At least between Boise, and the rest of the PNW.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/northw...-return-of-oregon-trail-amtrak-route-to-boise
https://www.kuow.org/stories/northw...-return-of-oregon-trail-amtrak-route-to-boise
Amtrak was still formulating a comment about whether it would be open to a revival of the line as of our deadline.
It is entirely possible that the call was made at a bad hour (e.g. they call up Amtrak at 1600 their time and it is 1800 in DC and everyone's gone home) or otherwise the paper wasn't trying very hard to get the comment.Then why would Amtrak miss a deadline for comment on this group plan. How hard is it to say: Yes we would be interested in working with the state involved for this project.
I have no clue what Amtrak management is thinking. Going to have to stick with the conspiracy theories. Nothing left.
This is most likely the reason. Journalists today are notoriously lazy (and often sloppy to boot) when it comes to sourcing stories and dealing with real world situations. They think because they are "on deadline" that the rest of the world needs to stop for them and "did not respond to an inquiry" means "no comment" or "get lost".It is entirely possible that the call was made at a bad hour (e.g. they call up Amtrak at 1600 their time and it is 1800 in DC and everyone's gone home) or otherwise the paper wasn't trying very hard to get the comment.
Newsroom staff who previously chased statements and leads have been cut to the bone and the few actual journalists who remain today are notoriously overworked and underpaid. Readers today are perfectly happy to receive most of their "news" from rarely researched and often manipulative social media posts. The combination of lazy readers and overworked journalists has created a vicious cycle that sees more people abandon legitimate news sources which forces more layoffs that result in lower quality news which leaves more readers disinterested and so on.Journalists today are notoriously lazy (and often sloppy to boot) when it comes to sourcing stories and dealing with real world situations. They think because they are "on deadline" that the rest of the world needs to stop for them and "did not respond to an inquiry" means "no comment" or "get lost". I've noticed some are being a bit more honest by saying "we did not receive a response by press time/broadcast time" but even that tends to be weaselly if you're not allowing enough time to respond. Many are also quite young (often twentysomethings) and can't wrap their brains around the concept that the press person can't give an answer off the top of their head, but often must consult with someone in the company who has the answers. That often takes time.
I think that if the route is going to be viable, it has to connect to the national system on the eastern end: Salt Lake City.
I think that if the route is going to be viable, it has to connect to the national system on the eastern end: Salt Lake City.
That depends on how one defines the term "connection". If by that you mean "two trains which serve the same station" then yes, it achieves that. However, if you mean "two trains which serve the same station in such a way as to allow reasonable same-day connections" then...er...not so much. In 1995, Boise-Portland was just over an 11-hour run (timetabling a 10-hour clock difference WB and 12-hour difference EB due to the timezone situation). To make both connections to the SB Starlight and EB Builder on the presumption of a 60-minute guaranteed connection you'd have to leave Boise in the middle of the night (the EB Builder leaves Portland at 1645; the SB Starlight at 1445; backing up from these you would end up with a departure at 0545 to make the Builder, which I suspect could be ameliorated with a bus bridge; the Starlight, on the other hand...). I'd also suggest that a stub-end coach train departing in the middle of the night is not a success story waiting to happen.So connecting to the national system in Portland isn’t enough? Why not. Obviously a line to Salt Lake would be good.... but it seems you could start with one or the other and plan to expand.
The former Rio Grande station was equipped with enough platform tracks to handle all the Amtrak trains plus an off-schedule train or an extension of the Desert Wind to the Idaho/Wyoming tourist magnets. SLC was truly the "Crossroads of the West" at one time.I agree, and it sure would be nice to have one of the large former stations available to service such a train. Salt Lake City really messed up when they rerouted the tracks to the current configuration. The former Rio Grande stations should have been utilized to handle all of the passenger rail. That station would have improved accessibility and every bit of the train experience.
The Heartland Flyer is an interesting comparison, being connected at only the one end. Discussion about extensions and connections to the north have been ongoing almost since its inception.So connecting to the national system in Portland isn’t enough? Why not. Obviously a line to Salt Lake would be good.... but it seems you could start with one or the other and plan to expand.
The former Rio Grande station was equipped with enough platform tracks to handle all the Amtrak trains plus an off-schedule train or an extension of the Desert Wind to the Idaho/Wyoming tourist magnets. SLC was truly the "Crossroads of the West" at one time.
The best site, of course, was the UP station, which is close to downtown and has LRT service without a transfer to the airport. It was used by the original SEA-PDX-BOI-SLC Pioneer. SLC's mayor admitted during a visit to Denver that it was a mistake to have encouraged conversion of it to a shopping mall.
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Touche.Then why would Amtrak miss a deadline for comment on this group plan. How hard is it to say: Yes we would be interested in working with the state involved for this project.
I have no clue what Amtrak management is thinking. Going to have to stick with the conspiracy theories. Nothing left.
Then all they'd need is one end of the line connected to somewhere that other Talgo trainsets are maintained. Hmmm.If only there were two more Talgo trainsets somewhere
The best site, of course, was the UP station, which is close to downtown and has LRT service without a transfer to the airport. It was used by the original SEA-PDX-BOI-SLC Pioneer.
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Then all they'd need is one end of the line connected to somewhere that other Talgo trainsets are maintained. Hmmm.
Yup. The move the Rio Grande station was part of the plan to move the Zephyr to the Moffatt Line. There was no intention to keep it at the UP station with the changeover to Rio Grande.Best site for access to downtown, yes; best rails to reach it, no. It was used by all 3 trains until 1987. Getting in and out was a tortuous zigzag affair that included backing out of the station and down the middle of Rio Grande Street - seeing the street side of the Rio Grande station out the window of the CZ. Operationally it was a big improvement to move to the Rio Grande station for the CZ, and did no real harm to the Pioneer or Desert Wind.
It occurs to me, in retrospect, that until 1983 there had never been any need for a passenger train to try to get from the D&RGW line to the UP station, and quite possibly the shift to the other station was in the works as soon the CZ was rerouted, but took a few years to happen.
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