I normally don’t make a comment about this but Holy crap this video took off. I do already have a good audience, but me waking up to gaining 20 subs overnight and this video reaching 2.2 K just like that is nothing to scoff at for a channel like mine. So I just wanna say Thanks for the support and to all you new peeps, I hope you stick around :)
I will, thanks for bringing the Surf Line to life for us new subs. The first time I ever saw a Pacific Surfliner set was back in the 2010s while a TH-camr who films trains in Florida came to tour the US and Fullerton was one of those stops & I just so happened to be around there.
I still remember when the Surfliner Cars started operating in the spring of 2000. At the time only a couple train sets were all Surfliners. The rest were Superliners mixed in with those then new California (Cali) Cars, Amfleets mixed with Horizon Fleets, and Metrolink Octagons.
@@michlo3393 Amtrak NEC gets funded by the feds, the Surfliner is funded by California. Tell your reps to give it more funding so they can do the improvements people have been pushing for
This video is sensationalism. Telling caltrans to pick a lane is hilarious. The electrification between San Jose and SF was because caltrans has part ownership of the track. All of the surfliner’s track is owned by UP beyond Moorpark. You can’t electrify that system without the permission of UP, which they would never agree upon. The Surfliner is not cooked… some chargers are out with maintenance. Bad luck with cab cars and having to bring in different trainsets doesn’t mean the service is at jeopardy. There’s a plethora of diesel power Amtrak can dispatch to Southern California. It doesn’t matter if 4 different locos are being used, just look at metra. Also, battery electric trainsets aren’t even in the conversation…. It’s great that the surfliner’s ridership is requiring the extra help instead of just cancelling trains.
As a temporary measure, is it possible to acquire Caltrain equipment to operate this service? They are currently getting rid of them so, why not? Would be a good stop gap until the chargers can be fixed at least.
It’s time for California to buy 425-450 cars to make 26 new 7-8 car sets for surfliner, 21 5 car sets for Capital corridor and 21 6 car sets for San Joaquin The surfliner cars are 20-25 years old and the California cars are 30-35 We’ve also been always short on rolling stock
@@Bimanbangladeshflight60 Electric would be fine as long as they put up wires and don't try to do it with battery trains. Stadler KISS trains set up for inter-city would probably work great.
Sam, I might got a theory. Maybe, they would return the times where F59PHIs were on Surfliner. Maybe, that nostalga would happen for a short time with CDTX 2007 being on the Surfliner, and also the moment the NorCal sets helped too, which makes the helping out service CDTX 2007 as the F59PHI, all NorCal Bi-Level cars that operate on Surfliner, and the rolling stock that was there when CDTX 2052 and 2051 operated the Surfliner, and CDTX 8309 would be up in SoCal…, but NorCal is doing extremely better than SoCal
@@TheAmtrakSpartan Keep in mind, one of the 2 dash 8s are missing a generator and could both not entirely return to passenger service as much as I know rn.
The WSDOT SC 44s in the Cascades pool are working perfectly besides 1402 which was destroyed in 2017. The SC 44s are quite reliable on Cascades service and was part of the OG order of Chargers. However we don't have enough Chargers around because there is always a trainset with a P42 due to an extra trainset needed to get the 2 extra daily round trips. However we have 2 more Chargers on the way with the Venture trainsets. Our equipment up in the Cascades service is showing its age. The Horizon cars are rough riding and have frequent mechanical problems. The 2 Talgo Series 8 are showing their age even though they're only abt 10 yrs old. The seats are uncomfortable and the fabric on the seats and floor are fraying and have lots of stains. I hope they get a refresh to match the interior of the Venture trains when they get delivered. Also the Talgo Cab Cars are extremely dirty and the Mount Jefferson trainset has a damaged nose. The Mount Bachelor cab is not painted around the plow area and just white which is an eyesore. Also NPCU 90250 has a severely damaged nose (like 90208) from hitting a truck a year ago and hasn't been fixed. Trains can't go get serviced often bc they're running all the time with the shortage of equipment. It sucks seeing the Chargers and Cab Cars in such a bad state on Pacific Surfliner service. Sending Caltrain's F40's isa good idea but they have to be prime mover has to be destroyed bc of a contract with Caltrans when the Stadler Kiss are in full service. Otherwise they have to be upgraded to Tier 4 standards. This also applies to F40's and F59's from Metrolink and Coaster too
I love how every single rail system in the US seemingly is just half broken all the time because we can't be arsed to actually invest in making them work. At least LOSSAN is working on moving the alignment off the bluff in Del Mar so they don't wind up with an unexpected spur line to Rapture, but who the fuck knows when that's going to be finished.
They should do a rebuild program for a few Dash-8s to make them epa compliant and have them running full time on the Surfliner 👌 not likely but it would be cool especially if they gave them heritage paint schemes
@@RobRepass-l9g yes. 90225 and 90215 were being ran on the Surfliner but they are not F40s anymore. They are NPCUs coming from the San Joaquins route. The F40s I was talking about were actual F40s painted for the Surfliner. They were kind of like our special units for the route. Up north, they have the 2051 and 2052 P32-8s. We had the F40s. They got sold in the early 2000s.
@@jmrgg3669I guessing a similar situation like in the Amtrak Midwest. Idk, I hope Caltrans spends more money fixing the problems then blowing away the money with battery powered trains
Also, there's really nowhere left to go. Seattle has fallen and I avoid LA like the plague! Maybe 20 years ago traveling up the coast by train was a thing, but today I would rather fly or drive.
Perhaps NCTD can lend a couple of its engines to Amtrak. They only need the extras on Comic-Con weekend. Perhaps convert some ex-Caltrain diesel engines into NPCUs?
Heck right now just send some of the newly "retired" F40s from CalTrain to Amtrak California, don't even need to convert them into cab cars. Or pull a NEC and just use mothballed HHP-8s as "cab cars", pretty sure those HHP-8 cab cars are not modified at all and would take power if you raised the pantos and closed the MCB.
@@mrvwbug4423 unfortunately Caltrain can’t help, part of the grant money for their EMUs banks on them permanently disabling the outgoing motive power, so when Caltrain donates/sells off their F40s, they will not be operational
You also have to know that the Alstom Surfliner Cars/Cab Control Cars are almost 24 years old too. Also, the PTC can be a huge part of the blame I think since it can be causing a lot of the problems in the equipment. I feel like the SC-44 Chargers would be working a lot more without PTC. Also, I highly doubt they would get the venture cars for a while. Now there is only 3 cabcars out since they put AMTK 6907 on a consist with CDTX 2122 yesterday.
Yet Metrolink, BNSF, UPRR and CalTrain all use the same PTC system (I-ETMS) without issue. An ETCS system would be less complex, but WabTech has so far been very successful in using lawsuits to keep ETCS out of the US, even though it's an open source system that WabTech themselves could build if they wanted to.
@@sebastianmunera5470 Not sure how the San Joaqin Ventures will hold up, but the Midwest ones are apparently not holding up well. Hopefully this doesn't bode badly for the Airo Venture sets. Ironically the Brightline Ventures apparently are holding up fine.
I mean I would love for Amtrak to bite the bullet and get some of these vintage passenger units out of retirement for a bit until they get this Motive Power situation straightened out
Was waiting for Surfliner (586) in San Diego during comic con and from LA to SD and they were 2 hours late. Why? A air hose came lose and had to be jimmy rigged to work. And by the time they showed up literally 20 mins later, 790 showed up and we all had to get on 790. Luckily I have a brother in law that runs Chief, name dropped him and got to sit in the conductors area and take a nap down there.
It's still so weird to see those "Comets" that aren't really Comets on the opposite coast and 20 years after NJ Transit got rid of them. They were actually built as Arrow I's, ancestors of the Arrow IIIs and Silverliner IVs that are still hanging around on NJT and SEPTA. They had their motors removed during a rebuild in the '80s and reclassed as "Comet 1B" despite having very little in common with the actual Comet series. If you want to see actual Comet cars on Amtrak the Horizon fleet is basically that.
If they need extra locomotives CalTrain is retiring a bunch of F40PHs that already have I-ETMS installed. Those should probably work fine for a temporary capacity increase until new rolling stock arrives.
I agree that seeing a Dash-8 pulling Comet commuter cars--and where is the lounge and Pacific Parlor car service?--shows that Amtrak California is scraping the bottom of the barrel.
They got to think of replacements for the surfliner coaches it can’t be the Siemens venture coaches the Lossan agency rejected those coaches they got to think of something new
@@shopdog831 Salt just fucked your F59s up big time! NorCal’s F59s are definitely aging, but haven’t aged as quickly as Surfliner’s. Can’t believe how many F59 rescue trains I’ve seen this summer LOL
Why didn’t yall keep your F59phi’s?! I mean over here in Northern California (Capitol Corridor/San Joaquin Trains) We still have all of our F59phi’s, and the new chargers Edit: Surfliner does not deserve this😭
Given that the Surfliner route is hundreds of miles long, it needs a top speed of at least 90 MPH, and the equipment doesn't have time to recharge after a run, don't worry about anything exotic being used to pull the Surfliner.
For the cost of battery trains they could string up wires and run Stadler EMUs on the route. Stadler's backlog is also not as bad as Siemens backlog. The KISS can be configured for inter city, they use em for inter city routes in Europe all the time. And buying F125s from EMD won't help, Metrolink has certainly had their own share of troubles with the F125s.
@@christianmac5244 yep it’s real, I heard it is genuinely in the pipeline for them to do the same to Cascades and Surfliner But that’s not 100% certain
Great video dude! Unfortunately there is no way to get amfleet or horizon coaches from Chicago since they themselves are extremely thin on equipment. Even with the Ventures running on most routes, there are barely any extra cars. At this point, Surfliner is left with their sets and the comets. Im sure Caltrans will keep them down here for longer than initially planned.
This is the problem when Amtrak put all their eggs into one basket with Siemens, the backlog for new rolling stock is immense. The ventures are also falling apart already on Midwest.
@@mrvwbug4423 I read the Venture Cars had other issues, Handrails breaking when passengers tried to get on/off, lead in the water, seats being uncomfortable, and the cars themselves are downright heavy.....
The creator is just a bad creator! He’s very biased because he wants the old engines instead engines that the rest of the world uses. But remember most of issues are Amtrak’s fault by purposely sabotaging the chargers with inproper maintenance.
If you don't mind not being able to go over 70mph. Maybe EMD/Progress Rail should make a tier 4 passenger locomotive using the SD70ACe-T4 engine instead of the Caterpillar engine.
I hear ya, F3's and F7's are my favorites too. but those haven't been used on San Diegans since the Mid 70's. All have been scraped/sold off or retired,
Given the recent events with the Surfliners dilemmas, a bizarre hodgepodge of rolling stock might be coming to the Surfliner. As for the age of the fleet, a new bi level design should be built soon. However given the amount of manufacturers there are right now.. I doubt that will happen anytime soon with how backed up with orders Alstom & Siemens or others are at the moment.
Maybe Hyundai-Rotem can make some inter-city spec bi-level cars, I doubt their backlog is as bad as Alstom or Siemens. I know Alstom has a massive backlog on bi-levels and CEM cab cars with like 90% of that going to Go Transit.
You do make a good point. I forgot that Hyundai Rotem still exists. Whether or not they are still in the market for US rail manufacturing is another question.
How funny is it to see equipment manufactured in the 70s-90s like the dash 8s and the F40PH now NPCUs helping the railroad survive because the new equipment keeps breaking. The funniest part about it is the chargers were supposed to replace them and now their replacing the chargers for the time being 😂
@@anthonyangelici2963 watch them loan the F59s from metra... And the funniest part about it is the paint would still match the passenger cars since metra left the surfliner paint on most the F59s and made the cascade ones look like surfliners
Long overdue. String up wires, get some inter-city configured Stadler KISS EMUs and call it good. Maybe get some line upgrades while they're at it to get the speeds up to at least 110mph
@@PowerTrain611 Well our Cargo engineers drive up to 9 hours and and they can do it too, so why shouldn't you Americans get it too. And it's too dangerous to go to the toilet while driving. In my opinion.
Chargers (of all breeds) are some of the worst (1st taken by battery electrics) locomotives ever to exist, the F7's were beautiful. I have always hated the chargers and most likely hate all of Siemen's and Bomardiar's work.
with the issues at san juan capistrano, train service is already danger of becoming seasonal service with having to use buses during the rain season between santa ana and san diego.
How about when those cab cars were locomotives? I remember when the F 40 was new. Boxy. But new. Also bullet proof reliable. Caltrain is only now beginning to retire some of them. Think about that. Rugged rough daily commute service hard start and stop and repeat over and over for what 40 years? Getting the HINT SURFLINER?
Well a bunch of those F40s are about to be looking for new homes. Perhaps Amtrak California could get some of the outgoing CalTrain F40s at least for temporary use. Only potential hitch is brake compatibility as the CalTrain F40s use lapped brakes instead of automatic brakes.
Let's just replace the trains rather than expand the train network. California Big Brain thinking. There are no supplements, the is no increased outreach or demand but there's plenty of solutions that are proving to be extremely short term. They're bullying the railroads into trashing old equipment yet they can't be bothered to rebuild anything to Tier 4 (something North Carolina proved can be done) or do a better job of taking cars of the freeways which would see an exponential drop in all these emissions problems.
Bruh, it’s 2024, other countries are succeeding with trains! We’re the only country that’s so damn broke we can’t even afford regular awesome trains like other countries, Jesus!
An F7 with the EMD 567C would beat a teir 4 as it's 1500 hp and the cars are roller bearings and giving the analogs which is easier maintenance. Get the CF7 and rebuild them back as F7. Amtrak brass are at fault for laundering and embezzlement. Just like I will always criticizing Durango & Silverton on the oil conversion which will run the risk of loosing historic landmark protections and they never replied for 4 months via email and 2.5 months via traditional letters asking about my concerns on that very conversions.
Ok this is VERY out there BUT GO Transit electrification phase 1 is in tender right now. GO Transit has 91 diesel locomotives it will eventually be getting rid of... Perhaps one day GO transit locomotives will once again return to California lol (assuming GO gets enough electric locos to completely replace its diesel fleet before running them into the ground OR they don't decide to keep them around to supplement service expansion)
I don´t know what Siemens did´t with the Vectron platform in the US. I think they shoud used the MTU engine that we use in Europ for the Diesel Vectron. We in Germany had no Oil fire with that Engine, but you had a far bit of fires with the Cummins. But Battery electric Locos and EMUs are like NOTAMS a bunsh of Garbage.
Take those cab cars dig out the prime movers from whatever junkyard they went to do a relatively inexpensive rebuild rewire retraction motor and generator and look...another 20 years out of that carbody trucks and frame for a fraction of the cost of a new locomotive. OR maybe is ISNT the money after all ???
Just buy some "remanufactured" locos from MPI. The MP36s are all just upgraded F40PH guts stuffed into a modern carbody that meets FRA crash standards. The MP40s are the same thing just with tier 3 710G engines instead of 645F engines and rated at 4000hp. Maybe with enough demand MPI could build a tier 4 version MPXpress with the tier 4 GEVO engine (they've already done it with the HSP 46 albiet with a tier 3 GEVO engine).
I‘d say that battery trains are not that bad, in europe they are pretty much good. You can charge also when ur. moving (if it has overhead wire) so it can make sence
@@bahnnvids_nordwestschweiz but track electrification is a massive undertaking in the US (for some reason) and I would say without this the value prop of battery trains is much worse.
Buy back the demotored SPV-2000 cars ! They were use in Ct and leased out to amtrack many times in a pinch . Guy in NC bought a bunch at least a train set . One is used as a track geometry car in SF area .
Any locos or cab cars they use have to have I-ETMS installed, so can only really pull from other operators in California or Brightline (and I don't think Brightline is about to lease any locomotives to Amtrak, they have just enough to run their services as it is with several always being repaired from crash damage).
okay so hear me out on this okay? so... amtrak could start buying f125s that metrolink use. why I say this is because they have not broken down once! ( not that I know of)
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 79 | คู่เอก "ก้องชัย vs อาเมียร์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WfPSA1A0NHc/mqdefault.jpg)
I normally don’t make a comment about this but Holy crap this video took off. I do already have a good audience, but me waking up to gaining 20 subs overnight and this video reaching 2.2 K just like that is nothing to scoff at for a channel like mine. So I just wanna say Thanks for the support and to all you new peeps, I hope you stick around :)
Amtrak Amtrak Amtrak your cooked :)
I will, thanks for bringing the Surf Line to life for us new subs. The first time I ever saw a Pacific Surfliner set was back in the 2010s while a TH-camr who films trains in Florida came to tour the US and Fullerton was one of those stops & I just so happened to be around there.
I still remember when the Surfliner Cars started operating in the spring of 2000. At the time only a couple train sets were all Surfliners. The rest were Superliners mixed in with those then new California (Cali) Cars, Amfleets mixed with Horizon Fleets, and Metrolink Octagons.
"Those of you who were around when the cab cars were introduced are probably starting to feel old at this point" BRO 😭😭
Yeah unc
@@newyorkrailfanner8058 The first Surliner Cars appeared in April 2000, with the last ones being delivered in Fall 2002.
Funny how the second busiest Amtrak Corridor is suffering
Meanwhile, OG Acela sets: We're struggling as well but not as much.
"Corridor gets ALL of the money. Off corridor? fuck em."
- Amtrak
@@michlo3393 Amtrak NEC gets funded by the feds, the Surfliner is funded by California. Tell your reps to give it more funding so they can do the improvements people have been pushing for
@@michlo3393 yup
@@GamingRailfanner not surprised if Metrolink is taking over
As long as the Surfliner doesn’t go bankrupt, all’s well.
@@HunterWilliams-le9bk it never will since it always will be federally/state funded 😭💀
@@t0nyxldrRight. Everybody wants and needs the service, but nobody wants to fund it.
Amtrak is left to fight for itself…..
4:26 “battery-electric trains are inefficient, slow, and need to charge all the time”
*cries in MBTA battery trains orders*
There is 1 way to put this: Great for us, Bad for everybody else
Wouldnt be surprised if they finaggle their way into more superliners and potentially some amfleets from the midwest to have on backup
What about the Horizon cars in the Cascades or even in the Midwest?
@@jmrgg3669 Midwest makes sense, Cascades took all of ours during covid because of retiring the old talgos not working
all part of the plan to keep the legacy fleet rolling forever
That’s good.
This video is sensationalism. Telling caltrans to pick a lane is hilarious. The electrification between San Jose and SF was because caltrans has part ownership of the track. All of the surfliner’s track is owned by UP beyond Moorpark. You can’t electrify that system without the permission of UP, which they would never agree upon. The Surfliner is not cooked… some chargers are out with maintenance. Bad luck with cab cars and having to bring in different trainsets doesn’t mean the service is at jeopardy. There’s a plethora of diesel power Amtrak can dispatch to Southern California. It doesn’t matter if 4 different locos are being used, just look at metra. Also, battery electric trainsets aren’t even in the conversation…. It’s great that the surfliner’s ridership is requiring the extra help instead of just cancelling trains.
As a temporary measure, is it possible to acquire Caltrain equipment to operate this service? They are currently getting rid of them so, why not? Would be a good stop gap until the chargers can be fixed at least.
@@rikipondi makes too much sense. Amtrak would never go go for it.
It’s time for California to buy 425-450 cars to make 26 new 7-8 car sets for surfliner, 21 5 car sets for Capital corridor and 21 6 car sets for San Joaquin
The surfliner cars are 20-25 years old and the California cars are 30-35
We’ve also been always short on rolling stock
Pull a Metrolink and start leasing BNSF Dash 9s.
Even better, pull a C&NW and just lease/buy second-hand equipment.
@@jmrgg3669Amtrak needs to take a closer look at what Metra SD70MACH purchase is doing for their agency 🤔
I would rather die on a metrolink train than rather ride a electric train on the surfliner💀😭🙏🪽
@@Bimanbangladeshflight60 Electric would be fine as long as they put up wires and don't try to do it with battery trains. Stadler KISS trains set up for inter-city would probably work great.
@@Pensyfan19 Dash 9s don’t have HEP generators.
It's nice seeing the Dash-8 locomotives again. And the Comet coaches.
Capitol Corridor & San Joaquins: 😎
Facts
Me at Merced station: Noice we got no issues rn.
@@TracksideSam Yes
@@TracksideSam Yep. Our NorCal routes have been big chilling 😎
(Minus 8313 but hopefully it’s rebuilt eventually)
Sam, I might got a theory. Maybe, they would return the times where F59PHIs were on Surfliner. Maybe, that nostalga would happen for a short time with CDTX 2007 being on the Surfliner, and also the moment the NorCal sets helped too, which makes the helping out service CDTX 2007 as the F59PHI, all NorCal Bi-Level cars that operate on Surfliner, and the rolling stock that was there when CDTX 2052 and 2051 operated the Surfliner, and CDTX 8309 would be up in SoCal…, but NorCal is doing extremely better than SoCal
@@TheAmtrakSpartan Keep in mind, one of the 2 dash 8s are missing a generator and could both not entirely return to passenger service as much as I know rn.
The WSDOT SC 44s in the Cascades pool are working perfectly besides 1402 which was destroyed in 2017. The SC 44s are quite reliable on Cascades service and was part of the OG order of Chargers. However we don't have enough Chargers around because there is always a trainset with a P42 due to an extra trainset needed to get the 2 extra daily round trips. However we have 2 more Chargers on the way with the Venture trainsets. Our equipment up in the Cascades service is showing its age. The Horizon cars are rough riding and have frequent mechanical problems. The 2 Talgo Series 8 are showing their age even though they're only abt 10 yrs old. The seats are uncomfortable and the fabric on the seats and floor are fraying and have lots of stains. I hope they get a refresh to match the interior of the Venture trains when they get delivered. Also the Talgo Cab Cars are extremely dirty and the Mount Jefferson trainset has a damaged nose. The Mount Bachelor cab is not painted around the plow area and just white which is an eyesore. Also NPCU 90250 has a severely damaged nose (like 90208) from hitting a truck a year ago and hasn't been fixed. Trains can't go get serviced often bc they're running all the time with the shortage of equipment. It sucks seeing the Chargers and Cab Cars in such a bad state on Pacific Surfliner service. Sending Caltrain's F40's isa good idea but they have to be prime mover has to be destroyed bc of a contract with Caltrans when the Stadler Kiss are in full service. Otherwise they have to be upgraded to Tier 4 standards. This also applies to F40's and F59's from Metrolink and Coaster too
Funnily enough I rode behind a Charger in 2019 to Seattle. Never had issues once.
Siemens stuff breaking down and being unreliable?
Yep sounds about right.
I love how every single rail system in the US seemingly is just half broken all the time because we can't be arsed to actually invest in making them work. At least LOSSAN is working on moving the alignment off the bluff in Del Mar so they don't wind up with an unexpected spur line to Rapture, but who the fuck knows when that's going to be finished.
They should do a rebuild program for a few Dash-8s to make them epa compliant and have them running full time on the Surfliner 👌 not likely but it would be cool especially if they gave them heritage paint schemes
Bring back the Surfliner F40s.
Yes I miss them! Those are the REAL Surfliner Engines. Not those damn SC-44’s!!!!
@@anthonyangelici2963 make a complaint to Music City Star.
@@AmtrakNerd42 they ran some recently they were not Surfliner themed but they were F40’s
@@RobRepass-l9g yes. 90225 and 90215 were being ran on the Surfliner but they are not F40s anymore. They are NPCUs coming from the San Joaquins route. The F40s I was talking about were actual F40s painted for the Surfliner. They were kind of like our special units for the route. Up north, they have the 2051 and 2052 P32-8s. We had the F40s. They got sold in the early 2000s.
Before the F59PHI’s, the San Diegans had F40PH’s in Phase III….
One can only hope and pray 90406 gets sent over there to help
Welp, I hope Caltrans does something to resolve these issues, otherwise we’re doomed
How about cooler temperatures in the summer for California in the future?
@@jmrgg3669I guessing a similar situation like in the Amtrak Midwest. Idk, I hope Caltrans spends more money fixing the problems then blowing away the money with battery powered trains
@@crazyrailfan Even worse, trying to make those battery-eletric EMUs into the San Joaquins (currently on an order.)
Things sure won't get better for Caltrans unless it starts to figure out why so much of its rolling stock keeps failing.
Also, there's really nowhere left to go. Seattle has fallen and I avoid LA like the plague! Maybe 20 years ago traveling up the coast by train was a thing, but today I would rather fly or drive.
Alc42’s aren’t any better. They break down daily. Freight units are regularly on the point of trains.
Perhaps NCTD can lend a couple of its engines to Amtrak. They only need the extras on Comic-Con weekend. Perhaps convert some ex-Caltrain diesel engines into NPCUs?
Heck right now just send some of the newly "retired" F40s from CalTrain to Amtrak California, don't even need to convert them into cab cars. Or pull a NEC and just use mothballed HHP-8s as "cab cars", pretty sure those HHP-8 cab cars are not modified at all and would take power if you raised the pantos and closed the MCB.
@@mrvwbug4423 unfortunately Caltrain can’t help, part of the grant money for their EMUs banks on them permanently disabling the outgoing motive power, so when Caltrain donates/sells off their F40s, they will not be operational
ROFLMAO, "53 had a very nice conversation with a semi-truck"
OMG 😂🤣😂🤣 I'm dying.
I just saw an old caltrain cabbage on the Surfliner filling in the cab car roal on tonights service
We're going to see some cal trains equipment slide down here in the next few months
Well, the F59PHIs on the Surfliner are now on Metra, at least they are in Chicago.
You also have to know that the Alstom Surfliner Cars/Cab Control Cars are almost 24 years old too. Also, the PTC can be a huge part of the blame I think since it can be causing a lot of the problems in the equipment. I feel like the SC-44 Chargers would be working a lot more without PTC. Also, I highly doubt they would get the venture cars for a while. Now there is only 3 cabcars out since they put AMTK 6907 on a consist with CDTX 2122 yesterday.
Yet Metrolink, BNSF, UPRR and CalTrain all use the same PTC system (I-ETMS) without issue. An ETCS system would be less complex, but WabTech has so far been very successful in using lawsuits to keep ETCS out of the US, even though it's an open source system that WabTech themselves could build if they wanted to.
The lossan agency rejected the Siemens venture coaches
@@sebastianmunera5470 well that’s a shocker
@@sebastianmunera5470 Not sure how the San Joaqin Ventures will hold up, but the Midwest ones are apparently not holding up well. Hopefully this doesn't bode badly for the Airo Venture sets. Ironically the Brightline Ventures apparently are holding up fine.
I mean I would love for Amtrak to bite the bullet and get some of these vintage passenger units out of retirement for a bit until they get this Motive Power situation straightened out
Motive Power Intl: "You know where we are if you ever need locomotives that don't break."
From where???
Was waiting for Surfliner (586) in San Diego during comic con and from LA to SD and they were 2 hours late. Why? A air hose came lose and had to be jimmy rigged to work. And by the time they showed up literally 20 mins later, 790 showed up and we all had to get on 790. Luckily I have a brother in law that runs Chief, name dropped him and got to sit in the conductors area and take a nap down there.
Solution: 1,000,000 Budd RDCs
We desperately need the Blue/Grey EMD F59PHI’s back!!!!
There not coming back Metra has them
I don't blame you.
Also, some of them are now in their lightning bolt paint scheme
@@chessiecat619 They need to contact Metra to lease some F59’s on the Surfline, cuz they are super great, way better than the sc44 chargers.
@@jmrgg3669 where
i think the first mistake yall made was selling the 59s
guess Caltrain will be keeping their MP36’s and bombardier cars longer if Battery Trains are inefficient since they ordered one Battery Train 😜😜😂
It's still so weird to see those "Comets" that aren't really Comets on the opposite coast and 20 years after NJ Transit got rid of them. They were actually built as Arrow I's, ancestors of the Arrow IIIs and Silverliner IVs that are still hanging around on NJT and SEPTA. They had their motors removed during a rebuild in the '80s and reclassed as "Comet 1B" despite having very little in common with the actual Comet series. If you want to see actual Comet cars on Amtrak the Horizon fleet is basically that.
If they need extra locomotives CalTrain is retiring a bunch of F40PHs that already have I-ETMS installed. Those should probably work fine for a temporary capacity increase until new rolling stock arrives.
Um, Comets? Ah well, least you tried 5008. 0:40
It wasn’t my image lol. I wanted to fix it but I’m too lazy
@@Official5008Creations it's alright, I'll just draw 25 cards now.
I agree that seeing a Dash-8 pulling Comet commuter cars--and where is the lounge and Pacific Parlor car service?--shows that Amtrak California is scraping the bottom of the barrel.
They got to think of replacements for the surfliner coaches it can’t be the Siemens venture coaches the Lossan agency rejected those coaches they got to think of something new
Surfliner III Cars....
Retiring the F59PHI's was a bad decision apparently
The f59’s literally had hols rusted throughly the chassis’s with peices falling off. There where totally life expired
@@shopdog831 Salt just fucked your F59s up big time! NorCal’s F59s are definitely aging, but haven’t aged as quickly as Surfliner’s. Can’t believe how many F59 rescue trains I’ve seen this summer LOL
@@vzetrah5915Exactly. Rebuilding our F59s was an excellent option and they are still extremely reliable
They also lost their “side skirts” towards the end……
SC-44 breaks down. Here comes an F59PHI to the rescue!
Nah bro 4:36 “I would rather have a freaking F7 lead a surfliner” Hits soooooo goddam hard💀😭🙏🪽
I see my picture of 2118 with the oil stains down the side made its way here somehow...
Why didn’t yall keep your F59phi’s?!
I mean over here in Northern California (Capitol Corridor/San Joaquin Trains) We still have all of our F59phi’s, and the new chargers
Edit: Surfliner does not deserve this😭
@@The_BayAreaRailfan Surfliner just wants tier 4 units only, NorCal has Tier 2 F59 which still run very well compared to the 2000s.
Given that the Surfliner route is hundreds of miles long, it needs a top speed of at least 90 MPH, and the equipment doesn't have time to recharge after a run, don't worry about anything exotic being used to pull the Surfliner.
For the cost of battery trains they could string up wires and run Stadler EMUs on the route. Stadler's backlog is also not as bad as Siemens backlog. The KISS can be configured for inter city, they use em for inter city routes in Europe all the time. And buying F125s from EMD won't help, Metrolink has certainly had their own share of troubles with the F125s.
3:10 is that real are they really transitioning them to ALC42 specs?
@@christianmac5244 yep it’s real, I heard it is genuinely in the pipeline for them to do the same to Cascades and Surfliner But that’s not 100% certain
Reminds me of the story of Richard Ankrom, where he fixed a freeway sign because Caltrans wouldn’t.
Santa Fe 3751 is available and is equipped with PTC. Just sayin'
At this point can we bring back the F59PHIs
The Caltrans ones at least.....
@@anthonyangelici2963 no I want the ones that were in the surfliner with the surfliner paint scheme
Great video dude! Unfortunately there is no way to get amfleet or horizon coaches from Chicago since they themselves are extremely thin on equipment.
Even with the Ventures running on most routes, there are barely any extra cars.
At this point, Surfliner is left with their sets and the comets. Im sure Caltrans will keep them down here for longer than initially planned.
This is the problem when Amtrak put all their eggs into one basket with Siemens, the backlog for new rolling stock is immense. The ventures are also falling apart already on Midwest.
As a train buff, seeing the current rolling stock/motive power issue Amtrak has just “depresses me”…..
@@mrvwbug4423 I read the Venture Cars had other issues, Handrails breaking when passengers tried to get on/off, lead in the water, seats being uncomfortable, and the cars themselves are downright heavy.....
Rebuilt SC-44 becomes the ARC-42 or SC-42 or just "New" Chorgers.
The creator is just a bad creator! He’s very biased because he wants the old engines instead engines that the rest of the world uses. But remember most of issues are Amtrak’s fault by purposely sabotaging the chargers with inproper maintenance.
SD70MACHs seem to be working out pretty well for Metra....
If you don't mind not being able to go over 70mph. Maybe EMD/Progress Rail should make a tier 4 passenger locomotive using the SD70ACe-T4 engine instead of the Caterpillar engine.
with caltrain retiring their diesel fleets they may need to buy some of their locomotives to rebuild and use on the surfliners and san joaquins
Yes at least until the motive power fleet gets sorted out.....
I mean, I’d love an F7 leading, at least they’re reliable…
I hear ya, F3's and F7's are my favorites too. but those haven't been used on San Diegans since the Mid 70's. All have been scraped/sold off or retired,
Given the recent events with the Surfliners dilemmas, a bizarre hodgepodge of rolling stock might be coming to the Surfliner. As for the age of the fleet, a new bi level design should be built soon.
However given the amount of manufacturers there are right now.. I doubt that will happen anytime soon with how backed up with orders Alstom & Siemens or others are at the moment.
Maybe Hyundai-Rotem can make some inter-city spec bi-level cars, I doubt their backlog is as bad as Alstom or Siemens. I know Alstom has a massive backlog on bi-levels and CEM cab cars with like 90% of that going to Go Transit.
You do make a good point. I forgot that Hyundai Rotem still exists. Whether or not they are still in the market for US rail manufacturing is another question.
How funny is it to see equipment manufactured in the 70s-90s like the dash 8s and the F40PH now NPCUs helping the railroad survive because the new equipment keeps breaking. The funniest part about it is the chargers were supposed to replace them and now their replacing the chargers for the time being 😂
Yeah, completely unreal.
SC-44 breaks down. Here comes an F59PHI to the rescue!
@@anthonyangelici2963 watch them loan the F59s from metra... And the funniest part about it is the paint would still match the passenger cars since metra left the surfliner paint on most the F59s and made the cascade ones look like surfliners
I won't lie, before watching this video, I thought you were about to go on about the Erosion problems that the Surfliner has been having.
Where did you finds the photos of the modified Midwest Chargers?
They were spread around online. There was also a shot of 4626 with its nose torn off at PLS during early modification.
4:21 nononononoonnoonononono we can’t let this happen
I’m just gonna say it
ITS TIME TO ELECTRIFY THE SURFLINER
Long overdue. String up wires, get some inter-city configured Stadler KISS EMUs and call it good. Maybe get some line upgrades while they're at it to get the speeds up to at least 110mph
Also need more grade separations and better at-grade safety measures for the issues for collisions
That's US rail in general
The fact that the Chargers don't even have heated bathrooms and the toilets freeze over is not very convincing of a reliable unit.
Guess Siemens didn’t have enough money or room for a receptacle….
Who needs a bathroom on a Loco?
Well, gee, maybe the crew?
@@Br-bs1xe US trains go LONG DISTANCES. Like one of our passenger trains travels the route of your entire country.
Could YOU hold it that long?
@@PowerTrain611 Well our Cargo engineers drive up to 9 hours and and they can do it too, so why shouldn't you Americans get it too. And it's too dangerous to go to the toilet while driving. In my opinion.
4:40 Why ride behind a F7? ✨USE METROLINK!✨ToTaLlY nOt DeAdLy.😂
Chargers (of all breeds) are some of the worst (1st taken by battery electrics) locomotives ever to exist, the F7's were beautiful. I have always hated the chargers and most likely hate all of Siemen's and Bomardiar's work.
My jaw dropped after seeing the SC44 and ALC hybrids.
with the issues at san juan capistrano, train service is already danger of becoming seasonal service with having to use buses during the rain season between santa ana and san diego.
How about when those cab cars were locomotives? I remember when the F 40 was new. Boxy. But new. Also bullet proof reliable. Caltrain is only now beginning to retire some of them. Think about that. Rugged rough daily commute service hard start and stop and repeat over and over for what 40 years? Getting the HINT SURFLINER?
Well a bunch of those F40s are about to be looking for new homes. Perhaps Amtrak California could get some of the outgoing CalTrain F40s at least for temporary use. Only potential hitch is brake compatibility as the CalTrain F40s use lapped brakes instead of automatic brakes.
Let's just replace the trains rather than expand the train network. California Big Brain thinking.
There are no supplements, the is no increased outreach or demand but there's plenty of solutions that are proving to be extremely short term. They're bullying the railroads into trashing old equipment yet they can't be bothered to rebuild anything to Tier 4 (something North Carolina proved can be done) or do a better job of taking cars of the freeways which would see an exponential drop in all these emissions problems.
San Joaquin county’s AMTRAK’s doing fine as far as I can tell
I really hope they get an ALCO PA diesel locomotive.
Why couldn’t have I been in San Diego when this equipment was out on the line??? 😭😭😭
The help amtrak out is to get rid of the ppl that pushed low carb emissions
The issues with chargers is a bunch of lies! they work like any other locomotives! they have troublesome times and they have good times!
@@IronHorsefan1869 How much did Siemens pay you for this comment? They’re junk.
Bruh, it’s 2024, other countries are succeeding with trains! We’re the only country that’s so damn broke we can’t even afford regular awesome trains like other countries, Jesus!
An F7 with the EMD 567C would beat a teir 4 as it's 1500 hp and the cars are roller bearings and giving the analogs which is easier maintenance. Get the CF7 and rebuild them back as F7. Amtrak brass are at fault for laundering and embezzlement. Just like I will always criticizing Durango & Silverton on the oil conversion which will run the risk of loosing historic landmark protections and they never replied for 4 months via email and 2.5 months via traditional letters asking about my concerns on that very conversions.
Naw yall just don't take care of shit not to be rude. The norcal chargers are perfectly fine which were in the same order.
If they are “perfectly fine” then why are they banned from San Joaquins service on days over 90 degrees due to overheating problems?
This is why amtrak system wide is basically in high gear to repair stored equipment old and new and reactive old locomotives and wreck repairs
NorCal railfans casually waiting for this to happen with the Capital Corridors
Caltrain has some diesel locomotives that aren't needed for their service anymore
Ok this is VERY out there BUT GO Transit electrification phase 1 is in tender right now. GO Transit has 91 diesel locomotives it will eventually be getting rid of... Perhaps one day GO transit locomotives will once again return to California lol (assuming GO gets enough electric locos to completely replace its diesel fleet before running them into the ground OR they don't decide to keep them around to supplement service expansion)
Great video buddy I didn't know Amtrak was in trouble
Just get some castoff 40-2s or Geeps and put a HEP in there. Mission accomplished 😂
I'm new to the channel but I see you're based in San Diego. Lot's of shots of Old Town Station and Sorrento Valley and the I-5 corridor.
They're still using Siemens DMUs. I think it time for them to start running double or tripple heading Siemens sprinters
Dearest Caltrain, I hear you have some MP36PH's that you're not doing anything with let's make a deal
I don´t know what Siemens did´t with the Vectron platform in the US.
I think they shoud used the MTU engine that we use in Europ for the Diesel Vectron.
We in Germany had no Oil fire with that Engine, but you had a far bit of fires with the Cummins.
But Battery electric Locos and EMUs are like NOTAMS a bunsh of Garbage.
The good thing about this was that we saw Dash 8’s and F40’s again
Surely Amtrak could draft in more P32s, many of which are sitting idle or just me ing cars about !
Take those cab cars dig out the prime movers from whatever junkyard they went to do a relatively inexpensive rebuild rewire retraction motor and generator and look...another 20 years out of that carbody trucks and frame for a fraction of the cost of a new locomotive. OR maybe is ISNT the money after all ???
Just buy some "remanufactured" locos from MPI. The MP36s are all just upgraded F40PH guts stuffed into a modern carbody that meets FRA crash standards. The MP40s are the same thing just with tier 3 710G engines instead of 645F engines and rated at 4000hp. Maybe with enough demand MPI could build a tier 4 version MPXpress with the tier 4 GEVO engine (they've already done it with the HSP 46 albiet with a tier 3 GEVO engine).
I‘d say that battery trains are not that bad, in europe they are pretty much good. You can charge also when ur. moving (if it has overhead wire) so it can make sence
@@bahnnvids_nordwestschweiz but track electrification is a massive undertaking in the US (for some reason) and I would say without this the value prop of battery trains is much worse.
Why not take the newer Caltrain diesel engines temporarily?
A Baldwin locomotive would probably be better than battery electric locomotives
OH NO Were Losing Cab Cars Ik They Are Old But Lets Hope Caltrans Can Fix Them
I was around when the GeVo was just released
Buy back the demotored SPV-2000 cars !
They were use in Ct and leased out to amtrack many times in a pinch .
Guy in NC bought a bunch at least a train set .
One is used as a track geometry car in SF area .
Any locos or cab cars they use have to have I-ETMS installed, so can only really pull from other operators in California or Brightline (and I don't think Brightline is about to lease any locomotives to Amtrak, they have just enough to run their services as it is with several always being repaired from crash damage).
I work for Amtrak. I can't even get them to see sense on the new Acela's interior lol
okay so hear me out on this okay? so... amtrak could start buying f125s that metrolink use. why I say this is because they have not broken down once! ( not that I know of)
Surfliner My Favorite Now in trouble
The quality of equipment is garbage nowadays cars trucks trains etc
Remember ... Amtrak doesn't own the surfliner's equipment. California does.