Amtrak - Siemens issues - mostly MI videos

[~Z~]

Guy made this video with commentary about the unreliability of Siemens locos and cars as of late. Quite a few Michigan locations seen throughout. Most of you agree with the commentary of the failures involving the new cars?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IszS8dtdc8w

[David Collins]

First off, this guy did a great job on the commentary, so kudos to him.

Siemens made lots of mistakes in designing the charger, particularly that massive square radiator on both sides of it. What the hell were the engineering guys thinking when they decided to put that there?! It's common sense, keep things out of the elements, and that radiator allows an open door for snow, rain, etc to get in and mess things up mechanically. I know the chargers are shorter than the P40's/P42's and F59PHi's, but there's gotta be other ways to do it.

An engineer once told me that the charger is too reliant on the HEP for it's controls. From what I've been told, when something goes wrong with the HEP, next to nothing works in the cab. This isn't an issue on the genesis units. He also mentioned that the horsepower/weight ratio is so out of whack that the engines are known to have wheel slip problems.

The venture cars also have their fair share of issues too, lead in the water, issues with handrails, they're VERY heavy, and, the big one, conductors aren't able to open the doors and spot the cars on the platform. For right now, Amtrak hasn't had to worry with that issue as the amfleets and the horizons are still being used as café cars (or as substitutes for ventures), but when the new bistro cars come and Amtrak takes the amfleets/horizons off, they're going to either have to put signs on the platform for the engineer to see for spotting, or some feature that allows the conductor to open the door while the train is still moving.

Now, you can say that the cars/SC44's are state owned, this is the states' problem, and Amtrak doesn't own them. Amtrak operates and maintains these cars/locomotives, and siemens built them, it should be siemens getting the blame here for poor reliability. We'll have to see what the next steps are from here.

[Schteinkuh]

The venture cars also have their fair share of issues too, lead in the water, issues with handrails, they're VERY heavy, and, the big one, conductors aren't able to open the doors and spot the cars on the platform.

I wouldn't want to spot the train from a venture car when the handrails are known to snap off, maybe they DID think of safety and disabled it! (not)

The video was alright, but I was a little optimistic he was going to find something that most didn't already know. One of these days I hope Wendover does a video on the issue and finds discrepencies in the financial paperwork or something (it's pitchfork time). Talking about the issues and listing them off is one thing, but I think it's important not to forget the core issues within Amtrak and MDOT themselves that have brought us to this point. Midwest passenger rail (at Superintendent positions and above) is being held captive by people who just give enough of a crap to take the paycheck and go home. Siemens and Amtrak aren't using experienced railroaders to help design their equipment, they're just taking their euro designs and changing them only as much as they have to in order to follow the rules. Hell, if the GR swing bridge gets closed for flooding again they're talking about just cancelling the trains! God forbid if Amtrak management has to use their brains for a couple hours. There was once a time when railroads proudly unveiled their new equipment with fanfare in front of media, but when Amtrak tried that with the ALC42, the PTC said "get f***ed" and then the HEP set the lounge car on fire. The Chargers have a real knack for setting things on fire. Ever wonder why you haven't seen NPCUs on the PM since like 2018? Well, spoiler alert.

It's not uncommon to hear many among the passenger rail industry hypothesize that someone, somewhere at Amtrak, is making kickbacks from this. Surely after the winter of 2018, no competent organization would have enough stockholm's syndrome to continue getting effed by their supplier. Before I hear "there's no other options", just remember that the F125 exists and we haven't heard a peep about their issues since their first year or so. Additionally, other manufacturers did bid, but Siemens bullied Amtrak into the long distance contract (and the Aero sets) by refusing to provide quality maintenance on the existing equipment if they shopped elsewhere. Siemens was always reluctant to provide error code services and other maintenance due to the fact that "Amtrak isn't our customer, the states are". Hearing that made me chuckle because see: ACS64. Hopefully Metra's 70MAC project goes well, they were smart to steer clear of Siemens after watching the nightmares unfold from across the tracks at CUS. The things I hear from the inside of Amtrak and Siemens make me wonder if it's all bound to be a Netflix documentary before long, and god d*mnit it should be, maybe someone will give a crap for once.

[David Collins]

...The things I hear from the inside of Amtrak and Siemens make me wonder if it's all bound to be a Netflix documentary before long, and god d*mnit it should be, maybe someone will give a crap for once.

In my opinion, it's not if, but when.

By the way, glad to see that you brought up the F125 in your post. Does anyone other than metrolink have orders for them?

[PatAzo]

particularly that massive square radiator on both sides of it. What the hell were the engineering guys thinking when they decided to put that there?!

Drawing on the Vectron locomotive platform. The European dual mode locomotive has a similar large opening.