This is what I love about east coast cities. Boston-New York-Philadelphia-Washington DC are all interconnected, and seem as 'one metropolis'. I always feel connected to these cities. Chicago and Miami are different. Even though Amtrak goes to those cities, they feel like excursions rather than jumping on a train with an hourly schedule.
Northeast Corridor, especially through NJ and Connecticut are the best places to watch different types of electrified train transport pass by at speed in the US... We had a friend of the family (retired now) that worked for years for the SEC, and his job constantly had him going back and forth from NYC to DC via Amtrak at least twice a week!
I’d assume it had something to do with the icy weather. High speed trains can get a loss of power up here in the north sometimes during extreme cold, so it just makes it a lot easier on the drivers.
From what I’ve heard from my friend studying the NORAC manual, one pantograph is used to de-ice the catenary while the other pantograph powers the train
I used to railfan there as a kid when the GG1's and Metroliners ran through there. Plus you'd see freight trains regularly. Brings back great memories, and also fun to see the newer trains run there.
So Cool! I love seeing those speeding Amtrak trains kick up snow during the winter ❄️🥶 Princeton Junction train station is a nice train station! I like that vicinity! It's awesome! 🙂 It gives me therapy! 🙂
I’d do this every year before I moved out of NJ. Whenever there was a heavy enough snowstorm, I’d go down to the station and just watch the trains fly by, pulling wisps of snow with them
We seriously need faster trains in the northeast corridor. A 280 mph Maglev train between Washington D.C, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston is long overdue.
The Sprinters with the Amfleets can do 125, the old Acelas can do 150, the new Acelas can do 165 (but will be able to do 187 with track upgrades), and the Sprinters with the Viewliners (sleepers with two sets of windows) and the Amfleets can only do 110.
Thin ice on contact wire, that prevents reliable current collection and leads to arcing between pantograph's contact shoe and contact wire. This greatly increases shoe and wire wear, and can cause a contact wire cutting with stopping srrvice for an hour and more. PRR had "Double pantograph" order for this weather. First pantograph breakes and cleans ice for better current collection by second photograph. Acela wins with its four(!!!) raised pantographs for one (train's onboard) 12 kV primary power circuit.
They aren't light rail. They are electric multiple units (EMUs) called Silverliners that were built in the mid 1960s. I guess the narrow oval windows were just the style back then.
I believe it’s because when these trains were built in the ‘70s, people throwing rocks at train windows was a big problem. That’s why these trains, along with the old Amfleet cars, have such small windows.
