What has happened to the "Silver Star"?

[Foodman53]

Sadly, this isn't a rhetorical question. #91 hasn't cleared the Corridor(NYP-RVR) any better than 2 hours, 30 minutes late any day this week. In fact, today's 91 left Penn Station over 3 hours late!!!

I know that the weather has been bad in NYC, but the "Star" has received the bulk of the problems. The Meteor, Crescent, Palmetto, and even the Carolina trains are performing far better.

Amtrak had a short term window to rake in a lot of fare box dollars over the past couple of days, since the NCAA basketball tournament is in Raleigh as I type........featuring teams from New York City(Manhattan College), Richmond(Virginia Commonwealth), and also the University of Florida(Gainesville...but, getting on at any North or Central Florida stop).

This could have been a tremendous opportunity, which, I'm afraid was for naught, if the trains to and from Raleigh were prohibitively late!

It's my understanding that the "Star" changes equipment at Sunnyside with the "Lake Shore Limited".......might this be the root of the problem?

Hopefully #91's issues will be resolved by Saturday morning, since "Mrs. Foodman" and I will be riding it from JAX to Winter Park, in order to see the "art show in the park"......returning that evening on #92!....Anyway..

Hedging my bets for an on-time train

From the "Florida Funnel"

Foodman53

 

[Viewliner]

Hopefully #91's issues will be resolved by Saturday morning, since "Mrs. Foodman" and I will be riding it from JAX to Winter Park, in order to see the "art show in the park"......returning that evening on #92!....Anyway..

One Word: Sunnyside. Its been common for me when I take the Silver Meteor, for the train to be late coming out of Sunnyside, because of either equipment problems or lack of coordination.

Getting to your trip, good luck, and also I remember passing through Winter Park on #97 last year, the attendant and I would take turns sticking our heads out the window, watching the show on both sides of the tracks.

Approximately 2 weeks, 14:50 (hr:min) till my trip on #91 is scheduled to begin! (From the time of this post)

 

[Amfleet]

While Sunnyside is full of a lot of dumb folk, I doubt that is the reason for the Star's delay. The Lake Shore Limited comes into New York in the afternoon and lays over for almost 10 hours before it departs at 11:30am the next morning as the Silver Star. What will happen from time to time is the consist will already be platformed and a sudden equipment failure will occur. This requires breaking up the consist, pulling the defunct car, and replacing it. A very time consuming process.

As for the Star not getting past Richmond on time, there can be several CSXT related delays past Washington that will cause this.

In one month I hit the Meteor back to Florida and return on the Star. I think I made the right decision to return on the Star than taking it southbound.

 

[Viewliner]

In one month I hit the Meteor back to Florida and return on the Star. I think I made the right decision to return on the Star than taking it southbound.

Does that mean I made the wrong decision? I'm taking #91 and #98, starting in about 2 Weeks, 4 hours, and 20 minutes (plus delays). At least, since I'm boarding in the Northeast (NWK), if the Star is delayed, it won't be at a ridiculous hour.

 

[Amfleet]

In one month I hit the Meteor back to Florida and return on the Star. I think I made the right decision to return on the Star than taking it southbound.

Does that mean I made the wrong decision? I'm taking #91 and #98, starting in about 2 Weeks, 4 hours, and 20 minutes (plus delays). At least, since I'm boarding in the Northeast (NWK), if the Star is delayed, it won't be at a ridiculous hour.

No, I was just being sarcastic. I proabaly would've taken the Star down too, but it's a tight connection from Boston. The only reason I'm taking the Star north is to get the mileage via Columbia.

 

[Viewliner]

In one month I hit the Meteor back to Florida and return on the Star. I think I made the right decision to return on the Star than taking it southbound.

Does that mean I made the wrong decision? I'm taking #91 and #98, starting in about 2 Weeks, 4 hours, and 20 minutes (plus delays). At least, since I'm boarding in the Northeast (NWK), if the Star is delayed, it won't be at a ridiculous hour.

No, I was just being sarcastic. I proabaly would've taken the Star down too, but it's a tight connection from Boston. The only reason I'm taking the Star north is to get the mileage via Columbia.

Should've added a :lol: , I was kidding around. :lol: In exactly two weeks, I'll be en route on #91!

 

[RidesOften]

The Palmetto been doing really good these days

except the track could be better in South Carolina slows it up. :unsure:

Rides Often

Fla trains are fun!

 

[battalion51]

Expect all Florida trains to be running 4-5 hours late or more for the duration of the summer. Sources are telling me that CSX is warning of major delays for the upcoming summer due to track work and outlawin crews. This week so far Silver Service has encountered 270 hours of freight delays. Ouch. h34r: :blink:

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

Expect all Florida trains to be running 4-5 hours late or more for the duration of the summer. Sources are telling me that CSX is warning of major delays for the upcoming summer due to track work and outlawin crews. This week so far Silver Service has encountered 270 hours of freight delays. Ouch. h34r: :blink:

Who are your sources may I ask? I am sure trackwork and the same situation with CSX last summer will be the same situation this year! A lot of the delays with the Silver Service trains are attributed to Amtrak problems in the Northeast this last week combined with CSX's problems.

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

The Palmetto been doing really good these daysexcept the track could be better in South Carolina slows it up. :unsure:

Rides Often

Fla trains are fun!

Yeah the "Palmetto Bug" is doing quite well these days........ We were four hours late last week coming South!! LOL doing good these days, eh? :lol: :blink:

 

[battalion51]

Who are your sources may I ask? I am sure trackwork and the same situation with CSX last summer will be the same situation this year! A lot of the delays with the Silver Service trains are attributed to Amtrak problems in the Northeast this last week combined with CSX's problems.

I reveal my sources to no one because it violates a breach of trust that I have with these guys. My sources are reliable, and while some information may prove to be false in the future it does represent the best information (and often hard to attain information) available at the time of its posting.

 

[engine999]

Well shody track work is going to catch up with CSX. However Amtrak is going to have to deal with the delays. This week the northbounds have been over 2 hours late before reaching central Florida.

 

[AlanB]

Well I can back up some of what Battalion is saying. I was riding with a gentleman on the NJT River Line today who performs consulting work for many of the major RR's. He's in the know about things and I learned quite a bit from him today.

He was telling me that CSX is facing a big crew shortage. They can't train new conductors and engineers fast enough. Trains are piling up in CSX yards, simply because there are no crews available to take them out. This of course is starting to spill over onto the mains, causing crews to outlaw. Then there are no replacement crews available to pick up from the outlawed crew.

His thoughts on a trip that Superliner Diner is taking in two weeks to Florida. Good luck!

He also said that UP is in far worse shape. They're about to have a total melt down for lack of crews. He says that they probably need to hire around 3,000 people this year just to keep things moving. CSX perhaps as many as 1,500.

 

[Viewliner]

His thoughts on a trip that Superliner Diner is taking in two weeks to Florida. Good luck!

Alan, out of curiosity, whats his itinerary in terms of trains (could you PM it to me if you don't want to post it), because I'm taking my Florida trip in about two weeks also (I'm literally counting the days). Looks like I'll need that luck too! :lol:

 

[battalion51]

He was telling me that CSX is facing a big crew shortage. They can't train new conductors and engineers fast enough. Trains are piling up in CSX yards, simply because there are no crews available to take them out. This of course is starting to spill over onto the mains, causing crews to outlaw. Then there are no replacement crews available to pick up from the outlawed crew.

This is the largest problem causing delays right now. If a freight comes to a dead stop on single main, they're dead until a new crew comes to relieve them. Granted, if I were a dispatcher I'd try to pick certain double track areas to pile in the freights, but that's not always possible. Amtrak is also having crew problems. They are trying to send crews to Miami to get trains out on time, but they simply don't have the crews to do it. Let's just say the extra board is going to be hauling it in for a while to come.

 

[tp49]

I was going to say that it seems that CSX and UP have something in common. In fact a lot of the issues relating to the lateness of the Starlate this winter were both the weather and a lack of replacement crews for those that "die on the law." Will be interesting to see how the major Class 1's decide to solve this.

 

[engine999]

He was telling me that CSX is facing a big crew shortage. They can't train new conductors and engineers fast enough. Trains are piling up in CSX yards, simply because there are no crews available to take them out. This of course is starting to spill over onto the mains, causing crews to outlaw. Then there are no replacement crews available to pick up from the outlawed crew.

This is the largest problem causing delays right now. If a freight comes to a dead stop on single main, they're dead until a new crew comes to relieve them. Granted, if I were a dispatcher I'd try to pick certain double track areas to pile in the freights, but that's not always possible. Amtrak is also having crew problems. They are trying to send crews to Miami to get trains out on time, but they simply don't have the crews to do it. Let's just say the extra board is going to be hauling it in for a while to come.

Don't the southbound crews from Jax the day before take the Northbound trains? Are they ariving so late that the mandatory rest period is not met?

 

[battalion51]

JAX crews are responsible for the following trains:

98/91 or 97/92 JAX-MIA

89/90 JAX-LAK

1/2 JAX-SFA

1/2 JAX-PNS

98/97 or 90/89 JAX-FLO (Engineer of 98/97 only works to SAV and returns with a different set of Conductors)

92/91 JAX-SOP

So, in short, yes Amtrak is having trouble getting crews enough rest in Miami before they have to turn around and go back out.

 

[engine999]

1/2 JAX-SFA

Dose amtrak have the sunset crew layover in Sanford or do they drive them back north?

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

1/2 JAX-SFA

Dose amtrak have the sunset crew layover in Sanford or do they drive them back north?

The Sunset crew (both OBS and T&E) "usually" lay over in SFD. However, crews are sometimes dispatched in the event the eastbound is late the day before (when crew is available)!

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

Who are your sources may I ask? I am sure trackwork and the same situation with CSX last summer will be the same situation this year! A lot of the delays with the Silver Service trains are attributed to Amtrak problems in the Northeast this last week combined with CSX's problems.

I reveal my sources to no one because it violates a breach of trust that I have with these guys. My sources are reliable, and while some information may prove to be false in the future it does represent the best information (and often hard to attain information) available at the time of its posting.

I wasn't asking you for names, however, just curious as if your sources are other employees, managment, etc. I am an active employee, and I usually check up on you! I find your information to be (for the most part) reliable most of the time, though ocasionally, you get the same info from the "best rumor mill there is!" :lol:

 

[battalion51]

When the Sunset gets late like that usually the Sunset is annulled at New Orleans and a "stub" train is thrown together by Sanford, usually an engine, lounge, and two coaches (a sleeper is usually not sent out but it has happened before). Miami crew base and JAX OBS crew bases both have employees that live in the Central Florida area, usually it's these guys that will get the call to man a stub train.

 

[F59 PHI]

is this stub train amfleet-Viewliner, or superliner?

 

[battalion51]

Always Superliner. Sanford doesn't regularly stock Amfleet/Viewliner trains because well they don't have any trains that come through there that carry that equipment. At some points they have had single level equipment in for damage repair, but not for revenue service.

 

[Viewliner]

Always Superliner. Sanford doesn't regularly stock Amfleet/Viewliner trains because well they don't have any trains that come through there that carry that equipment. At some points they have had single level equipment in for damage repair, but not for revenue service.

The only other way Sanford has Single Level equipment is if Silver Service has a long enough delay, where there wouldn't be enough time to turn it in Hialeah. For example, about a year ago, flood conditions meant significant delays on the Silver Star (91), and it had to be terminated in Orlando. It also was where the cars from the last Silver Service derailment were kept prior to being transported via the Hospital train to Beech Grove.