Amtrak Cascades - Rolling Stock

Rolling Stock

The Amtrak Cascades is painted in a special scheme. The train is normally operated in a push-pull configuration with an EMD F59PHI at one end, a 12 or 13 car Talgo-built trainset, and an unpowered EMD F40PH locomotive called a Non-Powered Control Unit (NPCU) on the other end used as a cab car. The NPCU contains a concrete weight to meet FRA weight requirements for collision safety as well as regulations for crash safety for the Talgo cars, which are not FRA crash-rated.

Most of the Talgo sets are serviced in Seattle, but major repairs are done in Los Angeles' Amtrak 8th St. Coach Yard and the Redondo Junction. On some occasions, you can see a Cascades engine on the Coast Starlight heading down to LA.

The NPCUs in Cascades service are different from those Amtrak has converted in the past. Earlier versions, operating in several other Amtrak corridors, are sometimes called “cabbage cars” because they serve as both a cab control car and a baggage car. In "cabbage cars", the engine of the locomotive is removed and the empty space is utilized as baggage space, with roll-up baggage doors in the carbody sides. The Cascades NPCUs have some baggage room features, but since the Talgo sets include a baggage car, the NPCUs in Cascades service retain their original engine-access doors. Unusually, the Talgo baggage cars feature hooks for roll-on bicycle transport; most other Amtrak services require bicycles to be boxed.

This stripped locomotive still contains controls in the cab so it can be used as a cab control car when the train is going southbound, and the powered F59PHI becomes a pusher from the rear. When traveling north the train is operated from the cab of the powered F59PHI or in some cases a GE P42DC unit. The NPCUs have five-digit numbers (i.e., #90253) rather than the powered F59PHI’s three-digit numbers. Each NPCU's number directly corresponds to its number when it had its prime mover, in that the previous number had the prefix 90- added to it when the F40PH was de-motored. In 2008, Amtrak Cascades unit 90230 (NPCU and former F40PH #230) was switched with a Phase V painted NPCU numbered 90278. This NPCU is different from those dedicated to the Cascades service because of its 2 roll-up baggage doors and its absence of a cement weight inside. The inside of NPCU 90278 was meant to hold baggage but has gone unused since it began serving the Cascades. Talgo baggage cars have been made to hold baggage themselves rendering 90278's inside useless. The F59PHI's assigned to Cascades service are numbers 465-470. In rare occasions, a consist will have two powered locomotives on each side or have no cab car at the other end of the train. Amtrak has also instituted more regular use of the GE P42-9DC locomotive in Cascades service, including runs with a P42 on each end instead of the normal locomotive/cab car configuration. Amtrak's earlier GE P32-8BWH diesel locomotive has also appeared in occasional Cascades service.

File:The passenger cars themselves are produced by Talgo, the only cars by that company currently in operation in the United States. These cars are designed to passively tilt into curves, allowing the train to pass through them at higher speeds. Despite a maximum design speed of 124 mph (200 km/h), current track and safety requirements limit the train's speed to 79 mph (127 km/h), although a $781 million work is currently underway for the Cascades route which will allow them to operate at speeds up to 110 mph (177 km/h).

The Talgo trainset is articulated – each passenger car in the Talgo set shares a single pair of wheels with the next, such that they cannot be uncoupled without lifting one car onto a support. This design can also reduce jackknife in a derailment.

A typical train consists of a baggage car; two business-class coaches; one lounge/dining car; one cafe car (also known as the Bistro car); six standard coaches; and one service car.

Four of the five trainsets are named after a mountain in the Cascade Range: Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood. The last set is named after Mt. Olympus, in the Olympic Range.

One of the five sets currently in service, the Mt. Adams set was originally built as a demonstrator and for potential service between Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas, Nevada. This was built with two additional standard coaches, for a total of 14 cars. It operated on the Seattle-Vancouver, B.C. run for several years in its original configuration. It was also originally painted in a different color scheme, using blue, black and silver instead of the green, brown and cream found on the other sets.

A six-car spare set, including a baggage car, service car, lounge-dining car, cafe car and two standard coaches, was also built. The two additional coaches from the fifth trainset and the two coaches from the spare set were placed in service on four of the other sets, resulting in four 13-car trains and one 12-car train.

Fins on the baggage and service cars serve only as an aesthetic transition from the high top of the American-built locomotives to the roof of the low-slung European-designed passenger cars.

During 2012, two further Talgo trainsets, owned by Oregon Department of Transport, are due to enter traffic to enable further expansion of services. These trainsets differ from the original five by having cab cars integrated into the set, therefore not requiring the use of F40PH NPCU units.