Texas Eagle Booked Solid Through Summer!

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I know that, but the Shuttles will get RDC's. There is no way all 4250 horses (or 8500 some times during the year) are being well utilized on that train. The shuttles are perfect canidates for the RDCs though. As for the Vermonter, those guys hated Cab cars. A buddy of mine cursed up a storm when I asked him how well the cab cars ran (he used to work Vermonter bug, he's currently Zone 6 though).
 
I bet all that horepower moves those two Amfleet Cars around quite quick and easily! But in reality it is definatly not needed. Too bad the SPVs were such failures, the prinipals of those kind of cars were perfect for a line like the springfield line.
 
Well that's what the RDC is supposed to do. It is a self contained vehicle that works similarly to the SPV, but with much better design and technology than was available twenty years ago. I personally wish Amtrak could get some vehicles similar to the Surfliners or the Bombardier bi-level cars into the east so we can run with proven Cabbies.
 
battalion51 said:
I personally wish Amtrak could get some vehicles similar to the Surfliners or the Bombardier bi-level cars into the east so we can run with proven Cabbies.
You don't consider 30 + years of service by Metroliner cab cars a proven service? :unsure:

They may have some problems, especially now after years of defered maintenance. However those cars have been running in service far longer than the Surfliner's or any of Bombardier's bi-levels. I think that proves that they work.
 
I am a frequent rider of the Texas Eagle who has noticed an increase in riders over the past year, which is clearly not a summer-time-only issue. I've noticed an increase in riders on all the routes I take frequently. The Texas Eagle coach seats are often "sold out" on the Amtrak web site, but I've always been able to get a coach reservation, on one of the numbers the Texas Eagle includes, by checking the web site every day or so for a week. This situation does not speak well for the Amtrak situation when people can't get a seat without "inside information" such as can be had in this forum.

Twice in the past two months the Texas Eagel has been completely sold out, but people got on with seating "reserved" for them in the lounge car. One was a group of kids getting on in St. Louis and getting off in Springfield. The other was a group of older adults getting on in San Antonio and getting of at Temple. In both sitautions the lounge car riders were part of a group of a few dozen riders who were on the train for only a few hours; a group. From what the special lounge car passengers told me, there was some kind of reservations arrangement for seating in the lounge car.
 
P40Power said:
Claytor was a true railroad man and I really respect what he did at Amtrak. During his years at the head, Amtrak seemed to operate fairly well. David Gunn I think is the next Claytor and he can probably reverse most of the bad doing of Warrington and Downs. Hopefully!
Thats exactly how I think of it, I feel Gunn is the most compitent man in power since Claytor, and hopefully we'll experience another wonderful era like Claytor's.
 
Interesting thing about the Texas Eagle and its long-suffering diner: the whole character of the passengers changes at Dallas and Forth Worth (going in either direction). Lots of people get on and off at these two stops. There seems to be one kind of passenger (on average) between CHI and DAL/FTW and another kind between DAL/FTW and SAS. The SAS-to-FTW/DAL crowed seems content to patronize the snack bar and uninterested in the diner. I can recall many times being on the Texas Eagle going to SAS when the diner was staffed and open, only to be one of only a few patrons in an otherwise full train. The patrons were primarily through passengers going onto the Sunset Limited booked in the sleepers. It’s a pleasant day trip from SAS north to FTW/DAL, which departs a bit too late to attract a breakfast crowed. It’s a short evening trip from DAL/FTW to SAS, where the passengers seem to prefer White Castles and beer to a proper dinner with wine.

The Texas Eagle has, however, filled up so much lately that Amtrak management may want to look at the diner situation again when more equipment is available. My most recent trips on the Texas Eagle were so crowded that I had to go out onto the platform to change my mind.
 
Speaking of Claytor, He really gave quite a few eastern trains a touch of class by deploying dome cars on the Lake Shore Limited, Capital Limited, etc. I saw the Lake Shore a few times with a dome car in the early 90s in Albany. It added a certain flair to the train, a special car within all the usual heritage and Amfleet II cars. I would love to see dome cars back on the Lake Shore, but it most likely will never happen.
 
Another Note, the Texas Eagle seems to be constantly packed to the gills it seems, but hasnt the Eagle had to fight for survival a few times in the past since it supposidly lost alot of money and didnt attract riders? Amtrak was extremely close to cutting it in 97. Yet a year later they inaugrated the new Texas Eagle California and it was an amazing reincarnation. Must have been the mail and Express. Now has the Texas Eagle always been this popular with the riders or is it just because of the shorter consists on the train then in past years?
 
P40Power said:
Another Note, the Texas Eagle seems to be constantly packed to the gills it seems, but hasnt the Eagle had to fight for survival a few times in the past since it supposidly lost alot of money and didnt attract riders? Amtrak was extremely close to cutting it in 97. Yet a year later they inaugrated the new Texas Eagle California and it was an amazing reincarnation. Must have been the mail and Express. Now has the Texas Eagle always been this popular with the riders or is it just because of the shorter consists on the train then in past years?
P40,

While I'm not 100% sure, I don't think that the Eagle has always been as popular as it has the last two years or so. However, shorter trains has nothing to do with increased popularity.

The change has come about due IMHO to two things. One far better advertising, including a website devoted entirely to the Eagle, plus a targeted marketing program. That's helped a little.

The big increase came when Amtrak made the train daily instead of its three day a week schedule. People need choices when planning trips. They shouldn't have to plan their vacation or trip around what day of the week does Amtrak actually run. Amtrak needs to be there each and every day. On many routes quite honestly Amtrak should really have two trains per day. After all look at the success of the Silver Service, they run three trains per day and they often run full or at least close to full.

When the Eagle went daily, ridership soared and not just because there were more trains running now. Ridership went up across the board, even on the days that the train had always run. The train became a reliable daily occurence and people started using it. :)
 
Yeah true, triweekly running really hurts a trains ridership very badly. Look at the poor Cardinal! I agree its really annoying having to try to book a vacation around a train that only runs on certain days, especially if they are awkward days for you. And contrary to Tom Downs beliefs, Daily trains perform better money wise and ridership wise. Then for a while the Texas Eagle ran on that goofy 4 day a week schedule. That wasnt as goofy as the City of New Orleans schdule back in 1996 or so when it ran everyday of the week execpt Wednesday or something, what was up with that? Hows the On Time performance of the Eagle? I hear that Union Pacific really hammers that train down in Texas with delays. And finally I agree that alot of effort was put into the Eagle to make it a good train, there was an intresting article about the team who made the Texas Eagle great in Trains Magazine a while back.
 
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