A New day For Amtrak

[had8ley]

Fellow posters and moderators;

I honestly believe that a new day is here for Amtrak. With $5 a gallon within sight and the airlines charging from everything from checked bags to a bag of peanuts I firmly believe that the chance for Amtrak to blossom is here. Just looking at the rolling stock list I can't believe how Amtrak pulls it off on a daily basis moving the people that they do. Yes, they have had their share of detractors (yes, Alan I'm guilty) but IF they get their act together; motivate the employees and grab some more Federal dollars for new equipment I sincerely think that we can get into the race with the rest of the world for high speed transportation. I know we all loathe the Sunset service, or lack of, east of New Orleans, amongst many other gripes, but if we can get a commission established to analyze just what is needed for Amtrak and most importantly, implement same, I would hope to live to see train service as it was in the 1950's~ to almost every city and town in America.

Happy Memorial Day!

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Can't we do even better than the 1950s? I don't think they had passenger trains doing 200 MPH or 150 MPH back then, and they may not have even had 135 MPH.

 

[GP35]

Amtrak attitudes high in the ranks still believe innovation and thinking outside the box are bad word. Add in bad union rules(there are good ones) and

freight railroads and your left with a brick on square wheels. Amtrak will take advantage of the swell in new support, but no where's near to the extent

we like to see.

 

[Rail Freak]

Amtrak attitudes high in the ranks still believe innovation and thinking outside the box are bad word. Add in bad union rules(there are good ones) and freight railroads and your left with a brick on square wheels. Amtrak will take advantage of the swell in new support, but no where's near to the extent

we like to see.

If our dreams came true and Amtrak got the funding for new train sets for the Sunset and others, how long do you think it would take to build these babies?

 

[Larry H.]

At least in the 50's I could have gone from my home town here to St. Louis in and hour and half or so instead of the 11 hours not including layovers that using chicago as a hub has created. Those who seem to think that makes little difference are dreaming! It is my contention too that if Amtrak actually went places, not just a chosen few, you would have to build all kinds of new cars to haul the passengers.. Well thats not a bad thing? It might take care of the diners too..

 

[MZBKA]

How close is Amtrak to breaking even? That is, what % ridership increase from 2007 woud it need in order to break even for 2008?

 

[had8ley]

Can't we do even better than the 1950s? I don't think they had passenger trains doing 200 MPH or 150 MPH back then, and they may not have even had 135 MPH.

Joel;

I may be totally wrong but I think the New York Central ran a turbo train in the '50's way in excess of 100 mph and I think it was somewhere in Ohio. Anybody remember?

 

[jim55]

Fellow posters and moderators;I honestly believe that a new day is here for Amtrak. With $5 a gallon within sight and the airlines charging from everything from checked bags to a bag of peanuts I firmly believe that the chance for Amtrak to blossom is here. Just looking at the rolling stock list I can't believe how Amtrak pulls it off on a daily basis moving the people that they do. Yes, they have had their share of detractors (yes, Alan I'm guilty) but IF they get their act together; motivate the employees and grab some more Federal dollars for new equipment I sincerely think that we can get into the race with the rest of the world for high speed transportation. I know we all loathe the Sunset service, or lack of, east of New Orleans, amongst many other gripes, but if we can get a commission established to analyze just what is needed for Amtrak and most importantly, implement same, I would hope to live to see train service as it was in the 1950's~ to almost every city and town in America.

Happy Memorial Day!

High cost fuel is also pushing more trucks and frieght onto the rails and thus further delaying Amtrak LDs. Take a look at 4 & 6 arrival history into Galesburg(gbb). I boarded 4 last week at GBB and the toilets in the coach car were locked up because they were full. We were assigned seats as it was almost full. My last trip on the Empire Bldr , my sleeper car would get whiffs of toilet waste each time the hall isle door would open. I wonder if Amtrak would consider a mid pt waste removal since the increased ridership is taxing the equipment capacities. Jim

 

[MrEd]

First no free wine, now no toilets. This is a new day for amtrak. I can only hope that situation improves.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Can't we do even better than the 1950s? I don't think they had passenger trains doing 200 MPH or 150 MPH back then, and they may not have even had 135 MPH.

Joel;

I may be totally wrong but I think the New York Central ran a turbo train in the '50's way in excess of 100 mph and I think it was somewhere in Ohio. Anybody remember?

A bit of poking around wikipedia suggests that you might be thinking of the Empire State Express which apparently went to Cleveland and some say maxed out at 112 MPH.

 

[Walt]

Would not one gain a lot more, in total long distance travel time, with an express train rather than a fast train?

I would think that trains that need to stop every 10 or 20 miles, would gain very little by increasing their potential max speed.

I think of the Silvers, and wonder what would happen if they split the stops for each in half. With one Silver taking 1/2 of the stops, and the other Silver taking other other half. Well, except for rather major stops like NYP, PHL, WAS, and ORL. Would the Silver's get from NYP to MIA, overall, faster?

 

[guest conductor]

Please don't talk to me about Amtrak employees "stepping up" to help Amtrak improve. On the NE Corridor, where I work, we have seen record rideship, increased revenue, increased on time performance, and increased passenger satisfaction numbers, while going almost 8 years without pay raises. That has been settled , mostly to our satisfaction, by an Agreement which was foisted upon Amtrak by Republican appointed neutrals who totally rejected Management's positions. Amtrak labor has shown their dedication to passenger rail. If you want to improve the "atmosphere" then look to change the way Management does things. On the whole, Amtrak front line employees do the best with the limited resourses and short- sighted and inadequate managent.

Thank you

Amtrak Conductor with 36 yaers on the road

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Other than Washington + Alexandria and New York Penn Station + Newark and Raleigh + Cary, where do the Silvers have a pair of stops within 20 minles of each other?

The scheduled time from BOS to PVD on Amtrak is one minute faster on the Acela Express than the Regional. They make the same stops. The Acela maxes out at 150 MPH, the Regional 125 MPH. They may have different braking and aceleration performance.

I think the MBTA trains on the same route take about an hour, but I think they max out somewhere around 88 MPH and have to make some extra stops and probably don't accelerate as well Amtrak because Amtrak uses electric locomotives there and the MBTA uses diesels.

If a train is stopping once a hour, I doubt reducing the number of stops is going to have much impact on the overall time the train takes.

How are you proposing to split the stops? Do you want to tell people coming from Camden, SC that they can go to New York City but not Washington DC, and people coming from Charleston, SC that they can go to Washington DC but not New York City?

 

[BobWeaver]

How are you proposing to split the stops? Do you want to tell people coming from Camden, SC that they can go to New York City but not Washington DC, and people coming from Charleston, SC that they can go to Washington DC but not New York City?

I think he's saying that one of the Silver trains should be made into a "Limited," meaning it wouldn't stop at all of the stops that the regular Silver train would. However, this would not work where the Meteor and Star split, because those trains are only once daily.

 

[Walt]

How are you proposing to split the stops? Do you want to tell people coming from Camden, SC that they can go to New York City but not Washington DC, and people coming from Charleston, SC that they can go to Washington DC but not New York City?

Well, like I said, the few major stops like WAS and NYP would still be done by both.

Forgetting SC, because of the two different routes taken in that one area, I would tell people at the minor stations that they can only take either 91 or 97 southbound, or 92 or 98 northbound. In other words, both trains would not make those stops.

 

[Walt]

I think he's saying that one of the Silver trains should be made into a "Limited," meaning it wouldn't stop at all of the stops that the regular Silver train would. However, this would not work where the Meteor and Star split, because those trains are only once daily.

Hum, that isn't what I meant, but I actually like that idea better.

Make 91 and 98 be the "locals" stopping everywhere along the east coast. Make 92 and 97 the "Limited" or express routes stopping only in, say NYP, PHL, WAS, ORL, and MIA.

I mean, do that many people really board in, say, Rocky Mount at midnight, such that just one train at 8:30pm could not handle them?

The Autotrain has only two stops, and seems to be able to successful and profitable.

 

[had8ley]

Can't we do even better than the 1950s? I don't think they had passenger trains doing 200 MPH or 150 MPH back then, and they may not have even had 135 MPH.

Joel;

I may be totally wrong but I think the New York Central ran a turbo train in the '50's way in excess of 100 mph and I think it was somewhere in Ohio. Anybody remember?

A bit of poking around wikipedia suggests that you might be thinking of the Empire State Express which apparently went to Cleveland and some say maxed out at 112 MPH.

No, the cob webs reveal a jet engined NYC engine; I don't know if it was coupled to cars or not but it was well in excess of 112 mph. Anybody got any recollections?

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

The Black Beetle?

 

[had8ley]

The Black Beetle?

That's it! And 186 mph ain't nothing to sneeze at even if it was a jet powered motor car.

 

[gswager]

If our dreams came true and Amtrak got the funding for new train sets for the Sunset and others, how long do you think it would take to build these babies?

I would say minimum of 3 years.

 

[the_traveler]

Can't we do even better than the 1950s? I don't think they had passenger trains doing 200 MPH or 150 MPH back then, and they may not have even had 135 MPH.

I really don't care about the 200 MPH, 150 MPH or even 135 MPH. I'll take the 50's - where you had a choice (not 1 train 3 days a week) and trains were on time (at least more than today)!

 

[GP35]

If our dreams came true and Amtrak got the funding for new train sets for the Sunset and others, how long do you think it would take to build these babies?

I would say minimum of 3 years.

4 trainsets in 3 years.....

8 coach(4 with downstair baggage)

12 sleepers(4 for crew)

4 diner

4 sightseers.

 

[BobWeaver]

I think he's saying that one of the Silver trains should be made into a "Limited," meaning it wouldn't stop at all of the stops that the regular Silver train would. However, this would not work where the Meteor and Star split, because those trains are only once daily.

The Autotrain has only two stops, and seems to be able to successful and profitable.

Autotrain also serves a completely different market than the Silver trains do. I don't think that's a very wise comparison to use in the future.

 

[RailFanLNK]

Last night Brenda and I were at the LNK station and there was a decent amount boarding. What struck me was we were waiting the for a fellow forum member who was passing through but had fallen asleep before OMA. So we didn't get to visit but the consist on the 5/24 was 2 engines, baggage car, transistion dorm, 2 sleepers, sightseer, dining car, 3 coaches and another sleeper. Thats 4 sleepers on the CZ! I may not have been around too long, but what Amtrak does on a daily basis with next to nothing is nothing short of a miracle. I believe our trip this September that has now increased to 43 participants will be a good time (hopefully) to show off Amtrak and rail travel.

 

[AlanB]

So we didn't get to visit but the consist on the 5/24 was 2 engines, baggage car, transistion dorm, 2 sleepers, sightseer, dining car, 3 coaches and another sleeper. Thats 4 sleepers on the CZ!

Al,

I just heard from Kevin Korell that Amtrak plans to restart a practice that they cancelled a few years ago due to not enough equipment being available, since for a few years they weren't fixing wrecked cars to save money. In any event, while I'm trying to confirm a start date (even though your observations would indicate that it has already started), reportedly Amtrak is going to once again start running a short turn sleeper between Chicago and Denver. As I mentioned they used to do this all the time during the peak summer months. I think, but since Kevin hasn't yet posted the NARP newsletter I can't confirm, that a coach will also be short turned at Denver.