New locomotives for AMTRAK

[C855B]

No problem, Mark. That's interesting, however. I avoid the NEC region like the plague (I have demophobia/claustrophobia issues), so I have no familiarity with the AEM-7, just not on my radar. The ACS-64 wheelbase as a percentage of frame length, however, is a little puzzling, and I would have to dig deep to find my stash of suspension dynamics textbooks to refresh long-forgotten equations. But better-educated folks than I designed the thing, so I'd be curious to understand why the proportions violate my sensibilities.

[CodyO]

should just go to a GG1 style body
Now thats an attractive engine

even a P5a would have been better than that thing, at least amtrack is making money

[lock4244]

Siemens is an incredibly bad actor when it comes to securing contracts with US agencies.

Plus they have a really, really, really funny name. I won't touch anything with Siemens on it 

Also, are passenger locomotive contracts awarded on who tendered the ugliest model?

[rogergperkins]

"OTOH, from firsthand experience, Siemens is an incredibly bad actor when it comes to securing contracts with US agencies. They manipulate any "US-sourced" contract wording by forming ghost divisions that are ostensibly US-based, but are nothing more than fronts for importing high-dollar goods. It's not that other companies don't do this - it is rampant, after all - it's just that Siemens is singularly unapologetic about it when they thumb their noses at you having beat you out of a bidding situation when you (and they) know that 99% of the money is going offshore."
1. where is the documentation for the allegation?
2. what relevance does it have to the question of which manufacture will offer a model in n-scale?
3. why do so many people use this forum as a bully pulpit?

[nkalanaga]

I liked the "improvements" in  that MSN report. 
"Among the improvements in the new locomotives are computers that can diagnose problems in real time and take corrective action and a braking system capable of generating 100 percent of the energy it uses back to the electric grid — similar to the way a hybrid automobile's motor acts as a generator when braking, according to Michael Cahill, CEO for Siemens Rail Systems. That could produce energy savings of up to $300 million over 20 years, the company estimates."

Regenerative braking is a new idea?  GE built it into the MILW's motors almost a century ago, and claimed that was the first use of it.  Maybe Siemens needs to read some history - or patent applications.

[Robbman]

HE called it an improvement, not a new idea no?  A 25kV AC to AC regenerative system that can operate on 25hz and 60hz is quite a technical challenge... a far cry from the 3000V straight DC motors the MILW used... and any of the AC rectified to DC and back regenerative motors any other US road used.

[nkalanaga]

Actually, the GN had AC to DC motors with regenerative braking in the late 20s.  But they didn't use rectifiers, instead using rotary converters, just like the MILW.  The GN put one in each unit, and they'd pass current in either direction equally well.  Theirs was 11KV, 25HZ, the same as the PRR, but simply by changing the transformers it would work just as well on 25KV, and a 3-way rotary converter wouldn't be impractical.  Heavy, but not mechanically difficult. 

However, I'll agree with you that if you want a rectifier system, or a lightweight locomotive, it is a technical challenge.

[Robbman]

Actually, the GN had AC to DC motors with regenerative braking in the late 20s.  But they didn't use rectifiers, instead using rotary converters, just like the MILW.

I know... VGN and others had the same... motor-generators.

[nkalanaga]

Yep.  They may have been "old-fashioned", but MGs still had advantages over rectifiers.  For a freight unit, in the mountains, the weight was a plus, and dynamic brakes were almost automatic.  The MILW put them in a lineside building, as rotary converters, and the AC roads in the motors, as MGs, but the technology was identical.

If they'd had the money, MILW should have bought the GN's retired motors.  Changing the MGs wouldn't have been hard, and they'd have had proven heavy-haul power.

[GP38-2freak]

For modeling I think it would be the easiest way to start with a model of a "Vectron", europes newest electric locomotive.
It is made by Hobbytrain/Lemke (http://www.1zu160.net/neues/news.php?id=1561&start=4)
The head end would have to be rebuilt but as you can see the pantographs and the wheelbase are the same as on the new AMTK units.
Another unit as starting point could be a Fleischmann BR 152 (http://www.bahnbilder.de/bilder/br-152-243684.jpg), look and imagine

Have a nice week

Tim

[ljudice]

The Cities sprinter is the US version of the Eurosprinter - the body differences are due to the MUCH stricter safety and crash worthiness regulations in the US. These are derived from the German 182 and the Austrian 1116 - pretty much the state of the art in electric locomotives and a good direction for Amtrak to take in the US.

Since the NEC is just never going to support super fast trains (too old, curvy, cities, tunnels, yards, etc...)  its too bad Amtrak wasted it's time and money with the many failures of the TGV technology here - instead of focusing on fast, frequent, reliable technology and service.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

http://www.reynaulds.com/products/Arnold/2093.aspx

And whoever does models of them will be STUPID not to offer an Amtrak version.