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Amtrak Superliner on NEC


Bracamonte

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The NJT MLVs as you might know are modified bilevels. The Amtrak Viewliners however are not bilevels, but have the same height as the NJT MLVs. The Superliners are in fact regular bilevels and therefore cannot clear the North River/ East River Tunnels.

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Superliner cars, especially the dome cars, cannot fit under several bridges, and none of the tunnels and therefore would be limited to lines & stretches of lines cleared for car carrier freight cars. They operate exclusively in chicago division lines because of these restrictions. New york division uses viewliners & are the tallest pax cars (along with diners) used on the NEC.

 

The MLV's have nothing to do with bilevels aside from the general layout, bilevels have high pass between, as do superliners, MLV have standard high level platform level pass between/vestibule, the same height from the ground as a standard single level comet or amfleet.

 

- A

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  • 3 weeks later...

There is no such thing as a dome superliner. All domes are based off of the old streamliner design. Outside of the Santa Fe Highlevels which the superliners are based off of, and the Surfliners and California cars which are based off the superliners, all bilevels in this country are connected at the standard height for single level cars.

 

Superliners run on the NEC for a very short distance to the north of WAS. (To the south as well, if you consider the line to Newport News/Lynchburg to be NEC.)

 

Multilevels share much of the same layout with standard Bombardier Bilevels, with the notable exception being that the MLs have high level doors with traps on the end doors, while the BBD Bilevels have low level double leaf doors.

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I stand by what i stated, i don't think more info was needed on the bilevel vs multilevel. They are nothing alike. Sorry if you didn't understand what i typed, i tend to type like i talk vs use the classical writing forms.

 

The dome cars are not superliners, not even related to the superliners, they are much older than the superliners and not nearly as numerous sadly.

 

The superliners, and bilevels, as i said have between-car vestibule areas that are not at platform height. The MLV's have platform height vestibules.

 

Since PRR had no service to california or south of DC it had no need for massive tunnels, just big enough for the 3rd rail electrics between manhattan transfer & NYP. The dome cars's domes are about 3-4 feet too high for the near top (since its curved it wouldn't hit the very top), and if you were unlucky enough to ever be in a dome car headed to NYP, i'd think about heading downstairs right quick. :eek:

 

:)

 

- A

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The B&O had some low-profile dome coaches. I have no idea where they went after Amtrak disposed of them.

 

BOdomecoachleft.gifBOdomecoach2right.gifAMTKexBOdomecoachright.gifAMTKexBOdomecoachleft.gif

 

Yea, i remember hearing about those a few years ago. Great northern, IC, and other chicago based lines had dome cars built by Budd. I am not sure who built the low profile ones though.

 

- A

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I fully understood what you said about "bilevels" as a whole. What I was stating is that such is incorrect.

 

Superliners and their ancestor and predecessor are the ONLY NORTH AMERICAN BILEVEL CARS WITH UPPER LEVEL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CARS.

 

With the exception of the Gallery design, ALL BILEVELS(including most domes) have the same general layout as the NJT multilevels.

 

Gallery cars have the floor of the lower level at the floor level of standard single level cars.

 

A standard Bombardier bilevel can be coupled to a comet with no troubles, as could any multilevel or any other non superliner bilevel. The diaphragms will line up with no trouble.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Didn't Amtrak bring some Superliner cars for display up to the Hoboken Rail Festival a few years ago? I'm not sure of the route they used to get them there. Could have been a special train with the private cars from Chicago over the old Erie, or could have been over high clearance freight route from DC., or down the River line from Albany.

 

 

I rode in a dome between New York and Boston way back in 1970. Remember the old United Aircraft TurboTrain? Not only did you enjoy the dome but you got to look over the engineers shoulder as the 'cab' was the front seat of the dome-power car.

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Didn't Amtrak bring some Superliner cars for display up to the Hoboken Rail Festival a few years ago? I'm not sure of the route they used to get them there. Could have been a special train with the private cars from Chicago over the old Erie, or could have been over high clearance freight route from DC., or down the River line from Albany.

 

 

I rode in a dome between New York and Boston way back in 1970. Remember the old United Aircraft TurboTrain? Not only did you enjoy the dome but you got to look over the engineers shoulder as the 'cab' was the front seat of the dome-power car.

 

I think they brought them in up the west trenton line to bound brook, then they took them to hudson yard, then up through the MMC connector to hoboken terminal. CSX, NS and CRSA could easy handle the relay.

 

- A

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To the best of my knowledge and to the folks I have talked to there has never been a Superliner in Hoboken Terminal. The Acela yes, a P42 and Amfleets yes but no Superliners. There might be some or would have been some issues with the platforms not to mention I don't think they could fit under the shed.

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To the best of my knowledge and to the folks I have talked to there has never been a Superliner in Hoboken Terminal. The Acela yes, a P42 and Amfleets yes but no Superliners. There might be some or would have been some issues with the platforms not to mention I don't think they could fit under the shed.

 

You may very well be correct. I just thought I remembered them being there during a Hoboken Festival several years back along with the private rail car convention that coincided with it. Perhaps it was just Amtrak locomotives or conventional cars that I remembered seeing there.

 

My memory ain't what it used to be.:confused:

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Quite alright!

 

I think there may be an issue with the Cat poles as well, since the other day I noticed theres not much clearance between NJT's Multilevels and the wire as it is. Which reminds me those cars and their computers suck, but thats for another forum altogether.

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Quite alright!

 

I think there may be an issue with the Cat poles as well, since the other day I noticed theres not much clearance between NJT's Multilevels and the wire as it is. Which reminds me those cars and their computers suck, but thats for another forum altogether.

 

Off topic, but the "ntt" car fleet has been randomly upgraded with "trenton transit center", those ones seem more stable, but from time to time, especially on C5 in mixed consist its either turned off or overrode by crew.

 

The old blue comet stuff has appeared at hoboken, as well as CNJ, acela, amfleet and various locos. I am unsure about viewliners or superliners as brandon said the low level platforms wouldn't really work & the wire is rather low there on tracks 1-15.

 

- A

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