No PPC During CS Reroute?

[guest]

In booking a LAX-OAK ticket for Feb. 2 on the CS rerouting via Tehachapi Pass and Central Valley, agent told me the PPC won't be in the consist during that week of the alternate route.

Does anyone else know or hear about this? Could the ticket agent be wrong or would she be reading the info from some internal advisory?

Bummer if it's true.

 

[Trogdor]

Agent must be confused. As long as the equipment isn't bad ordered, it will run.

 

[guest in la area]

Agent must be confused. As long as the equipment isn't bad ordered, it will run.

When we rode the CS a few winter ago when the train only went as far as Klamath Falls because of the mudslides in the Cascades, there was no Parlor Car and the SCA said they were taken off for a period because the shortened route offered a chance to do some preventive maintenance. So perhaps Amtrak is doing similar during the week when the train isn't going to run along the ocean, figuring they aren't as vital given the scenery won't be spectacular??

 

[yarrow]

In booking a LAX-OAK ticket for Feb. 2 on the CS rerouting via Tehachapi Pass and Central Valley, agent told me the PPC won't be in the consist during that week of the alternate route.

Does anyone else know or hear about this? Could the ticket agent be wrong or would she be reading the info from some internal advisory?

Bummer if it's true.

i sure hope the agent was wrong. we are lax-pdx on 2/6. with a lot of railfans riding the week of the detour it would seem a public relations gaffe. can you imagine amtrak involved in a public relations gaffe?!!!!!

 

[Trogdor]

The southbound will still be running the regular route. The detour alone is not a reason to park those cars.

 

[sechs]

In order to come south, the car must go north....

 

[Rich Benbrook]

Northbound Starlight went past Oxnard (reroute canceled for today) without PPC. Looked like an extra diner, though.

 

[Guest]

No PPC and no Tehachapi reroute because of UP derailment on the line. LOTS of disappointed riders, especially in the 2 private cars on the rear expecting the rare Tehachapi treat. Oh well you take your chances with Amtrak no matter the time, date, schedule or plan...

 

[fairviewroad]

Northbound Starlight went past Oxnard (reroute canceled for today) without PPC. Looked like an extra diner, though.

The "extra diner" probably a "CCC" car that is sometimes used as a substitute for the PPC. If so, that was probably unrelated to the reroute (or the non-reroute, as it were).

 

[Devil's Advocate]

No PPC and no Tehachapi reroute because of UP derailment on the line. LOTS of disappointed riders, especially in the 2 private cars on the rear expecting the rare Tehachapi treat. Oh well you take your chances with Amtrak no matter the time, date, schedule or plan...

I'd say this sounds more like a case of taking your chances with Union Pacific. I never quite understood the whole Tehachapi love fest. Is there something more to it than that big dry desert-like loop thing? It looked substantially less appealing than the normal route. To my eyes anyway.

 

[TCRT]

I'd say this sounds more like a case of taking your chances with Union Pacific. I never quite understood the whole Tehachapi love fest. Is there something more to it than that big dry desert-like loop thing? It looked substantially less appealing than the normal route. To my eyes anyway.

It's my understanding that UP usually explicitly forbids passenger trains from operating over this route, which is why, for example, the San Joaquin doesn't go all the way to Los Angeles. Perhaps it is this scarcity that makes a trip over this route so attractive.

 

[singwith]

The ppc was on today's #14.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

I never quite understood the whole Tehachapi love fest. Is there something more to it than that big dry desert-like loop thing?

Ignorance, thy name is Dax Omni.

Groundhog Day's (2-2-12) Coast Starlight train 14 made the detour and had, in addition to its Pacific Parlour Car, 1 heritage, 1Horizon, and 3 Amfleet cars tacked onto the end. Looked like Pacific Surfliner's usual 799/798 consist deadheading to points elsewhere.

Video:

Coast Starlight Tehachapi Detour At Acton - Amtrak Coast Starlight train 14 on Groundhog Day (February 2), 2012, goes through a tunnel near Acton, CA on Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line. The train will run out past Palmdale and Lancaster in the high desert, then turn north over the Tehachapi mountains to Bakersfield before running through the Central Valley and on to Oakland in this unusual detour from its usual coast route. In addition to the typical Superliner consist, the train has a single-level consist of heritage, Amfleet, and Horizon cars tacked onto the end.

Bonus Metrolink Video:

Metrolink Antelope Valley Line - Metrolink Antelope Valley Line train 205 running outbound from Los Angeles Union Station to Lancaster on Groundhog Day (February 2), 2012. The tunnel is beside the Santa Clara River near Acton, in the mountains between Santa Clarita and SoCal's high desert.

 

[fairviewroad]

Video:

Coast Starlight Tehachapi Detour At Acton - Amtrak Coast Starlight train 14 on Groundhog Day (February 2), 2012, goes through a tunnel near Acton, CA on Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line. The train will run out past Palmdale and Lancaster in the high desert, then turn north over the Tehachapi mountains to Bakersfield before running through the Central Valley and on to Oakland in this unusual detour from its usual coast route. In addition to the typical Superliner consist, the train has a single-level consist of heritage, Amfleet, and Horizon cars tacked onto the end.

Okay, now THAT's a cool video. :excl:

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

Here are a few shots from our ride today. It was an interesting route carving through some very pretty California countryside that's way off the beaten path. Not sure if I saw you Team Whooz, but it was fun to see people railfanning our train so enthusiastically. Must be some fast drivers as I saw the same faces many miles apart! Have fun this weekend on your trip. 

 

[Sky Pilot]

I never quite understood the whole Tehachapi love fest. Is there something more to it than that big dry desert-like loop thing?

Ignorance, thy name is Dax Omni.

Groundhog Day's (2-2-12) Coast Starlight train 14 made the detour and had, in addition to its Pacific Parlour Car, 1 heritage, 1Horizon, and 3 Amfleet cars tacked onto the end. Looked like Pacific Surfliner's usual 799/798 consist deadheading to points elsewhere.

Video:

Coast Starlight Tehachapi Detour At Acton - Amtrak Coast Starlight train 14 on Groundhog Day (February 2), 2012, goes through a tunnel near Acton, CA on Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line. The train will run out past Palmdale and Lancaster in the high desert, then turn north over the Tehachapi mountains to Bakersfield before running through the Central Valley and on to Oakland in this unusual detour from its usual coast route. In addition to the typical Superliner consist, the train has a single-level consist of heritage, Amfleet, and Horizon cars tacked onto the end.

Bonus Metrolink Video:

Metrolink Antelope Valley Line - Metrolink Antelope Valley Line train 205 running outbound from Los Angeles Union Station to Lancaster on Groundhog Day (February 2), 2012. The tunnel is beside the Santa Clara River near Acton, in the mountains between Santa Clarita and SoCal's high desert.

WhoozOn1st - Nice video. I was glad I watched to the end because initially it looked like you were standing on the tracks (not that I thought you really were) to film it. Great quality. Brought back memories of a ride I did on this train a year ago this week -- my first LD ride with a sleeper to boot.

Now .. for the group. It looked like there were two baggage cars, one to the rear of Engine 20 and before the three Superliner sleepers, and one after the four Superliner coaches. Wouldn't that placement also indicate that the single level cars behind the baggage car would be inaccessible to the rest of the train? I still don't quite understand the terminology on the names. I gather Heritage means legacy cars inherited/obtained from the pre-Amtrak railroads so this refers to the PPC, right? What is a Horizon car and where does that name come from? Is that the baggage car separating the Superliners from the single-level cars? Does it differ from the baggage car at the front end of the consist behind the engines? Next were three single level cars that look like the cars I ride on the NER from NPN to WAS. But behind that was a different looking car? What type is that?

I've been to Wikipedia to sort this out but I'm not really grasping the distinctions. The term AmFleet in particular confuses me because to me anything operated by AmTrak would be AmFleet in my book. I'll have to go searching for a thread on this .. I'm sure there must be one.

Anyway, thanks for the video. Never been railfanning or trainspotting but I may have to start.

Blue skies ..

 

[railiner]

The last car was the Horizon car. It was derived from "Comet" commuter coaches. It trailed the Amfleet cars. The single level cars were probably just deadhead equipment move.

 

[Ryan]

Sky Pilot:

Start here and many of your questions will be answered:

http://www.on-track-on-line.com/amtrak-roster.shtml

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I never quite understood the whole Tehachapi love fest. Is there something more to it than that big dry desert-like loop thing?

Ignorance, thy name is Dax Omni.

Arrogance, thy name is Whoozy. I watched the video on smug mug (how appropriate). I saw a tunnel and a crossing and some brush. Interesting enough in a general sense, but I still don't see how that lives up to all the hype in a state that has so much more impressive scenery elsewhere. Nor does it even look all that remote with roads and canals and such. It does give me some investment ideas however. Maybe I'll work on getting some capital together and go hunting for a random stretch of rail to buy or lease in the middle of a desert. Somewhere far enough to be remote looking but within a day's trip of a large population center. I'll publicly forbid all passenger traffic on this stretch of rail. Then, once in a blue moon I'll allow a chartered passenger train to cross this otherwise unremarkable stretch of rail and charge a fee to anyone who wants to see it happen. $200 to ride it, $20 to see it from the ground. Free hayride to the beet farm included. :lol:

 

[leemell]

I never quite understood the whole Tehachapi love fest. Is there something more to it than that big dry desert-like loop thing?

Ignorance, thy name is Dax Omni.

Arrogance, thy name is Whoozy. I watched the video on smug mug (how appropriate). I saw a tunnel and a crossing and some brush. Interesting enough in a general sense, but I still don't see how that lives up to all the hype in a state that has so much more impressive scenery elsewhere. Nor does it even look all that remote with roads and canals and such. It does give me some investment ideas however. Maybe I'll work on getting some capital together and go hunting for a random stretch of rail to buy or lease in the middle of a desert. Somewhere far enough to be remote looking but within a day's trip of a large population center. I'll publicly forbid all passenger traffic on this stretch of rail. Then, once in a blue moon I'll allow a chartered passenger train to cross this otherwise unremarkable stretch of rail and charge a fee to anyone who wants to see it happen. $200 to ride it, $20 to see it from the ground. Free hayride to the beet farm included. :lol:

You are missing the point. The video is near Acton, about 50 miles from Tehachapi and very different geography. On top of that very few have been through this area on the tracks. Both make it very interesting.

Edit: To make it clear, Tehachapi is what I'm referring to.

 

[Alice]

It does give me some investment ideas however. Maybe I'll work on getting some capital together and go hunting for a random stretch of rail to buy or lease in the middle of a desert. Somewhere far enough to be remote looking but within a day's trip of a large population center. I'll publicly forbid all passenger traffic on this stretch of rail. Then, once in a blue moon I'll allow a chartered passenger train to cross this otherwise unremarkable stretch of rail and charge a fee to anyone who wants to see it happen. $200 to ride it, $20 to see it from the ground. Free hayride to the beet farm included. :lol:

I believe Yreka Western (Blue Goose) used this formula, belly-up last I heard, cars spotted in WA last year. Track (very scenic) and shop were still there last time I was by. Trains were all sold out after they announced they were going out of business. I'm sure the locals would entertain offers that brought $$ to town.

 

[Guest]

metrolink plies the route thru Acton to Palmdale daily

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Here are several views of the daytime trackwork in progress on the U.P. coast route at Ventura (VEC - my town) these days - some of the maintenance of way stuff that's the reason for the current Coast Starlight detour through the Tehachapis. Top-bottom, 1 & 2 - trestle over highway 101 at California Street, downtown Ventura, looking northbound; 3 - Same area, looking southbound; 4 - MOW on the Pacific Rim, just north of Ventura, Anacapa Island visible in the offshore distance; 5 - Men and machines at work next to the Ventura County Fairgrounds, where moments earlier an Ambus subbing for a Pacific Surfliner had arrived at VEC using that little service road on the left (Amtrak platform behind camera). Trestle over Ventura River visible in background.

 

[X]

Groundhog Day's (2-2-12) Coast Starlight train 14 made the detour and had, in addition to its Pacific Parlour Car, 1 heritage, 1Horizon, and 3 Amfleet cars tacked onto the end. Looked like Pacific Surfliner's usual 799/798 consist deadheading to points elsewhere.

Oakland for the Reno Fun/Snow Trains.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Another vid from the current detour, also heavily windblown, but this one actually in the Tehachapis!

Video:

Coast Starlight Tehachapi Pass - Coast Starlight train 14 emerges from tunnel 2 and heads around a curve on 2-4-12, running downhill to the horseshoe curve at Caliente before heading to Bakersfield and through the Central Valley. Trackwork on Union Pacific's coast line has pushed the Starlight from its usual route onto this rare milage detour. Note the second locomotive, No. 184, in Amtrak 40th Anniversary colors, and private varnish business car Tioga Pass on the end.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and there's a PPC in the consist. Again. So much for THAT false nugget.