Recent content by LookingGlassTie

Hey y'all, Next year, I MIGHT be taking a trip from Norfolk to Orlando in July. I would take a Northeast Regional from NFK to RVR and then take the Silver Star to Orlando (specifically WPK). On the return trip, I would take the Star back to Richmond and then take a Regional back to Norfolk...

Unfortunately, lawsuits are often not about who's most liable, but rather who has the deepest pockets. And the two don't always line up. In other words, one's financial liability isn't always based on one's level or degree of fault. In any case, it's a sad situation all around.

I'm thankful that none of them was injured or killed.

Back in 2017 I rode the Silver Meteor from RVR to ORL and rode the Silver Star back (both ways in coach). I managed to sleep in my coach seat, but I don't think I would have been able to do that had it been in an Amfleet I car. I did like the extra legroom of the Amfleet II seats.

Sounds like "crony capitalism", which many pure capitalists detest. Seems to me the issue is not profits or "the bottom line" per se, but rather the prevailing attitude toward them. I'm a capitalist who believes that profits should follow reputation, not vice-versa.

Security arrangements aside, he probably should have taken the lowest class of train service over there. To set an example, ya know.

Very interesting incident. This is one of those cases in which the train DIDN'T win (apparently). Also, it seems as if there's plenty of blame to go around and not just for the truck driver.

This reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask for a while: How do we balance the timely shipping (and by extension delivery) of goods via rail with making sure that passenger rail service (as it is currently) isn't severely affected? On the one hand, people want to take Amtrak and...

I have some suggestions as to where Joe could get some money to keep Amtrak afloat...... 😁

Does this agreement only allow service between New Orleans and Mobile (at least for now)?

I would assume that if you're not breaking any rules or causing disruption, you should not be kicked out of your room. If your SCA simply "doesn't want you to be in that room anymore", then she's got issues.

I've never ridden an Acela train before, so I have no experience with that. However I do know that on at least some LD trains, the conductors and coach attendants try to group passengers by destination. Back in 2017, I rode the Silver Meteor from RVR to ORL and a conductor (or CA) directed me...

Ahhh ok. Related question, did the Mountaineer and/or Hilltopper have a stop in Norfolk near Lamberts Point Terminals?

I think a stop in Suffolk would be a good idea. It's enough of a distance from the Norfolk station so that it wouldn't be "too close". Speaking of Norfolk (or Newport News), do you think the NER will ever run from either of those stations directly to Roanoke? Or would that not be...

I think this is another instance in which the headline and/or article doesn't tell the whole (or nuanced) story. My first reaction, given what I know about Amtrak, is that those pay increases were contractual rather than performance-based. It would be the same as saying that a cost-of-living...