Amtrak on Memorial Day

[jis]

Amtrak has announced on Facebook that

In honor of Memorial Day, at 3:00 pm local time on Monday all engines on our system will sound one long whistle to salute those who have died for our country.

So now it is upto you timetable experts to figure out if there are any Amtrak trains running on schedule that will get to blow its whistle twice on this occasion.

 

[Texan Eagle]

Amtrak has announced on Facebook that

In honor of Memorial Day, at 3:00 pm local time on Monday all engines on our system will sound one long whistle to salute those who have died for our country.

So now it is upto you timetable experts to figure out if there are any Amtrak trains running on schedule that will get to blow its whistle twice on this occasion.

What if a train happens to be passing a "No Train Horns" residential locality? Will the train-phobic NIMBYs get startled out of their quiet peaceful environs or will the engineer skip honking?

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Well at 3 PM the SWC should start its westbound journey toward LA, but other then that I can't really think of any trains that would be crossing a time zone at that time in the afternoon.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Shall we all have a moment of silence among our members at 3PM in remembrance of our brave military?

 

[jis]

Shall we all have a moment of silence among our members at 3PM in remembrance of our brave military?

Unless you are in close proximity of a K5LA, in which case you should blow it!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I have an air horn ...

 

[The Davy Crockett]

I'll be listening outside. I live about two miles from the closest tracks, but I can still hear the horns of trains passing through ALX - (at least I think its ALX, but they could be on CSX south of ALX as well)

Abraham Lincoln, November, 19, 1863:

...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

 

[GoldenSpike]

Shall we all have a moment of silence among our members at 3PM in remembrance of our brave military?

Thanks for remembering! Many only see Memorial Day as a 3-day weekend.

 

[Trainmans daughter]

Abraham Lincoln, November, 19, 1863:

...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Thank you for your post.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Too bad I didn't hear the horn.

Good to see people remember Memorial Day.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Amtrak has announced on Facebook that

In honor of Memorial Day, at 3:00 pm local time on Monday all engines on our system will sound one long whistle to salute those who have died for our country.

So now it is upto you timetable experts to figure out if there are any Amtrak trains running on schedule that will get to blow its whistle twice on this occasion.

What if a train happens to be passing a "No Train Horns" residential locality? Will the train-phobic NIMBYs get startled out of their quiet peaceful environs or will the engineer skip honking?

Your NIMBY-phobic rant inspired me to read up on quiet zones.

To the best of my understanding, unless there is an emergency situation (pedestrian or vehicle on the track) or there are track maintenance employees or contractors in the vicinity of the quiet zone the horn should not sound. However, the FRA does not appear to take a single one-off sounding of a horn in a designated quiet zone to be a serious matter. Only the observation of repeated soundings in contravention of the rules is listed as a target of remedy or enforcement.

More information on quiet zones can be found here: http://www.fra.dot.gov/Pages/1773.shtml

 

[jis]

Amtrak has announced on Facebook that

In honor of Memorial Day, at 3:00 pm local time on Monday all engines on our system will sound one long whistle to salute those who have died for our country.

So now it is upto you timetable experts to figure out if there are any Amtrak trains running on schedule that will get to blow its whistle twice on this occasion.

What if a train happens to be passing a "No Train Horns" residential locality? Will the train-phobic NIMBYs get startled out of their quiet peaceful environs or will the engineer skip honking?

I am sure that there is no instruction to break any regulations in force is implied for this.

 

[Steve4031]

To answer the first question, I don't think there are any trains that meet this criteria. The first part is that the train would be going west bound. The second part is that the train would have to be near a time zone boundary at 3 pm. Then they would cross that boundary and it would be 3 pm again.

East coast to Midwest trains cross into the central time zone in the morning. The trains to the west coast cross time zones late at night or early morning. So no train IMHO makes the 3 pm blow twice.

 

[user 683]

Forgive the OT comment, thought others would be interested in this.

I know that SIRIUS/XM radio observed a moment of silence on all channels at approximately 1201 EDT on Monday.

http://www.siriusxm.com/memorialday

 

[fairviewroad]

To answer the first question, I don't think there are any trains that meet this criteria. The first part is that the train would be going west bound. The second part is that the train would have to be near a time zone boundary at 3 pm. Then they would cross that boundary and it would be 3 pm again.

East coast to Midwest trains cross into the central time zone in the morning. The trains to the west coast cross time zones late at night or early morning. So no train IMHO makes the 3 pm blow twice.

Even in Michigan, home to the only corridor service that crosses a time zone boundary, no trains meet this criteria.

The flip side would be, are there are Amtrak trains that would be on their journey but would have to skip the 3 p.m. observance because they skipped 3 p.m altogether?

This could happen if an eastbound train crossed a time zone boundary between 2:01 and 2:59 p.m., since it would skip immediately to 3:01 p.m. thru 3:59 p.m.

My quick glance through the relevant schedules shows that this too, would not happen to an on-time train anywhere in Amtrak's system.

 

[thetourman]

Thank you to Amtrak for remembering all those who have giventheir lives in service to our country. Theyare not forgotten as long as they are in our thoughts.