They look like a good idea to me, at least the pictures do. However, only Miami, I understand, is operating any of them. They would seem to have a lot of uses around the country.
Another sale for them recently fell through in Vermont. "Vermont opts out of plan to buy its own rail cars"
Why aren't more of these cars being bought and used around the country?
Posted by mr williams (Member # 1928) on :
Railcars were the saviour of cross-country train services in the UK. They are excellent for journeys of up to 200 miles. When I saw the Colorado DMUs launched with such a fanfare a few years ago I thought it was the ideal opportunity for States to look at expanding rail service for less cost than the traditional engine and coaches equipment. A great disappointment.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
There have been rumbles from some sources, firmly denied by other sources, that these vehicle have been a great dissapointment in testing and service. At this point, I have no idea what the truth of the situation is, or if the problems are failures in concept that are difficult to fix or failures in details that could be easily fixed.
I do know that a couple of years ago the Colorado railcar web site had a lot more information on it than it does now.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
The Colorado Railcars look lovely.....big windows...nice passenger capacity....but I recall seeing a quote somewhere that they were a little under-powered to meet the demands of the one place any are in regular use.....at Tri-Rail in South Florida.
Posted by mr williams (Member # 1928) on :
Geoff M is the person who would know more than me about this but does the US have anything like the UK 155/158 class DMUs? If any of you have been to the UK you may have ridden on them.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
A little description of what the UK 155/158 DMU's are like would be helpful, as those of us who have not been there nor really followed the rail goings on there have no clue what these are like.
I would still say probably not. Other that Colorado Railcar, the only DMU's operating in the US - or Canada - would be the 50 plus year old Budd RDC cars. Most of these still functioning have had various levels of upgrading all the way to complete rebuilds. Sometime in the 70's there was the SPV 2000, also by Budd, but only a few were built, and so far as I know none are still running. Several remain in service as cab cars, but no longer powered. These cars were something of a cross between a diesel powered metroliner and an upgraded 1950's Budd RDC.
Anybody that can think of anything else, please come in and say so.
Posted by Kiernan (Member # 3828) on :
Denver RTD has chosen DMUs for their Northwest Rail Corridor, according to their latest newsletter.
It will be interesting to see who gets the contract.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
When I rode the Vermonter from NYC to Hartford last spring, some people on it were complaining about an upcoming change that would mean loss of business class and the snack bar. I wonder if the failure of the cars to come through means they will keep the old setup on the Vermonter.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kiernan: Denver RTD has chosen DMUs for their Northwest Rail Corridor, according to their latest newsletter. http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/nw_1 It will be interesting to see who gets the contract.
The newsletter: www.rtd-fastracks.com/media/uploads/nw/2007-11_NWR_Newsletter.pdf In it the drawing of the diesel car looks like a Colorado Railcar. Politically it would be difficult for them to go to anybody else. Also, the Colorado raicar is FRA compliant so that it can run in mixed traffic, unlike the various other import models which require either time separation or to be operated on different tracks due to their crashworthiness or actually lack thereof.
Posted by Kiernan (Member # 3828) on :
I agree with you, George, it will be difficult to go with anyone else. But, except for the operation in Florida, have they sold any DMUs? No one really wants to be "first." Before the Raleigh, North Carolina, system went under, a consortium was going to build their FRA-certified DMUs, and Colorado Railcar was going to make the engines and powertrain.
Posted by delvyrails (Member # 4205) on :
mr williams, you make me nostalgic for dmu rides all over your magnificient country for three weeks in 1975. Sitting behind the driver and listening to the "ta-tum, ta-tum" of the opposed rail joints can project a tempting vision for this country.
Unfortunately, there are many differences: no significant history of such operations here (the RDC mostly was a means of easing out of a low-level service that the carrier couldn't otherwise get rid of). I saw very few freight trains to cause problems for the dmus. And limited-access highways were few and far between.
More politically subtle, Britain's transportation modes are essentially equal; here the federal government (which has the best funding sources)promotes air travel; but rail passenger essentially is shuffled off the the states to do (or, usually, not do) as they wish.