Unlimited money

[GP35]

What Amtrak route would you build that would be more fun than business sense?

I actually have 2.

1. I would rebuild the line from Miami to key west. Then I would run a steamer sightseeing train along that route.

2. I would build a line from Jasper Canada(althought I think there is a line to Prince George) to Anchorage.

 

[Rail Freak]

What Amtrak route would you build that would be more fun than business sense?
I actually have 2.

1. I would rebuild the line from Miami to key west. Then I would run a steamer sightseeing train along that route.

2. I would build a line from Jasper Canada(althought I think there is a line to Prince George) to Anchorage.

The Sunset Limited AND then, what you said!

 

[GP35]

If I was Amtrak dictator, I would have you guys drooling....

 

[Walt]

I would buy out GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, and put those cars onto all Amtrak LD trains.

Yea, Viewliner/Superliner sleepers would still be available, but possibly starting call them "Business Class". But add true "First Class" accommodations, dining, and lounging with the GrandLuxe cars.

 

[Rail Freak]

I would buy out GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, and put those cars onto all Amtrak LD trains.
Yea, Viewliner/Superliner sleepers would still be available, but possibly starting call them "Business Class". But add true "First Class" accommodations, dining, and lounging with the GrandLuxe cars.

:blink:

Now we're talkin!!!

 

[Crescent Mark]

My goal would be to utilize big cities you already have, and use those to connect to the other bigger cities that aren't seen passenger rail as of right now. I'd do these:

-Chicago -> Indianapolis -> Louisville -> Nashville -> Atlanta -> Macon -> Jacksonville

Daily. Have a good number of smaller stops in between, of course. With that, build a brand new big 'Union Station' in Atlanta. Maybe a crew change in Atlanta too. I'm split whether to run Superliners along this route or do what the Crescent does (which I'm leaning towards more). For the southern part, utilize the portions that they're about to make into the Atlanta to Macon route. There's just that huge "gap" in the routes right there (look at the map and see what I mean).

http://www.saveamtrak.org/floridia_rg_map.jpg

This would restore part of the Floridian, except moving it east. It'd be nice to somehow work in Valdosta too though.

-New Orleans -> Mobile -> Pensacola -> Tallahassee -> Jacksonville

Restore that old portion of the Sunset Limited. Leave in the afternoon and arrive in the morning. Same consist the Crescent uses.

-Jacksonville -> Ocala -> Dade City -> Tampa -> St. Petersburg -> Sarasota -> Ft. Myers -> Miami

Get some service on the eastern side of Florida. Same consist the Silver Meteor uses.

-Extend the Heartland Flyer and make it truly "Heartland".

Ft. Worth -> Oklahoma City -> Tulsa -> Kansas City -> Omaha -> Sioux City (or Sioux Falls) -> Rapid City -> Casper -> Boise -> Portland

That seems a bit long though. Maybe it can be broken up into 2 but I think it'd be worth it if it was just 1. It seems longer than the Zephyr route, but can't be worse than the SW Chief. Load it up with Superliners of course. This would restore portions of The Pioneer, but cut out Salt Lake City.

-Los Angeles -> Salt Lake City. Restore the Desert Wind route. Maybe make it go to Minneapolis? Hard to figure out what to do with it after SLC. It'd be nice if it was long distance though.

 

[Rail Freak]

My goal would be to utilize big cities you already have, and use those to connect to the other bigger cities that aren't seen passenger rail as of right now. I'd do these:
-Chicago -> Indianapolis -> Louisville -> Nashville -> Atlanta -> Macon -> Jacksonville

Daily. Have a good number of smaller stops in between, of course. With that, build a brand new big 'Union Station' in Atlanta. Maybe a crew change in Atlanta too. I'm split whether to run Superliners along this route or do what the Crescent does (which I'm leaning towards more). For the southern part, utilize the portions that they're about to make into the Atlanta to Macon route. There's just that huge "gap" in the routes right there (look at the map and see what I mean).

http://www.saveamtrak.org/floridia_rg_map.jpg

This would restore part of the Floridian, except moving it east. It'd be nice to somehow work in Valdosta too though.

-New Orleans -> Mobile -> Pensacola -> Tallahassee -> Jacksonville

Restore that old portion of the Sunset Limited. Leave in the afternoon and arrive in the morning. Same consist the Crescent uses.

-Jacksonville -> Ocala -> Dade City -> Tampa -> St. Petersburg -> Sarasota -> Ft. Myers -> Miami

Get some service on the eastern side of Florida. Same consist the Silver Meteor uses.

-Extend the Heartland Flyer and make it truly "Heartland".

Ft. Worth -> Oklahoma City -> Tulsa -> Kansas City -> Omaha -> Sioux City (or Sioux Falls) -> Rapid City -> Casper -> Boise -> Portland

That seems a bit long though. Maybe it can be broken up into 2 but I think it'd be worth it if it was just 1. It seems longer than the Zephyr route, but can't be worse than the SW Chief. Load it up with Superliners of course. This would restore portions of The Pioneer, but cut out Salt Lake City.

-Los Angeles -> Salt Lake City. Restore the Desert Wind route. Maybe make it go to Minneapolis? Hard to figure out what to do with it after SLC. It'd be nice if it was long distance though.

DAMN!

Label it " OIL EXPLORATION " for US Federal Funding!

B)

 

[tubaia]

-Extend the Heartland Flyer and make it truly "Heartland".Ft. Worth -> Oklahoma City -> Tulsa -> Kansas City -> Omaha -> Sioux City (or Sioux Falls) -> Rapid City -> Casper -> Boise -> Portland

That seems a bit long though. Maybe it can be broken up into 2 but I think it'd be worth it if it was just 1. It seems longer than the Zephyr route, but can't be worse than the SW Chief. Load it up with Superliners of course. This would restore portions of The Pioneer, but cut out Salt Lake City.

I'd second that motion! Besides the fact that both SC and SF are only about 1.5 hours from me (much closer than any other stations are now), that could help connect other Western east/west routes, especially if there was a way to connect it to the EB (bus or additional route between Sioux Falls and Fargo?). Plus, bringing service to the Black Hills would be a HUGE bonus, as one has to either drive through several hours of what can be very boring roads, or fly on commuter planes, which can be quite expensive (and not much fun).

 

[the_traveler]

-Extend the Heartland Flyer and make it truly "Heartland".

Why not extend the Heartland Flyer to run from TX to ND, and to connect all routes: TE, SWC, CZ and EB. Then it would be a true Heartland Flyer!

 

[puck71]

-Extend the Heartland Flyer and make it truly "Heartland".

Why not extend the Heartland Flyer to run from TX to ND, and to connect all routes: TE, SWC, CZ and EB. Then it would be a true Heartland Flyer!

Living in Fargo, it would be a dream to have another route to choose from! But even if this "Heartland" route connected to St. Paul/Minneapolis, it would be nice. Having to connect through Chicago to go pretty much everywhere is kind of a drag.

Personally, looking at the route map, I think it might make more sense to connect OK City->KC->Omaha->MSP, then another new route west from MSP->South Dakota->Wyoming->Salt Lake City

 

[Crescent Mark]

-Extend the Heartland Flyer and make it truly "Heartland".

Why not extend the Heartland Flyer to run from TX to ND, and to connect all routes: TE, SWC, CZ and EB. Then it would be a true Heartland Flyer!

That's a good idea, and I thought about that too. I ended up going with what I said because there's not really a good spot to end the route in in ND. I think curving it west to end up in the Northwest would be better, because it'd hit all those spots that need the rail service. If you wanted to do it your way though, I think it'd be cool to also do an El Paso -> Albuquerque -> Santa Fe -> Denver -> Casper -> Boise -> Portland route. Or maybe El Paso -> Albuquerque -> Sante Fe -> Salt Lake City?

There also needs to be a solution to the Phoenix/Tempe problem. I don't really see a logical solution for a long route to go through there to be honest. Perhaps you could do a Ft. Worth -> Phoenix -> Los Angeles. I can see that working.

I'd like to see the Heartland Flyer cutting northwest though, and then do Los Angeles -> Las Vegas -> Salt Lake City -> Casper -> Rapid City -> Minneapolis for the new Desert Eagle. With that, you have two brand long routes that cover a lot of ground that needs to be covered.

Puck, your idea would work too. There's really a LOT of options. If we did yours "OK City->KC->Omaha->MSP" and then "MSP->South Dakota->Wyoming->Salt Lake City", I think that'd be cool but you'd need maybe Salt Lake City -> Boise -> Portland or Seattle. Tons of options.....

 

[puck71]

Puck, your idea would work too. There's really a LOT of options. If we did yours "OK City->KC->Omaha->MSP" and then "MSP->South Dakota->Wyoming->Salt Lake City", I think that'd be cool but you'd need maybe Salt Lake City -> Boise -> Portland or Seattle. Tons of options.....

I agree, that Northwest connection would probably be needed too. For sure Salt Lake City -> Boise -> Spokane to hook up with the EB, but it probably should continue on to Portland or Seattle too.

I'd like to see the Heartland Flyer cutting northwest though, and then do Los Angeles -> Las Vegas -> Salt Lake City -> Casper -> Rapid City -> Minneapolis for the new Desert Eagle. With that, you have two brand long routes that cover a lot of ground that needs to be covered.

That would be a really cool route too!

 

[WICT106]

I have a suggestion: build out all of the proposed higher speed rail corridors that have been discussed and discussed since the early 1990s. and re-route the Empire Builder via Madison, WI, in addition to Milwaukee, La Crosse, etc. Also, make each routwe more than once-per-day-each-direction !

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

OF course this is just a wish list.

I like the routing proposed above for Chicago to Miami, i.e. Indy, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta,Macon, JAX and Miami. Valdosta would be included as that was on the old Southern route from Macon to JAX. I would like the old FEC line from JAX to Miami.

Restore the Desert Wind and the Pioneer.

Of course don't forget extending the Sunset to Miami!! And running daily, of course.

Al of thse trains need to be at least as fast as they were in the 50's.

Run the Cardinal daily. (for that matter: run the "Canadian" daily, but guess that is getting beyond the scope of this forum!!).

Restore the overnight sleeper from Boston to Newport News. And maybe a set out sleeper from NYC to WAS. Hey, go for broke. Maybe another one from Boston to NYC.

Yeah, I know, just wishing.

 

[Crescent Mark]

Great ideas, I like them.

I like the routing proposed above for Chicago to Miami, i.e. Indy, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta,Macon, JAX and Miami. Valdosta would be included as that was on the old Southern route from Macon to JAX. I would like the old FEC line from JAX to Miami.

Here's a Norfolk Southern track map of their current Georgia holdings: http://www.northgeorgiarailroad.com/images/Img24.gif Of course everything used to connect, because you could get from Griffin to Columbus with no problem, etc. Have the new one cut south into Georgia to do Dalton, Rome, Atlanta (now making use of the ATL -> Macon line), take the left route to hit Griffin (where I live! We have a huge station, but they just converted it to a Welcome Center. I'm sure it can be fixed up...well it's going to have to be for the ATL -> Macon line they're about to do. Maybe Amtrak can get in on it someday), Macon, Tifton, Valdosta, and on to JAX.

Chicago, LaFayette, Indianapolis, Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville, Chattanooga, Dalton, Rome, Atlanta, Griffin, Macon, Tifton, Valdosta, Waycross, Jacksonville, Ocala, Lakeland, West Palm Beach, Miami.

Any estimates on how long that trip would take?

 

[Walt]

A "good" route from NYC more or less directly to Chicago.

Right now, the Pennsylvanian connecting to the Capitol Limited kind of works, in terms of a nice straight direct route. But the connection times in Pittsburgh are the Pitts.

 

[the_traveler]

A "good" route from NYC more or less directly to Chicago.
Right now, the Pennsylvanian connecting to the Capitol Limited kind of works, in terms of a nice straight direct route. But the connection times in Pittsburgh are the Pitts.

Restore the Broadway Limited / Three Rivers route!

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I'd restore everything but the "Train to Nowhere" that Amtrak ever ran, I'd run all of them twice daily, I'd set up several more hubs and made sure atleast one train directly connected each of them.

Then I'd buy more corridor equipment and set up the Amfleets as section sleepers. I'd start running them like Pullman used to, between city pairs as set out sleepers.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Then I'd buy more corridor equipment and set up the Amfleets as section sleepers. I'd start running them like Pullman used to, between city pairs as set out sleepers.

The fascination with sectional sleepers in an ``unlimited money'' thread perplexes me. Do sectional sleepers have any benefit over Viewliner sleepers / Superliner sleepers other than being cheap?

 

[Green Maned Lion]

They accommodate more people in a given space. They allow for inexpensive sleeping accommodations. Also, I personally think that after Amtrak dumped a bunch of pretty decent heritage cars, the best cars from here out that Amtrak will ever own are the Amfleets. (Although, to credit P-S, for once in their life they did a decent job with the SIs). To not use them to their full potential would be as fool hardy as not continuing to run all 130 or so Budd 10-6 sleepers Amtrak owned. I don't think that is a mistake Amtrak would repeat.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

And how would using the Amfleet coaches as coaches not be using them to their full potential?

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Because coaches of the future will likely have useful features such as center doors which a sleeping car doesn't need and the Amfleets couldn't accommodate.

 

[jis]

Because coaches of the future will likely have useful features such as center doors which a sleeping car doesn't need and the Amfleets couldn't accommodate.

Speaking of single level cars, center doors for commuter cars yes; but why on earth would you want center doors on low density seating long distance coaches? What is so useful about them as to create two smaller more cramped looking passenger seating areas in the car instead of a single long one with doors at the end vestibules?

 

[frj1983]

Route Wise:

I'd love to see a Chicago to Green Bay train that goes through Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, and Appleton.

Bunch of colleges in all four cities, would, I think, provide good passenger counts!

 

[the_traveler]

Because coaches of the future will likely have useful features such as center doors which a sleeping car doesn't need and the Amfleets couldn't accommodate.

Speaking of single level cars, center doors for commuter cars yes; but why on earth would you want center doors on low density seating long distance coaches? What is so useful about them as to create two smaller more cramped looking passenger seating areas in the car instead of a single long one with doors at the end vestibules?

I think those single level cars with center doors would be used on Corridor service (like BOS or NYP to WAS), not on a LD train (like NYP to NOL or CHI).