Hurricane Gustav

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VentureForth said:
That's really gonna hurt numbers. No revenue for one full week, yet still paying staff to standby. I guess FEMA will give them some money for being there.
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Once the decision is made, the trains belong to FEMA and I would assume Amtrak will be compensated for all expenses and lost revenue.
 
had8ley said:
Guest said:
had8leyAre you boarded up?

Don't most evac (on I90) in the opposite direction of the brunt and not necessarily further inland?

My relatives, during Katrina, were headed north (they thought Michigan ought to do it) and seeing the emergency relief, supply, portable buildings & utility trucks already in progress from Atlanta towards staging, I told them to come east before the masses figured out that Atlanta was in the best spot to handle them.

This would be such a fine time to have the Sunset Limited East (renaming it the Sunrise ^_^ ) back and running.
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Believe it or not we received 80 mph winds during Katrina but suffered no damage. We had 42 people in our home at one time! Amex loved me when I went grocery shopping. Believe it or not the people north of LA. Highway 190 suffered greater damage than most places further south. My old conductor lives in Folsom, LA which is about 50 miles north and east of Baton Rouge and lost 37 of 67 pecan trees. We are not boarded up yet but do have an 18 KW generator and a 1,000 gallon propane tank to fuel it. By the time this one's over we might be lucky to see any Sunset for some time.

BTW, the SPV's came into NOL on the Crescent; understand they had been sitting in a yard in CT
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SPV ???
 
had8ley said:
BTW, the SPV's came into NOL on the Crescent; understand they had been sitting in a yard in CT
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Any idea when this was? And any info on how they came? Was it in 1 trip, 2 trips or what? It seems that'd pretty much double the length of the Crescent if you threw those on there. Any pictures?

Thanks!
 
Also - Amtrak.com says this. It looks like the Crescent is stopping in Atlanta for the time being. I'll go try and get some pictures.

Service Alert: Hurricane Gustav: City of New Orleans, Crescent, Sunset Limited Service Affected

August 29, 2008

7:00 pm CDT

The approach of severe weather and a declaration of an emergency have prompted Amtrak to temporarily suspend service to and from New Orleans for the safety of passengers, employees and equipment.

Amtrak train equipment currently in New Orleans will be made available to federal and state authorities to assist in the evacuation of the city and to help maximize capacity for the evacuation. Amtrak is taking this action as a national transportation asset in accordance with its contract with the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which is preparing for the evacuation of New Orleans.

All passengers who have travel plans through the affected areas on routes of the New York-Atlanta-New Orleans Amtrak Crescent; Chicago-Memphis-New Orleans Amtrak City of New Orleans and the Los Angeles-San Antonio-New Orleans route of the Amtrak Sunset Limited are urged to call Amtrak at 800-USA-RAIL.

Those passengers with telephone contact information in their reservations are being called by Amtrak and offered options including future travel dates. Ticketed passengers affected by this service suspension will be eligible for refunds.

City of New Orleans, Trains 58 & 59

Service is suspended for the length of the route, through September 1. Alternate transportation will be provided between Chicago and Carbondale by Trains 390, 391, 392 & 393.

Crescent , Trains 19 & 20

Service is suspended south of Atlanta, including Birmingham, Ala., through at least September 4. No alternate transportation is available.

Sunset Limited , Trains 1 & 2

Service is suspended east of San Antonio, through at least September 4. No alternate transportation is available. Amtrak Thruway Motorcoaches continue to operate from Longview to Houston and other points in Texas.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions warrant. Passengers are encouraged to call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com for schedule information and train status updates.
 
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I am guessing the evacuation trains will be bare bones basics. Stuff a butt in EVERY seat, minimal baggage allowance and no lounge or food service. I also imagine with FEMA running the show, these trains will get top priority over any freight.
 
I just hope Congress remembers Amtrak helping people evacuate when it comes time for them to consider the funding it gets for FY2009!!

Ahem!
 
I missed the actual coverage but CNN is covering Gustav of course. There's a press conference w/Nagin right now that's on, but CNN just said "and there you see Ray Nagin reporting on the situation in New Orleans. And just a while ago, we saw live footage of one of the first Amtrak trains to leave the city, packed with fleeing residents". Nice! Looks like Amtrak is playing a bigger role this time.

Anyone have any idea what the plan is for Amtrak? Is it haul the 15 coaches to Jackson and drop them off, or haul them to Atlanta, or what? I'd like to see if someone can get out and shoot some pics....
 
Updates from Railroad.net forums:

-They are just going to use the equipment that Connecticut has provided, a Sunset Limited train set that is in New Orleans and a City of New Orleans train set that is in New Orleans. I don't believe there is a Crescent train set they plan to use. Amtrak didn't provide Amfleets that had been in storage for this year's contract, rather somehow Connecticut got invlved with providing the Constitution Liners (ex-SPV 2000 cars). Who has the contract and who gets the fund and what triggers payment on the contract is also a mystery to me.

-Just read over on the IlliniRail yahoo list that five P42s were sent down on a CONO the other day. "59(27) departed with 5 motors and 7 cars..."

-There are reports on the local news where the trains may be operated into TN.

The Senior Citizens and the Citizens with Special Needs are to be loaded unto the Amtrak provided Equipment at New Orleans Union Terminal. Mayor Negan said that Amtrak will be taking these folks to Memphis. People began arriving this morning at 8AM.
 
Guest said:
rtabern said:
I just hope Congress remembers Amtrak helping people evacuate when it comes time for them to consider the funding it gets for FY2009!!Ahem!
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They will if you remember to remind them!!!
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Bookmark the following web addresses so you can easily find your law makers and send them messages when the time is right:

Congresspersons: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_info...enators_cfm.cfm

Perhaps someone can tell us when the right time would be?
 
Rail Freak said:
had8ley said:
Guest said:
had8leyAre you boarded up?

Don't most evac (on I90) in the opposite direction of the brunt and not necessarily further inland?

My relatives, during Katrina, were headed north (they thought Michigan ought to do it) and seeing the emergency relief, supply, portable buildings & utility trucks already in progress from Atlanta towards staging, I told them to come east before the masses figured out that Atlanta was in the best spot to handle them.

This would be such a fine time to have the Sunset Limited East (renaming it the Sunrise ^_^ ) back and running.
Click to expand...
BTW, the SPV's came into NOL on the Crescent; understand they had been sitting in a yard in CT
Click to expand...
SPV ???
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SPV= Self Propelled Vehicle; similar to the Budd RDC (Rail Diesel Cars of old. I understand they came in on one train but did not personally confirm that. With two locos it should not have been too much to handle. Only problem I can see is they probably had to cut them off before they headed into the wye at NOUPT and go back later to retrive them. The top end of the wye won't hold over 15 or 16 car lengths the last time I was on an engine and backed in If anyone wants info on the trains that FEMA are running the phone number to call is 504-658-2299.
 
This yahoo story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080830/ap_on_...stav_gulf_coast

says that there is a line at the UP terminal for buses (correct me if wrong). Worrisome is that the illegal migrant workers are afraid of using any of the transportation for fear of deportation.

I saw a pre-evac planning program being implemented for St. Bernard parish where individuals were issued scannable wrist bands and before entering the bus they were getting scanned.

What's up with the trains?
 
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sky12065 said:
Guest said:
rtabern said:
I just hope Congress remembers Amtrak helping people evacuate when it comes time for them to consider the funding it gets for FY2009!!Ahem!
Click to expand...
They will if you remember to remind them!!!
Click to expand...
Bookmark the following web addresses so you can easily find your law makers and send them messages when the time is right:

Congresspersons: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_info...enators_cfm.cfm

Perhaps someone can tell us when the right time would be?
Click to expand...

There is a sample letter on NARP that you can use as the basis of your letter. I recommend changing it up a bit though because I have heard that many of these get disregarded when our reps(or their aids) see the same 1 over and over again. As for timing, I'd say anytime, although its helpful if the person reading the letters see quite a few. This says "hey this is an issue my constituents care about". If the aid is reading them(most likely), the more that are received, the more chances the the Congress person will actually look into the issue.

Just my $.02 :)
 
From Ray Nagin's House testimony on 11 Feb 08 this year and the relevance of Amtrak to N'Orleans's future disasters.

http://www.cityofno.com/pg-1-66-press-rele...px?pressid=3963

After Hurricane Katrina, my Office of Homeland Security developed the City Assisted Evacuation Plan (CAEP), with a major component centered on rail service and the Union Passenger Terminal. Our strategy is to use the rail assets to move our elderly and those with minor medical conditions from the City. While there are many reasons for taking this approach, one of the most important is that rail cars provide a much higher level of comfort than bus transportation. If we are able to provide these vulnerable citizens with a more comfortable and reliable means of evacuation, we will increase their willingness to leave.
 
They've already stopped the Crescent at Atlanta. I saw it stopped on the spur to an old steel plant (I think) next to the station this afternoon.

Why do they stop in Atlanta? Why not Birmingham which won't be majorly affected, or Tuscaloosa where they could do an immediate about face, and not have to "stop" at all?
 
According to postings on the "City of New Orleans Train" Yahoo Group, two FEMA trains left New Orleans for Memphis today. FEMA 1 had 16 Superliner cars and 4 single-level coaches, while FEMA 2 was expected to consist entirely of single-level equipment. Most of the single-level cars are coaches kept in N.O. for an emergency such as this, though some Crescent equipment may be used as well.

It's not known if additional trips will be made later this weekend, but it's considered a definite possibility.
 
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