Texan Eagle
Conductor
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2011
- Messages
- 1,705
Reading through the thread on sleeper amenities being eliminated and all the talk around need to reduce losses, an idea stuck me- what % of passengers actually travel the insanely long western LD trains end to end over 40-50 hours? Would it improve performance and ridership if the loooong western LD routes are broken up into two or three and advertised separately as such?
For example- Empire Builder has 6 trainsets, you can run 16-18 hour (20 if you want to stretch it) long daily routes using 2 trainsets, so split up Empire Builder into three trains as follows-
Train #7A/8A: Chicago-Minot "Empire Builder"
Depart Chicago 2.30pm
Arrive Minot 8.30am
Depart Minot 11.30am
arrive Chicago 5.30am.
9 hours for maintenance in Chicago
~~~~~
Train #7B/8B: Minot-Spokane "Big Sky Country"
Depart Minot 12.00pm
Arrive Spokane 4.00am
Depart Spokane 6.00am
Arrive Minot 10.00pm
Overnight layover in Minot for maintenance.
~~~~~
Train #7C/8C: Spokane-Seattle "Cascade Mountaineer"
Depart Spokane 6.00am
Arrive Seattle 1.30pm
Depart Seattle 3.00pm
Arrive Spokane 10.30pm
Corridor style day train, coaches and cafe/lounge only. Overnight layover in Spokane for maintenance.
~~~~~
Train #27/28: Spokane-Portland "Columbia River Runner"
Depart Spokane 5.00am
arrive Portland 1.00pm
Depart Portland 2.00pm
Arrive Spokane 10.00pm
Corridor style day train, coaches and cafe/lounge only. Overnight layover in Spokane for maintenance.
Advantages-
~ Disturbances in one part of the route will not impact performance of other parts
~ Frees up some equipment since 2 trains are now day trains. They can have 1 sleeper each for passengers who feel the desire to splurge on sleeper for day run.
Disadvantage-
~ End to end CHI-SEA ride becomes longer and involves two change of trains, but I have timed them such that those few passengers determined to ride the whole way can still do it without requiring overnight hotel stay
For example- Empire Builder has 6 trainsets, you can run 16-18 hour (20 if you want to stretch it) long daily routes using 2 trainsets, so split up Empire Builder into three trains as follows-
Train #7A/8A: Chicago-Minot "Empire Builder"
Depart Chicago 2.30pm
Arrive Minot 8.30am
Depart Minot 11.30am
arrive Chicago 5.30am.
9 hours for maintenance in Chicago
~~~~~
Train #7B/8B: Minot-Spokane "Big Sky Country"
Depart Minot 12.00pm
Arrive Spokane 4.00am
Depart Spokane 6.00am
Arrive Minot 10.00pm
Overnight layover in Minot for maintenance.
~~~~~
Train #7C/8C: Spokane-Seattle "Cascade Mountaineer"
Depart Spokane 6.00am
Arrive Seattle 1.30pm
Depart Seattle 3.00pm
Arrive Spokane 10.30pm
Corridor style day train, coaches and cafe/lounge only. Overnight layover in Spokane for maintenance.
~~~~~
Train #27/28: Spokane-Portland "Columbia River Runner"
Depart Spokane 5.00am
arrive Portland 1.00pm
Depart Portland 2.00pm
Arrive Spokane 10.00pm
Corridor style day train, coaches and cafe/lounge only. Overnight layover in Spokane for maintenance.
Advantages-
~ Disturbances in one part of the route will not impact performance of other parts
~ Frees up some equipment since 2 trains are now day trains. They can have 1 sleeper each for passengers who feel the desire to splurge on sleeper for day run.
Disadvantage-
~ End to end CHI-SEA ride becomes longer and involves two change of trains, but I have timed them such that those few passengers determined to ride the whole way can still do it without requiring overnight hotel stay
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