amtrakadirondack
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2003
- Messages
- 274
Here's what i would do: If I ran Amtrak, I would discontinue the Portland to Chicago Empire Builder and have passengers that are going to Chicago take a Cascade train to Seattle, discontinue the Chicago to the Los Angeles part of the Texas Eagle, discontinue the Pennsylvanian, discontinue the Heartland flyer, and I would make the Silver Star, Silver Meteor, and Palmetto into one train with Viewliner sleepers, special bedroom cars with just upper and lower bunks for people who don’t mind having an open room with a heavy drape for the night, business class, and coach class and name it “The Platinum”. I would also make the Lake Shore Limited into one train and have it go to New York, and for passengers bound for Boston, take an express train to Boston, and for the Auto Train, I would extend it to New York, and for the passengers in Lorton, I would have there cars ready in the enclosed auto carriers, and have the Auto Train pick up the enclosed auto carriers at Lorton, and I would extend the Downeaster to Augusta and Bangor, ME. I would create a train from New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia and call it the Nova Scotia Explorer and have it go through Maine and into Nova Scotia, with sleepers and coach cars. I would also create a train from Sacramento to Eureka, California and call it the Californian, with business class and coach class (it would also connect with the Skunk Train in Willits, CA). I would extend the Cascades to The Dalles, OR, Astoria, OR, Tillamook, OR, Coos Bay, OR, and an over night Cascades train with a sleeping car, from Seattle to Dunsmuir, CA connecting with the Coast Starlight in Dunsmuir, CA and traveling on to Los Angeles. I would also create a short train from Seattle to Issaquah, WA and call it the Northwest Star. I would also have a special service that would travel routes that were discontinued, and the train would travel the route for one month then the next route would start, the trains would have the consist when it did when it was discontinued (So if they were Heritage cars, then break-out the those oldie moldy cars!, if they were Superliners, then hook’em up! If they, well I think you get the idea). The train would travel three times each week both ways and have the name of that route. That’s how I would run Amtrak.