San Joaquins discussion

[randomguy65]

This has been puzzling me and I haven't figured it out yet.

Does anyone know why the San Joaquins bi-level consists have one non-revenue Comet coach added behind the locomotive?

I'd initially assumed it was for baggage but they're still using the cab cars for that.

 

[TheTuck]

They're used to meet a BNSF axle count requirement.

 

[MARC Rider]

They're used to meet a BNSF axle count requirement.

Oh, now BNSF has an axle count requirement? I thought that was just a CN thing.

 

[alanh]

Looks like there was a discussion about this in 2020.
https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/single-level-cars-on-the-san-joaquin.77554/

 

[homersimpson101]

Why does the Amtrak California San Joaquin terminate at Bakersfield? And the passengers have to board a bus to Los Angeles. Why didn't they make the trains go directly straight to Los Angeles?

 

[zephyr17]

Why does the Amtrak California San Joaquin terminate at Bakersfield? And the passengers have to board a bus to Los Angeles. Why didn't they make the trains go directly straight to Los Angeles?

1. Because UP (formerly SP) and BNSF (formerly Santa Fe) do not want to host passenger trains over busy, largely single-tracked Tehachapi Pass.
2. The rail route is very indirect, through Mojave and Palmdale, and slow on top of it, much of Tehachapi is 25 mph. SP's San Joaquin Daylight had a 5 hour running time between Bakersfield and Los Angeles per January 1961 Official Guide. Santa Fe's bus connection between Bakersfield and LA for its Golden Gate service was 3 hours, even detouring over to Pasadena. The current San Joaquin connecting buses are scheduled for 2:37 southbound, 3:12 northbound. A train today over Tehachapi would be no faster than the San Joaquin Daylight's 5 hours and very possibly slower.

Even if they could get UP and BNSF to agree, adding 2 hours to the schedule would make the service non-competetive. The only semi-serious proposal to extend rail service from Bakersfield to LA was to institute an overnight train up the Valley, where the long trip through Mojave would be done in the wee hours. Note that never did get very much traction.

 

[railiner]

In a nutshell, it’s because the rail geography between Bakersfield and Los Angeles makes trains take almost twice as much time as it does by highway…

 

[JWM]

Pre Covid, when the Coast Line was undergoing maintenance, the "Coast Starlight" would take the San Joaquin from L.A. north. When word got out, the bookings in coach went way up. Yes, it would be much slower, but what a ride.

 

[alanh]

That's why the proposed high speed rail is on a new alignment that requires lots of tunneling to avoid the climbing loops.
Bakersfield to Palmdale
Palmdale to Burbank

 

[Cal]

Pre Covid, when the Coast Line was undergoing maintenance, the "Coast Starlight" would take the San Joaquin from L.A. north. When word got out, the bookings in coach went way up. Yes, it would be much slower, but what a ride.

Not just Pre-Covid, a detour through the valley was going to happen for track work in 2021, but the burning of the trestle in NorCal just had them cancel instead of two different service disruptions.