NEW Amtrak Airo Car, Mexican HST, Brightline Orlando, California Stadler Trains | Railroad Quarterly

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

Could you imagine if Amtrak had the power of the US navy to enforce train priority? I think Mexico has the right idea here, even if those HSTs are going to end up with a very fun and cool red surprise interior redecorating the first time there's any sort of accident on the route.

[@carlose4314]

It would have to be the US Army and the Army Corp of Engineers that would have to enforce train priority.

[@CreightonRabs]

That would make for a massive Constitutional Crisis.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Typical Latin American authoritarianism and waste.

[@tonytins]

@@CreightonRabs Fair enough, but at least they're enforcing something. Unlike the FRA, which has barely any power.

[@Pensyfan19]

Great to see another episode of this series! Been a great past few months in railway news, and I can't wait to see what passenger services and rosters will show up in Mexico.

[@banksrail]

Facts!

[@gloria6229]

​@@banksrailI sure love #1871.

[@SleepTrain456]

I am also looking forward to seeing what trains will operate in Mexico! Thanks for the comment!

[@LJRailfan-Gamer_07.]

I forgive your choice to replace this month on the railroad with a brand new series. After so much depression thinking you abandoned the series, you decided to take your leap of faith and bring back the series with a new look.

[@MattS_Filmography]

The what?

[@thesquirrelthatwentupurass7920]

Omg the fact that that you included the railway of the Tehuantepec Isthmus made me so happy. Hopefully, you can cover The Mayan Train and the ongoing Mexican long-distance rail studies on This Year on The Railroad. Great video!!👍

[@rambunctiousmedia3350]

As a Californian, the Siemens Airo coaches for Amtrak and fuel cell Stadler FLIRTS for Altamont Corridor Express came as the biggest - pleasant - surprises from this video.

[@banksrail]

2:33 Man I’ve been excited for this one 🤩

[@TohaBgood2]

I wish the California services would also use the ALC-42 face of the Charger. That paint scheme looks genuinely pretty on those locomotives!

[@galaxyrailfanning7860]

Nice stuff! The new FIT Interoceanic Railroad also recently received two F59PH units from LTEX which were shipped as RXCX 18520 and RXCX 18522! 18520 was shipped in the nice blue, white, and black scheme while 18522 was shipped in primer!

[@MetroNorth203Productions]

What happened to 18522?

[@gemcofoamer]

Are those locomotives the ones that served metrolink?

[@galaxyrailfanning7860]

van nuys foamer- Yes they are! They are ex- LTEX 18520 and ex- LTEX 18522.

[@MrJimheeren]

The fact that Northern Ontario gets a NS looking scheme is quite ironic. Since it’s also the rail line that got the old TEE sets from the Amsterdam to Basel line Back in the 70s. A train that never quite worked in the freezing Canadian winter

[@GevoJoe]

Awwww. Was hoping you would mention our testing of the new venture cars on the San Joaquin line that go into service next week. We’ve been testing them for about three weeks Checking clearances and vibration issues. The first train will go into service next week and we pick up train set number two next week and we will not have to test it as extensively as the first train because we’ve already done the clearance testing. It will just make round-trip to Bakersfield and back And then swiftly put into service. The cab cars for set one and two will be added to the consists in April 2024. I’ve been the engineer on the majority of the test testing trains helping to expedite getting the cars accepted and moving so we can bring back our pre-Covid schedules.

[@TohaBgood2]

Hang on, dude! You're actually working on this? Can I quote you on this stuff? If you guys are actually putting them in service next week then that's big news! Let's gooooo! I've been waiting to take a few planned San Joaquins tourist trips until the Ventures are in service! I have a planned trip to Yosemite with a bunch of people to commemorate the introduction of the Ventures. Looking forward to the new trains!

[@wilfstor3078]

"One looks like a knockoff NS paint scheme, while the other looks like it's made to induce headaches" I thought the same thing about the first one, i live in Ontario so I'm honestly thinking of writing to the province about providing a 3rd option, which is to just bring back the old Northlander paint from the 80s, cause thats seemingly what these 2 paint jobs are "inspired" by

[@LucidStew]

Thanks for all the time it would have taken to research everything and put this together.

[@SleepTrain456]

Agreed!

[@MiaCollinsNeighborhood]

1:26 Salute to the legacy fleet 😢😢😢 I’m gonna cry!!!

[@himbourbanist]

it's been a really exciting year for passenger rail at every level in North America

[@jenniferteffner9907]

The FIT was never ex-Ferromex, it was ex-Ferrosur. It is also receiving more HST sets and has some Stadler Citylinks from the failed Puebla-Cholula tourist train.

[@wavesnbikes]

Only about a quarter of the FIT was former FSRR. SICT rescinded the concession for FSRR on that portion and Assigned it to FIT. Fun fact: FSRR still holds 0:05 trackage-rights onto Coatzacoalcos and as far south as Salina Cruz on the west coast.

[@jonathanj8303]

Do you know how many HST sets they are planning on? A lot seem to be being prepared for export, but apparently some are going to Nigeria too. I know the initial ship-load was 3x power cars and 11x coaches, and the numbering of the two power cars on test, 3007 and 3008 suggests there might be 8 or 9 in total at least.

[@usafflight1977]

5:19 Note, the CPKC AC44 rebuild is only cowled on one side, the other side has a normal walkway with a roof over it

[@SleepTrain456]

A half-cowl unit? That's quite unusual! Thanks for the information!

[@buildintotrains]

Awesome video! I think it would be worth mentioning the awesome CSX Holiday Express that recently traveled up from Waycross, GA to DC Union Station before heading back south again. It was an awesome sight with the lit up boxcars!

[@theautistictransitfan]

I really like this format, because there’s always gonna be a month at some point where nothing that interesting happens, and this basically ensures that the videos will stay entertaining

[@AndrewTheRocketCityRailfan4014]

I was always more of a New York. Enteral fan when it comes to the eastern US. That’s why I was so happy to hear Metro North finally making such a heritage unit

[@marka5478]

New York Central rocks! Two of my great-great uncles who worked the Toledo East Division were assigned to the Mercury after it was inaugurated.

[@raycooney7632]

Great video! First time I saw it and hope you many more.

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

I honestly wonder if the Mexican Amtrak becomes reality, what they will potentially name the Mexican Amtrak. Mextrak?

[@LJRailfan-Gamer_07.]

Good idea. After all, Amtrak was a combination between America and track. Let’s see if Mexico can get its own national rail passenger corporation like the USA and Canada.

[@TohaBgood2]

I would be on board with that. Now let's just bully them into also buying Siemens Ventures for their entire fleet like Amtrak and finish bullying VIA into fully upgrading to Siemens rolling stock as well. We could have a viable passenger rail network with good modern rolling stock continent-wide!

[@NorcalValleyRailfan]

Mexrail sounds better

[@SleepTrain456]

Good question!

[@danielcorona7532]

That train is called corredor interoceánico del istmo de Tehuantepec we also have the tren Maya Toluca CDMX train called el insurgente and 7 more lines that will start construction on 2024

[@SleepTrain456]

This is a good start to _Railroad_ _Quarterly!_ Now, I know about the first-ever CPKC-labeled locomotive, the possible paint schemes for the revived _Northlander,_ the first-built Airo car, and the Florida East Coast's new _Grupo_ _México_ paint scheme! Speaking of Mexico, I am looking forward to seeing how the Mexican passenger rail network develops in the coming months and years. After all, I think 2023-2024-with the creation of _Tren_ _Maya_ and the _Ferrocarril_ _del_ _Istmo_ _de_ _Tehuantepec,_ followed by the recent decree on passenger rail-will turn out to be as significant a time for Mexican passenger rail as the creation of Amtrak was for American passenger rail. I wonder what lines Ferromex, CPKC, or the Armed Forces of Mexico will operate next. For now, thanks for making this video!

[@Yeetabits]

It's really nice to see the class 43 (HST) Being used in other countries for passenger services they have done a great job here in the UK and are still in service here but only with a few operators!

[@MiaCollinsNeighborhood]

Hey there Sam! I love your new video, and I can say, it’s definitely right on track!

[@LucyLoud2002]

You forgot to mention that Siemens released renderings of their high speed train sets for the US. It's now being dubbed the American Pioneer 220.

[@SleepTrain456]

I learned about them from Pennsyfan19's video, and they look interesting! They will likely be used on Brightline West. Thanks for the comment!

[@LucyLoud2002]

The front nose of the train looks pretty bad unfortunately.

[@FlightAndTrack]

Your vids on this subject are amazing. Keep up the great work

[@greaterhoustonrailfan]

Something cool that not many people know about and wasn’t mentioned, UP is starting to rebuild their old C44-9Ws C41-8Ws, and C40-8Ws into C44ACM/AC44C6Ms

[@halfredp]

hell yes Mexico!

[@carllivingston169]

Well there's your problem, a podcast with slides (best to watch on youtube) has an entire episode to the new train in Mexico

[@lowellvillerailfanproductions]

What are your thoughts on the CSX Atlantic Coast Line Heritage Unit and the new "vandalized" heritage unit?

[@RaisedLetter]

4:20 me screaming out of my lungs "JUST ELECTRIFY THE LIIIIIIIINE!!!!"

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

Some foamers be like: “NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

[@nolantherailfan5048]

@@adventuresofamtrakcascades301yet they're fine with the northeast corridor

[@statelyelms]

Someday my region will be in Railroad Quarterly with some big rail development.. someday.. Great to see any news from Canada at least! Hope the Northlander goes with that first paint scheme. And that Mexico news is sure rapidly developing..

[@caltrain_acefoamer907]

Even though the Bart legacy fleets is “retired” from regular revenue service there are still several Legacy fleet sets around in service just in case if they’re short of fleet of the future sets

[@TheRailwayDrone]

Kinda surprised you didn't include the update from California's high speed railway project.

[@SleepTrain456]

What's the news from there? Because as a Californian, I'm interested!

[@TheRailwayDrone]

@@SleepTrain456 They released an update to things that have been completed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmXGpqCEgK9_m8U

[@clementbouvard8457]

Idk so much about American railroads but I'm happy that Mexico is getting serious about passenger rail. I hope it ultimately gives idea up north

[@TohaBgood2]

Yeah, Mexican passenger rail is at least three decades behind Amtrak and US passenger rail in general. Sometimes "America good", go figure.

[@retro_wizard]

4:35 Penn state ain’t the first! At BCIT they’ve got two (one to be retired) locomotives, track mobile, a small railyard and an assortment of boxcars for hands-on learning!

[@haydenstrains8169]

The FRA Corridor ID report was supposed to drop by the end of november. where is it, FRA?

[@Bigtflies321]

I saw a new Bart train car on a semi truck in central Illinois yesterday!

[@OscarMartinez-um6ss]

Well the Marylands commuter rail MARC also has the the bomabdiair cars

[@Josephcavagnaro]

2:42 I Hope they keep the new haven mcguiness scheme

[@SleepTrain456]

I hope so, too! After all, it would be interesting to see New Haven Chargers!

[@wavesnbikes]

FIT is what Ontario Northland is to Canada and what the Alaska Railroad is to the U.S. A social economic, region booster, except it hasnt reach Class 2 status. It does have potential, though.

[@HowardMessias-e8z]

Just pointing out the the "diminutive" British HST was the fastest diesel ever.

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

I am not ready for the Green Line Type 7s to be retired.

[@fastcsx1412]

I’m very curious about the Mexico train, so what exactly happen, this was an owned line by ferromix then a gang or what took over it? How did this happen? Or like what did they take over? Just the line locos to or what. And how did they get it back?

[@divisionpediatria4811]

I'll explain a little... Formerly, all the railroads were property of Mexico, however, in 1996, a president (I will not mention names) "gifted" all the railroads and railways to private companies, thus disappearing the passenger railroad... However, approximately a year ago, the current president of Mexico made several of these abandoned railway lines return to be part of the nation's heritage, however, although the "Itsmo de Tehuantepec" railway was completely in the abandonment in 1997, the company "Ferrosur" did not want to leave it in the hands of the government, so the navy and the army had to take it away the hard way, since by national decree all these railways would begin to be recovered...

[@owens.rail.videos]

He’s back

[@FishyAltFishy]

im so glad the green line train designs changed from that ugly thing to a much more normal looking design.

[@romanrat5613]

3:41 I would say options 2 and 3 and vastly superior to the original rendering. My preference is 3

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

I love option 3 too

[@jameskinglion]

Nothing on the MNTX 325 repaint and back dating the locomotive almost as built for the Great Northern

[@darksars3622]

I feel that the us'es railways are new fruntier as they are having so much new stuff

[@SleepTrain456]

I'm feeling the same thing!

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

This series should’ve been named Quarter on the Railroad, but I’m fine with Railroad Quarterly

[@gp40railfan44]

I heard NJ Transit isn’t getting those Multilevel EMUs because they don’t work or something.

[@alecsc]

where did you hear that?

[@gp40railfan44]

Transit workers.

[@alecsc]

@@gp40railfan44 Good to know, thanks.

[@RonMontagueSWRR]

Thanks for sharing.

[@PacificDev1995]

The new FEC scheme looks allot like the FXE's and kinda reminds me of metrolink colors

[@KDapple]

Surprised you didn’t mention the recent completion of the South Shore Line’s double tracking project which happened back in October. Though I don’t blame you considering how little publicity it generated in the first place

[@carstrainsandcrossings8639]

I think I like this new serious over the old one TBH

[@SamFindley-zt7mt]

The inported uk train is the BR class 43

[@Nikobobikotrains]

Cool, but you missed the American Freedom Train 250 announcment

[@wavesnbikes]

Adessia= New Comets? HawkerSiddeley (Bombardier) "GO Transit commuter bilevel" types discontinued?

[@lambo8961]

In additon: Baltimore MTA pulled all lightrail trains from service due to high voltage component issues and issues with the cables connecting cars being defective, causing six incidents of fires since November 2021 including an incident where one person was hurt on October 21st of this year. As a result, since yesterday (Dec. 8th) lightrail service is indefinitely suspended. Service may continue once MTA gets 8 or more cars in operating condition and to pass inspection but there is currently no timeline.

[@DH2906PRODUCTIONS]

Ns and Amtrak Tommorow will operate the Toys For Tots Train With NS locomotives 7034 & 7035. & Amtrak 108

[@rtrfan7398]

Nice! the RBMN SD40-2 is ex BN 7194/HLCX 7194/NS 3550. We saw the first CPKC locomotive! Still waiting for a locomotive to be repainted in the normal CPKC colors. I'm glad the HHP-8's are still around. I perfer the second design. It looks cool to me. And yes, the first one is a knockoff of the Dutch NS. I don't mind the CSX kept the nose in CSX colors but it would still be nice to have the whole thing painted. I agree the unofficial CSX heritage units are still vandalism.

[@sixfifty_sebb]

So will ACE be running the existing BBL and SC44 trains in the Sacramento-Merced line?

[@JermaniBurroughs]

No they’ll be getting The same trains Seen on the Trinity Metro & Arrow

[@richardcheese1010]

Interesting how many places are looking at fuel cell power. I feel like it would be simpler to just electrify more lines in America

[@coleallen3895]

I hope the Metra battery trainsets can be bilevel and hold just as many railcars as diesel trains do today

[@InevitableMe]

I wish they would just put in OHLE like sane people.

[@SleepTrain456]

@@InevitableMe Good point! After all, as WorldwideRailfan said in his video on battery-electric locomotives, Metra could have just put overhead lines over the Rock Island District, just as the Metra Electric District has been electrified! Thanks for the comment!

[@stationshunter]

The proud English person I would like to commend Mexico with it acquisition of HST Better than most American passenger trains. I hope a few more get shipped over to give them a some more longevit and with the class 43 at both ends no need to uncouple and run round.

[@danielcorona7532]

Check out the tren Maya it's about to start operating on December 15

[@thomasgray4188]

that train should be in a museum

[@stationshunter]

There are oldest stuff running all over the world that can't go a 125 miles an hour.

[@danielcorona7532]

@@thomasgray4188 so the usa trains most of them are older than the intercity 125

[@danielcorona7532]

@@stationshunter like which one?

[@TrainSounds]

I think SEPTA might get the multilevel EMU as well.

[@Mishastrains]

Cool vid also im a new subscriber

[@Boypogikami132]

Are we gonna forget the Amfleets the FIT locos were pulling?

[@ajjj4wood1]

Imagine if Siemens made a Mockup of the American Pioneer 220 At Washington or chicago Union station or maybe even in the WTC station

[@pacificostudios]

Personally, I look forward to riding the Amtrak Airo cars someday soon. I hear that the Airo's will replace the San Joaquin stock so they can move the existing California Cars to the Pacific Surfliner. Personally, I've already ridden California cars on both routes, but it will be a day when the entire California Car fleet is running up the coast.

[@MrMarshmallow26]

Airo sets won't replace the San Joaquin but they will still get Venture cars (Airo uses Venture cars, but is also a full train set for intercity routes in the east). But what San Joaquin is getting is pretty much Airo sets, just with SC-44s and SC-44-styled cabs.

[@pacificostudios]

@@MrMarshmallow26 - Thanks for clearing that up.

[@dancingwiththestars3778]

Metra Should be ordered 117 new Siemens Charger SC44 and 27 SC42MDS Same Number as F59phi #73-93 and F59 #94-99 another 28 new SC42 replaced mp36ph3c and f40

[@SleepTrain456]

Honestly, that's a much simpler solution than what Metra is currently doing, with their rebuilt locomotives and their battery trains!

[@MetroNorth203Productions]

For the last time. Metra should not rely on Siemens! In my opinion, it looks ugly and polluted a tiny bit of smoke, but not a lot since it’s diesel tier 4 engines.

[@tritiumlabs373]

Boston got the dark mode version of the new trams

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

5:56 😅

[@cyklebs7402]

Smash the spread!

[@thomasgray4188]

that hst is going to become a lot more comically small the second it gets into and kind of collision.

[@IronHorsefan1869]

I Disagree about your headache comment, I love seeing pink on locomotives and its for a good cause

[@mikereddy-x9f]

Brightline price structure needs revision to be competitive.

[@SteamboatWilley]

I wonder if the Mexicans will make full use of the Intercity 125's top speed? I suspect their track and infrastructure won't support 125mph running.

[@jonathanj8303]

I've seen reports that the maximum speed will be 80kmh (approx 50mph) but I don't know if that's actually true. It seems like a waste of the HST's capabilities, but I guess they were available at the right price. It might also mean that they intend to operate with only the leading car powered, but that's just a guess on my part.

[@tomedy_official]

1:11 OK the fastest Diesel locomotive in the world

[@Sleeper____1472]

I swear MNRR has more than 4 P32s

[@SleepTrain456]

Indeed it does! The Metro-North Railroad uses 31 P32AC-DM locomotives (201 to 231), but 4 of them (228-231, painted in NH paint) are owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. I hope this clarifies things!

[@Sleeper____1472]

@@SleepTrain456 Ah, so that's what he meant.

[@SleepTrain456]

@@Sleeper____1472 I'm glad I can help!

[@exerosis5758]

Metra metra metra, why the battery electrics :|

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

Ikr, Metra is literally so broke

[@saadqureshi7993]

Imma just hope the cartels don't harm our Class 43s

[@Ayden2008]

An American version of the HST? Mama Mia

[@Ayden2008]

Oh and I see bright line is doing what Amtrak is doing by buying new train sets to replace their old ones

[@MrMarshmallow26]

@@Ayden2008 Brightline never had "old" equipment... they always had Chargers and Venture cars.

[@tonytins]

Even Mexico is doing a better job with their own form of Amtrak than we are.

[@JermaniBurroughs]

And Even the Actual Amtrak Has 3 Electrified lines with having priority over Freight.

[@gdrriley420]

BART pulled them out of daily service they still run around as spares if needed. Brigthline runs at 110mph on the FEC for a while before dropping down to 80mph its 4 hydrogen flirts not 29. They will be tested network wide as the goals to prove they can work on a variety of services

[@StefanWithTrains]

And then they'll realise that they need to electrify.

[@TohaBgood2]

Nope. Brightline runs at 90 mph on the West Palm to Cocoa stretch. The top speed rating track on that stretch is 110 mph. But there are too many slow curves and even 20 mph draw bridges for them to run at 110 mph there. And it's not like this is new information. Everyone told you that they won't actually run at 110 mph through unprotected crossings and crappy draw bridges. This was never a thing. You've been fooled by Brightline's marketing, again. They get you guys every time. When will you learn that you can't trust a Florida real estate speculator that also runs a railroad on the side?

[@tonywalters7298]

@@TohaBgood2I think they are still certifying segments for 110 mph operations.

[@TohaBgood2]

@@tonywalters7298 Nope. They've already certified everything that they can. You saw the testing that they did. The reality is that you can't run trains at 110 mph there. There are too many slow curves, bridges, and crossings. And it's not like this is new information. Just because a section of track is rated to be able to run at 110 mph by the FRA does not mean that the trains will actually be able to safely get to that speed. They might find a few sections where they can go 95 or even 100 mph. But you will never see trains running on that FEC track at 110 mph. That's just not a thing. The right of way was never designed for those speeds 100+ years ago when it was built.

[@1chish]

Why is the size of the HST 'comical'? They are one of the most comfortable and fastest trains available. The HST (or 'InterCity 125' Class 430) still holds the world record as the fastest diesel powered train @ 148 MPH and they served the UK for over 40 years without fault. They will serve Mexico equally as well.

[@mbtaghost2583]

5:12 EWWWW 1200 looks ugly tbh

[@mathieufaltys]

When tax money is used, the public should have ownership.