is one of the two operational Link Light Rail routes in the Puget Sound Region, Washington (hence the name SoundTransit, make sure you check the website out, one very interesting thing I find about the Central Link is that each station has their own unique logo). It is operated by King County Metro and runs between downtown Seattle from Westlake Station in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel and the Seattle Tacoma International Airport. The Central Link was opened in full in December 2009 and it only took about half an hour for the entire trip to Sea-Tac with a top operating speed of 55 mph. Its route traverses through downtown, SODO, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley, and Tukwila. The equipment currently being used on the Central Link is low-floor LRVs manufactured by Kinkisharyo-Mitsui from Japan with a top speed of 65 mph. Trains run in two-car sets and are planned to expand up to four cars in the coming years.

Link LRT in the Transit Tunnel at Westlake Station

LRV at Othello Station

This post concludes my train adventures in the US for 2011. Hope you’ve at least somewhat enjoyed these brief reports. Oh, and this is the 100th post on Train of the Week!

Empire Builder

2011-10-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Empire Builder began operation in June 1929 as the premier passenger train of the Great Northern Railway. The name was chosen to honor founder of the railroad, James J. Hill, who was known as the "Empire Builder". Although now operating on a slightly different route, the Empire Builder remains running today as the busiest long-distance train on the Amtrak system. Departing Chicago as the combined Train 7/27/807, the Empire Builder travels on the Canadian Pacific Railway via Milwaukee, WI to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. She then continues on the BNSF Railway (Great Northern’s modern form) as Train 7/27, passes through the northern plains and the beautiful Glacier National Park in Montana. The train is split into two at Spokane, WA where Train 7 continues on towards her final destination, Seattle’s King Street Station and Train 27 heads south to reach her destination, Union Station in Portland, OR.

The Amtrak Empire Builder

The Empire Builder I was severely delayed and I missed the scenes of Glacier National Park. However I did not consider myself missing out on much. In return I got to experience the beautiful Washington State including the 7.8 mile Cascade Tunnel.

Toronto Streetcar

2011-10-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Toronto Streetcar system, now operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, is one of the very few operational streetcar systems in North America. The system plays a vital role in public transportation in the downtown core of the 6th largest city in North America.

Today's TTC streetcar, built by UTDC (now Bombardier)

Streetcar map as of 2005

The electric streetcars first started running in the city on 15 August 1892 on the Toronto Railway Company. To prevent the mainline railroads, namely the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Grand Trunk Railway (later became the Canadian National Railways), from running trains on city streets, the streetcar uses a track gage of 4 feet 10 7/8 inches instead of the standard railroad track gage of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches. In 1921, after the formation of the Transit Commission, the TTC took over the operations of the streetcar and became the official transit authority of the city of Toronto.

Streetcars at Queen and Bay in 1923

San Francisco's soon to be TTC PCC

The TTC once has operated the largest fleet of PCC streetcars in North America. This fact is being honored by the Market Street Railway in San Francisco, California where a PCC car is currently being restored and painted into the TTC color scheme. The system was once planned to be expanded under Mayor David Miller’s Transit City plan but later was cancelled by the current mayor Rob Ford. With Rob Ford’s unfathomed love for private automobiles and privatization of public services, the streetcar along with all her heritage is under threat. With his vision of Toronto being the largest car park in the world, one could only hope that by the end of Ford’s term public transit would remain in the City of Toronto, home to almost 3 million Canadians.

Lake Shore Limited

2011-09-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Lake Shore Limited is an Amtrak passenger train that traverses what is dubbed America’s third coastline. From Chicago to Albany-Rensselaer through Elkhart, Toledo, Cleveland, and Buffalo, the train travels along the south shore of Lake Michigan, the Mohawk River, Lake Erie, and the Erie Canal. The two halves of the train then part ways, with one heading to Boston, Massachusetts and the other to Capital of the World, New York City.

Lake Shore Ltd preparing for her evening departure in Chicago

Unfortunately the Lake Shore Limited travels at night in most of Indiana and Ohio (it is still nice relaxing train trip though). The entire journey takes 19 hours from Chicago to New York and 15 hours to Boston. Onboard amenities include café and dining cars. Due to the height restrictions on the Northeast Corridor, the Lake Shore Limited uses entirely single level passenger cars with Amfleet II and/or Horizon coaches and Viewliner sleeping cars.

Lake Shore Ltd pulling into Albany-Rensselaer Station (taken on my trip in 2008)

Comfy coach seats on board the Lake Shore Ltd (typical of long distance trains)

California Zephyr

2011-09-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

The California Zephyr, the only surviving Zephyr, no longer operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and Western Pacific Railroad, nor does it take its original route, is the most scenic train ride on Amtrak. Operating along a hybrid of the routes of original California Zephyr and City of San Francisco co-hosted by the Union Pacific Railroad and the BNSF Railway this train carries hundreds of awing passengers through the Rockies, Colorado River Valley, and the Sierra Nevada between Chicago, Illinois and Emeryville, California every day. Although no longer served by the Zephyrettes, the California Zephyr is still one of the most enjoyable train rides I have been on.

The California Zephyr

Hope you like the pictures posted of this magnificent train trip and many thanks to fellow Zephyr passenger, the lovely Susi, for taking most of these pictures (I decided to do the selfish thing and talked to people in the lounge car and stared outside the window). This train trip is so beautiful you will have to hate life to not love it.

Click on the picture above for more from Susi!

Click on the picture above for even more!

Caltrain

2011-09-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

In 1863, a railroad named San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, the first railroad in California was built on the Peninsula. It later became part of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Not many trains run on this line today but it still carries thousands of commuters up and down the Bay Area. These trains are known as the Caltrain, governed by the Joint Powers Board and currently operated by Amtrak.

Caltrain San Francisco Terminal

The Caltrain started operations by its current name in 1987, 10 years after the beginning of Caltrans subsidised commuter train service provided by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Caltrain runs all-day service 7 days a week with reduced frequency on weekends. With a top speed of 79 mph, the Caltrain takes an hour and half to run from end to end (up to 32 stops) where as the limited stop trains dubbed the Baby Bullet takes just under an hour (4 or 5 stops).

Equipment used on the Caltrain include several variants of rebuilt EMD F40PH-2 locomotives, MPI MP36PH-3C locomotives, gallery type bi-level coaches, and Bombardier BiLevel Coaches (coaches first designed for the Government of Ontario Transit). Proof-of-payment system is used on the Caltrain and bicycle racks are provided on board of trains.

Caltrain with newer equipment; click here and here for interior

The current San Francisco Station sits just outside of downtown at 4th Street and King Street. Electrification and a downtown extension are scheduled to begin work in 2012. The Caltrain will eventually terminate at the intermodal transit terminal currently under construction which is also the potential future High Speed Rail terminal, the Transbay Transit Center.

Amtrak California Capitol Corridor

2011-09-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

The Capitol Corridor is one of the busiest intercity trains operating today in America. It connects California’s current capitol, Sacramento (and as far east as Auburn on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada) and intermediate cities and counties with its predecessor, San Jose.

Amtrak California on the UP mainline at Jack London Square in Oakland, CA

Under Amtrak California, the Capitol Corridor is entirely funded by the California Department of Transportation. As riders may notice, the numbers on motive power and rolling stock used on the Capitol Corridor have the prefix CDTX, indicating that they are indeed owned by CDOT. The equipment mostly consist of EMD F59PHI diesel-electric locomotives built in London, Ontario and stainless bi-level coaches slightly different from the Superliners dubbed as California Cars.

Enjoy the pictures I've taken during my trip of the Amtrak California and find out more about the Capitol Corridor here.

Bay Area Rapid Transit

2011-09-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Bay Area Rapid Transit, BART, is a heavy-rail rapid transit system that connects San Francisco with cities and their suburbs east of the San Francisco Bay (via the Transbay Tube). The system is first opened in 1974 and currently covers 104 revenue miles of tracks. Unlike most rail systems in North America, the BART uses the Indian gauge of 5 ft 6 in.

Train approaching MacArthur Station in Oakland

Contactless smart cards used for electronic fare payment called Clipper are accepted on BART together with 6 other transit agencies in the Bay Area. In 2004, BART became the first subway in the United States to enable cellular service from all major carriers across the system. Today, BART also provides Wi-Fi internet access in downtown stations in San Francisco and the Transbay Tube.

Trains used in the BART system are electric multiple units 4 to 10 cars in length. They draw electricity from an electrified third rail and reach a top speed of 80 mph in service. BART operates 5 lines with timed transfer points between lines. It is currently undergoing expansion and will eventually reach as far as San Jose.

Muni Metro

2011-08-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Muni Metro the Light Rail Transit system of San Francisco, California operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway. Its first 5 lines opened in 1980, after the Market Street Subway, a double deck subway tunnel for LRT and BART (coming up next week) was complete. Unlike some of the other LRT systems in North America, the Muni Metro was converted from surviving streetcar lines. A 6th line on Third Street has been open since 2007 yet the Muni is still undergoing expansion with the Central Subway expected to be complete in 2016. With a daily ridership of over 150,000, the Muni Metro is the second busiest LRT system in America.

The current Light Rail Vehicles used by the Muni Metro are built by Italian engineering firm Breda. The San Francisco Municipal Railway has a total of 151 such LRVs in its fleet. The Muni Metro uses a standard gauge of 4 ft. 8.5 in.

F Market & Wharves Streetcar

2011-08-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

The F Market & Wharves Line is one of the light rail transit lines in San Francisco, California. While it is operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (the Muni), the F Line is supported by the non-profit organisation Market Street Railway. Unlike the other Muni Metro lines, the F Line exclusively uses heritage streetcars (built between the 1920s and 1950s) in regular service.

Route map of the current F Market & Wharves Line

The F line was first restored on Market Street in 1995 and was later extended along the Embarcadero to Fishermen’s Wharf in 2000. Most of the fleet are PCC cars from San Francisco’s own Muni, South-eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), and New Jersey Transit (NJT). Each car is painted differently to honour all the transit authorities in North America who have operated the PCC cars. There are also vintage streetcars operating on the F Line which are bought from Europe, Australia, and Japan.

I strongly recommend you to browse through the website and blog of the Market Street Railway for news and detailed information on their fleet of streetcars. Donations can also be made through the website (you may also support the Market Street Railway through other means). When you have a chance, visit the San Francisco Railway Museum and Gift Shop located near the Ferry Building at the south end of ferry plaza, just off of the Embarcadero.

San Francisco Cable Car

2011-08-11T21:00:00.001-07:00

I'm back from my trip and it's time for show and tell! Let's start with the San Francisco cable car.

The cable car (for the purpose of this blog), first introduced in the 1800s, is a rail car that is hauled by an endless, continuous running cable between the rails. It is known for its hill climb ability. The rail car does not depend on wheel-rail adhesion on steep grades and therefore performance is not affected by rail conditions (i.e. rain, snow). However the major attraction for most cities (especially on flatlands) was the fact that they replaced horse drawn cars which was deemed cruel and inefficient at the time.

For such system in San Francisco, a grip from the rail car is used to control the speed of the cable car by applying and releasing pressure to the cable, moving at a constant speed of 9.5 mph. The Clay Street Hill Railroad, opened in 1873 in San Francisco, California, is the first cable car railway in the world of its kind. The grip is controlled by a gripman of considerable strength and skill on board of the car. The San Francisco cable car is also the last permanently operating traditional cable car system in the world.

There are currently 3 operation lines in the San Francisco cable car system. They cost $5 per single ride (2011 price). If you ever have a chance to visit the beautiful city of San Francisco, visit the cable car museum (also the power house and car barn) at Washington Street and Mason Street where you’ll learn a lot more about the history and mechanics of the San Francisco cable car.

In case you thought I forgot about this blog...

2011-08-05T21:49:00.003-07:00

I was busy doing this last night and this morning. The 6 hr delay of the Empire Builder was a blessing in disguise.

Again this is just a teaser, full albumes are coming up in the next few weeks.

For those of you who do not ride the train...

2011-07-29T06:31:00.002-07:00

Here is a taste of what you have been missing out... Big time.

The California Zephyr had been an amazing ride and I had met many amazing people (and engineers) along the way.

Posted on the Northlander en route to North Bay, ON.

I'll be back in a couple weeks and here's what I'm up to

2011-07-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

Dear blog readers,

For the next two weeks, I will be travelling the rails! Below is the final rail itinerary and I think it will be an awesome trip! I'll try to keep you updated on things but we are taking a hiatus for the next two weeks on the more formal stuff I write about here.

Click on image to enlarge

British Rail Class 55

2011-07-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

The British Rail Class 55 is a class of 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by English Electric in the 1960s. It is better known as the Deltic, a name derived from its opposed-piston Napier Deltic engine which has a cylinder arrangement resembling an inverted Delta.

Cylinder arrangement of the Napier Deltic engine

The Napier Deltic engine was originally developed for the Royal Navy in the 1940s. Due to the fact that opposed-piston engines did not have any cylinder heads and hence were smaller and lighter weight than conventional engines, they were the engine of choice for British motor torpedo boats during the Second World War.

The Class 55 has not one, but two 18-cylinder Deltic engines, producing a total of 2,460 hp. Twenty-two of the units were produced; all of which served on the East Coast Main Line hauling express trains at 100 mph between London King’s Cross, Leeds, and Edinburgh until the introduction of the InterCity 125 in 1978. The Deltics saw the end of their service in 1981.

Six Deltics have been preserved today. One of them remains mainline registered (55022) and is seen in excursion runs (video below: 55022 in action).

JR Kyushu Series 885

2011-07-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

The Series 885 is an AC electric multiple unit built by Hitachi for the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) of Japan. It is a member of the modular Hitachi A-Train family which export trains have been derived from including the 140 mph British Rail Class 395 Javelin.

Side view of the nose of Series 885

Interior of Series 885 with real hardwood floor

The Series 885 is used as Limited Express trains on Japan's existing railway network and hence is narrow gauge (3 1/2 ft.). To negotiate tight curves at speeds higher than regular trains, the Series 885 is fitted with active-tilting mechanisms. Eleven 6-car trainsets (3M3T, i.e. 3 motor cars and 3 trailers) of the Series 885 have been built since 2000 and are used on the Kamome (Seagull) and Sonic services. This EMU has a combined output of 3,060 hp and a top revenue speed of 80 mph.

Enjoy this short video of the Series 885 tilt on curves.

Tilt-shift with train pictures

2011-06-30T21:00:00.003-07:00

This week I'd just like to show a few pictures I played with in Photoshop to mimic the effect of tilt-shift photography. The theories and details of tilt-shift is still quite beyond me at this time, therefore I'll only link you to its Wikipedia page. But in short, tilt-shift makes images of real life objects look like miniatures (which I think is really, really cool). Below are a few pictures I've taken between 2005 and 2008 which I have edited to show the tilt-shift effect, have a look just for kicks. Happy Canada Day.

If you are interested in trying this out yourself, here is a link to the online tutorial I've used.

GE C38AChe

2011-06-23T21:00:00.001-07:00

The C38AChe, designated as the NJ2 by the Chinese National Railways, is a diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric in Erie, PA for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It is designed to maintain power in a high altitude environment where there is a lack of oxygen, which is vital for combustion to occur in an internal combustion engine.

The C38AChe has a full car body design with cab on only one end (European and Asian locomotives most often have 2 cabs on either end). The prime mover of the C38AChe a 16 cylinder 7FDL also found in the Dash 9 and Genesis locomotives. However, unlike the domestic GE locomotives, the C38AChe is equipped with 3 axle trucks manufactured by the United Group of Australia instead of GE’s own trucks. The locomotive produces 4,400 hp at sea-level and 3,620 hp at 16,600 ft. above sea-level. It has a maximum starting tractive effort of 120,000 lbf and a top speed of 75 mph.

Keisei New AE Series

2011-06-16T21:00:00.007-07:00

The new AE Series (to distinguish from the original AE Series from 1972) is an express EMU operated by the Keisei Electric Railway of Greater Tokyo Area (pop. 34.6 million). It is the designated equipment for the new Skyliner Service on the newly opened 32-mile Narita Sky Access Line in July 2010. The Skyliner offers travellers a third choice in railway connection between Central Tokyo and Narita International Airport aside from the existing Keisei Cityliner on the local line and JR Narita Express. Unlike the JR lines, the Narita Sky Access Line uses the standard 4 ft 8.5 in instead of the 3.5 ft gauge.

The exterior of the new AE Series is designed by Japanese fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto; the musical horn (not uncommon for Japanese express trains) and announcement chime were done by famous Japanese keyboardist Minoru Mikaiya. Six of the eight cars, all equipped with bolsterless bogies, in a AE Series consist are powered by twenty-four 235 hp three-phase AC traction motors with current drawn from the 1.5 kV DC overhead wires using 4 single-arm pantographs mounted on every other car. The top speed of the Skyliner service is 99 mph which makes it one of the fastest non high-speed lines in Japan.

Check out this following film for the AE's musical horn.

TGV Postal

2011-06-09T21:00:00.001-07:00

The TGV postal are specially built push-pull high-speed trains for La Poste of France between 1978 and 1986 by GEC-Alsthom. They are based on the first generation production TGV-PSE and have mechanically identical power cars. Like the other Alstom high-speed trains, the TGV postal are articulated trains with Jacobs bogies between non-powered carriages. The total power output of the trainset is 6,800 kW (9,100 hp) and it is scheduled to travel at a maximum speed of 270 km/h (168 mph).

Five half-sets (2 full trainsets of 2 power cars with 8 carriages and a spare half-set) were originally built with two more half-sets converted from TGV-PSE No. 38. Currently the TGV postal run 6 round trips a day.

GE AC6000CW

2011-06-02T21:00:00.019-07:00

The AC6000CW is a diesel electric locomotive built by GE Transportation in the 1990s to compete with Electro Motive in the 6,000 horsepower range. The locomotive is essentially an elongated AC4400CW (to 76 ft.) to accommodate a larger radiator in order to cool its 6,250 hp (4,660 kW) engine.

The visibly larger radiator of the AC6000CW

To achieve 6,250 hp, the existing 7FDL engine was deemed insufficient and a new one had to be built. This resulted in the form of the 7HDL, co-developed by GE and German firm Deutz Power Systems. However, similar to the story of the EMD 265 engine for the SD90MAC, the 7HDL was not ready to be delivered with the AC6000 and the 4,390 hp 7FDL was fitted to the units (UP designated them AC4460CW) with the option of swapping in the 7HDL once the engine was ready.

Today AC6000CW and AC4460CW happily coexist although some 6000s are being converted to 4460s. GE is also performing engine upgrade on some AC6000CWs with the 6,000 hp 16 cylinder Evolution Series, however, since the electrical components of the locomotives remain the same, these units are not re-designated as ES60AC. A total of 311 AC6000s were produced (including the 4,390 hp units) for Australia’s BHP Billiton, CSX Transportation, and the Union Pacific Railroad.

Click here for a video on YouTube of the record setting BHP Billiton iron ore train running at 24,000 ft. with 8 distributed AC6000CWs (that's all the AC6000s they have!). The YouTube user had requested embedding to be disabled therefore only the link could be provided here.

Here's another interesting video of a passionate man filming a train pulled by the AC6000.

Bombardier ALP-45DP

2011-05-26T21:00:00.003-07:00

The ALP-45DP, as the name suggests, is a dual power (electro-diesel) 4-axle locomotive designed and built by Bombardier Transportation in Germany. It is derived from the earlier electric ALP-46, which is ultimately based on the Deutsche Bahn Class 101.

ALP-45DP being unveiled at InnoTrans 2010

Pantograph end; this display unit has a combined NJT/AMT colour scheme

Unlike the typical diesel-electric locomotives in North America, the ALP-45DP use two Caterpillar 3512C HD high-speed 4-stroke V12 diesel engines which rev up to 1,800 rpm (North American units use medium-speed diesel engines and typically rev up to 900 rpm). These engines are each rated at a maximum of 2,100 hp or 1,566 kW. In electric mode, the maximum rated output of the ALP-45DP is 5,900 hp or 4,400 kW. Also different from other European locomotives, the ALP-45DP has only one cab. It is also only fitted with one pantograph at opposite of the cab end. The top speed of this locomotive is 125 mph (201 km/h) in electric mode and 100 mph (161 km/h) in diesel mode.

Control Stand

The Cat engine

Bogie (Truck)

New Jersey Transit and Montreal's Agence métropolitaine de transport currently have 26 and 20 units on order respectively with 63 options for the NJT and 10 options for AMT. The first ALP-45DP arrived in North America on 11 March 2011 at Port Newark. It has since been sent to the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, CO for testing.

EMD FT

2011-05-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

The FT, a freight locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1939 and 1945, is the first model in the famous and hugely successful F-unit. With its streamlined, beautiful bulldog nose design and highly reliable service, the F-unit soon became the standard equipment on North American railroads and the icon of North American railroading.

General Motors FT demonstrator unit

The FT was designed to consist of a cab-equipped A unit permanently coupled with a cab-less booster B unit. The two units together have 8 axles in total and produce 2,700 hp (2 MW). An option of semi-permanently coupled A-B-A sets was also available. Multiple sets of the FT can work together and be control from one cab using multiple-unit cables and many railroads have used the FT back to back in an A-B-B-A formation.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's FT in A-B-B-A formation

Cab of the EMD FT

Some of the later F-units have steam generators added and used to haul passenger trains including the famous transcontinental passenger trains, The Canadian and the Super Continental.

Bombardier BiLevel Coaches

2011-05-05T21:00:00.003-07:00

The bilevel coaches and cab cars were originally built by Hawker-Siddeley in Thunder Bay, Ontario first entered service in 1976. They were designed for the Government of Ontario Transit, now Canada’s largest passenger rail carrier, by both miles of track owned and ridership. The bilevel coaches are easily identifiable by their tapered ends. There are a total of 7 series of the bilevel coaches built to date. Series 1 through 5 were built by Hawker-Siddeley and UTDC with riveted alumni body on steel frame, while the Bombardier Series 6 and 7 featured welded alumni body.

GO Train on the Lake Shore West Line in Sunnyside, Toronto

GO Train at Exhibition Station on the Lake Shore West Line

Soon after its introduction, the bilevel car became the standard equipment for many commuter railroads across North America. Today, 13 commuter railroads in 7 States and 3 Provinces operate a total of 1,038 bilevel coaches and cab cars, of which GO Transit owns 490. The bilevel coaches seat between 136 and 162 depending on configuration and are designed to carry up to 360 passengers per car. They each have a washroom on board and some of the newer cars are also equipped with AC outlets.

Interior of the GO Transit BiLevel Coach

Eastbound GO Train accelerates out of Whitby Station on the Lake Shore East Line

China Railways HXD2

2011-04-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

The China Railways HXD2 family locomotives are mainline electric freight locomotives designed by Alstom of France based on the Prima line of locomotives. Three variants of this type of locomotives (A, B, and C) have been built with an order of 810 units in total from the Chinese Ministry of Railways.

The 10 MW 6-axle HXD2A

All of the HXD2 locomotives have AC propulsion with regenerative braking systems and all have an axle load of only 25 tonnes (55,100 lbm). The A variant is an 8-axle locomotive with two 4-axle sections permanently coupled together, the B and C variants are 6-axle single section twin-cab units. The output/max tractive effort ratings of the HXD2A, B, and C are 10 MW (13,400 hp)/760 kN (170,900 lbf), 9.6 MW (12,900 hp)/584 kN (131,300 lbf), and 7.2 MW (9,700 hp)/570 kN (128,100 lbf) respectively. 12 HXD2A and 100 HXD2B have been built in France by Alstom and the rest of the HXD2 locomotives are built in China under license by CNR Datong locomotive works.

Film of distributed HXD2As hauling a coal train

The HXD2 locomotives are primarily used in coal train services and have a design top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).

China Railways CRH380A

2011-04-21T21:00:00.001-07:00

The CRH380A is a very high-speed EMU designed by China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock based on the reverse engineering of current import high speed trains. It is the fruit of the continuation of the CRH2 (Chinese manufactured Kawasaki E2-1000 EMUs under license) programme and looks distinctively different from the E2, unlike the earlier variants of the CRH2.

More powerful traction motors and higher performance bogies are equipped on the CRH380A. As the name suggests, the design maximum speed in service of the CRH380 series trains is 380 km/h or 236 mph. The EMU comes in two flavours, 8-car 6M2T CRH380A and 16-car 14M2T CRH380AL. Only the end cars of the EMUs are not powered and they have a total power output of 9.6 MW (12,900 hp) and 20.44 MW (27,400 hp) respectively. Like all modern electric trains, regenerative breaking system is equipped on the CRH380A along with electronically control pneumatic breaking.

On 26 November 2010, an unmodified trainset, the CRH380A-6041L (16-car set, which has better power to weight ratio than the 8-car sets), reached a top speed of 486.1 km/h (302 mph) during testing between Zaozhuang and Bengbu on the yet to be opened Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. The CRH380A have been in revenue service on other railway lines since 30 September 2010.

Amtrak Cities Sprinter

2011-04-14T21:00:00.002-07:00

The Amtrak Cities Sprinter ACS-64 is the upcoming 4-axle motive power for the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor. Seventy of these locomotives are on order from Siemens Mobility and they are to be assembled domestically in the United States. The ACS-64 will replace all electric locomotives currently serving the Northeast, namely the ASEA/ElectroMotive AEM-7 (5,800 hp DC and 6,700 hp AC versions) and the Bombardier/Alstom 8,000 hp high horsepower HHP-8.

Vectron on display at the InnoTrans, more images here

The ACS-64 belongs to the new Vectron family of locomotives developed by Siemens Mobility. Vectron is the successor to the tried-and-true EuroSprinter series (See ES64U4). They are designed to be modular and easily re-configurable through pre-designed mounting points to accommodate different service needs. As the name of the ACS-64 suggests, the locomotive packs a total power output of 6,400 kW or 8,600 hp at wheel rim. Like all modern electric locomotives, the ACS-64 is equipped with AC traction motors and regenerative breaking system.

Artist rendering of the ACS-64

These locomotives are scheduled to begin service in 2013 with a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h) on the Northeast Corridor and 110 mph (177 km/h) on the Keystone Corridor. The maximum design speed of the ACS-64 is 135 mph (217 km/h).

TRA Hitachi TEMU1000

2011-04-07T21:00:00.001-07:00

The Hitachi TEMU1000 is operated by the Taiwan Railway Administration as the Taroko Express in Eastern Taiwan. It is Taiwan’s first tilting EMU, with a design based on the Series 885 operated by JR Kyūshū. The TEMU1000 has been in service on Taiwan’s existing narrow gauge (1,067 mm or 3.5 ft.) railway network since 2007.

The TEMU1000 utilises active-tilting technology. It tilts up to 5 degrees and can negotiate curves 25 km/h (16 mph) faster than existing trains in Taiwan without compromising passenger comfort. The body of the TEMU1000 is constructed with aluminum alloy and each car only weighs around 38 tonnes (42 short tons, based on the Series 885).

Standard consist of the TEMU1000 is 4M4T (4 motor cars and 4 trailer cars, arranged in T-M-T-M-M-T-M-T, with two pantographs mounted on top of cars 3 and 6) with a maximum power output of 3,040 kW (4,075 hp). The train is designed to have a maximum speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) but only reaches 130 km/h (81 mph) in scheduled service. Starting acceleration of the TEMU1000 is 2.2 km/h/s or 1.37 mph/s and it has an average acceleration of 2.38 km/h/s or 1.48 mph/s up to its maximum designed speed. This means that it only takes the TEMU1000 63 seconds accelerate from 0 to 150 km/h or 93 mph.

One morning in Kingston

2011-03-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a film of the Acela Express zooming by Kingston, Rhode Island on the Northeast Corridor, this is not it; however, in this little film below, you will be seeing the some of the fastest trains of Canada.

I filmed these trains with my cellular phone (and bare hands, no tripod, sorry...) in the morning of 7 March 2011 while I was waiting for my train to Toronto in the beautiful city of Kingston, Ontario, former capital of the Province of Canada. Kingston Station is situated at mile 176.1 on the Kingston Subdivision of the Canadian National Railway, the fastest stretch of railroad on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Kingston Subdivision runs a little over 300 miles along St Lawrence River and Lake Ontario between Dorval in Montreal and the east end of the Union Station Rail Corridor in Toronto. The entire subdivision has at least two mainline tracks and permissible speeds of up to 70 mph for freight trains and 100 mph for passenger trains (125 mph for the Turbo Trains in the good old days). In this video, you will see a manifest train passing through the station, a joint Ottawa/Montreal train with P42DC locomotives, LRC, and Renaissance cars making a stop from Toronto, and the arrival of my ride from Montreal to Toronto.

So sit back, crank up the volume, and enjoy this little video.

JR East Kiha E200

2011-03-24T21:00:00.001-07:00

The Kiha E200 a hybrid diesel-electric railcar operated by the East Japan Railway Company since 2007 on its existing narrow gauge (1067 mm or 3 and a half feet) railway network. It is based on the NE Train, an experimental hybrid railcar, developed by Tōkyū Car Corp. Lithium-ion batteries are fitted to the railcar to store electricity generated by regenerative braking and is used to start the railcar from standstill.

A total of 3 Kiha E200 are built and can be used in multiple-unit operation. The output of a single railcar is 331 kW (444 hp) and has a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph).

ONR Polar Bear Express

2011-03-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Polar Bear Express is a scheduled 5 times weekly passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway. It connects Cochrane with the northern town of Moosonee. Although named the Polar Bear Express, there are rarely any polar bears in Moosonee or anywhere else along the train route. The Polar Bear Express is one of the only ways to access the outside from Moosonee since it does not have road access.

As a result, the train not only carries passengers, it also carries canoes, ATVs, or cars passengers bring along. The Polar Bear Express usually carries a dining car and a full length dome car; there are amenities provided on board for children and families like the play area. In summertime, the ONR runs an additional train on Sundays. The Polar Bear Express leaves Cochrane in the morning and returns in the evening.

Dining car on the Polar Bear Express

Play area on the Polar Bear Express

ONR Northlander

2011-03-10T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Northlander is the namesake passenger train of the Ontario Northland Railway. It operates Sundays to Fridays between Toronto Union Station and Cochrane. The Northlander connects to the GO, Via Rail, Amtrak services at Toronto, and the ONR Polar Bear Express at Cochrane.

ONR passenger station in Cochrane, Ontario

The Northlander travels on the Canadian National Railway between Toronto and North Bay then continues northwards onto ONR’s own tracks. The northbound Northlander departs Union Station at 08:40 and arrives in Cochrane at 19:25; southbound train departs Cochrane at 08:00 and arrives in Toronto at 19:15. The Ontario Northland Railway provides periodic train status update online throughout the day.

Northlander blowing snow in Muskoka

The Hayabusa

2011-03-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Hayabusa (peregrine falcon in Japanese) is the newest addition of train services on East Japan Railway Company’s Tōhoku Shinkansen (Tōkyō and Shin-Aomori). It is the new flagship limited-stop express train to enter service on 5 March 2011 initially running 3 trips daily in each direction.

The fastest of Hayabusa, No. 1, 3, and 6, calling only at 3 intermediate stations, take 3 hour and 10 minutes to complete the 675 km (419 miles) Tōkyō-Aomori trip, 10 minutes faster than the current flagship, the Hayate (violent wind in Japanese). The fastest segment of the Hayabusa’s entire journey is between Utsunomiya and Morioka with a top speed of 300 km/h (187 mph). This speed will increase to 320 km/h (199 mph) in 2013.

Hayabusa's debut television advert

The first train to serve on the Hayabusa service is the Series E5 built by Kawasaki and Hitachi. It is the first train in Japan to feature a new luxurious class accommodation dubbed the Gran Class.

Evolution of railway travel in Northeast Japan

This must be the prettiest (or ugliest) train in the world

The E5 has previously been mentioned by Train of the Week and the post is linked here. More technical details including new technologies used on the E5, official images and films of the E5 can be found on the Hayabusa’s homepage here.

Bombardier Talent

2011-02-24T21:00:00.001-08:00

The Talent, short for Talbot Leichter Nahverkehrs Triebwagen, is a family of multiple units for mainline railway use. It was developed by Waggonfabrik Talbot of Germany and designed by award winning industrial designer Alexander Neumeister shortly right shortly before the company was taken over by engineering giant Bombardier Transportation. The Talent comes in flavours of 2, 3, or 4 car articulated tilting or non-tilting trainsets. They can either be diesel or electric, high floor or low floor. Each Talent trainset is connected by Jacobs bogies shared between the carriages; and like other multiple units, multiple Talents can be coupled together to form longer trains to suit different service needs. This stylish little train can go up to 140 km/h (87 mph) and is widely used in Europe since it first entered service in 1996.

NSB type 93 (Norwegian State Railways)

Ottawa O-Train crossing Rideau River

In 2001, 5 sets have been picked up by OC Transpo in Ottawa, Ontario for the O-Train service. The Talent is operated in Ottawa under exemption from Transport Canada for one-person train operation and is not certified for concurrent shared-track operations with freight trains in North America.

General Electric ES59ACi

2011-02-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

The ES59ACi is the most powerful to date in the Evolution Series of locomotives from General Electric. Known as the HXN5, she is built for export to the Chinese Ministry of Railways for heavy haul mainline applications on non-electrified railway lines. Each unit is equipped with a 16 cylinder (vs. 12 for domestic and other export models) GEVO diesel engine as the prime mover and it produces 6,250 horsepower (4,660 kW). Also unlike the domestic models that used either the GE Hi-Ad (high adhesion) or self-steering bogies, the ES49ACi featured 3-axle bogies similar to the ones developed by United Goninan of Australia used by the GE C38AChe, another locomotive GE sold to China.

Although equipping with massive power, the ES59 is a lightweight. At 150 metric tonnes (vs. 188 tonnes for the ES44AC), she is only 30 tonnes heavier than the P42DC. With an axle load of 25 tonnes, the ES59 is able to provide a maximum starting tractive effort of 620 kN (vs. 881 kN for the ES44AC) and a maximum of continuous tractive effort of 560 kN (vs. 738 kN for the ES44AC).

ES59ACi being tested in Erie, PA

The Chinese Ministry of Railways ordered a total of 300 units of the ES59 and 250 of the 300 units were to be built in China.

ElectroMotive F59PH

2011-02-10T21:00:00.001-08:00

Built between 1988 and 1994, the ElectroMotive F59PH is probably one of the locomotives GTA transit riders are the most familiar with. The humble looking, 4-axle machines with their big, easily recognisable green logo in the front have taken tens of millions of riders every year in and out of the economic core of our nation, Downtown Toronto.

The F59PH was the first of the F59 series of passenger locomotives and was initially only purchased by two commuter railroads, the GO Transit of Toronto, Ontario, and the Metrolink of Los Angeles, California. Eighty-three units were produced in total, 49 for the GO Transit, all of which built at General Motors Diesel’s London, Ontario plant.

The F59PH are powered by 12 cylinder EMD 710 prime movers which produce 3,000 hp (2,240 kW). She weighs a mere 118 short tons (107 metric tonnes or 105 Imperial tons) and has a top speed of 83 mph (133 km/h) when moving 10 bi-level cars. Starting from 2009, the F59PH are to gradually replaced by newer, more powerful MP40PH-3C locomotives. It is not however the end of life for the F59PH, as Metrolinx transfers ownership, she will serve on with other commuter railroads in the years to come.

The Toronto Rocket

2011-02-03T21:00:00.012-08:00

The Toronto Rocket are the new Bombardier AC propulsion subway cars purchased by the Toronto Transit Commission to replace the H-Series Hawker Siddeley cars manufactured between 1965 and 1990. The name Toronto Rocket came from the TTC Name the New Subway Train Contest conducted in 2006. The production name of the Rocket is T35A08 and it is based on the current T1 and the vastly successful Movia sets used by many transit authorities in Europe and Asia.

Example of a Movia set, the London Underground S Stock

Toronto Rocket at the TTC Wilson subway yard

Unlike anything Toronto has seen before, the Toronto Rocket are articulated trainsets that have full passenger access through the entire train (in fact, the Toronto Rockets brings many new features and offers TTC riders a taste of what some of the best subway systems in the world are like). This allows even passenger distribution in the trains and no longer will Torontonians have to squeeze into a single car when being rushed onto the subway. A computer generated animation run-through of the train can be found here.

The TR carriages are articulated and permanently coupled

The TTC purchased a total of 70 (39 initially and 31 later in 2010) sets and Toronto Rocket was scheduled to enter service in late 2009. This date was delayed to early 2011 due to the bankruptcy of Curtis Doors, the door component manufacture for Bombardier. The first train arrived at the TTC on 1 October 2010 and was unveiled publicly on 14 October at Downsview Station. The Toronto Rockets are expected to enter revenue service on the Yonge-University-Spadina Line in early 2011.

The Super Continental

2011-01-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Super Continental had her inauguration run on 24 April 1955 (same day the Canadian Pacific Railway launched The Canadian) as the new flagship transcontinental passenger train of the Canadian National Railways, replacing the Continental Limited. Like The Canadian, the Super Continental ran 2 sections out of Montreal (Train 1) and Toronto (Train 51), joining up in Capreol, ON as a single Train 1 to continue her westbound journey to Vancouver. In her 3,000-mile journey, she travelled through Sioux Lookout, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Jasper but only took 72 hours between Montreal and Vancouver, 70 hours between Toronto and Vancouver, with an average start-stop speed of 40 mph (64 km/h). Unlike The Canadian, the Super Continental did not feature dome cars until CN had acquired some from the Milwaukee Road in the 1960s.

Super Continental in the 1960s

Super Continental (left) at Washago, ON in 1967

In 1978, Via Rail Canada, a newly formed Crown Corporation, assumed responsibility for all former CN and CP passenger services. Decline in ridership had caused the Super Continental to be abolished in 1981. Service was later restored in 1985 with a truncated route between Vancouver and Winnipeg but it was rather brief. The train departed Winnipeg for Vancouver for the last time as the Super Continental on 14 January 1990. However, on the same day, The Canadian was rerouted from the Banff-Calgary-Regina-Winnipeg-Thunday Bay-Sudbury Canadian Pacific Railway onto the former Canadian National route of the Super Continental.

Super Continental a year before cancellation in Jasper, AB

Super Continental (The Canadian) and Washago today

Today the Super Continental lives on, but with the name of a more glamourous train (page on Via Rail). She now departs 3 times a week each direction from Vancouver and Toronto only and has a transit time of over 80 hours.

British Rail Advanced Passenger Train

2011-01-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) Project, divided into three phases, the experimental APT-E, prototype APT-P, and squadron fleet APT-S, was going to produce Britain’s own TGV but for existing rail infrastructure. However, due to on-going technical problems and the lack of funding and political willingness, the APT Project ended prematurely at the APT-P phase and the train never saw mass production.

Unlike conventional high-speed trains, the APT-E was a 4-car, articulated active tilting trainset powered by gas turbines (also see UAC Turbo). The train consisted of 2 powered control cars at the ends each equipped with five 330 hp (246 kW) gas turbines (4 of them for traction, 1 for auxiliary power supplies) and 2 non-powered trailers in the middle. Four articulated bogies are shared between the 4 carriages making the APT-E an entire unit. The APT-E first ran on 25 July 1972 and achieved a new British railway speed record of 152.3 mph (245 km/h) on 10 August 1975.

The APT-E, not the prettiest of high-speed trains

The APT-P sets are also known as British Rail Class 370 and the InterCity APT. Instead of using gas turbines, the Class 370 used conventional overhead electrification and was powered by 2 motor cars placed mid-train producing a total of 8,000 hp (6 MW). Interestingly there are no through passages in the mid-train motor cars and passengers cannot access one half of the train from the other. Three Class 370 trainsets were built and each consisted of 6 non-powered carriages on either side of the 2 mid-train motor cars. The APT-P was in service from 1980 to 1986 on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central. It had achieved a UK rail speed record of 162.2 mph (261 km/h) in December 1979, a record never broken by any other British-made high-speed trains (current UK speed record holder is the Class 373, a French TGV trainset operated by Eurostar).

What's left of the APT-P at Crewe

Driving trailer of the APT-P

Mid-train motor cars of the APT-P

The APT Project ended prematurely in 1986 with the withdrawal of the Class 370 from service. However the APT lived on in the forms of many other trains. The tilting technology developed from the APT was sold to Fiat (now Alstom) to improve the second generation of Pendolino tilting trains which were later sold globally (and in Britain, the Virgin Trains Class 390); the APT had also heavily influenced the designs of newer generations of British trains including the Class 91 used on the InterCity 225.

British Rail InterCity 225

2011-01-13T21:00:00.002-08:00

The InterCity 225 can be thought of as the much younger, electric, cousin of the diesel-electric InterCity 125. It is the spin-off of the failed Advanced Passenger Train project. Unlike the InterCity 125, which has a top revenue speed of 125 mph (201 km/h), the number 225 indicates her top design speed of 225 km/h (140 mph). In revenue service, due to the lack of in-cab signalling on the British Rail system (except for High Speed One), the top revenue speed of any train is restricted to 125 mph to guarantee stopping distance between two signals in case of emergency.

InterCity 225 at York Station in British Rail livery

InterCity 225 in GNER livery after Privatisation

Thirty-one sets of the InterCity 225 were manufactured between 1988 and 1991 (refurbished between 2001 and 2006). They consist of one BREL (British Rail Engineering Limited) Class 91 electric locomotive on one end producing 6,300 horsepower (4,700 kW), 9 intermediate Alstom Mk 4 carriages, and a BREL DVT (Driving Van Trailer, British version of the Amtrak cabbages) on the other end. Earlier British Rail rules prohibited trains that travel at more than 100 mph (161 km/h) to carry passengers in end-car. This rule was scrapped with the introduction of high-speed multiple units on Britain's railways, in the likes of the Coradia, Voyager, and Pendolino, which are designed to carry passengers in the entire trainset.

GNER InterCity 225 passing through Alexandra Palace at speed

The InterCity 225 are operated on the East Coast Main Line and a small portion of the West Coast Main Line between Glasgow and Carstairs. After the privatisation of British Rail, the InterCity 225 are owned by HSBC Rail, who now leases them to the government-owned train operator East Coast (National Express East Coast and GNER prior to East Coast).

The Flying Scotsman

2011-01-06T21:00:00.003-08:00

Born in 1862 as the Special Scotch Express, the Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train in the Great Britain. For more than 180 years this train has linked London King's Cross Station with destinations on the East Coast Main Line and Scotland.

Reproduction of 1960s British Rail poster from the NRM

Flying Scotsman in 1928 hauled by Class A1 locomotive

Departing daily at 10:00 at Great Northern Railway's London King's Cross and North British Railway's Edinburgh Waverly, the Special Scotch Express took only 10 and half hours in 1862 to complete the 393-mile (632 km) journey with only a half-hour lunch stop at York. This journey time was further improved in 1888 to 8 and half hours as a result of the Race to the North. In 1924, under the London and North Eastern Railway, the Special Scotch Express officially renamed the train Flying Scotsman, her unofficial name since the 1870s, the famous name it had been known since then.

The Flying Scotsman today is one among many 125-mph (201 km/h) high speed trains serving on the East Coast Main Line and is extended to Glasgow Central on Mondays to Saturdays. She is no longer the fastest train service between London and Scotland with additional calls at Peterborough, Darlington, and New Castle but her northbound departure time remains at 10:00 (this had been briefly changed to 10:30 in recent years). An East Coast operated InterCity 225 push-pull trainset nicknamed Mallard is usually used and her journey time is around 4 and half hours. The southbound train however had been revised to depart Glasgow Central at 11:50 and Edinburgh Waverly at 13:00.

Former Great North Eastern Railway's InterCity 225 trainset

LNER 4468 Mallard

2010-12-30T21:00:00.009-08:00

The Mallard, No. 4468 of the former London and North Eastern Railway of the Great Britain is a Class A4 streamlined Pacific (type of wheel arrangement, a.k.a. 4-6-2) steam locomotive built in 1938 by LNER Doncaster Works. The Class A4 locomotives were built to haul express passenger trains with speeds up to 100 mph (161 km/h) on the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The No. 4468, the Mallard, however, was chosen for a greater mission. On 3 July 1938 on the slight downward grade of Stoke Bank south of Grantham on the East Coast Main Line, with 6 coaches and a dynamometer car, the Mallard broke the speed record of steam trains and achieved a stunning 126 mph. Although the Mallard suffered from overheating and never made it to King's Cross for the press, her record held until today.

Plaque on both sides of the Mallard reads:

On 3rd July 1938 this locomotive attained

a world speed record for steam traction

of 126 miles per hour

Mallard on display at the National Railway Museum in York, England

There are 4 LNER Class A4 locomotives preserved in Great Britain with 3 of them in operating condition (unfortunately the Mallard was not one of them). The Mallard herself is on static display at the National Railway Museum in York, England. However, if you would like to visit sisters of the glorious Mallard, you need not to travel oversea. Two more A4 locomotives have been preserved and are on static display in North America. The No. 4496, Dwight D Eisenhower, is on display at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI; the No. 4489, Dominion of Canada, is on display at the Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant, QC.

2010 Year in Review

2010-12-23T21:00:00.006-08:00

Dear readers,

Here is a little picture compilation from trips I've taken on rails this year. Hope you have also had the chance to enjoy some train rides. If you have an online photo album that you like to share, please post the link in the comment section. Thank you for visiting Train of the Week. Happy holidays!

Amtrak NPCU

2010-12-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

The NPCU or Non-powered Control Units are control cars used by Amtrak that are modified from surplus EMD F40PH locomotives. A control car is a generic term for a non-powered railroad vehicle that can control operation of a train from the end opposite to the position of the locomotive. They can be used with diesel or electric motive power, allowing push-pull operation without the use of an additional locomotive. Control cars first appeared in the USA and France in 1960s. Trains operating with a locomotive at one end and a control car at the other do not require the locomotive to run around to the opposite end of the train when reversing direction.

In the United States, most control cars are modified from retired locomotives by removing tractive equipment and adding side baggage doors and have been used on several passenger railroads. The control cars are connected through the consist of the train by standard AAR 27-wire multiple unit jumper cables.

The NPCUs at Amtrak are also referred as cab-baggage cars of simply cabbage cars. They are typically used on short-haul intercity services outside of the Northeast Corridor.

Alstom AGV

2010-12-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

The AGV (Automotrice à grande vitesse) is a very high-speed electric multiple unit designed by Alstom of France that is to replace the TGV (push-pull trainset). Unlike conventional high speed EMUs, the AGV is articulated with the entire trainset (7 to 14 cars) rested on Jacobs bogies shared between each carriage. The articulated design enabled the AGV to be lighter than competitors from Siemens, Bombardier, and Kawasaki. According to Alstom, the AGV consumed 20% less energy than the TGV trainsets while achieves a higher revenue top speed of 360 km/h (224 mph). Each AGV trainset will have a total power output of 6 to 12 MW (8,000 to 16,000 hp).

AGV being tested in Italy

The bogie of the AGV was first introduced on the V150 test train that refreshed the world speed record of conventional trains to 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) in 2007. The prototype of the AGV was unveiled on 5 February 2008 by Alstom with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in attendance of the ceremony.

The launch customer of the AGV is Italian company Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, who is currently in the process of testing the trainset and completing European TSI certification for commercial use. Air France-KLM has also proposed to operate high speed rail service with Veolia using the AGV between Paris, Amsterdam, and London.

Voith Turbo Maxima

2010-12-02T21:00:00.001-08:00

The Maxima is a family of 6-axle diesel locomotives built by Voith Turbo Lokomotivtechnik GmbH & Co. KG. of Germany. Unlike the conventional diesel locomotives we often see in North America, the Voith Maxima family of locomotives use a hydraulic transmission to transmit power from its prime mover to wheels instead of an alternator and traction motors (you may wish to read more about diesel-hydraulic at the bottom of this post). Voith, being one of the well-known transmission manufactures in the world who had been supplying transmission to other locomotives manufactures in Germany, completely designed and built the first Maxima locomotive in just 500 days and presented it at the InnoTrans 2006 fair.

Voith Maxima 40CC at InnoTrans 2006

The Maxima locomotives come in two flavours, the 40CC with an Anglo Belgian 3,600 kW (4,800 hp) 16VDZC prime mover and the 30CC with a 2,750 kW (3,700 hp) 12VDZC prime mover from the same supplier. They both use the twin converter transmisson designed by Voith Turbo. Depending on configuration (freight or passenger), the Maxima locomotives weigh 126 to 135 metric tonnes and can reach a top speed of 120 to 160 km/h (75-100 mph). They provide a maximum starting tractive effort of 519 kN (116,700 lbf) and a maximum continuous tractive effort of 408 kN (91,700 lbf).

Maxima 30CC on the job

Electro Motive JT56ACe

2010-11-25T21:00:00.002-08:00

The JT56ACe is the first ever Electro-Motive (Electro-Motive Diesel is now owned by Progressive Rail Inc., a subsidiary of Caterpillar) locomotive exported to the People’s Republic of China. It is designated as HXN3 by the Chinese Ministry of Railway (HX are the initials of the word "Hé xié" which means harmony and N is the initial of the word "Neì rán", which means internal combustion; 3 is the designation of the manufacturer, CNR Dalian Locomotive Works). The JT56ACe is one of the two types of diesel-electric freight locomotives China has imported in the past few years, together with the General Electric ES59ACi which I will write about at a later date. The JT56ACe adopts a twin-cab design and does not resemble any EMDs we have seen in North America.

The JT56ACe uses the 16 cylinder EMD 16V265H (bore, or cylinder diameter, of 265 mm), a.k.a. the H-engine, a four stroke diesel engine, as its prime mover (remember the SD90MAC?). The 16V265H engine is US EPA Tier 2 certified and produces 6,250 horsepower (4.66 megawatts). The JT56ACe is propelled by 6 AC traction motors and has a designed maximum service speed of 120 km/h (75 mph); it weighs 150 metric tonnes (165 tons) and provides a maximum starting tractive effort of 620 kN (139,400 lbf) and a maximum continuous tractive effort of 598 kN (134,400 lbf). You may revise on what tractive effort means at the bottom of this post.

The Chinese characters on the ends and sides of the unit read "Hé Xié"

Mass production of the JT56ACe began in 2008 in Dalian, China and so far the Chinese Ministry of Railway ordered a total of 300 units.

Deutsche Bahn/Nederlandse Spoorwegen ICE 3

2010-11-18T21:00:00.001-08:00

The Deutsche Bahn Class 403 and Deutsche Bahn/Nederlandse Spoorwegen Class 406 are more commonly known as the InterCity Express (ICE) 3 and InterCity Express 3M, where the M stands for multi-system (i.e. different voltage and frequency used in the overhead catenary of different European countries). These trains were developed by Deutsche Bahn and several train manufactures including Siemens and Bombarider Transportation. Unlike earlier generations of the InterCity Express, the ICE 3 adopted a multiple unit design rather than the traditional push-pull like the TGV. Each 8-car half-set of the ICE 3 is equipped with 16 traction motors distributed throughout the consist.

DB (top) and NS (bottom) ICE 3

The ICE 3 began revenue service in 2000. Although it is certified for a top revenue speed of 330 km/h (205 mph), the track speed in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, where the trains operate in is only 300 km/h (186 mph). The only line where the ICE 3 is operated at 320 km/h (199 mph) is the LGV Est européenne, the newest French high-speed rail line connecting France with Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland. These international ICE 3 trains are operated by both DB and NS from a pool of ICE 3M trains. On 19 October 2010, Deutsche Bahn ran an ICE 3 from Frankfurt to London St. Pancras International via the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1, in preparation of opening direct services using the ICE 3 from the Netherlands and Germany to the Great Britain.

Here is a video of an ICE 3 putting on a nice little horn show at 300 m/h (186 mph).

The next generation of InterCity Express is currently under development by Siemen based on the Velaro platform, dubbed the Velaro D (D for Deutschland). It is designated as the Class 407 (also known as the new ICE 3) by DB.

Siemens Velaro D or new ICE 3

Siemens Velaro

2010-11-11T21:00:00.002-08:00

The Siemens Velaro is a platform of high speed EMUs developed based on the Deutsche Bahn ICE3. Although these trains look like the ICE3 from the outside, they do not have much in common. The Velaro is a sole Siemens product where the ICE3 project has other engineering firms involved including Bombardier Transportation. The majority of Velaro trains are used outside of Germany, with China being the largest buyer of these trains.

Deutsche Bahn ICE3

There are currently 5 variants of the Velaro with top revenue speeds ranging from 250 km/h to 380 km/h (155 mph to 236 mph). In chronological order, these are the 350 km/h Velaro E for Spain (or España in Spanish), designated by RENFE as the AVE S-103, 350km/h and 380 km/h Velaro C for China, designated by the MoR as the CRH3C/CRH380B, 250 km/h Velaro RUS for Russian Railways as the EVS/Sapsan, 320 km/h Velaro D for Deutsche Bahn as Class 407, and 320 km/h e320 for Eurostar. To date the European countries ordered a total of 59 sets of the Velaro and the Chinese ordered 260 sets.

Variants of the Siemens Velaro

Below are two short films from YouTube of the Velaro. This first one is of the CRH3C passing through a station at 350 km/h on the Wu-Guang HSR.

This second film is posted by Siemens promoting the Velaro in the USA.

Riding the Wu-Guang HSR

2010-11-04T21:00:00.001-07:00

First I'd like to apologise for my absence for the last two weeks. I did not leave any information on where I was or what I was doing because I wasn't sure if I would have a chance to do collect some rail-related information. I'm back now, and here's what I've got...

During my two-week visit in Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China, I have had the fortune to ride the entire Wuhan-Guangzhou High Speed Rail from Guangzhou South to Wuhan. It was also my first time to ride a conventional high-speed train that ran faster than 125 mph (201 km/h). I booked a second class coach seat on Train G1002, one of the few limited-stop express trains on the Wu-Guang HSR. As of the last timetable revision on 1 July 2010, trains on the Wu-Guang have been split up into 8-car half-sets and frequency have been doubled to every 11-15 minutes. Non-stop trains were replaced by trains with one intermediate stop at Changsha South, and the G1002 was one of them.

Guangzhou South Railway Station

There are two kinds of tickets used on Chinese HSR lines, the blue contactless smart card ticket and the legacy pink paper ticket seen on regular rail lines. I obtained my ticket from a ticket agent and it was a pink paper ticket. The ticket cost 490 Yuan, around $75 Canadian. Online booking is not available on the Chinese Railways, you must purchase them at a station or ticket agent and tickets are only allowed to be purchased 10 days in advance from departure date. Although the physical length of the Wu-Guang mainline is only 968 km (601 mi.), for ticketing purposes the distance is shown as 1,069 km (664 mi.), which is the length of the existing mix-running railway line between Wuhan and Guangzhou. Tickets are checked at the boarding gate (imagine the station gates at a metro station) at the stations prior to departure where the IC Card tickets are scanned and paper pickets are manually punched by station staff.

Waiting lounge of the station is above the track level

Although the Wu-Guang HSR has been open to revenue service since December 2009, most of the station infrastructure and connecting services are still under construction. Guangzhou South Station was about half complete as of October, with the metro connection to the city just opened, and a couple of convenience stores and one fast food restaurant setup in the station concourse. On the other end of the line, most of the ground level of Wuhan Station was still blocked off and the connecting metro to the city and other railway stations was still under construction. Not all of the planned stations en route were open either.

Train shed and platforms-tracks are elevated

Like other railway lines in China, the Wu-Guang HSR is owned by the Chinese Ministry of Railways. It is operated jointly by Guangzhou Railway Bureau and Wuhan Railway Bureau. The Guangzhou Bureau uses the CRH3C rolling stock (Siemens Velaro C) and the Wuhan Bureau uses CRH2C (derived from Kawasaki E2-1000). The G1002 is operated by the Guangzhou Bureau (G actually is the first letter of Chinese phonic Gao, the first character in the word Gao Su or High Speed).

As I mentioned above, the CRH3C is designed by Siemens. This was the model that made a record run of 394.3 km/h (245.0 mph) unmodified on the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway in June, 2008. It belongs to the Velaro family of high-speed EMUs based on the DB (Deutsche Bahn) ICE3 and looks almost identical to the ICE3. Three of the 80 sets ordered were assembled by Siemens in Germany and the rest were assembled by the stated-owned CNR Tangshan Railway Vehicle Co. Ltd. in Tangshan, Heibei Province. The Velaro C is widened to accommodate 5 second class seats in a row. The seats used in the Velaro C are however Japanese Shinkansen-style. They can be rotated to face the direction of travel. These seats are not very wide but there is plenty of legroom. There is a tray table on the back of each seat and a seat pocket. Power adapters and wi-fi are not available at the moment (at least not second class), and onboard entertainment consists of the train window if you are lucky enough to get a window seat and a railway-published magazine in the seat pocket. All high-speed trains are non-smoking and on either end of the carriages there are toilet facilities, large luggage compartments, and overhead information displays. At the very ends of the CRH3C, there are 6 panoramic sightseeing seats (2 rows of 3 seats) on each end (sold as special class seats) directly behind the control cabs separated by transparent glass walls. Only tickets for seats at the rear end are being sold at the moment. On all Wu-Guang trains, Car 1 faces Guangzhou and Car 8 or 16 faces Wuhan. There is a bistro section in one of the carriages in each train which I have not visited, food and drinks are also sold on trolleys. HSR passengers are entitled a small bottle of spring water free of charge at departure stations.

Second Class coach cabin of the CRH3C

Information display with speed (336 km/h at the time this photo was taken)

The G1002 left Guangzhou South at 09:00 and had a scheduled intermediate stop at Changsha South at 11:02 for 2 minutes. Acceleration of the train was rapid; it was doing well above 200 km/h (125 mph) in almost no time. There is quite some buffer in the schedules on the Wu-Guang and trains do not have to travel at their maximum revenue speed of 350 km/h (217 mph). The G1002 I was on travelled at around 335 km/h (208 mph) most of the time and hit 348 km/h (216 mph) for a few seconds between Changsha South and Wuhan. After 3 hours and 15 minutes, at 12:15, the train pulled into Wuhan Station a minute early, a distance of 968 km (601 mi.) north of Guangzhou South.

Final arrival at Wuhan Station

The ride on the Wu-Guang HSR was quite smooth and the cabin was relatively quiet, but it felt very different from my normal North American train rides. There were many tunnels in order to keep the line straight and the pressure in the cabin kept rapidly changing, and when the train was finally out of the tunnels the scenes just flew by before I could thoroughly enjoy and appreciate them. High speed trains sure are exciting, but on a trip for pure leisure, I think I still prefer the good ol' Via Rail and Amtrak.

While I'm still gone...

2010-10-28T21:00:00.003-07:00

Here are some photos from one of my trips in 2009... you may click on the slideshow to open the album in a new window/tab. Regular content will resume on next Friday. Thank you for visiting!

While I'm gone...

2010-10-21T21:00:00.010-07:00

Here are some photos from one of my trips back in 2008... you may click on the slideshow to open the album in a new window/tab. Regular content will resume on Friday 5 November. Thank you for visiting!

Taiwan High Speed Rail 700T

2010-10-14T21:00:00.001-07:00

The Series 700T is a high-speed electric multiple unit used by the Taiwan High Speed Rail based on the Shinkansen Series 700 EMU in Japan. It was built by Hitachi, Kawasaki, and Nippon Sharyō. It began revenue service in 2007 on the first and only high-speed railway in Taiwan between Taipei and Zuoying (Kaohsiung). Unlike other Japanese high-speed trains, the 700T does not feature an aggressive aerodynamic nose design. This is to maximise seating capacity of the trains and it is also due to the fact that the Taiwan HSR infrastructure is built to European standards which feature larger tunnels (here is some background of the Taiwan HSR and the Eurotrain which was to operate on the TSHR instead of the 700T).

Interior of the Standard Car

Interior of the Business Car

The standard consist of the 700T includes 3 units formed of 3 powered and 1 non-powered cars. Pantographs are located on cars 4 and 9. The 700T has a total of 36 AC traction motors each outputting 285 kW (382 hp), making the total power output of the trainset 10.26 MW (13,760 hp).

The 700T is designed to have a maximum speed (this is also the national speed record of Taiwan) of 315 km/h (196 mph) and its maximum revenue speed is 300 km/h (186 mph). A 12-car 700T has a seating capacity of 989 including 66 Business Car seats and 923 Standard Car seats.

Bombardier Regina

2010-10-07T21:00:00.005-07:00

The Bombardier Regina is a passenger electric-multiple-unit originally designed for local and regional train services. The standard consist of the Regina consists of 2 to 3 cars. It is used by SJ and many private and regional railways and its several variants are designated X50 to X54. The top speed of the Swedish Regina is 180-200 km/h (112-125 mph).

SJ Regina X52

8- and 16-car high-platform-only versions of the Regina were later introduced in China as the CRH1A/B (CRH stands for China Railway High-speed) and have been in service since 2007. These trains have a top speed of 220-250 km/h (137-155 mph). In late 2007, SJ ordered 20 additional sets of 4-car Regina trainsets, designated X55, for inter-city services connecting Stockholm with Värmland and Dalarna, with an option for another 20 sets.

China Railways Regina CRH1A

Below is one of the Bombardier commercials aired during the 2008 Summer Olympics featuring the CRH1.

The Regina was also used as the test train for the Gröna Tåget (Green Train) Project to develop the next-generation Swedish high-speed train. The test-train had reached a Swedish railway speed record of 295 km/h (183 mph) in July 2008. A summary of the project is linked here.

Electro-Motive F40PH-2

2010-09-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

The F40PH is a 3,000-3,200 hp (2.2-2.4 MW), 4 axle, HEP (head end power) equipped passenger locomotive developed based on the GP40 in the 1970s for Amtrak. It was built between 1976 and 1992. It is one of the most widely used passenger locomotives in North America. A number of variants of this locomotive have been operated by a variety of passenger railroads including Toronto’s GO Transit. This post will concentrate on the F40PH-2 purchased by Via Rail Canada in 1986.

Today Via Rail Canada has the second largest fleet of 54 units of F40PH series locomotives in North America, next to Metra commuter railroad of Chicago, IL. These units were built by General Motors Diesel in London, ON between 1986 and 1989. They are equipped with the EMD 16-654E3C prime movers and have a top speed of 95 mph (153 km/h). In order to continuously provide HEP to the train, the prime mover of the F40PH is designed to idle at 900 rpm (designed max operating rpm), giving the locomotive a distinctive high-pitched idling noise. The F40PH has hence been given the nick name “screamer” and “screaming thunder box” by railroaders and railfans.

Started in 2009, Via Rail Canada contracted CAD Railway Industries Ltd. of Lachine, QC to rebuild/upgrade its fleet of F40PH-2 locomotives. The rebuild programme includes fitting a cleaning burning prime mover and a secondary diesel engine for HEP (reduces idling fuel consumption and noise, increases tractive power). The entire fleet is scheduled to be rebuilt by 2013, and the details of the project can be found here. The rebuilt F40PH-2 locomotives can easily be identified by the new green, silver, and gold livery.

SaveTheLRC.org

2010-09-23T21:00:00.002-07:00

Click on the hyperlink to see the post about the LRC (Light, Rapid, Comfortable) on Train of the Week. The following is used under permission by the Toronto Railway Historical Association. Please click on the screenshot to access the full webpage.

The Maple Leaf

2010-09-16T21:00:00.001-07:00

The name Maple Leaf was first used as the service name of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (now Canadian National) passenger train between Dearborn Station in Chicago, Illinois and Union Station in Toronto, Ontario. It used the GTW trackage through Sarnia, ON, Battle Creek, MI, and South Bend, IN. This route between Chicago, IL (Union Station) and Port Huron, MI (across the border from Sarnia, ON) is still serviced by the Amtrak Blue Water service today. Maple Leaf was later applied to a joint overnight Toronto, ON to New York City, NY service by Lehigh Valley Railroad (defunct since 1976, mostly absorbed by Conrail, which later was split by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern) and Canadian National until 4 February 1961 when the train last ran.

GTW Maple Leaf at Dearborn Station

Today’s Maple Leaf was reintroduced on 26 April 1981, 20 years after the train had previously operated. It operates daily and is one of the three international intercity services offered by Amtrak (the other two being the daily Montréal to New York Adirondack and the twice-daily Vancouver to Washington State Cascades) between the US and Canada. The train served Grand Central Terminal in New York until 1991 when it was rerouted to Pennsylvania Station. The full journey takes 12 hours and 30 minutes with 20 intermediate stops including 2 hours scheduled for border crossing at Niagara Falls where officials come onboard the train and clear passengers for customs. The Maple Leaf, together with other trains to New York, is required to change locomotive at Albany, NY to the dual mode electro-diesel GE Genesis P32AC-DM to accommodate the restriction on diesel locomotives in Pennsylvania Station (same restriction applies to Grand Central).

Amtrak Maple Leaf in the 1980s

Amtrak Maple Leaf crossing the US/Canada border

Sign at Union Station concourse for the Maple Leaf

Unlike the Adirondack and the Cascades which are exclusively Amtrak, the Maple Leaf is jointly operated by Via Rail Canada and Amtrak using Amtrak rolling stock. The train is operated by Via Rail crews in Canada as Train 97/8 (Amtrak Train 64/3 in US) and called at 4 Via Rail stations between Niagara Falls and Toronto. The typical consist of the Maple Leaf include a GE Genesis locomotive (P42DC or P32AC-DM), 1 Amfleet I café/business class car, and 4 Amfleet II coach class cars.

GO Train

2010-09-09T21:00:00.010-07:00

GO Trains are commuter trains run by GO Transit, now a division of Metrolinx of Ontario, a government-owned regional transit authority (formerly GTTA, the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, not to be confused with the former legal name of GO Transit, Greater Toronto Transit Authority) serving more than 7 million Canadian residing in the Golden Horseshoe.

GO Train in its early days

GO Train and downtown Toronto in 1980

GO Transit or Government of Ontario Transit was created as a three-year experiment on 23 May 1967 running DMUs along the rail line in the Greater Toronto Area along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. GO Trains carried 2.5 million riders in its first year and was considered a success. The GO Bus as extensions of the train services started in 1974. Today the GO system carries more than 50 million riders annually and the vast majority of them are carried by GO Trains. On 11 October 2006, GO announced that it had achieved its one billionth passenger mark.

GO's newest addition to its bus fleet

GO Trains today (left: MP40PH-3C, right: F59PHI)

Current service map of the GO Train

Thinner gray lines represent the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) subway

There are currently 7 GO Train lines centred at Union Station in downtown Toronto. The Lake Shore West and East lines offer all-day train services while the other lines offer single-directional rush-hour train services (to Union Station in the morning and from Union Station in the evening) and bi-directional train-bus replacement during the day and on weekends/holidays. A seasonal bike-train service, or Greenbelt Express, is also offered since 2009 from May through to September on weekends and holidays between Toronto and Niagara Falls. The majority of tracks GO operates on are owned by the Canadian National Railway with the exception of the Milton line which is mostly owned by Canadian Pacific. Metrolinx has recently purchased portions of the Lake Shore West line and the entire Barrie line from Canadian National. GO also owns the GO Subdivision parallel to the CN Kingston Subdivision on the Lake Shore East line between Pickering and Oshawa. GO Train crews are contracted from Bombardier Transportation since recently except for the Milton line where Canadian Pacific crews still run the trains. Modern GO Trains operate in push-pull mode with the locomotive (MPI MP40PH-3C or EMD F59PHI) on one end and a cab car on the other end. All trains use Bombardier Bi-Level coaches (designed for GO Transit and later became popular for a variety of North American commuter railroads, also see West Coast Express) and one train consists of 10 or 12 cars (maximum seating capacity of 1,944 with 12 cars).

GO Train with F59PHI in Whitby, ON doing 82 mph (132 km/h)

Pretty faces of the MP40PH-3C, designed for GO Transit

As part of the MoveOntario 2020 transit plan announced by the provincial government in 2007, several extensions and upgrades are planned for existing GO Train services and three additional commuter rail lines on the Canadian Pacific are also proposed. An airport rail link between Union Station and Pearson International Airport via the Georgetown line is also scheduled to be completed by 2015 in time for the Pan American Games in Toronto.

British Rail Class 180

2010-09-02T21:00:00.017-07:00

The Class 180 is a high-speed diesel-hydraulic multiple unit from the Coradia 1000 family designed by Alstom (France) for First Great Western (First Great Western did not actually own the trains but leased them through Angel Trains). 14 sets of these 5-car DMUs were built between 2000 and 2001 in Birmingham, England. The Class 180 were initially deployed to the Great Western mainline to supplement the HST in working the then new half-hourly timetable between London Paddington and South Wales. They began service in December 2008 and First Great Western nicknamed these trains Adelante. Unlike the Bombardier Voyager mentioned in a previous post, the Class 180 used a hydraulic transmission instead of electric motors to turn the wheels. Hydrodynamic braking system is equipped and one bogie per coach is powered with both axles driven. All coaches are equipped with a 560 kW (750 hp) diesel engine identical to the one used by the Voyager.

First Great Western Class 180 Adelante

First Hull Trains Class 180

Due to reliability problems, First Great Western returned most Class 180 trains to Angel Trains in early 2008 and the last First Great Western Class 180 ran on 30 March 2009. The current operators of the Class 180 are First Hull Trains, Northern Rail, and privately owned Grand Central. Grand Central renamed their Class 180 Zephyr.

If you are on the Main page, click on "Read more" below to see a short film of the Class 180 at speed and read more on diesel-hydraulic locomotives.

Diesel-hydraulic Locomotives. Unlike a diesel-electric locomotives that uses the electricity generated by the prime mover to its electric traction motors (again, refer to the ES44AC post), a diesel-hydraulic locomotives uses a torque converter to transmit power from the prime mover to its axles. A torque converter is a hydrodynamic power transmission device used to transfer rotating power from a prime mover (i.e. diesel engine) to a rotating driven load (i.e. axles on a bogie). A torque converter is also able to multiply torque when there is a substantial difference between input and output rotational speed, proving the equivalent of a reduction gear. It is used in a broad range of application including automatic transmission in automobiles. In a torque converter there are at least three rotating elements, the pump driven by prime mover, the turbine driving the load, and the stator placed between the pump and the turbine altering oil flow returning from the turbine to the pump. For a detailed description of how torque converter works, refer to the linked Wikipedia page and HowStuffWorks page.

Tōshiba EH500

2010-08-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

The EH500 is an 8-axle twin-section AC-propulsion electric locomotive designed by Tōshiba for the Japan Freight Railway Company. It is compatible with three modes of the electrical systems (DC 1.5 kV and AC 20 kV 50/60 Hz) used by the existing Japanese 1.067 mm (3 ft 6 in) cape gauge railway network. Each section of the EH500 is fitted with two 2-axle bogies and a pantograph. The EH500 is officially nicknamed Eco-Power Kintarō (Golden Boy). The production of the EH500 began in 2000 and 63 units (including the prototype unit) were built to date.

Prototype unit EH500-901

The EH500 weights 134 tonnes (148 short tons) and provides 54,100 lbf (240 kN) of tractive effort. It has a total output of 4 MW (5,360 hp) and a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph). The HXD3 of China Ministry of Railways is based on the EH500.

Production EH500

China Railways HXD3

2010-08-19T21:00:00.002-07:00

The HXD3 is a 6-axle AC electric locomotive designed by CNR Dalian (China) and Tōshiba (Japan) for fast freight services in the People's Republic of China. It is technologically based on the cape gauge (1,067 mm or 3 ft 6 in) Tōshiba EH500 locomotive used by the Japan Freight Railway Company (JRF). The majority of HXD3 locomotives are built in China with core components (e.g. bogies, inverters) provided by Tōshiba. In the initial batch, 4 units were built in Japan by Tōshiba and parts for 12 units were shipped to China from Japan for final assembly. According to requirement set by the China Ministry of Railways, a single unit of HXD3 is able to maintain a speed of 120 km/h (75 mph) while handling a 5,000 tonne train. Production of the HXD3 began in 2006 and to date 1,040 units were ordered.

Just like other modern AC electric locomotives, the HXD3 is regenerative breaking capable. It has a total output of 7,200 kW (9,660 hp). With a maximum of 25 tonne (31 tonne for ES44AC) axle load, the HXD3 is able to provide a maximum of 570 kN (881 kN for ES44AC) starting tractive effort and 400 kN (740 kN for ES44AC) continuous tractive effort. To revise what these terms and numbers mean, please refer to my blog entry on the GE ES44AC.

British Rail Class 373 Eurostar

2010-08-12T21:00:00.002-07:00

The British Rail Class 373 or TGV-TMST (Train à Grande Vitesse-TransManche Super Train) (commonly known as the Eurostar) is an push-pull articulated multi-mode electric trainset designed for services connecting the Great Britain and Europe via the Eurotunnel. It is designed and built by Alstom of France between 1992 and 1996. It is equipped with pantographs and third-rail pickup shoes on the power cars on each end of the train. The pick-up shoes were used while the train travelled on the existing British railway network before High Speed 1, a rail link between the Eurotunnel and St Pancras International Station in London, was built.

Class 373 on third-rail network in London

Class 373 on the High Speed One

Instead of conventional bogies, most of the carriages of the train rest on Jacobs bogies forming two independent halves of the articulated trainset. The Class 373 have two variants. Class 373/1 are 20-car trainsets (including power cars) owned by Eurostar (the operator), SNCB, and SNCF and operated by Eurostar in international service through the Eurotunnel. The Class 373/2, 4 cars shorter were used for domestic North of London service by the GNER. Now they are used for French domestic services by the SNCF. The formation of the Class 373/1 is illustrated in the image below (click to enlarge).

The two independent half-sets of the Eurostar can be easily separated in case of an emergency in the Eurotunnel and while the train is travelling in the tunnel, a fully authorised driver is on standby in the rear driving cab.

The top revenue speed of the Class 373 is 300 km/h (186 mph) and 160 km/h (100 mph) in Britain on third rail lines before the opening of High Speed 1, where the Eurostar service would terminate in Britain at London Waterloo. The Class 373 had set the British rail speed record of 334.7 km/h (208 mph) on 30 July 2003 on the opening press run of the High Speed 1. Below is a video of the Eurostar at speed.

JR West Series 500

2010-08-05T21:00:00.002-07:00

The JR Series 500 is a high speed AC propulsion electric multiple unit manufactured by Hitachi, Kawasaki, Kinki Sharyō, and Nippon Sharyō between 1995 and 1998. It was launched by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) as the flagship train running the Nozomi (nozomi translates into hope; it is service name of the fastest limited-stop service on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen, shinkansen means new trunk line) service between Tōkyō and Hakata. It was the first train in Japan to attain a top revenue speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) on the Sanyō Shinkansen between Shin-Ōsaka (New Ōsaka Station) and Hakata. Due to undesirable track geometry (tight bends with radius as low as 2,500 m and steep grades of up to 2%) on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen (opened in 1964) between Tōkyō and Shin-Ōsaka, track speed is limited to 270 km/h (168 mph).

The aerodynamics of the Series 500 much resembles an aircraft with a somewhat round cross section. A wing-shaped pantograph based on owl feather was specially designed for the series 500. A standard Series 500 W set has a 16-car consist and all axles of the train are powered giving it a total output of 18.24 MW (24,460 hp). The train was designed to be well capable of 320 km/h (199 mph) and was considered overpowered for its normal operations. Acceleration of the Series 500 was software-limited to between 1.6 and 1.92 km/h/s (1 mi/h/s to 1.2 mi/h/s). Due to high cost, only 9 sets of Series 500 were built. The first production Series 500 entered service in March 1997 and refreshed the world record for average speed between two station stops on a scheduled passenger train service. The Series 500 reached an average start-stop speed of 261.8 km/h (162.6 mph) between Hiroshima and Kokura, 192 km (119 mi) apart. The Series 500 would complete its entire scheduled run between Tōkyō and Hakata, a distance of 1049 km (652 mi, 727 mi or 1170 km from Québec City to Windsor), in 4 hours and 49 minutes (trains in Canada typically can make it from Montréal to Toronto in this amount of time on our fastest tracks).

Although the Series 500 marked a milestone in Japanese high speed rail history, the high operational cost and limited headroom at window seats due to its cross sectional shape made it unpopular with both its operator and passengers (despite the love from railway enthusiasts). As the newer generation Series N700 tilting trains (roomier, lower power output with higher start-up acceleration, quieter) entered service, JR West started phasing out the Series 500 from the Nozomi service in 2008. Since then 6 of the 9 W sets were refurbished with regular single-arm pantographs and split into 12 eight-car V sets with newly built end cars. The V sets had their debut on the Kodama (kodama translates into echo; it is the service name for the trains that make all station stops on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen) service on the Sanyō Shinkansen only on 1 December 2008 with a limited top speed of 285 km/h (177 mph).

On 28 February 2010, the short lived Series 500 W set, once the icon of Japanese high speed rail technology, made its last Nozomi run.

Via Rail Canada Renaissance Cars

2010-07-29T21:00:00.001-07:00

The Renaissance cars are the newest passenger equipment Via Rail Canada has acquired. They were designed and built in the 1990s in England by French manufacture Alstom but not purchased by Via Rail until year 2000.

Renaissance equipment on the Ocean at Halifax Station

The Renaissance cars were originally manufactured for a proposed overnight service between the Great Britain and continental Europe via the Euro Tunnel called Nighstar alongside the daytime Eurostar. They were based on the British Rail Mark 4 high speed carriages and optimised for use on long distance services (i.e. the cars were designed for British clearances, which is why a Canadian passenger would find the cars much smaller in every dimension than the usual domestic equipment). However due to competition from low cost airlines, the proposal was withdrawn and the manufacturing of the cars were put on hold.

Contrast in size between Renaissance and the Budd car

Renaissance cars hauled by 8,500 horses of awesomeness

In May 2000, Via Rail expressed interest in purchasing these cars and shipped 3 completed cars to Canada for evaluation in June. Modifications of the cars had to be done to ensure their compatibility with Canadian rail infrastructure and cold winter conditions. In December 2000, Via Rail Canada announced the purchase of all 139 complete and incomplete Nightstar cars to be modified or finished at the Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay, Ontario as the Renaissance cars. According to Via Rail, the total cost of purchase and modification/completion of the fleet was $160 million Canadian while the market value of the cars was $400-500 million (due to the lack of other interested buyers).

The 2 + 1 seating layout of the Economy Class cabin

The Renaissance cars entered revenue service in 2002. In its early days of operation, the Renaissance fleet was plagued with problems in the winter where the doors and toilets of the carriages would freeze up. To date, the Renaissance cars have been deployed on certain intercity trains between Québec City and Montréal, Montréal and Ottawa, Montréal and Toronto (morning no. 52/3 and evening non-stop no. 66/7), and long distance train the Ocean between Halifax and Montréal. Information about the Renaissance cars including diagrams of the interior can be found here on Via Rail’s website.

Deutsche Bahn Class 605

2010-07-22T23:00:00.001-07:00

The ICE-TD (InterCity Express-Tilting Diesel) or Deutsche Bahn Class 605 is a diesel-electric multiple unit designed and manufactured by Siemens and Bombardier of Germany. A total of 20 four-car trainsets were built between 1998 and 2001. Each car has a 560 kW (750 hp) Cummins diesel engine and a powered bogie with both axles powered. The ICE-TD has an axle load of 14.5 tonnes (16 tons) and weighs a total of 216 tonnes (238 tons). The electro-mechanical titling system on the ICE-TD is developed by Siemens unlike its electric counterpart, the ICE-T, which uses the hydraulic Pendolino system developed by Fiat (Alstom). The ICE-TD can tilt up to 8 degrees. The top speed of the ICE-TD in service is 200 km/h (125 mph) and a top speed of 222 km/h (138 mph) has been reached in test runs.

ICE-TD in Bonn Hauptbahnhof

Deutsche Bahn and DSB (Danske Statsbaner or Danish State Railways) are the only operators of the ICE-TD. Operationally the ICE-TD has not been very successful as it is said that they are expensive to operate and are plagued with technical problems. However the concept of tilting diesel multiple units enabled many countries to operate faster train services on existing rail lines.

Second Class cabin of the ICE-TD

First Class cabin of the ICE-TD

Bombardier Voyager

2010-07-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

The Voyager is a family of diesel-electric multiple units developed by Bombardier Transportation of Berlin, Germany. It includes the British Rail Class 220 Voyager, Class 221 Super Voyager, and Class 222 Meridian. This blog entry concentrates on the cosmetically similar Class 220 and 221 trains. The Class 220 is exclusively operated by CrossCountry and the Class 221 is operated by both CrossCountry and Virgin Trains.

The Class 220 and 221 trains were introduced in 2001 for commercial service (Class 222 was the improved version of the Class 220 introduced in 2004). The main difference between the Class 220 and 221 is that Class 221 Super Voyagers are fitted with tilting bogies that enable them to tilt up to 6 degrees in curves. The non-tilting Class 220 and 222 feature a lightweight bogie design. Each carriage of these DEMUs carries a 560 kilowatt (750 horsepower) Cummins diesel engine connected to a generator powering an electric motor on an axle on each bogie (2 axles per bogie). Class 220 trainsets consist of 4 cars, the Class 221 trainsets consist of 4 or 5 cars, and they can be coupled together in operation. The top speed of the Voyager trains in service is 200 km/h (125 mph) and they have much higher acceleration than conventional locomotive-trailer or push-pull trains.

Class 221 Super Voyager at Bristol Temple Meads Station

Class 220 Voyager at Exeter St. Davis Station

Although the Voyager trains are constructed with steel, due to the nature of multiple units, they are very light and have even weight distribution on the rails (each carriage in a multiple unit weighs more or less the same). Each car of the Class 220 weighs 45 to 48 tonnes (50 to 53 short tons) and 55 to 57 tonnes (60 to 63 short tons) for Class 221. In the British Rail Route Availability rating system (scale 1 to 10, 1 being the lightest in axle load and affected the least by track conditions), the Class 220 achieved a rating of RA2 (RA3 up to 16.5 tonnes per axle) while Class 221 had a rating of RA4 (RA5 up to 19.0 tonnes per axle). The typical range per fuelling of the Class 220 and 222 is 2,170 km (1,350 miles) and 1,930 km (1,200 miles) for the Class 221.

In Canada, the permitted maximum speed of the LRC trainsets on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor was reduced to 160 km/h (100 mph) because the locomotives were overweight. Although the aluminium LRC carriages only weighed 44 tonnes (48 short tons), the production LRC locomotives weighed 101 tonnes (111 short tons) instead of the desired 97 tonnes (107 short tons). With a maximum weight of 48 tonnes per car for the Class 220, in theory, it can operate at 200 km/h with existing infrastructure (keep in mind though there are different crashworthiness standards in North America and they are generally stricter than European and Asian standards and British high-speed passenger trains are generally equipped with the Automatic Train Protection system). Operationally, multiple units (and push-pull trainsets e.g. GO Trains) have much quicker turnaround times because they eliminate the need to go through wyes (to turn the trains around). However, multiple units are likely to have higher maintenance cost than conventional trains, since tractive equipment resides in each car of the train. Although there are currently no publicly known plans for Via Rail to introduce multiple units, it is still nice to imagine that one day we will be able to ride the rails on one of them at 125 mph or faster.

Please enjoy the little music video of the Virgin Class 221 Super Voyager below put together by a YouTube user.

The Ocean

2010-07-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

The Ocean began operation by the Intercolonial Railway of Canada (IRC) in June 1904 as the Ocean Limited, a summer only limited stop passenger train between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Montréal, Québec. It is the oldest named passenger train service in Canada that remains operating today. The Canadian National Railways assumed its operation in 1918 after the merger with the IRC; the train was renamed to the Ocean in 1966.

Train 15 the Ocean at Halifax Station prepping for departure

Today the Ocean operates 6 days a week as Via Rail Canada Train 14 and 15, it offers a 21 hour transit time over the 836 miles of trackage (1,346 km) between Montréal and Halifax. The Ocean is also the only long distance train in Canada today using the Renaissance equipment Via Rail purchased from Alstom (France) in early 2000s. During the peak seasons, the Ocean also uses a stainless steel Park car Via Rail inherited from the Canadian Pacific Railway at the tail end of the train.

Park car at the tail end of the Ocean

Unlike the former Atlantic, another Via Rail passenger train linking Montréal and Halifax (modified from the Canadian Pacific Atlantic Limited), the entire route of the Ocean stays within Canadian boarders. From Montréal, the Ocean travels along the south side of the St. Lawrence River and the scenic shore of the Chaleur Bay via Campbellton, Miramichi, and Moncton, New Brunswick to Halifax. The Ocean currently operates jointly with the Chaleur (the Montréal Gaspé, QC Train 16 and 17) as one train between Montréal and northern Québec.

Combined Chaleur and Ocean approaching Montréal Central Station

Light, Rapid, Comfortable

2010-07-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

The LRC is a Canadian diesel-electric powered passenger train developed from late 1960s through the 1970s to replace the TurboTrain on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. The carriages were designed by Alcan and Dofasco and the 3,700 hp (2,700 hp for traction) diesel-electric locomotives by Montreal Locomotive Works (later purchased by Bombardier Transportation). The carriages of the LRC are constructed using aluminium alloy and they feature an active-tilting design of which the carriages of the Acela Express are based off. The LRC locomotives were originally intended to be designed to operate at a speed of 125 mph (201 km/h), however, due to excess weight, the production locomotives were permitted to operate at a speed of only 100 mph (161 km/h). During test runs, the LRC reached speeds as high as 130 mph (209 km/h). Production LRC trainsets were manufactured between 1980 and 1984. In its early days, the LRC was plagued with problems, including cracked axles and locking of tilt position.

The LRC locomotives were withdrawn from service in early 2000s. Today the LRC carriages are still serving the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor but are being hauled by either F40PH2 or P42DC locomotives with tilting mechanisms disabled (still at 100 mph). The LRC carriages today are under refurbishment which will have their tilting mechanisms completely removed.

GE P42DC Genesis locomotive with LRC carriages

Virgin Trains Class 390 Pendolino

2010-06-24T23:00:00.001-07:00

The Class 390 is an AC propulsion EMU manufactured by Alstom of France in Birmingham, England. It incorporated active tilting technology Alstom inherited from Fiat, an Italian train manufacturer Alstom had purchased, making the Class 390 one of the Pendolino series tilting train. The Class 390 was introduced in 2002 by Virgin Trains on the West Coast Main Line to replace older equipment for services between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly. The Class 390 was later also deployed on services from/to London Euston to/from Liverpool Lime Street, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Preston, and Glasgow Central. Due to the lack of in-cab signaling, the top speed of the Class 390 is capped at 125 mph (201 km/h) instead of the designed top revenue speed of 140 mph (225 km/h).

(All pictures below were taken in May 2009 at Manchester Piccadilly Station after detraining from this Pendolino the City of Edinburgh.)

Each set of the Class 390 is named, and the full list can be found here. I have been fortunate enough to experience a ride on the 390-030, the City of Edinburgh, from Milton Keyne Central to Manchester Piccadilly. Of the Class 390 sets, the most brilliantly and beautifully named (a personal opinion) would be 390-022 (formerly Virgin Hope), Penny the Pendolino. The current Class 390 trainsets consist of 9 cars each and are being extended to 11 cars.

Electro Motive SD40-2

2010-06-17T23:00:00.003-07:00

The SD40-2 was one of the best selling locomotives in North America. It was based on the earlier SD40. 3,957 units of SD40-2 were produced by General Motors Electro Motive Division in LaGrange, Illinois and General Motors Diesel in London, Ontario between 1972 and 1989. The modular design with a moderate 3,000 horsepower (2,240 kilowatt) turbocharged V16 16-645-E3 diesel engine of the SD40-2 had made the SD40-2 very reliable and more economical than locomotives with higher horsepower from the same era.

The SD40-2 is a 6-axle locomotive (like the other EMD “Special Duty” units) and it is equipped with DC traction motors. Many railroads still have these locomotives in active service today. SD40-2 is one of the locomotives included in EMD ECO Repower Programme to meet the EPA Tier 2 emission standard. For the many of you who know a lot more about the SD40-2 than me and who have had personal experience with it, please kindly leave your own thoughts and experience you would like to share in the comments section, thank you.

Gautrain

2010-06-10T23:00:00.001-07:00

The Gautrain is built by a public-private partnership between of the Government of the Province of Gauteng of South Africa and the Bombela Consortium consisting of Bombardier Transportation, Bouygues Travaux Publics, Murray & Roberts, the Strategic Partners Group and RATP Développement, the J&J Group and Absa Bank. It is a mass transit system 80 km (50 miles) in length, connecting Pretoria, Johannesburg, and the OR Tambo International Airport of Johannesburg. Construction of the Gautrain began in 2006. The Gautrain is not specifically built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, however Phase 1 of the 2 phases of the Gautrain Project has been completed in time for the World Cup. Phase 1 links between Sandton Station in Johannesburg and the OR Tambo International Airport (51.6 km or 32 miles) and is open to public since 8 June 2010. Phase 2 of the Gautrain, from Midrand to Pretoria, is scheduled to be completed in 2011.

Gautrain tracks in Midrand, South Africa

The Gautrain is the first standard gauge (1,435 mm or 4 ft 8.5 in) railway system in South Africa (the South African railway network uses the 1,067 mm or 3 ft 6 in Cape Gauge). The current rolling stock used is based on the Bombardier Electrostar proven in many years of service in the Great Britain. The Gautrain rolling stock is assembled in South Africa with components manufactured by Bombardier in Derby, Great Britain. The top speed of the Gautrain service is 160 km/h (100 mph).

Diagram of the Gautrain Electrostar's 4-car consist (click to enlarge)

Gautrain at OR Tambo International Airport Station

Enjoy the Beautiful Game!

Bombardier/Alstom HHP-8

2010-06-03T23:00:00.001-07:00

The HHP-8 (High Horse Power 8,000) is an 8,000 horsepower (5,970 kW) 4-axle AC electric locomotive acquired by Amtrak and MARC (Maryland Area Rail Commuter) in the early 2000s for uses on the Northeast Corridor. It is designed and manufactured by a consortium formed by Bombardier (Canada) and Alstom (France). Trains hauled by the HHP-8 were initially branded as the Acela Regional, due to riders’ confusion between the three Acela branded trains offered at the time, the Acela logos were removed from the HHP-8 and the services were renamed the Northeast Regional.

Northeast Regional with HHP-8 and Amfleet I

Typical equipment on the Northeast Regional trains today consist of either the HHP-8 or AEM-7 locomotive and Amfleet I stainless steel passenger coaches. They operate at a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h). Today the HHP-8 also hauls long distance services on the Northeast Corridor up to a top speed of 110 mph (177 km/h). The only Acela branded trains offered by Amtrak today are the 150 mph (240 km/h) Business Class and First Class only Acela Express. Amtrak operates a total of 15 HHP-8s and MARC owns 6.

MARC commuter train with HHP-8

MotivePower MP40PH-3C

2010-05-27T23:00:00.001-07:00

This was the new GO Transit locomotive we were going to take a look at quite a while ago. Before I forget about it (although in reality I won’t), I’ll share a few things about it. This locomotive is of the MPXpress family of 4-axle low emission (EPA Tier 2) commuter locomotives designed and manufactured by MotivePower Inc. (part of Wabtec) of Boise, Idaho. The MP40PH-3C is specifically designed for GO Transit, a division of Metrolinx, serving the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Ontario, for hauling longer 12-car GO Trains. With the Bombardier Bi-level coaches having a seating capacity of up to 162 passengers per carriage, each of these trains carry up to 1,944 passengers fully seated in and out of downtown Toronto. During rush hour, one GO Train carrying 2,000 passengers takes more than 1,700 cars off of the roads of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (using 1.15 persons per car, stat provided by GO Transit).

GO 604 waiting for Oshawa Departure on the Lake Shore Line

GO 601 in transit to Toronto

Cab of the MP40PH-3C

Unlike the other members of the MPXpress family, the MP40 uses a 4,000 horsepower (2,980 kW) EMD 16-710G3B-T2 diesel engine, the EMD EM2000 control system, and EMD alternator and traction motors instead of MPI/Wabtec parts. Like the MP36PH-3C (where the “C” possibly denotes Caterpillar), the MP40PH-3C has a separate Caterpillar diesel engine to provide HEP (head end power) to the carriages. As a result, all of the 4,000 hp provided by the EMD 710 is utilised to provide traction.

GO 625 at Toronto Yard (Agincourt) ready for delivery

With specifications published by GO Transit, the top speed of the MP40PH-3C is 93 mph (150 km/h). So far, GO Transit has ordered 57 units of the MP40PH-3C.

12-car GO Train on the Milton Line

Here is a clip of a MP40PH-3C GO Train in action.