Sunset Limited Rally in Tallahassee

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Ocala Mike

Ocala Mike

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Sep 27, 2011
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Location
Ocala, FL
This is from the President of the Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers:

" Here is information on a rally that will be held to push for restoration of the line between New Orleans and Jacksonville or beyond. Please join us if you can. I will be attending along with Bob Stewart, Chariman of NARP, and Bill Hutchinson, also of NARP.

Hope to see you there for this vital rally.

Event Details

Who: Representatives from Cities and Counties of North Florida

What: Press Conference urging State and Federal Officials to Restore Amtrak Passenger Service

Where: Tallahassee Amtrak Station, 918 1⁄2 Railroad Avenue Tallahassee, FL 32310

When: February 27 @ 10:30 a.m. "
 
Good luck in helping organize people to the needed restoration of service on this line. Anything that calls attention to it will be beneficial. I am 1000 miles away but if I lived closer I would be there.
 
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dlagrua said:
Good luck in helping organize people to the needed restoration of service on this line. Anything that calls attention to it will be beneficial. I am 1000 miles away but if I lived closer I would be there.
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I would love to see this line restored. It's really the best way for us to get to Florida by rail. As it currently stands, we require a one-night layover in Chicago to get to Florida, which is counter-intuitive at best and at worst, a dealbreaker for those with limited travel time. The sooner we can get the Sunset restored, the better! Good luck getting the Gulf states to pitch in, though....
 
I was just thinking about train rallies when I heard about this! This should get politician's attention! Bravo!

The more people that take part in the rally, the better.
 
I would advise to allow for the advocacy of day train service, as well as service such as the Sunset. The goals should include the re-institution of passenger service in general, and not be limited to just one type of passenger rail service or another. You may have better odds advocating for daytime service, and multiple departures per day. Just avoid limiting yourselves to the Sunset.
 
If you can, get them to commit to starting it back before July! We're going to Pensacola, and have to drive from NOL.... REALLY wish it went all the way still.....maybe someday, but, I have my doubts....once gone, tends to stay gone.
 
I wish them the best of luck. I could travel there myself, but I don't have $29 to take the train there, well to Jacksonville that is. No one I know of is available to drive that far any way.
 
Texas Sunset said:
I've heard folks say that there isn't enough hardware to bring back the SL East. So whatever happened to it?
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Hardware? The only thing I know of is that if the SL does go East of NOL again the only money that will be spent from what I'm aware of is station improvements. I don't know PTC I think that also might be needed too. Sanford was where the train was maintained since it made sense to maintain it where the Auto Train terminates both of which uses Superliner equipment.

 
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Yes, New Orleans to Jacksonville was long considered a gap in the route map that should be closed. I'm all for it, even if Amfleet or even Horizon cars are used. Unless they are all liars, plenty of folks desire the connectivity have said so on this forum.
 
Texas Sunset said:
I've heard folks say that there isn't enough hardware to bring back the SL East. So whatever happened to it?
Click to expand...
I don't believe that you need any. The Sunset Limited will stop in NOL and continue on to Florida. The only concern would be a crew change but its been done before.

The second route that railfans should voice their support for is the restoration of the Floridian. Currently there is no direct route from Chicago to Orlando or Miami not to mention the major cities and towns Like Louisville and Nashville that lost service along the way.
 
dlagrua said:
Texas Sunset said:
I've heard folks say that there isn't enough hardware to bring back the SL East. So whatever happened to it?
Click to expand...
I don't believe that you need any. The Sunset Limited will stop in NOL and continue on to Florida. The only concern would be a crew change but its been done before.

The second route that railfans should voice their support for is the restoration of the Floridian. Currently there is no direct route from Chicago to Orlando or Miami not to mention the major cities and towns Like Louisville and Nashville that lost service along the way.
Click to expand...
The Floridian has even less chance than the Sunset East happening, specially on its original convoluted routing.
 
As I wrote before, I would place emphasis on getting train service back through Tallahassee, and not be as fussy about a specific route or service. The goal should be to connect or bring additional service to existing routes. For example, if there is the chance to have service through Tallahassee to, say, Jacksonville to NYC, I would regard that as an improvement.
 
jis said:
dlagrua said:
Texas Sunset said:
I've heard folks say that there isn't enough hardware to bring back the SL East. So whatever happened to it?
Click to expand...
I don't believe that you need any. The Sunset Limited will stop in NOL and continue on to Florida. The only concern would be a crew change but its been done before.

The second route that railfans should voice their support for is the restoration of the Floridian. Currently there is no direct route from Chicago to Orlando or Miami not to mention the major cities and towns Like Louisville and Nashville that lost service along the way.
Click to expand...
The Floridian has even less chance than the Sunset East happening, specially on its original convoluted routing.
Click to expand...
On the route of the Floridian didn't some of the tracks get torn up sometime after it was discontinued?
 
Forget the Floridian route; it's no longer viable. Emphasis should be on closing the gap between New Orleans and Jacksonville, not necessarily by the Sunset Limited, either.

Chicago-FL could then be via CONO to New Orleans, then Jacksonville, then to destinations in Florida as presently set up and/or down the FEC route along the coast. Long trip, but better than going through DC. Besides, why couldn't the CONO be extended along the Gulf to terminate elsewhere, say, JAX?

Ocala Mike
 
Would organising a rally to draw politicians' attention have more effect this year, since it is the Election year compared to others times? I am not well-versed into American politics but from whatever little I know, this breed of animals called politicians are known to flip flop around and agree to all kinds of "demands" from voters when it is close to election time. Good luck to the folks organizing this rally!
 
WICT106 said:
As I wrote before, I would place emphasis on getting train service back through Tallahassee, and not be as fussy about a specific route or service. The goal should be to connect or bring additional service to existing routes. For example, if there is the chance to have service through Tallahassee to, say, Jacksonville to NYC, I would regard that as an improvement.
Click to expand...
Good advice.
 
Ocala Mike said:
Emphasis should be on closing the gap between New Orleans and Jacksonville, ...

Chicago-FL could then be via CONO to New Orleans, then Jacksonville, then to destinations in Florida
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Mike makes sense.

And if anyone's interested, here's link to Floridian route map, which did not go through P-cola.

Back when Sunset was coast-to-coast, a coupla times we got a dropoff auto ride to Houston, then SSL to Orlando.
 
Oh, wow! People are really discussing the SL East like crazy! Even though I would love for it to be restored, I do not believe a long thread every week is needed.

Then again, the Floridian is another big gap in the Amtrak system. Anybody have an idea on how to close the Charlottesville/New Orleans/Chicago Triangle?
 
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