NO ORPHANED TRAINS IN ILLINOIS.

Although Wisconsin's almost-finished and not-quite-big-enough Talgo trains may never turn a wheel in revenue service in the midwest, Illinois and California are combining their purchase of coaching stock for the accelerated service on Illinois lines out of Chicago and augmented California service.

The $551 million request for proposals was announced by the Federal Railroad Administration, which is coordinating a California-led effort to purchase standardized bi-level rail fleets for use on Amtrak routes in California, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Indiana and potentially Iowa.

California will acquire 42 of the 130 new rail cars, which will be equipped with seating on two levels, WiFi and other customer amenities, officials said. The Midwest states will share use of 88 rail cars.

The existing California cars, on the San Diego and Bay Area services, are impressive. They're also capable of giving Britain's long-serving 43 Class Inter-City 125 trains a run for their money.

Existing Amtrak locomotives would be used initially to propel the new rail cars at speeds of up to 110 mph.

Bids will be let later to purchase new high-performance diesel locomotives capable of sustaining 125 mph, as well as for single-level passenger cars, officials said.

That "propel" might be a solecism, or it might anticipate push-pull operation. Is it too much to hope that the California cars might not go faster with a dual-mode electric under catenary?