Feb 2009 opening of the Westside commuter rail line? Really?
It’s going to be fun doing it if the New! Shiny! DMUs aren’t ever going to be delivered:
If, however, Tri-Met could find a set of RDCs, like, oh, the ones that the State of Oregon bought from (the now-demised, thanks to the SoCred slash-and-burn “government” in BC) British Columbia Railway for the Lewis & Clark Explorer train, they could start hauling those passengers up to Beaverton without any fuss, muss, or bother. Sure, there might not be very much support from the vendor, but the New! Shiny! waddling buffalo DMUs from Rader Colorado Railcar Santa Claus’s Imaginary Railcar Company™ aren’t going to have the grandest level of support, either.
I can’t wait to see how Tri-Met’s PR department (motto: “I meant to do that!”) spins the evaporation of their railcar supplier after paying extra money to keep Colorado Railcar afloat (a uncharitable person would call this “blackmail”, but that would be wrong) and what, if any, will be the excuse for not using the (existing, and already legal for operation on freight railroads in the United States) older Buddliners. I’m sure it will be a barrel of laughs.