The Amtrak Acela Express is Amtrak's highspeed train. This train is America's first and only highspeed train, if you don't count the Avelia Liberty which won't be in service for another couple years. The Acela is a VERY iconic train, and deserves its place in Train Sim World. One of the very iconic pieces of the train is also the very odd Hybrid K5LA which cannot be heard on any other train anywhere except for the HHP-8, which may or may not go back into service in the upcoming years. If anyone wants me to add anything else to this forum, please comment it. Now, lets get into the Acela Express and it's many characteristics and features! (Photo Credit: Me) The Horn and Bell: The Acela has a very much loved horn throughout the railfan community, the Nathan Hybrid K5LA, in it's unique split manifold configuration. This horn has a very unique low high setting, and sounds absolutely amazing at it's highest speed of 150MPH. The doppler effect must be perfected to give it's character in the game. The low and high horn is sort of like the low and high tones of Europe's horns, except, it's sound that plays the key in these trains. The transition between low and high is flawless, and must be possible in game, meaning the horn should not cancel out when holding and letting go of the N key and SPACE key. There is also a horn sequencer pedal which will blow the horn in a 19B sequence, also known as the railroad crossing sequence, turns the bell on, and flashes the ditchlights, but this only works above 3MPH. The MBTA F40PH-3C already has this feature, and will act very similarly in response. The actual horn is located around the middle of the roof. The bell currently used on the Acela is the E-Bell, and would be what's found in game as the original bronze bells were replaced around 2016, which is well before the time period of the Boston Sprinter route. The bell is activated by a push button on the right engineers desk. The actual bell is located under the cab and is supposed to activate when the horn is used, but this seems to be broken on most powercars throughout the fleet. (Photo Credit: trainweb.org) The Trainset Numbers: The trainsets are semi-permanently coupled, meaning every single power car and passenger car has always been on the same trainset ever since they went in service. This should be replicated in game, instead of having random numbers scattered across a trainset. Below is a picture of each trainset and their cars numbers. (Photo Credit: Friend of Mine) Controls: Reverser: There are 4 notches in a unique configuration. OFF is to the left, and keeps all the controls locked. N is to the right and turns the auxiliary power on. FWD is up, and makes the train go forward. REV is down, and makes the train go in reverse. These two positions cannot be used when the reverser is in OFF. Throttle: There are three notches. 0 causes no tractive effort. READY puts the train in coast. EFFORT applies tractive effort from 0% to 100% when moving the lever up. Automatic Brake: There are six notches, similar to the ACS-64. The picture below shows each notch and the amount of brake pressure it sets in the powercar and passenger cars. Supression allows for acknowledging an overspeed. (You can go anywhere betweeen Minimum and Full Service): (Photo Credit: Official Acela Manual) (There is a letter K behind the lever in the diagram. It is not any brake position, but should be there in game.) Cruise Control: The Acela is equipped with cruise control. This is operated using the cruise control lever. The cruise control has three notches. 0 keeps cruise control off. SLOW puts the cruise control to 3MPH. Speed Zone is any chosen speed between 3MPH and 150MPH. The throttle must be put into power for the cruise control to function. Snow Brake: The Acela is equipped with snow brakes, which is activated using a push button on the right engineers console. This will apply a friction brake application of 6 psi in every single disc and tread brake actuator throughout the trainset for 60 seconds. It can be deactivated by pressing the button again. Using the brakes will completely release the snow brakes. Ditchlights: The Acela has interesting ditchlights. There are 4 modes, OFF, ON, FLASH, and AUTO. OFF turns the ditchlights off. ON turns the ditchlights on. FLASH will flash the ditchlights at 95BPM. (They will turn off all the way and turn back on, unlike other trains where they turn off only halfway before turning back on.) AUTO will automatically flash the ditchlights when the horn is used for as long as the bell is turned on. Although the AUTO position is prohibited to be used during operation due to a wiring issue, it would still be a cool feature to have in game. Marker Lights: The Acela does not have an actual marker light switch, and the marker lights automatically turn on when the opposite cab is activated. Foldable Mirrors: The Acela has foldable mirrors which are operated using a button on the right console. When moving the dial to the left, it folds the left mirror out, and when moving the dial to the right, it folds the right mirror out, it folds the right mirror out. When pushing the dial, it will retract both mirrors, but this is not exactly necessary as they will automatically retract when the train reaches a speed of 3MPH. This should have a keybind as the mirrors are commonly used at station stops to ensure the safety of the platforms before departure. Door Open Switch: This switch is used to prevent the side doors of all passenger cars from opening. It is located on the right engineers console, and has two positions, NORMAL and INHIBIT . The doors can be opened when the switch is in the NORMAL position. The doors cannot be opened when the switch in the INHIBIT position. If the doors are already opened, the doors will automatically close. This switch basically acts as a momentary lock for when the train is not properly positioned at a station platform. Parking Brake: This switch is located on the right engineers console. It has two positions, RELEASE and APPLY, and controls the parking brake. Unfortunately, this switch will have to be removed in game as per Amtrak's order, unless said otherwise. Engine Room: The engine room will have to be modeled, as most controls for mechanical things like the pantograph switch is located in there. You can also access the passenger cars if you walk through the entire powercar. Sounds: Sounds have already been recorded by Dovetail Games from their trip to Wilmington, but I will still provide as many sounds as possible in a download, most importantly, the horn, as they may not have gotten both the low and high horn recordings like what seems to have happened with the ACS-64. Access to the Official Manuals: When needed, please contact me at ctslrailfan@gmail.com for access to a Google Document which include the links for each of the six Acela manuals, as I cannot freely release it online.
Very detailed Manual and hopefully it should arrive as part of Rush hour train pack with Class 700 UK Class 700 needs AP sounds instead of 395 AC Third Rail 444. Otherwise people will skip it and start playing Acela Express and Riesa-Dresden DB Baureihe 411 ICE-T if the bundle were to be made. All intro levels are in The training center test track
it's the community idea for Acela Express Class 700 ICE-T. My idea for the Rush Hour Train Pack was the Class 700 Class 455 BML ICE-T DB BR146.0 Dresden while in my Boston Providence I had the Avelia Liberty with HSP-46. Click on my signature for that proposal.
I sure hope they’ll add the Hsp46 locomotive and the bilevel coach’s to TSW 3 it’ll be awesome controlling that locomotive on TSW 3 and I hope they’ll add the Worcester line to Boston sprinter route.
