LA Metrolink's New Coaches

[mrpete]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_15011142?source=most_emailed&nclick_check=1

[orionvii2680]

Those are verry nice looking rail cars.

[WayneNYC]

Those are verry nice looking rail cars.

Agreed!  They look really good (and huge).  I think the graphics are a nice touch. 

[Tristan]

First time I've ever seen a cab car (in America) with any sort of nose, instead of just the flat end of a traditional railcar.  I wonder if an aerodynamic nose would save any fuel?

[rideonrulez]

I think they look great! But having a nose like that on your cab cars takes away flexibility. Ask BART how that worked for them....

[WMATAGMOAGH]

There are actually quite a few push-pull trains on railroads in other places that have the distinct nose on their cab cars, and seem to get by fine.  They have two types of trains like that here in Israel, and also there is at least one type of train in Italy that is the same way.  It appears as if the Metrolink train has a coupler on the head end of the cab car, and European railraods frequently couple trainsets to each other.  However, no one can pass between train sections around where the cab car is, obviously.  These trains often travel together part of the way on a trip, and then split, with each half of the train being given a separate train number (i.e. when I took the Thalys from Paris to Brussels, there were two trainsets coupled together, one half of the train terminated in Brussles, the other half continued to Amsterdam, and some passengers who were going to the Netherlands who boarded the wrong half of the train in Paris had to make a mad dash to the other half of the train when it got to Brussels to avoid being left there).  Can anyone think of a US railroad that typically puts its cab cars in the middle of trains?  From what I know about push-pull trains in Europe and Israel, many trains are semi-permanently or permanently coupled into trainsets, so the cab car doesn't ever wind up in the middle of the train. 

[mrpete]

It's also possible that the nose serves as a crash buffer when leading the train; note the set-back of the cab from the end of the car.

[79MetroExtraMD]

It's also possible that the nose serves as a crash buffer when leading the train; note the set-back of the cab from the end of the car.

I think that might be the case after those two Metrolink crashes in the past couple of years.

[rideonrulez]

  It appears as if the Metrolink train has a coupler on the head end of the cab car, and European railraods frequently couple trainsets to each other.  However, no one can pass between train sections around where the cab car is, obviously.

    Oren, I'm not blind. I can see the couplers. My point was you can't walk through if they needed to add cars without shuffling around the equipment. In BART's later orders they went without the slanted nose that they had on the original design so obviously it did'nt work out to well for them.     

Can anyone think of a US railroad that typically puts its cab cars in the middle of trains?  From what I know about push-pull trains in Europe and Israel, many trains are semi-permanently or permanently coupled into trainsets, so the cab car doesn't ever wind up in the middle of the train.   

    Well Metra does it all the time.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

  It appears as if the Metrolink train has a coupler on the head end of the cab car, and European railraods frequently couple trainsets to each other.  However, no one can pass between train sections around where the cab car is, obviously.

    Oren, I'm not blind. I can see the couplers. My point was you can't walk through if they needed to add cars without shuffling around the equipment. In BART's later orders they went without the slanted nose that they had on the original design so obviously it did'nt work out to well for them.     

Can anyone think of a US railroad that typically puts its cab cars in the middle of trains?  From what I know about push-pull trains in Europe and Israel, many trains are semi-permanently or permanently coupled into trainsets, so the cab car doesn't ever wind up in the middle of the train.   

    Well Metra does it all the time.

Chris, thanks for the info on Metra putting the cab cars in the middle of consists, I wasn't aware of anyone engaging in that practice in the US on a regular basis.  Does any other system do this on a regular basis?  I feel as if most systems only order enough cab cars to only have them on the end of the trains (i.e. I don't think VRE has enough cab cars to put them in the middle of trainsets with any sort of regularity), but I could be wrong.

[Tritransit Area]

  It appears as if the Metrolink train has a coupler on the head end of the cab car, and European railraods frequently couple trainsets to each other.  However, no one can pass between train sections around where the cab car is, obviously.

    Oren, I'm not blind. I can see the couplers. My point was you can't walk through if they needed to add cars without shuffling around the equipment. In BART's later orders they went without the slanted nose that they had on the original design so obviously it did'nt work out to well for them.     

Can anyone think of a US railroad that typically puts its cab cars in the middle of trains?  From what I know about push-pull trains in Europe and Israel, many trains are semi-permanently or permanently coupled into trainsets, so the cab car doesn't ever wind up in the middle of the train.   

    Well Metra does it all the time.

Chris, thanks for the info on Metra putting the cab cars in the middle of consists, I wasn't aware of anyone engaging in that practice in the US on a regular basis.  Does any other system do this on a regular basis?  I feel as if most systems only order enough cab cars to only have them on the end of the trains (i.e. I don't think VRE has enough cab cars to put them in the middle of trainsets with any sort of regularity), but I could be wrong.

Oren, SEPTA does this as well.  In fact, the Comet I set has an additional cab car in the consist.  I believe I also saw car #2409, a cab car, in the middle of a train as well.  It's really depends on what cars are available to make up a train, I guess.