Amtrak through Dexter

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chapmaja
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Amtrak through Dexter

Unread post by chapmaja »

Amtrak just came through Dexter, but it wasn't a normal train. Labeled as 350 on track a train, this has 4613 and 4608 leading, then a mash up of 10 cars. Sounds like a combined train. Could this have anything to do with the pedestrain tresspasser issue yesterday?

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~Z~
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Re: Amtrak through Dexter

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Has an "A" on the symbol on the ASM site. Not positive what that means though...only one other train on Amtrak's system shows that "A" on it.
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Re: Amtrak through Dexter

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chapmaja wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:31 pm
Amtrak just came through Dexter, but it wasn't a normal train. Labeled as 350 on track a train, this has 4613 and 4608 leading, then a mash up of 10 cars. Sounds like a combined train. Could this have anything to do with the pedestrain tresspasser issue yesterday?
Nope, inspection train. Like the third one this year.

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Re: Amtrak through Dexter

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~Z~ wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:36 pm
Has an "A" on the symbol on the ASM site. Not positive what that means though...only one other train on Amtrak's system shows that "A" on it.
I've been noticing letters lately on the symbols and wondered what they were for. No explanation on that site as far as I can tell.
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Re: Amtrak through Dexter

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Maybe, Administrative??, just a shot in the dark.

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Re: Amtrak through Dexter

Unread post by chapmaja »

Does anyone know if a specific engine is normally assigned to a specific train? I would assume the trains normally have the same engine unless it is out of service for maintenance reasons, given the way Amtrak does resource management. The trains are not normally broken down between trips, only cleaned and restocked.

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Re: Amtrak through Dexter

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chapmaja wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 2:22 pm
Does anyone know if a specific engine is normally assigned to a specific train? I would assume the trains normally have the same engine unless it is out of service for maintenance reasons, given the way Amtrak does resource management. The trains are not normally broken down between trips, only cleaned and restocked.
Individual locomotives are not assigned to an individual train, but generally there is a pool for the Michigan Line. There used to be a pool of P42's that had ITCS. Presently I do not know if there is necessarily a pool of Midwest chargers as I think I may have read that all of the midwest ones were coming with PTC/ ITCS due to it being used in Michigan and Illinois. I have also noted it is a little harder to note the locomotive numbers on the chargers due to their small size on the nose when compared to the P42's having larger numbers on the flank.
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Saturnalia
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Re: Amtrak through Dexter

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~Z~ wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:36 pm
Has an "A" on the symbol on the ASM site. Not positive what that means though...only one other train on Amtrak's system shows that "A" on it.
The "A" and "V" tiny letters on transitdocs shows up on trains close to the US/Canadian Border to indicate whether they belong to Amtrak or Via, since some numbers are duplicated. A obviously indicates Amtrak, V for Via. So that train is close enough for it to show up.
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Re: Amtrak through Dexter

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NS3322 wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 1:31 pm
chapmaja wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:31 pm
Amtrak just came through Dexter, but it wasn't a normal train. Labeled as 350 on track a train, this has 4613 and 4608 leading, then a mash up of 10 cars. Sounds like a combined train. Could this have anything to do with the pedestrain tresspasser issue yesterday?
Nope, inspection train. Like the third one this year.
Would they normally combine the inspection train and a normal train into one trip? The inspection train would explain the cars on the second half of the train, plus the dual power at the front, but it is still odd they would combine trains unless it was a deadhead move of the inspection train.

Did Amtrak run an inspection train from Pontiac to Chicago later in the day or in the subsequent days? Did anyone see the inspection train sitting in Pontiac or Willow Run yard?

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Re: Amtrak through Dexter

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chapmaja wrote:
Sat Nov 19, 2022 8:00 am
NS3322 wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 1:31 pm
chapmaja wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:31 pm
Amtrak just came through Dexter, but it wasn't a normal train. Labeled as 350 on track a train, this has 4613 and 4608 leading, then a mash up of 10 cars. Sounds like a combined train. Could this have anything to do with the pedestrain tresspasser issue yesterday?
Nope, inspection train. Like the third one this year.
Would they normally combine the inspection train and a normal train into one trip? The inspection train would explain the cars on the second half of the train, plus the dual power at the front, but it is still odd they would combine trains unless it was a deadhead move of the inspection train.

Did Amtrak run an inspection train from Pontiac to Chicago later in the day or in the subsequent days? Did anyone see the inspection train sitting in Pontiac or Willow Run yard?
Inspection trains are often simply attached to the rear of revenue trains per the plan. Saves crews and doesn’t hurt anything so just makes sense.
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