Slowest Speed

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wrjensen

Service Attendant
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Oct 20, 2008
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I was wondering per the timetable which two stations show the slowest speed between stations? On the reverse which show the quickest?
 
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It can be hard to accurately tell without knowing the dwell time at each station and other padding built into the schedule. For example, the east-bound Lake Shore Limited runs at at average speed of only 14 mph between Framingham and Boston Back Bay station, but the same train averages 43 mph westbound!

Border crossings are especially prone to this. The Maple Leaf takes 110 minutes to go 2 miles between Niagara Falls, NY and Niagara Falls, ON (because it's only actually moving for about 10 minutes).
 
wrjensen said:
I was wondering per the timetable which two stations show the slowest speed between stations? On the reverse which show the quickest?
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Id say the Texas Eagle #421/#422 which spend all night in SAS before their next stops @ Del Rio and San Marcos,Tx! :lol:

The quickest has to be the Acela in the NEC!
 
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Could I respectfully suggest that the "slowest speed" question be limited to times between intermediate points, and leave out the last two stops on a run, where padding is often built into the schedule to improve on-time performance? Also, when dwell times are considered, the departure from one station to the arrival at the next should be used as the basis for determining train speed. Furthermore, when no dwell time is shown (i.e., only a departure time for an intermediate station is shown), an arrival time of no more than 2-3 minutes prior to departure should be assumed (though this might also need to be modified if the station only receives or only discharges passengers).
 
DET63 said:
Could I respectfully suggest that the "slowest speed" question be limited to times between intermediate points, and leave out the last two stops on a run, where padding is often built into the schedule to improve on-time performance? Also, when dwell times are considered, the departure from one station to the arrival at the next should be used as the basis for determining train speed. Furthermore, when no dwell time is shown (i.e., only a departure time for an intermediate station is shown), an arrival time of no more than 2-3 minutes prior to departure should be assumed (though this might also need to be modified if the station only receives or only discharges passengers).
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With that criteria, I'd be willing to bet its between Springfield, MA and Amherst, MA on the Vermonter, which takes 1 hour, 21 minutes to cover 35 miles. The reason for this is the train stops in Palmer, MA and reverses direction to head up the NECR from CSX. It's really the most painstaking stretch on the entire train, especially if you're familiar with how long it takes to drive between those points.

There's currently a proposal to rehab some track and route the train a different way from Springfield to Brattleboro. Amherst, of course, is very opposed to this, but I strongly feel they shouldn't have a say because the train is 100% funded by the state of Vermont. If they want train service, they ought to be helping to pay for it. Otherwise, the train should take the route that best serves Vermont.

But Amherst needn't worry, as it's going to be years before a change like that is ever made.
 
It takes the westbound CZ 2:02 to go from Denver to Winter Park,a distance of 38 miles. That's 19 MPH! This has to be about the slowest anywhere as the train is climbing the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.
 
Almost as bad, Sunset Limited Bay St. Louis - New Orleans, 21 MPH. 6:43 DP BSL 9:20 AR NOL
 
battalion51 said:
Almost as bad, Sunset Limited Bay St. Louis - New Orleans, 21 MPH. 6:43 DP BSL 9:20 AR NOL
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I would assume, though, that since NOL is the destination for the SL, that quite a bit of time is built in to allow a late train to arrive "on time" (or at least not as late as it really is).

On edit, I see that Bay St. Louis is on part of the "suspended service." I would still assume that padding was built into the schedule when the service did run east of NOL. What was the travel time going in the e/b direction?
 
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Over the Raton Pass, SWC #3 is scheduled to leave Trinidad, CO (mile 1066) at 9 50A, and depart Raton, NM (mile 1089) at 10 56A. SWC #4 is scheduled to leave Raton at 5 32P and Trinidad at 6 31P. That's about an hour to go 23 miles, assuming no padding built into the schedule. I don't know why more time is allowed for the w/b trip than for the e/b. When I took the trip in April '95, however, I do remember that we had stop for a few minutes partway up the hill on the w/b side because one of the engines conked out (or had some problem). They got it going again after a few minutes, however, so it must not have been a serious problem. Maybe that's what the extra time is put into the schedule for! :D
 
How about when the CZ stopped at Sparks, NV and before the Reno ditch was built, the scheduled time for those 3 miles was LONG! :eek: (I forget the length, but it was a crazy amount. I think walking was almost faster. :lol: )
 
DET63 said:
battalion51 said:
Almost as bad, Sunset Limited Bay St. Louis - New Orleans, 21 MPH. 6:43 DP BSL 9:20 AR NOL
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I would assume, though, that since NOL is the destination for the SL, that quite a bit of time is built in to allow a late train to arrive "on time" (or at least not as late as it really is).

On edit, I see that Bay St. Louis is on part of the "suspended service." I would still assume that padding was built into the schedule when the service did run east of NOL. What was the travel time going in the e/b direction?
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Oh I had no doubt it was significant padding. It's 1:25 going the other direction. But it still qualified under the rules that you set out. :p
 
The travel time and calculated speed approaching a terminal from the next-to-last station have little meaning because they contain much "recovery time". In some cases, the same is true approaching a major intermediate station.

One of Amtrak's worst runs is in the opposite direction--on the Cardinal from Chicago Union Station to Dyer, Indiana. The 29 miles are scheduled for 73 minutes. That's 23.8 mph.

More evidence that something must be done about Chicago rail congestion!
 
Southwest Chief between KCY and LRC - 40 miles - 1:37 in both directions - 24MPH Avg - among the active trains, this is slightly better than Denver-Winter Park (19MPH) and Trinidad-Raton (23MPH) and Chicago-Dyer (23.8MPH). But two of those three sections are mountainous... KCY-LRC is not!

Now if they could just find a way to move the refueling point from the rail yards to KC Union Station and refuel during the long dwell scheduled there, a significant chunk of that time could be cut out.

Edit... added Chicago-Dyer as that was posted after I began working on this post
 
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wrjensen said:
I was wondering per the timetable which two stations show the slowest speed between stations? On the reverse which show the quickest?
Click to expand...
Top honors might go to the trip between Richmond, VA Staples Mills (RVR) and Richmond, VA Main Street (RVM).

At a distance of only 8 miles, the trip takes 28 minutes for an approximate speed of 17 mph <_<
 
JayPea said:
Also there's the southbound run of the Coast Starlight between Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. At 1:42 to go 38 miles, that translates into 22.3MPH.
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And it's not a result of padding in the schedule, either, IIRC. The track is winding, with a lot of curves and tunnels, as well as passing through some areas that don't appear to be all that geologically stable, if you know what I mean.

That said, the northbound trip is scheduled for 1:02.
 
On my trip on the CS recently, we arrived in San Luis Obispo at about 2:40 or so, 40 minutes early, so we had an extended fresh air stop. It was really (for lack of a better term, cool) to see the front of the train as it went around the S curves.
 
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