NEC equipment

[Guest metralink]

can Northeast Corridor equipment such as from NJ transit or septa operate on the Metra electric? lets say oh Chicago gets thes Olympics and needs a few more cars for a short period of time.

Could cars be brought in which operate on overhead wires?

[FlyerD40LFR9710]

Gallery Coaches should be able to since they are practically the same height (give or take with the pantograph). I think the NJT ones and MARC ones were designed to operate under the catenary on the NEC and shouldn't pose a problem since they both operate in tunnels with low overhead. As for Chicago getting those cars, I doubt it. MARC is near capacity on some trains, at some times, over capacity. NJT is the same. More equipment might be ordered in the future even if they do/do not get the Olympics.

[Busjack]

Also the question whether they run on the same voltage.

[geneking7320]

Also the question whether they run on the same voltage.

You said it! NEC electric trains run on AC (either 11KV or 25KV I think), Metra Electric and NICTD (South Shore) run on 1500V DC.

Gene

[FlyerD40LFR9710]

If it's a question on rolling stock and not locomotives, they can still run. IIRC, alot of passenger railroads use 480v HEP. No matter what voltage, there should be an inverter to convert power to 480V HEP power to power the coaches.

[Busjack]

If it's a question on rolling stock and not locomotives, they can still run. IIRC, alot of passenger railroads use 480v HEP. No matter what voltage, there should be an inverter to convert power to 480V HEP power to power the coaches.

Except that the Metra Electric uses only electric motor units. We discussed elsewhere if it could use trailer cars, and the answer, from a conductor on that line, was no. Apparently though, from the bar car and restroom thread, Metra doesn't have enough trailers, either.