Silver Star Update

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rrdude said:
jis said:
According to some sources, because of shorter consist, the Silver Star is now being assigned a single P42 instead of two, starting today (8/12/15)
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Well, that's just peachy. Add the SS to the list of trains (a la Heartland Flyer) that will now NOT have the redundacy of a second loco.
And they only took off the Diner, right? One less car warrants removal of a loco?

That seems loco.
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The Texas Eagle should be included on this list, it leads the System in P-42 breakdowns!
 
The cardinal runs with one engine most times nowadays, with the same consist as the Star. Doesn't make it okay, as they've had issues with that, but I imagine that is where they get the standard idea.
 
Many years ago the Silver Star would run with one P42 even with a longer consist. The train is limited to 60 mph anyway on almost all of the ex-SAL.
 
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rrdude said:
And they only took off the Diner, right? One less car warrants removal of a loco?

That seems loco.
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Probably because the HEP requirements of the diner are way higher than any other type of car. Drop that and a single locomotive can provide both on board power and tractive power for the whole train.
 
There is a post on trainorders ( sorry, no link)that says Amtrak Management has gone back to 2 Engines on the Star effective today while LD Operations and Mechanical "study" what to do with LD Train engines!
 
Change and change back in a single day? Weird. I've always thought that a single P42 could handle the load, but I thought I read (here) that two locos were required by CSX.
 
VentureForth said:
Change and change back in a single day? Weird. I've always thought that a single P42 could handle the load, but I thought I read (here) that two locos were required by CSX.
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That is my understanding too..

That is why typically upon loco failure on the Silvers, they carry on with a single unit rather than getting slowed down by the addition of a freight unit.
 
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The Star is much lighter now - gone is the heavy Heritage era baggage car, which has been replaced with a lightweight Viewliner Baggage. And there is no heavy Heritage Diner, it's been taken off the train. And lately just one Viewliner sleeper verses two, or even three, in the past. Just seven passenger cars and no older Heritage cars to weigh down the consist.

So one engine should be fine, especially when you consider that the long running level route to Florida has very minimal changes in elevation. And I would be willing to bet there may be some savings to Amtrak by having one engine verses two.
 
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VentureForth said:
Change and change back in a single day? Weird. I've always thought that a single P42 could handle the load, but I thought I read (here) that two locos were required by CSX.
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There is a CSX special instruction requiring two engines for passenger trains over 12 cars on the Columbia and Hamlet subdivisions. Affects the Star between Savannah and Hamlet.
 
The Meteor has ten cars, and the current Star has seven. In the past, the Star would run with either nine or ten cars, and eleven around the Christmas holiday. Five coaches, three sleepers, plus baggage, lounge and diner.
 
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spidersfan351 said:
The cardinal runs with one engine most times nowadays, with the same consist as the Star. Doesn't make it okay, as they've had issues with that, but I imagine that is where they get the standard idea.
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Cardinal only has three coaches vs. the Star with four and the Meteor with five.

abcnews said:
The Star is much lighter now - gone is the heavy Heritage era baggage car, which has been replaced with a lightweight Viewliner Baggage. And there is no heavy Heritage Diner, it's been taken off the train. And lately just one Viewliner sleeper verses two, or even three, in the past. Just seven passenger cars and no older Heritage cars to weigh down the consist.

So one engine should be fine, especially when you consider that the long running level route to Florida has very minimal changes in elevation. And I would be willing to bet there may be some savings to Amtrak by having one engine verses two.
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The Star has kept two sleepers and business appears to be very brisk at the lowered fares. Rooms are turning multiple times per trip, often emptying and filling up at the same station.

abcnews said:
The Meteor has ten cars, and the current Star has seven. In the past, the Star would run with either nine or ten cars, and eleven around the Christmas holiday. Five coaches, three sleepers, plus baggage, lounge and diner.
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Current consists:

11 car Meteor: Baggage, 3 Sleepers, Diner, Lounge, 5 Coaches (scheduled to drop back to 4 coaches in September, IIRC)

8 car Star: Baggage, 2 Sleepers, Lounge, 4 Coaches

Last year's Thanksgiving and Christmas peaks had both trains at 3 sleepers and 5 coaches.
 
As the late and great Vince Lombardi used to shout: " What the hell is going on out there??!!!!

Is this anyway to run a railroad, it seems that the Marx Brothers are making the decisions @ Amtrak!

Edited to reflect jis excellent point!
 
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I suspect that the decision to operate a train a particular way on a single day based on equipment availability is more at Wilmington than 60 Mass. I think people have a mistaken impression of how big 60 Mass really is.
 
I thought I saw a recent Silver Star with only one Viewliner. It had an engine (just one), a baggage, one Viewliner Sleeper, one lounge and four coach cars. And that actually is 32 axles if you count the engine.
 
I have not seen anything recently since I have to drive 60 miles to get anywhere near a Silver anything. I am just reading stuff on trainorders from people who seem to stalk the Silvers for whatever reason. :)
 
abcnews said:
I thought I saw a recent Silver Star with only one Viewliner. It had an engine (just one), a baggage, one Viewliner Sleeper, one lounge and four coach cars. And that actually is 32 axles if you count the engine.
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You did. They shopped a view and there was nothing on the horizon so they let it go as is.

jis said:
I suspect that the decision to operate a train a particular way on a single day based on equipment availability is more at Wilmington than 60 Mass. I think people have a mistaken impression of how big 60 Mass really is.
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Actually, it has more to do with the facilities than it does CNOC. If CNOC says they want a car and there isn't one available, there is not much they can do.
 
Thirdrail7 said:
jis said:
I suspect that the decision to operate a train a particular way on a single day based on equipment availability is more at Wilmington than 60 Mass. I think people have a mistaken impression of how big 60 Mass really is.
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Actually, it has more to do with the facilities than it does CNOC. If CNOC says they want a car and there isn't one available, there is not much they can do.
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Oh absolutely! My point was that 60 Mass is way far removed from all that day to day stuff that happens when you are running an operation. CNOC cannot magically create equipment, but as the operations center hopefully they are aware of what exactly is running in each train at a given moment.
 
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