35 years ago I was standing behind the engineer on a Metroliner train heading south from NYC to Washington. I looked at the digital speed display and asked if it was in metric. He responded by saying no it is on miles per hour. The display was 130! Moving right along.
Blimey, less than 30 seconds before barrier coming down and train coming. I live near a level crossing in Nth London and when the barrier comes down iv'e got time to walk home and cook Sunday bloody dinner before the train arrives.
@@Bill-bj9fn I may have exaggerated slightly about cooking Sunday dinner but on a serious note, the amount of time between barrier coming down and train arriving is completely ridiculous. The line coming through the station is dead straight and you can see the next station in the far distance. Barrier comes down, i look down the line and no in train sight. The whole area becomes gridlocked in about 2 minutes. And at peak times, when the barrier does raise to let traffic through, very often it comes back down again in seconds. And i'm not kidding. It's a joke.
My father and I rode the SW Chief from SoCal to Chicago. We had our GPS sitting in the window. We were not expecting to see 93 MPH on multiple stretches of track. Some portions of the track are in pretty bad shape. The bouncing and jostling was pretty severe in some places.
BNSF still had jointed rail west of Garden City, KS to Lamy, NM. This is the old Santa Fe mainline (along 19th century Santa Fe Trail), only used by Amtrak over Raton pass. BNSF South Transcon freight traffic uses old Frisco and Santa Fe lines thru Oklahoma (farther south). BNSF would prefer that Amtrak change its cross-country routing (so it can abandon parts of that section).
Yea. I used to regularly ride the Empire Builder from Chicago to Glacier National Park and once one got onto the plains of eastern Montana the train would be flying and one could see the parallel freeway in the distance and see that one was moving faster than the cars on the Interstate. A much better travel experience than on the European high-speed trains. Those move SO FAST that one cannot even make out the details of the landscape; it is all just sort of a blur. Whereas on Amtrak on can always pick out the terrain and the little farmhouses in the distance as one flies forward. Too bad cell-phones spoiled the communal experience of these long distance rides.
One of the "scariest" rides I had was on the Empire Builder: Late at night, coming down out of the Cascade Mountains toward Seattle. I REALLY thought the brakes had failed!
Nice to see, but also kind of sad. Before Amtrak, the Santa Fe used to run regularly at speeds at least one hundred miles an hour on the passenger lines. They had to down grade their lines to meet the standards of the eastern lines.
John Woodall From Australia Great piece of Video Work, I assume that is your vehicle in the Foreground and a well measured distance from the Crossing as You Yourself were, More than Aware Obviously if what Standing to close to Tracks with a Train at that speed can do. Like a Vacuum Cleaner in other words. Extremely well Done. Best Wishes.
Quite fast but the trains on the main line between London and Edinburgh in the UK reach speeds of 125mph. The fastest trains cover the 393 miles in 4hrs 20mins, an avergae speed of just over 90 mph.
Didn’t think many trains in the US could get going that fast and stay safe... 😱 What’s the fastest safe normal operating speed for these “road-going” trains? (Excluding Acela, etc.)
@@cheapme1850 on a regional service using single level coaches sure, but long distance trains like the South West Chief or the Empire Builder are usually limited to 79 MPH because of the fact they use double decker Superliner coaches which could become unstable at higher speeds due to a higher center of gravity compared to the single level amfleet or viewliner coaches with a lower center of gravity, not to mention Amfleet coaches were built with higher speed running in mind since they primarily run on the Northeast Corridor. The South West Chief and Empire however run on tracks that are only rated for 79 MPH running, like most trains outside of the North East Corridor, since they are owned by the freight railroads like BNSF or UP.
@@MachRacer4 This is incorrect as well. Superliner cars are rated for 90MPH and regularly run that fast on the Southwest Chief on the old ATSF lines (Now BNSF, like shown in this clip) that have PTC and ATS. The Pacific Surfliner (also bi-level cars) also runs at 90MPH in some sections.
@@MachRacer4 That is incorrect. The P40, P42 and P32AC-DM are all rated for 110MPH. The FRA only limits passenger trains to 79MPH if they don't have Cab Signals, ATC or ATS.
Service type Long-distance higher speed rail Locale Midwestern and Southwestern United States Predecessor Super Chief, El Capitan First service March 7, 1974 Current operator(s) Amtrak Ridership 1,006 daily - 367,267 annual (FY15)[1] Route Start Chicago, Illinois Stops 31 End Los Angeles, California Distance travelled 2,265 mi (3,645 km) Average journey time 43 hours, 15 minutes Service frequency Daily each way Train number(s) 3 westbound, 4 eastbound On-board services Class(es) Coach, sleeper Sleeping arrangements 2-bed roomettes 2-4 bed bedrooms Catering facilities Dining car, café Observation facilities Lounge car Baggage facilities Checked baggage (select stations) Technical Rolling stock P42 locomotives Superliner cars Operating speed 90 mph (145 km/h) maximum 55 mph (89 km/h) average (including stops) Track owner(s) BNSF Railway
David Seiler the standard for max speed without cab signals is 79, its been this way since the 70’s. the U34CHs were limited to 79 because they lacked cab signals.
@@turbochargedtransit7241 Unique among all long-distance Superliner trains, the Southwest Chief is permitted to run up to a maximum of 90 mph (145 km/h) along significant portions of the route because of automatic train stop installed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
As has been pointed out by David, So long as you have ATS or Cab signals, you are not capped at 79. This route has long been 90MPH for passenger trains.
According to 'Mixed Freight and Higher Speed Passenger Trains: Framework for Superelevation Design,' a joint publication from DOT/FRA/ORD dated October 2019, the speed limit for long distance passenger trains(tangent track) is 90 m.p.h. The speed limit for regional passenger trains(tangent track) is 110 m.p.h.
The maximum speed Amtrak presently runs in the US is 150MPH. This is on part of the Northeast Corridor. They run as fast as 110MPH in Michigan and Upstate NY. 90MPH in some parts out west. Not 79.
@@FFred-us9tw That is correct. The Amtrak 'Acela' express commuter trains have a much lower profile than other typical Amtrak commuter & long distance passenger trains. Routes have been redesigned as well, with automobile grade crossings being eliminated and longer track sections being reconfigured with more gradual curves & grades. The 150 m.p.h. sections are located between Boston and New haven, with some sections between New York and Washington having speed limits up to 135 m.p.h.
@@louisbecker5941 well, a few things. The Acela isn’t a lower profile than traditional Amfleet equipment. It has a tilting system that allows the higher speed in the curves. Special trucks and braking systems as well. The tracks it runs on hasn’t been realigned and no curves in the high speed sections have been removed since the Acela came along. It follows the same route it has for 50+ years. The track quality has been improved as has the overhead Catenary and signal system. All road crossings between NYC and Washington were removed, but 11 road crossings remain between NYC and Boston (all in Connecticut).
I never understood the fascination with trains, and what’s more, I never understood why people who train watch park and stand so close. That train derails and they are dead.
Absolutely false. Amtrak Michigan service is 110MPH and their is 110MPH track in upstate NY on the Hudson line. The Southwest Chief runs 90MPH in parts of California, New Mexico, Missouri and Arizona. Amtrak Pacific Surfliners run 90mph as well.
How do you know that train is going 90 mph. Sincerely doubt this is true. I’ve worked on building railways for 15 years. That train was likely doing about 50 mph. Furthermore, parking and filming that close to a grade crossing is ill advised, I’ve seen several de-railments. The cars pile up quickly in a huge mess.
35 years ago I was standing behind the engineer on a Metroliner train heading south from NYC to Washington. I looked at the digital speed display and asked if it was in metric. He responded by saying no it is on miles per hour. The display was 130! Moving right along.
Holy moly!
Blimey, less than 30 seconds before barrier coming down and train coming. I live near a level crossing in Nth London and when the barrier comes down iv'e got time to walk home and cook Sunday bloody dinner before the train arrives.
It seems like only America and the Netherlands manage to get railroad crossing timings right.
@@Bill-bj9fn I may have exaggerated slightly about cooking Sunday dinner but on a serious note, the amount of time between barrier coming down and train arriving is completely ridiculous. The line coming through the station is dead straight and you can see the next station in the far distance. Barrier comes down, i look down the line and no in train sight. The whole area becomes gridlocked in about 2 minutes. And at peak times, when the barrier does raise to let traffic through, very often it comes back down again in seconds. And i'm not kidding. It's a joke.
In the US, RR's are required to have signals on no less than 20 seconds before the train comes through...
Welcome to the American way, a little quote for u, time is money
It's good that it's shorter. The reason why people go around the gates is because they are impatient.
RIP Headphone users
You can tell because it's loud when raise the volume.
Really!
Rode the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago and back in 2017. The scenery out west is pure splendor!
The baggage car door was open!
My father and I rode the SW Chief from SoCal to Chicago. We had our GPS sitting in the window. We were not expecting to see 93 MPH on multiple stretches of track. Some portions of the track are in pretty bad shape. The bouncing and jostling was pretty severe in some places.
BNSF still had jointed rail west of Garden City, KS to Lamy, NM. This is the old Santa Fe mainline (along 19th century Santa Fe Trail), only used by Amtrak over Raton pass.
BNSF South Transcon freight traffic uses old Frisco and Santa Fe lines thru Oklahoma (farther south).
BNSF would prefer that Amtrak change its cross-country routing (so it can abandon parts of that section).
@@w9gb I have never been on the chief but would love to before its gone. Can't decide Chixago to LA or LA to Chicago.
Very nice video. Thanks for posting.
Man that's awesome and riding 3 and 4 through there 2 years ago all I can say is those Amtrak Crews know how to literally haul ass!
Can you elaborate as I am thinking about this train to Flagstaff soon, not sure how I feel about this one or the Zephyr. 90 is Fast! :-/
@@leiter222 That's the fastest they do and when they have clear track, buckle up and hang on, especially once No. 4 hits Daggett
Glad those tracks aren't bucklin'! Nice vid, thanks -Fritz from DC
This IS the primary reason I love traveling via Amtrak!
That was 203 before it became Operation Lifesaver.
Yea. I used to regularly ride the Empire Builder from Chicago to Glacier National Park and once one got onto the plains of eastern Montana the train would be flying and one could see the parallel freeway in the distance and see that one was moving faster than the cars on the Interstate. A much better travel experience than on the European high-speed trains. Those move SO FAST that one cannot even make out the details of the landscape; it is all just sort of a blur. Whereas on Amtrak on can always pick out the terrain and the little farmhouses in the distance as one flies forward. Too bad cell-phones spoiled the communal experience of these long distance rides.
Traveled by train in Australia, England, Europe and here in the USA. I have always enjoyed my trips on Amtrak! Cheers!
One of the "scariest" rides I had was on the Empire Builder: Late at night, coming down out of the Cascade Mountains toward Seattle. I REALLY thought the brakes had failed!
Nice! I’ve ridden the Sunset Limited between Houston and NOLA many times and the best speed she can manage on that track is about 75. Fun Ride though!
Amtrak 203 was repainted as the operation lifesaver unit
Race car drivers at NASCAR - "No one can top our speeds."
Amtrak Train: Hold my beer
ZOOOOMMM!!!!
Great catch. Awesome speed.
Woah, that’s incredibly fast!
And incredibly loud.
i wish to be a railfan like this!
I am so amazed to see a train that far away and all of a sudden, it whooshes by at 110.
90 MPH on this line. Not 110.
(00:48)
WARNING!
Extreme Ear rape hazard
Hearing protection must be worn in this area.
🤓👆 erm actually it’s at (00:50)
My next train ride will be on this one. The Southwest Chief route looks more interesting than the California Zephyr one.
Zephyr has more beautiful mountain scenery through Colorado and California.
Gr8 video!
That looked like the California zepher I rode one going from Colorado to Indiana
Damn!!!!!!!!!!! That was hella fast!!!!!!!!! 😎
Nice to see, but also kind of sad. Before Amtrak, the Santa Fe used to run regularly at speeds at least one hundred miles an hour on the passenger lines. They had to down grade their lines to meet the standards of the eastern lines.
She's hauling the mail for sure
And it's still running late.
I was in one of those very cars only a few months ago... didn’t SEEM al that fast...
When you ride 3 or 4 meet an opposing freight, you'll know you're going that fast
John Woodall
From Australia
Great piece of Video Work, I assume that is your vehicle in the Foreground and a well measured distance from the Crossing as You Yourself were, More than Aware Obviously if what Standing to close to Tracks with a Train at that speed can do.
Like a Vacuum Cleaner in other words.
Extremely well Done.
Best Wishes.
Cool catch
Nice catch!
Automatic train stop area. It used to be 2,000 miles at 90mph. Now it's cut back on the downsized railroad to a short area with ATS left
Cool! I wonder what was wrong with the horn. It sounded quite weird
jesus dude that Amtrak is screaming
Wow, what a rush.
203 before it was painted to OLS
WOAH!!!
Oh my god the leader was 203
Damn yo !!!
I see that Grand Marquis ;)
Yup!
This video really needs a warning to headphone users
Quite fast but the trains on the main line between London and Edinburgh in the UK reach speeds of 125mph. The fastest trains cover the 393 miles in 4hrs 20mins, an avergae speed of just over 90 mph.
Europeans have a lot more experience running trains than we do.
If we go too fast bad things would happen.
So do the Northeast corridor from Washington DC to Boston. New high speed trains coming and are gonna get up out to 165 mph and higher in the future
Didn’t think many trains in the US could get going that fast and stay safe... 😱 What’s the fastest safe normal operating speed for these “road-going” trains? (Excluding Acela, etc.)
79 MPH with the overspeed set to apply the brakes at 83 MPH on the P40/42.
The Wolverine from Detroit to Chicago hits 110 mph between Kalamazoo and Hammond, Indiana. I does 90 mph for a good portion of the trip.
@@cheapme1850 on a regional service using single level coaches sure, but long distance trains like the South West Chief or the Empire Builder are usually limited to 79 MPH because of the fact they use double decker Superliner coaches which could become unstable at higher speeds due to a higher center of gravity compared to the single level amfleet or viewliner coaches with a lower center of gravity, not to mention Amfleet coaches were built with higher speed running in mind since they primarily run on the Northeast Corridor. The South West Chief and Empire however run on tracks that are only rated for 79 MPH running, like most trains outside of the North East Corridor, since they are owned by the freight railroads like BNSF or UP.
@@MachRacer4 This is incorrect as well. Superliner cars are rated for 90MPH and regularly run that fast on the Southwest Chief on the old ATSF lines (Now BNSF, like shown in this clip) that have PTC and ATS. The Pacific Surfliner (also bi-level cars) also runs at 90MPH in some sections.
@@MachRacer4 That is incorrect. The P40, P42 and P32AC-DM are all rated for 110MPH. The FRA only limits passenger trains to 79MPH if they don't have Cab Signals, ATC or ATS.
How was the speed determined? Radar gun? Engineer radioing it?
Maybe he just knows the area? Idk
Track speed for amtrak is 90 in this area, though I suppose I could have been a few mph off
nice
The sound cutting out and then cutting back in scared the living shit outta me
💙NICE💙
Wow I’m bleeding from the ears here
I'm picturing some of the passengers trying to drink coffee. 😁
That looked like an amtrak
That is because it was
79, not 90. lack of cab signals limits all trains to 79 mph.
Service type Long-distance higher speed rail
Locale Midwestern and Southwestern United States
Predecessor Super Chief, El Capitan
First service March 7, 1974
Current operator(s) Amtrak
Ridership 1,006 daily - 367,267 annual (FY15)[1]
Route
Start Chicago, Illinois
Stops 31
End Los Angeles, California
Distance travelled 2,265 mi (3,645 km)
Average journey time 43 hours, 15 minutes
Service frequency Daily each way
Train number(s) 3 westbound, 4 eastbound
On-board services
Class(es) Coach, sleeper
Sleeping arrangements 2-bed roomettes
2-4 bed bedrooms
Catering facilities Dining car, café
Observation facilities Lounge car
Baggage facilities Checked baggage (select stations)
Technical
Rolling stock P42 locomotives
Superliner cars
Operating speed 90 mph (145 km/h) maximum
55 mph (89 km/h) average (including stops)
Track owner(s) BNSF Railway
David Seiler the standard for max speed without cab signals is 79, its been this way since the 70’s. the U34CHs were limited to 79 because they lacked cab signals.
@@turbochargedtransit7241 Unique among all long-distance Superliner trains, the Southwest Chief is permitted to run up to a maximum of 90 mph (145 km/h) along significant portions of the route because of automatic train stop installed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
However, BNSF is removing the ATS as part of the PTC updates and this will reduce speeds back to 79MPH
As has been pointed out by David, So long as you have ATS or Cab signals, you are not capped at 79. This route has long been 90MPH for passenger trains.
Where this location?
Somewhere in bucking Missouri USA
As the title implies....Bucklin, Missouri.....
🌐🌐🌐
Ow my ears
Watch it at 2x speed. lol
Is the baggage car open?
Looks like it.
Yep
no, it’s closed.
Esse aí operava trens na Índia.
Probably more like 60-70ish mph range, not 90
Do you compare that to the distance your farts travel in a given time?
train is approx 900 feet and took a little less than 7 seconds to pass. erring on the slower side, i got 87mph.
The top speed (non-NEC) is 79 for Amtrak, while the NEC is 90-150 (NE Regional and Acela speed range)
isn't track speed 79 mph?
There's ATS over the route installed by the Santa Fe Railway.
The Super Chief ran 100 MPH over that route back in the Santa Fe Days
Max speed for amtrack is 79 mph
According to 'Mixed Freight and Higher Speed Passenger Trains: Framework for Superelevation Design,' a joint publication from DOT/FRA/ORD dated October 2019, the speed limit for long distance passenger trains(tangent track) is 90 m.p.h. The speed limit for regional passenger trains(tangent track) is 110 m.p.h.
The maximum speed Amtrak presently runs in the US is 150MPH. This is on part of the Northeast Corridor. They run as fast as 110MPH in Michigan and Upstate NY. 90MPH in some parts out west. Not 79.
@@FFred-us9tw
That is correct. The Amtrak 'Acela' express commuter trains have a much lower profile than other typical Amtrak commuter & long distance passenger trains. Routes have been redesigned as well, with automobile grade crossings being eliminated and longer track sections being reconfigured with more gradual curves & grades. The 150 m.p.h. sections are located between Boston and New haven, with some sections between New York and Washington having speed limits up to 135 m.p.h.
@@louisbecker5941 well, a few things. The Acela isn’t a lower profile than traditional Amfleet equipment. It has a tilting system that allows the higher speed in the curves. Special trucks and braking systems as well. The tracks it runs on hasn’t been realigned and no curves in the high speed sections have been removed since the Acela came along. It follows the same route it has for 50+ years. The track quality has been improved as has the overhead Catenary and signal system. All road crossings between NYC and Washington were removed, but 11 road crossings remain between NYC and Boston (all in Connecticut).
@@FFred-us9tw 👍🏻
maybe even faster
I never understood the fascination with trains, and what’s more, I never understood why people who train watch park and stand so close. That train derails and they are dead.
I never understand the fascination with going outside, a bolt of lightning strikes them and they are dead. 🙄
Each day you leave the house and a piano could fall on you
I'm pretty sure that wasn't 90mph.
Where is the fire
Max speed allowed for Amtrak outside of the northeast corridor is only 79mph
Absolutely false. Amtrak Michigan service is 110MPH and their is 110MPH track in upstate NY on the Hudson line. The Southwest Chief runs 90MPH in parts of California, New Mexico, Missouri and Arizona. Amtrak Pacific Surfliners run 90mph as well.
How do you know that train is going 90 mph.
Sincerely doubt this is true.
I’ve worked on building railways for 15 years.
That train was likely doing about 50 mph.
Furthermore, parking and filming that close to a grade crossing is ill advised, I’ve seen several de-railments. The cars pile up quickly in a huge mess.
That is the speed limit in that area. That is how fast this trains runs through this area on it's trips.
extrem loud and slow. Great!
Kind of irritated me when the camera person turned the camera as the train went by. Hard to judge the speed by doing that.
90mph? no more like 45-55mph
Camera doesn't do it justice, i had to spin on my heels to pan the damn thing
People who stalk trains and make videos are just weird.
Be fun to watch that damn thing derail at that speed.......
Just another foamer getting a chubby from a train. Bet he jumped in his car and got off from it.
?
Hey congrats! You made asshole of the month!
@@b3j8 yup
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