In fairness to Amtrak, they SPECIFIED their requirements to Siemens. They told Siemens going in exactly what their norm was, how hard they pushed their engines, and what they expected them to do. From what I've heard, Siemens basically assumed that Amtrak was exaggerating to get something over-built out of excessive caution. Nope. Supposedly, the problems on the Empire Builder occurred because Siemens didn't believe that it could actually get that cold up there. Its really not fair to blame Amtrak and co. when they have a limited budget for maintenance, and specifically noted their needs ahead of time only to be dismissed by Siemens.
Also the fact that Amtrak follows standard maintenance practices along with the chargers and ventures being much more reliable these days, I feel as though more fingers should be pointed at siemens than Amtrak.
Gotta love the arrogance of the Germans. When Chrysler was designing the Dodge Viper, they contracted with Getrag to make the transmission, specifying it be able to survive repeated 5,000 rpm clutch-dumps behind an 8L V10 with 12-inch tires. The Germans thought that was silly and designed a prototype transmission that was optimized to delicately snick-snick up to Autobahn speeds. It immediately failed durability testing. Chrysler then switched the contract to BorgWarner in the US, who designed the T56. The Germans design everything on the assumption that it will be maintained like a commercial aircraft. Given perfect care and feeding, their stuff works great. But good lord...
Great to see another video stating why once again, Brightline is the single greatest thing to exist since sliced bread. I also heard that in addition to the amazing maintenance practices that you mentioned in this video, Brightline also had enough money to go with different contractors for the internal components of the Ventire coaches. Because Amtrak has much less funding, they had to settle on different contractors who built Venture coaches that had mechanical flaws including but not limited to: stiff and uncomfy seats, stairs and doors that won't open, lead in the sinkwater, and my personal favorite, table magnets that completely boot and crash laptops.
Amtrak's Venture coaches are so different due to federal funding triggering Buy America rules. 70% has to be domestically sourced, which means a new supply chain has to be developed. Brightline's Ventures likely contain more European-made parts.
Got a few things wrong. First off, the lead in water pipes was caused by a subcontractor *hired by Siemens* using lead solder instead of non lead solder. Second, like the water pipes, the magnet and door issues were caused by a combination of subcontractors hired by siemens and Siemens themselves. Not to mention I wouldn't call a corporation that union busts the "greatest thing since sliced bread."
With the pre emissions 7FDL. We have the same problems with our trucks. The pre emissions macks clatter away all night. The current emissions Cummins can handle it, but they have to be watched like a hawk. The first generation emissions trucks, MaxxForces, are in the shop, constantly. Cummins (and CAT, for the EMD units) make fantastic engines, but you can’t take your eyes off of them.
This sure was a good but unique video that answered my questions regarding the Siemens equipment and how only Brightline is the one not having any issues. Tbt, I do still feel like Siemens might've not been the best choice for Amtrak unless they took the matainance seriously, but seeing they are a big thing in Germany I can understand a number of reasons as to why they were chosen over another company. If there's one thing I will say that I knew about before watching this, is that the future will be tough for Amtrak when it comes time to replace their genesis roster, amfleets, among other ruling stock for when they get the rest of their orders from Siemens the next few years.
Siemens does make diesel locos in other markets, but they use MTU engines on the diesel Vectrons. The diesel Vectron which the Charger is loosely based on also puts out barely 3000hp. They don't run mile long freight trains in Europe and even the modest by US standards 3200hp of the British class 66 is considered a beast of a diesel loco in Europe. The closest Europe has to a Charger or F125 is the British class 68 which is built by Stadler and uses the CAT C175 engine in 16 cylinder form with 3600hp (and sounds absolutely amazing).
Do you have a source for like most of the stuff you said lol? New equipment, like the chargers, despite their growing pains, have higher reliability than their predecessors. Also, Amtrak midwest hasnt had issues with the charger prime movers, its been with the dynamic braking equipment. Hell any source would be nice, being that you make it sound like engines automatically shutting off after 20 minutes isn't *standard* in the US...
In fairness to Amtrak, they SPECIFIED their requirements to Siemens. They told Siemens going in exactly what their norm was, how hard they pushed their engines, and what they expected them to do. From what I've heard, Siemens basically assumed that Amtrak was exaggerating to get something over-built out of excessive caution. Nope. Supposedly, the problems on the Empire Builder occurred because Siemens didn't believe that it could actually get that cold up there.
Its really not fair to blame Amtrak and co. when they have a limited budget for maintenance, and specifically noted their needs ahead of time only to be dismissed by Siemens.
Also the fact that Amtrak follows standard maintenance practices along with the chargers and ventures being much more reliable these days, I feel as though more fingers should be pointed at siemens than Amtrak.
Gotta love the arrogance of the Germans. When Chrysler was designing the Dodge Viper, they contracted with Getrag to make the transmission, specifying it be able to survive repeated 5,000 rpm clutch-dumps behind an 8L V10 with 12-inch tires. The Germans thought that was silly and designed a prototype transmission that was optimized to delicately snick-snick up to Autobahn speeds. It immediately failed durability testing. Chrysler then switched the contract to BorgWarner in the US, who designed the T56.
The Germans design everything on the assumption that it will be maintained like a commercial aircraft. Given perfect care and feeding, their stuff works great. But good lord...
Great to see another video stating why once again, Brightline is the single greatest thing to exist since sliced bread. I also heard that in addition to the amazing maintenance practices that you mentioned in this video, Brightline also had enough money to go with different contractors for the internal components of the Ventire coaches. Because Amtrak has much less funding, they had to settle on different contractors who built Venture coaches that had mechanical flaws including but not limited to: stiff and uncomfy seats, stairs and doors that won't open, lead in the sinkwater, and my personal favorite, table magnets that completely boot and crash laptops.
Amtrak's Venture coaches are so different due to federal funding triggering Buy America rules. 70% has to be domestically sourced, which means a new supply chain has to be developed. Brightline's Ventures likely contain more European-made parts.
Got a few things wrong. First off, the lead in water pipes was caused by a subcontractor *hired by Siemens* using lead solder instead of non lead solder. Second, like the water pipes, the magnet and door issues were caused by a combination of subcontractors hired by siemens and Siemens themselves. Not to mention I wouldn't call a corporation that union busts the "greatest thing since sliced bread."
Oh boy my favorite video, it’s almost like I’ve edited this masterpiece.
Moral of the story: Take care of your trains
In short, Amtrak operates the Siemens Chargers like how they operate the GE Genesis
With the pre emissions 7FDL. We have the same problems with our trucks. The pre emissions macks clatter away all night. The current emissions Cummins can handle it, but they have to be watched like a hawk. The first generation emissions trucks, MaxxForces, are in the shop, constantly.
Cummins (and CAT, for the EMD units) make fantastic engines, but you can’t take your eyes off of them.
This sure was a good but unique video that answered my questions regarding the Siemens equipment and how only Brightline is the one not having any issues. Tbt, I do still feel like Siemens might've not been the best choice for Amtrak unless they took the matainance seriously, but seeing they are a big thing in Germany I can understand a number of reasons as to why they were chosen over another company. If there's one thing I will say that I knew about before watching this, is that the future will be tough for Amtrak when it comes time to replace their genesis roster, amfleets, among other ruling stock for when they get the rest of their orders from Siemens the next few years.
30 minutes after Season 2 Episode 1 is crazy
Siemens does make diesel locos in other markets, but they use MTU engines on the diesel Vectrons. The diesel Vectron which the Charger is loosely based on also puts out barely 3000hp. They don't run mile long freight trains in Europe and even the modest by US standards 3200hp of the British class 66 is considered a beast of a diesel loco in Europe. The closest Europe has to a Charger or F125 is the British class 68 which is built by Stadler and uses the CAT C175 engine in 16 cylinder form with 3600hp (and sounds absolutely amazing).
Once on capitol corridor there was a bridge problem and the train was idling for 3+ hours and they didn't think to shut down the engine once!
As a brightline fan, I need to see this.
The anticipation is building
brightline finally getting some love.
also correction: the west palm beach maintenance facility
HES BACK!!
Why Are all the comments older than the video?
The elephant in the room: most of the Amtrak trains operate in cold weather conditions.
Why we don't have brightline in southern California 😢
Do you have a source for like most of the stuff you said lol? New equipment, like the chargers, despite their growing pains, have higher reliability than their predecessors. Also, Amtrak midwest hasnt had issues with the charger prime movers, its been with the dynamic braking equipment. Hell any source would be nice, being that you make it sound like engines automatically shutting off after 20 minutes isn't *standard* in the US...
This comment is older than the video
you must be so proud
this is why metra will still be using og F40's and anything made by EMD in 2060
Brightline is the best
Amtrak sucks!
Anotha one