New Alstom Acela Liberty trainset

Caught the first trip East of NYC of the new Acela in Wickford RI yesterday around 3:30. Will post pictures later. Testing today between Boston and Kingston RI.

She is pretty, the horn has to go, and the pans seem much higher than the traditional Acela.

Paul

@Railrunnin posted:

She is pretty, the horn has to go, and the pans seem much higher than the traditional Acela.

Paul

I took a look at the photos, but did not see the horn.  You must be referring to its sound.  Not the familiar Nathan K5 air horn we are used to on Amtrak?  

I hope it is not one of those awful European type air horns.

Tom, it is the horn, it is European, and it is a blemish on an otherwise fine looking consist. I'm not sure about the ride with the shared trucks between cars (like my Lionel M10000) - but we will find out soon enough.

Paul

Here are a couple of pics from the last two days, four different electrics on (or next to) the NEC in Rhode Island.

Highlighting the new girl on the block first,

She is replacing:

Currently running along with:

As they all pass those who polished the rails first:

All images taken in North Kingstown RI sept 28-29, 2020. Please do not copy.

Paul

Nice job with the photos.  That is interesting.

What will happen with the current Acela sets?

Paul -- thanks for the pictures.  I think, among other things, the shared bogies (Jacobs) improve the overall efficiency of the trainset.  We rode a similar trainset - also made by Alstom for the private rail, Italo - from Florence to Rome and the ride was very stable and smooth.  My writeup on that trip is here: Italian high-speed rail That particular leg of our multi-train trip through Italy was the fastest - speeds in excess of 150 mph (250 km/h) for more than half the 1.5 hour trip. 

One difference between the Amtrak version of that trainset and the Italo ETR 575 is that Amtrak still uses dedicated power cars at either end while for the Italo version Alstom distributes the power.  So the lead/trailing car is simply a 'cab' and the rest of the car is their Club-level seating.