Amtrak announces schedule for two new trains!

[Rob_C]

According to Amtrak spokesman Mark Zinger,

"This has been in the planning stages for a pretty long time, we were just waiting on final approval from the host railroads and the operating subsidies from California and other states that we can now move forward with implementation".

Amtrak posted the schedules in the timetables section of it's website Amtrak.com linked here:

Imperial Service

Spirit Service

Wow! Did anyone know this was coming down the pipeline??

 

[Donctor]

Fake.

Fix the errors and it'll be cool.

 

[guest employee]

Very creative! But you made a few boo-boos, such as listing "Spirit of America" on the "Imperial Service" timetable...

 

[bretton88]

I wish the Spirit of America was a real train. I love the call times too (except for that 235am arrival wb into Las Vegas). But the problem is that tennessee pass is inactive. So the only way this could be accomplished would be to go Pueblo-Den and then take the usual CZ route.

 

[Anderson]

You might want to find a way to alter the effective dates, too. Apparently, the Imperial Service has been running for two years and nobody told us!

 

[johnny.menhennet]

I wish the Spirit of America was a real train. I love the call times too (except for that 235am arrival wb into Las Vegas). But the problem is that tennessee pass is inactive. So the only way this could be accomplished would be to go Pueblo-Den and then take the usual CZ route.

I also think that these are really well put together. I also love the call times on the Spirit of America, and even though Vegas was screwed, it can't be perfect everywhere! I would love another daytime Rockies run, and had often wondered about it. The more errors I see is in the Imperial timetable. While you did a nice job, misspelling Pomona is not a good thing. I love the effort though, but I doubt that any train would make the LAX-SAN journey via the mountains in 12 hours if it's 950 miles!!!

If it were just slightly cleaner and slightly more accurate, they would be really fun.

 

[Anderson]

Also, on the Spirit Service...is it just me, or does this sound like the resurrection of Warrington's never-fleshed-out "Transcontinental Luxury Service" train?

 

[sechs]

Fake.

Fix the errors and it'll be cool.

Although Amtrak's schedule PDFs are completely unlocked, you still have to have the fonts that they are using to make convincing changes.
I have a pretty impressive collection of fonts, but I only have about half of the ones that Amtrak is using.

 

[guest]

I wish the Spirit of America was a real train. I love the call times too (except for that 235am arrival wb into Las Vegas). But the problem is that tennessee pass is inactive. So the only way this could be accomplished would be to go Pueblo-Den and then take the usual CZ route.

I also think that these are really well put together. I also love the call times on the Spirit of America, and even though Vegas was screwed, it can't be perfect everywhere! I would love another daytime Rockies run, and had often wondered about it. The more errors I see is in the Imperial timetable. While you did a nice job, misspelling Pomona is not a good thing. I love the effort though, but I doubt that any train would make the LAX-SAN journey via the mountains in 12 hours if it's 950 miles!!!

If it were just slightly cleaner and slightly more accurate, they would be really fun.

A teeny, weeny bit off on the mileage between Tijuana and San Diego: 208 miles according to timetable states! :huh: More like 28, actually 12 from downtown San Diego to the border.

Unless this is a new way of designing padding?! :lol:

 

[guest]

I wish the Spirit of America was a real train. I love the call times too (except for that 235am arrival wb into Las Vegas). But the problem is that tennessee pass is inactive. So the only way this could be accomplished would be to go Pueblo-Den and then take the usual CZ route.

I also think that these are really well put together. I also love the call times on the Spirit of America, and even though Vegas was screwed, it can't be perfect everywhere! I would love another daytime Rockies run, and had often wondered about it. The more errors I see is in the Imperial timetable. While you did a nice job, misspelling Pomona is not a good thing. I love the effort though, but I doubt that any train would make the LAX-SAN journey via the mountains in 12 hours if it's 950 miles!!!

If it were just slightly cleaner and slightly more accurate, they would be really fun.

Doubt that Superliner equipment would make it through any of the 16 redwood-timbered tunnels on the San Diego & Arizona Eastern serpentine line between Tijuana Mexico and the Imperial Valley!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Also, on the Spirit Service...is it just me, or does this sound like the resurrection of Warrington's never-fleshed-out "Transcontinental Luxury Service" train?

Actually, a long time before that, Amtrak did offer through sleeper service NYP-STL-LAX on the NL and SWL.

As far as the fake schedules go, I think that the Spirit one is made better than the Imperial one. The timetable could convince even better if it was called the National Chief or National Zephyr. A LD would probably not be called a "Service."

I do see that the Spirit has Viewliner Coach Service. :blink:

 

[DS]

To the OP: How about bringing back Slumbercoaches? And how about using streamlined cars instead of Viewliners? Maybe throw in some dome cars and a bullet lounge for good measure like on The Canadian?

I have a pretty impressive collection of fonts, but I only have about half of the ones that Amtrak is using.

Where did you get the Amtrak timetable fonts from?

 

[Acela150]

39 miles to NWK from NYP huh.. Sounds like a deal!! :lol: :lol:

While a very creative mind.. We get this every April Fools Day... We need something new.. :help: :help:

 

[johnny.menhennet]

39 miles to NWK from NYP huh.. Sounds like a deal!! :lol: :lol:

While a very creative mind.. We get this every April Fools Day... We need something new.. :help: :help:

I've been creating some more realistic schedules for myself recently, and I was really impressed with your fonts and symbols. With the symbols (the little baggage sign, black circle or white, etc.), I was wondering how you did it, since it looked pretty good.

I also saw the 100 + miles from Indio to Coachella in 7 minutes, and I liked that.

 

[Rob_C]

Admittedly the Imperial was a bit more rushed. I'm not sure I even changed the mileage from my template, and completely forgot the date. I will eventually polish these up, while working on a couple others, working on the LA-LAS corridor service as well. And then the CAL HSR. I almost ran the Spirit on the Transcon, it would have been a bit faster, but with the SWC moving there eventually and the Royal Gorge such a railfans wet dream, it was too tempting to pass up.

The logos and gadgets all come from opening the Amtrak ones in Adobe Acrobat and just moving them around. They can also be saved as images and brought into word which is faster for formatting. These are fun to run with the model trains on a fast clock. Would be cool if there was a place for them in a fantasy section in the Amtrak timetable website. I also have the flipped CS schedule one from a year or two ago that runs the stampede pass and inside gateway. We railfans can dream...

Best,

Rob

 

[NS VIA Fan]

Great work and an Interesting read…..thanks for posting

How will you handle the stops in Mexico? Not much time built into the schedule for border inspections. Will passengers be inspected like they did on Amtrak's Empire State Express across southern Ontario or will it be "sealed" like VIA's Atlantic Limited was across the state of Maine?

 

[Mike]

Apparently, San Diego is 140 miles from the border... Looks cool though.

 

[Montanan]

I'm generally not too impressed with most attempts at April Fools humor, but these get a definite thumbs up! I was especially pleased with your unilateral decision to reopen Tennessee Pass.

 

[NorthCoastHiawatha]

Great work and an Interesting read…..thanks for posting

How will you handle the stops in Mexico? Not much time built into the schedule for border inspections. Will passengers be inspected like they did on Amtrak's Empire State Express across southern Ontario or will it be "sealed" like VIA's Atlantic Limited was across the state of Maine?

I don't think the Atlantic was sealed at least according to the timetable I'm looking at, which is from October 1988. It shows several stops in Maine in addition to the customs stops in Vanceboro and Jackman Maine.

 

[Montanan]

Great work and an Interesting read…..thanks for posting

How will you handle the stops in Mexico? Not much time built into the schedule for border inspections. Will passengers be inspected like they did on Amtrak's Empire State Express across southern Ontario or will it be "sealed" like VIA's Atlantic Limited was across the state of Maine?

I don't think the Atlantic was sealed at least according to the timetable I'm looking at, which is from October 1988. It shows several stops in Maine in addition to the customs stops in Vanceboro and Jackman Maine.

For at least part of its history, I think customs agents actually rode the Atlantic on the portion of its route across Maine, clearing the small number of people who got on or off at the Maine stops. I rode the train shortly before it was discontinued, and I know that there were at least a couple of stops in Maine, but no customs formalities for the through passengers.

 

[NS VIA Fan]

Great work and an Interesting read…..thanks for posting

How will you handle the stops in Mexico? Not much time built into the schedule for border inspections. Will passengers be inspected like they did on Amtrak's Empire State Express across southern Ontario or will it be "sealed" like VIA's Atlantic Limited was across the state of Maine?

I don't think the Atlantic was sealed at least according to the timetable I'm looking at, which is from October 1988. It shows several stops in Maine in addition to the customs stops in Vanceboro and Jackman Maine.

For at least part of its history, I think customs agents actually rode the Atlantic on the portion of its route across Maine, clearing the small number of people who got on or off at the Maine stops. I rode the train shortly before it was discontinued, and I know that there were at least a couple of stops in Maine, but no customs formalities for the through passengers.

When the Atlantic was restored in June 1985 after a 4 year hiatus, US Customs & INS now insisted everyone be inspected even those Canadians "just passing through" This happened in the middle of the night. After months of negotiations, the trains were actually "sealed" A tag was placed on all doors except the one coach where the US Customs Officer rode and only checked those getting off in the US. Anyone getting on in the US sat in this coach and were checked by Canada Customs when the train crossed back into Canada at McAdam NB or Megantic, Quebec.