Changes to the Cardinal

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Senator Robert Byrd, D-WV passed away this morning. As I am sure you are all aware, the Cardinal was the ONLY Congressionally mandated train in Amtrak's network, due in large part to Byrd's clout in the Senate. Given the fact that the Cardinal is already, in many ways, the mistreated stepchild of Amtrak's Long Distance trains, how do you think this impacts the future of the Cardinal???
 
Senator Robert Byrd, D-WV passed away this morning. As I am sure you are all aware, the Cardinal was the ONLY Congressionally mandated train in Amtrak's network, due in large part to Byrd's clout in the Senate. Given the fact that the Cardinal is already, in many ways, the mistreated stepchild of Amtrak's Long Distance trains, how do you think this impacts the future of the Cardinal???
I think the Cardinal will make unplanned stops to weep and compose itself. :p
 
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I have been following this post with great interest. I have my doubts about all of the ideas presented. First off Amtrak has NO Superliners available to build a new Cardinal train that originates in DC. Secondly the purchase of new Superliners is not funded nor is there any proposal before congress to do so.

I can believe that with the increase in ridership we will see more refurbished cars; mainly baggage cars being and diners being added. I can also believe that Amtrak will finally get approval to replace some of the old Viewliner trains but its a slow process.

As for new routes, the question must be asked; where is the equipment going to come from? The only one that can be added (reinstated) is the Sunset Limited from NOL to Miami. All Amtrak would need to do is re-open stations and run the existing train Eastward to Fl.
 
Actually, depending on what your priorities are (i.e. what kind of spare ratio you want, and whether you want to forego increasing capacity on other trains), you could find the Superliners to run the Cardinal 3x/week right now. One sleeper, a CCC, and two coaches would just about equal the train's current capacity (and would result in an increase in sleeper capacity).

Also, there aren't any "Viewliner trains" right now, only Viewliner sleepers mixed in with other single-level equipment. Plus, the Viewliners are the newest long-distance equipment currently in service, and thus would be the last to be replaced.
 
Trogdor has already said much of what I was thinking, though I do have a few comments:

I have been following this post with great interest. I have my doubts about all of the ideas presented. First off Amtrak has NO Superliners available to build a new Cardinal train that originates in DC. Secondly the purchase of new Superliners is not funded nor is there any proposal before congress to do so.
Amtrak does not have "NO Superliners available to build a new Cardinal train that originates in DC." The equipment exists. Whether this is the best use for it, I cannot comment.

I can believe that with the increase in ridership we will see more refurbished cars; mainly baggage cars being and diners being added. I can also believe that Amtrak will finally get approval to replace some of the old Viewliner trains but its a slow process.
There will not be refurbished baggage cars. Amtrak is attempting to procure new ones. There aren't single-level diners to be refurbished. There are 25 in the fleet, and after doing some stretching, Amtrak now schedules 15 daily. The cars are simply too old. Amtrak can spend all its money on refurbishing these cars, but there's not much that can be done except to rebuild the cars, which isn't happening. Hence, the inclusion of single-level diners in Amtrak's next equipment order.

I don't understand how this would be separate from replacing "some of the old Viewliner trains," though you imply that it would be.

The Viewliners, as Trogdor pointed out, are the newest rolling stock in the fleet (minus the sets).

As for new routes, the question must be asked; where is the equipment going to come from? The only one that can be added (reinstated) is the Sunset Limited from NOL to Miami. All Amtrak would need to do is re-open stations and run the existing train Eastward to Fl.
The equipment would come from the yards. There are enough cars in the fleet, though assigning them to the Cardinal would reduce the spare ratio, as Trogdor stated.

Yes, the NOL-ORL could be restored without requiring additional equipment.
 
The equipment would come from the yards. There are enough cars in the fleet, though assigning them to the Cardinal would reduce the spare ratio, as Trogdor stated.

Yes, the NOL-ORL could be restored without requiring additional equipment.
Suffice it to say that there are not enough cars available at the moment to doall of:

1. Daily Texas Eagle + SAS - NOL day train.

2. NOL - ORL

3. Daily Cardinal using Superliners.

So one has to pick and choose.

My guess is that NOL - ORL won't happen unless some state funding materializes or some targeted funding materializes from Congress.

I agree with Amtking that dlagrua is simply wrong in stating that there are no Superliners available to make the Cardinal daily originating a Washington DC at one and and at Chicago or St. Louis at the other end. Amtking is correct in stating that it will likely stretch availability requirements to almost the breaking point though. It will all depend on how many servicable Superliners Amtrak will be able to field each day after all the rebuilds are done.
 
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