Talk:Tri-Rail

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I think a new article should be made about the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Arigont (talk • contribs) 14:00, August 3, 2006.

Contents

[edit] Contradiction

The "Fleet" section is very confused right now, with at least two sets of contradictions.

The second paragraph states The new purpose-built commuter coaches are larger than the Bombardier BiLevel Coaches they are designed to eventually replace in practically every respect, holding up to 188 passengers, with room for bicycles and luggage, while the last paragraph states the prototype consist suffers from a lack of bicycle and luggage storage that have been a source of irritation and complaints from daily and airport commuters. Both of these statements cannot be true; which is correct?

The third paragraph states Sources at Tri-Rail have indicated that temporary, steeper-than-normal grades during construction on the New River Bridge require more power and torque than the DMU's powerplants can currently produce and still operate within safety limits. Sources also indicate that the locomotive will be dropped from the DMU consist once the New River Bridge in Ft. Lauderdale is complete in early 2007, while the last paragraph states Sources close to the project also indicate that the prototype DMU is irreparably underpowered and cannot operate within current safety margins without a "helper" locomotive, thus defeating the purpose altogether of a self-propelled coach. These early problems with the DMU demonstrator prototype cast the future acquisition of more DMU rolling stock by Tri-Rail in some doubt. Which is correct?

Additionally, the "Overview" section states that the new New River Bridge is complete, while the "Fleet" section discusses problems relating to the construction of the bridge. Is the bridge complete? If so, the "Fleet" section needs a substantial rewrite.

Horologium talk - contrib 17:38, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

I've been tending to the Fleet section, and must admit I've been a bit lax recently. Hopefully I've addressed the contradiction.

The New River Bridge was finally completed in April of 2007. Around the same time a second DMU was appeared to replace the prototype DMU consist, replacing the EMD GP49-3 "helper" and adding an additional passenger capacity of roughly 180 passengers to the consist.

Piusg 03:44, 14 June 2007 (UTC)gpius

It's much better, but there is still a contradiction between the second and fourth paragraph of the Fleet section, discussing the luggage and bicycle storage capacity. Does the new rolling stock have storage capacity or not? Is it the same as before, greater capacity, or less? That was the primary reason for the tag, although the other contradiction (which you have fixed) was something I noted when I put the tag up last month. Horologium t-c 04:06, 14 June 2007 (UTC)Never mind, you just fixed that as well. Nice job. Horologium t-c 04:10, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Serious doubts about station opening dates

I've been finding out that SFRTA uses a lot of former Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line stations, which makes me think the opening dates listed on this site aren't correct. ---- DanTD 13:45, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Among those I have the greatest doubts about are Hollywood (Tri-Rail station), and some of the images on TrainWeb's page convince me that it was not opened in January 1989(http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/hollywood.htm). I think I'm going to start searching though the List of Registered Historic Places in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties for former stations with the same addresses. ---- DanTD 14:02, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] You're right about the Hollywood station...

It opened as a Tri-Rail station in 1989. But it's been a railway station for a number of decades, and, like the Miami, Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach, and West Palm Beach stations, serves as an Amtrak whistle-stop and did so long before Tri-Rail came along.

(Actually, when they built the new Delray Beach station they abandoned the old station in place. I still ride past it every day. It's a decaying ruin now.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Piusg (talk • contribs) 20:15, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

I thought so. It looks too old to be a Tri-Rail station. Even with retro-Spanish Mission features, you can still tell the difference between a modern station, and a used one. Apparently, the website Dynamic Depot Maps indicates that this was a Seaboard Air Line station built in 1926. ----DanTD (talk) 17:04, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
Okay, now I'm convinced Fort Lauderdale (Tri-Rail station) is in the same boat as Hollywood, Deerfield Beach, and West Palm Beach. ----DanTD (talk) 18:03, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Apparently they don't have bicycles in Colorado...

The bicycle spots on the Colorado Railcar rolling stock are about a foot too short for most 26" bikes. It's a total pain to ride the coach with so little room for one's bike. The Bombardier cars are so much nicer when it comes to managing bikes, and even though they're not quite as comfortable, I still prefer them.

Up until about mid-2007, one needed a bicycle pass from Tri-Rail--available by mail and from a little kiosk at the Pompano Beach station. It was a vinyl sticker with the Tri-Rail logo and a serial number. If you didn't have the sticker on your bike, you were subject to being heaved off the train at the next stop by the Wackenhut security. But they don't give out stickers anymore, and they don't care how many bikes crowd onto the trains. I don't know why. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Piusg (talk • contribs) 20:20, 30 January 2008 (UTC)