Southwest Chief Re-Route?

[neroden]

Absolutely nothing. There was never a plan to get funding from the legislature this year. The current plan is to apply for a TIGER grant for funding beyond La Junta.

It would be disgraceful if they got it. I can list a hundred better TIGER grant recipients easily -- TIGER is an oversubscribed program.

 

[rubber Duck]

From what I understand the Federal Grant cover only from Las Animas eastward., And all this time we have heard how giving Colorado was to be in this matter: look at Colorado Senate Bill 15-176. This Bill amends the bill passed last year. If it passes next week it "requires" Amtrak and BNSF to each put $16 million each into the kitty before Colorado put in its share. and it requires Amtrak to put in writing that it will continue to serve Lamar, La Junta, and Trinidad before Colorado gives any money for repairs. Now also factor in the new Transportation spending bill that the senate will consider next week--- includes 3rd party panel to be involved in route changes. Would it not be prudent for Amtrak to make desired changes or confirmations before that goes into effect?(based on Senate passing the House bill)

 

[neroden]

If it passes next week it "requires" Amtrak and BNSF to each put $16 million each into the kitty before Colorado put in its share. and it requires Amtrak to put in writing that it will continue to serve Lamar, La Junta, and Trinidad before Colorado gives any money for repairs.

Yeesh. I don't think Amtrak can afford to commit to running on this money-sucking route in perpetuity no matter what, even if circumstances change for the substantially worse; it would not be a reasonable thing to agree to. It would expose Amtrak to potentially having to rebuild the line on its own budget, which is neither reasonable nor possible.

 

[rubber Duck]

You are right. It causes me to ask question ,"What does Colorado think they are doing?"

 

[printman2000]

The Southwest Chief will be staying on its current route...

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/amtrak-says-southwest-chief-route-is-secure-despite-new-mexico/article_b51ca7dc-cee0-573b-9e9c-dbe50eaa7b9d.html

Amtrak will stick with its existing route of the Southwest Chief passenger train that makes stops in the New Mexico towns of Raton, Las Vegas, Lamy and Albuquerque, a company spokesman said in an interview. This ends more than two years of fear and uncertainty in Northern New Mexico’s smaller communities about whether Amtrak would alter the route and leave them without a stream of visitors with money to spend.

 

[Guest]

For now-Tomorrow may be different. Notice this is from Amtrak NOT BNSF

 

[jis]

Statement of the obvious. Tomorrow can always be different. That goes without saying.

 

[andersone]

I believe it was Uriah Heep that poignantly observed today is only yesterday's tomorrows

 

[jis]

*Like*

 

[Paul CHI]

All it will take to change the route will be a stalled thunderstorm over Raton Pass in July or August. And then no one will be prepared, so the route may be simply abandoned.

 

[jis]

Change or termination. Do not be so sanguine about survival of routes. Make no mistake, they are currently in grave danger. So be very careful what you surmise. It might come to pass but with a very different result than what you thought!

 

[tomfuller]

I had lunch with a gentleman on Thursday on board the SWC. He was on his way to a meeting in Los Angeles on this topic. I believe he was representing the Western Governors Association.

He told us that they were looking to improve/repair some of the worst sections of the rail so the train could remain on its current route. I did see one of the old semaphore signals while I was eating lunch. The route will die quickly if is given the Texas option.

Who knows anything about the Friday meeting?

 

[greatcats]

While I am pleased that this train is remaining on its present route, I do not see your point that it would die quickly if rerouted through Texas. If anything, that would produce a spike in ridership. Kindly explain your rationale.

 

[jis]

While I am pleased that this train is remaining on its present route, I do not see your point that it would die quickly if rerouted through Texas. If anything, that would produce a spike in ridership. Kindly explain your rationale.

Perhaps he was talking of the Raton route dying? That would make perfect sense.

 

[Alice]

Who knows anything about the Friday meeting?

Could have been the Rail Users Network annual meeting. Most of the agenda is about Los Angeles, but Amtrak was supposed to send Mark Murphy to talk about the SWC. Haven't seen any notes yet.

 

[tomfuller]

It must have been Mark I was talking to over lunch. It sounded like Amtrak was going to try to gather funds from whatever sources it could (including state governments) and another TIGER grant to patch up the current route. His opinion seemed to be that if any part of the present route got washed out or otherwise unusable, the entire route would die just like the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans.

I asked about going through Amarillo and he felt it would never fly (or roll).

The agreement with BNSF ends 12/31/16 but the line could easily get one or two bridges washed out before then with no money to fix them.

The sleeper car I was in was recently used on the Capitol Limited (Cardinal?) because there was the script for an announcement for a station in West Virginia on the inside of the comm door which didn't want to stay shut.

It was a beautiful day in Raton on Thursday. I hope I get to take some more pictures there someday without driving I-25.

 

[Chas]

Editorial from the Pueblo Chieftain, March 30, 2015

"Chugging Ahead on the Chief"

There is reason to be cautiously optimistic that rail service through Kansas, Colorado and northern New Mexico could stay put.



“We are making progress,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told The Chieftain Monday, “but we have not yet resolved the funding issue from Albuquerque to Las Animas. There is not a solid plan in place.”

And local leaders who spearhead a coalition to preserve passenger service on the Southwest Chief have vowed to continue the funding fight in Colorado. The Chief runs from Chicago to Los Angeles, and along the way, it stops in Lamar, La Junta and Trinidad.

“We still need to come up with the rest of the funding,” said Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace, who chairs the state’s Southwest Chief Commission.

Nonetheless, Amtrak announced last week that it is lifting a Jan. 1 deadline to finance some $8 million in track repairs.

That’s a welcome about-face from the company’s previous threats to move the passenger train to a more southern route unless the rails were replaced on its current track. That track is owned by the BNSF Railway, and preliminary estimates for repairs in Southern Colorado and Kansas pushed $100 million.

But under the leadership of Mr. Pace, the Southwest Chief Commission negotiated with BNSF Railway and convinced the railroad to cover the costs of maintaining the line. In addition, a partnership with the state of Kansas secured a $22 million TIGER grant to help upgrade the rails from Southeastern Colorado to Topeka, Kan.

And now the state is searching for $8.91 million to cover its share of the funding. Senate Bill 176, a bipartisan plan co-sponsored by Sens. Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, and Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa, would foot that bill.

While there’s still work to be done, we are delighted that Amtrak lifted its deadline. It’s a strong step for this critical route.

 

[sitzplatz17]

I rode the SWC recently with the worry it would be the last time over Raton, glad to see it looks like it won't be my last time. It really is a great route.

If only there could be a train on both the Raton line and the Transcon... ah well a man can dream can't he?

 

[guest]

It would be interesting to know what is behind statement " the Train would die quickly if given Texas option". There is population base of about I million people from which to pull ridership.

 

[guest]

It would be interesting to know what is behind statement " the Train would die quickly if given Texas option". There is population base of about I million people from which to pull ridership.

 

[SantaFeScout]

It would be interesting to know what is behind statement " the Train would die quickly if given Texas option". There is population base of about I million people from which to pull ridership.

It would be interesting to know what is behind statement " the Train would die quickly if given Texas option". There is population base of about I million people from which to pull ridership.

The region has not had train service since 1971, and people are not accustomed to use trains in west Texas. You would have to be nearly 60 years of age to remember the last passenger train through Amarillo. Business was always better on the northern line than the southern; by 1971 the last train on the southern line, the San Francisco chief, had dwindled away to almost nothing (two coaches, one sleeper) while there was still good business in the north.

But the bottom line is that there should be service on both lines, not an either/or situation.

 

[jphjaxfl]

While I agree, it would be difficult to build up a passenger following on the Amarillo route, as someone who rode the San Francsco Chief several times in 1969-1971, it was not the train that the last poster described. It was the best Chicago-Bay area train at the end.it had 2-3 sleeping cars, full diner and dome lounge car. Since it was the only train, it was fairly well patronized.

 

[SantaFeScout]

While I agree, it would be difficult to build up a passenger following on the Amarillo route, as someone who rode the San Francsco Chief several times in 1969-1971, it was not the train that the last poster described. It was the best Chicago-Bay area train at the end.it had 2-3 sleeping cars, full diner and dome lounge car. Since it was the only train, it was fairly well patronized.

If you look at Fred Frailey's consist book, from the autumn of 1970 the SF Chief leaving Richmond was as follows: mail, dormitory, two 68-seat coaches, lounge, diner, and a single 10-6 sleeper. A Los Angeles sleeper (10-3-2) was added at Barstow. Of course the Santa Fe was always good at adding extra cars, and if the above poster rode it in summer it had more cars. But off season was the most minimal it could be.

 

[BNSFboy]

It would be interesting to know what is behind statement " the Train would die quickly if given Texas option". There is population base of about I million people from which to pull ridership.

It would be interesting to know what is behind statement " the Train would die quickly if given Texas option". There is population base of about I million people from which to pull ridership.

The region has not had train service since 1971, and people are not accustomed to use trains in west Texas. You would have to be nearly 60 years of age to remember the last passenger train through Amarillo. Business was always better on the northern line than the southern; by 1971 the last train on the southern line, the San Francisco chief, had dwindled away to almost nothing (two coaches, one sleeper) while there was still good business in the north.

But the bottom line is that there should be service on both lines, not an either/or situation.

One should not assume that because we haven't had a train since Amtrak formed that we wouldn't use it. I know many people that would want to use Amtrak over any other form of transportation. Yes Amarillo has an airport but only bare minimal flights come through it and we all know Greyhound is the last thing you want to use. Another thing is I believe that the City of Amarillo will promote the train to the area to use and Palo Duro Canyon to places out side the area which would make the Southwest Chief have the biggest and second biggest canyons in the United States along its route. I would love to see a train on both routes but I believe we have a better chance of bringing the space shuttle back than get a train on both parts. I just hope that the train will survive.

 

[Chey]

One should not assume that because we haven't had a train since Amtrak formed that we wouldn't use it. I know many people that would want to use Amtrak over any other form of transportation. Yes Amarillo has an airport but only bare minimal flights come through it and we all know Greyhound is the last thing you want to use. Another thing is I believe that the City of Amarillo will promote the train to the area to use and Palo Duro Canyon to places out side the area which would make the Southwest Chief have the biggest and second biggest canyons in the United States along its route. I would love to see a train on both routes but I believe we have a better chance of bringing the space shuttle back than get a train on both parts. I just hope that the train will survive.

There is interest all over West Texas in it. Clovis too.

I think we have the same chances for the alternate transcon route as we have for a brand new Caprock Chief line to Denver, which I'd like even better. I guess we can just keep dreaming.