Williston - Delta Air will compete with Amtrak

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The new service is out of Dickenson, ND (with the unfortunate airport code of DIK). That is about 120 miles south of Williston. DIK presently has service via UAx (ZK) to and from DEN (also codeshare with F9). Grabbing some of the UA business is probably the central purpose of the DL entry. I doubt it will have a significant impact on Amtrak at Williston.
 
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Williston already has service from Delta Connection (to Minneapolis/St. Paul) and United Express (to Denver). And Frontier Airlines (to Denver), missed that one initially.
 
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Dickinson had this <http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DOT-OST-1995-697-0095> $2 Meg air subsidy but seems they gave it up.

What subsidies (aside from the oil-drilling subsidies) Williston gets - yo no se.

My uncle had a place near Medora - ran some cattle and a few stripper wells way back in the 50's.

Whole area is so different now -. Used to be the 50 BBL/day from the wells on the back 4000 acres helped feed the cows. Or fuel the Piper Cub.

Now any landowner near Williston can rent out house trailer space (with electric, no sewer) for a couple thou per month.

And the drunken workers going back to the oilfield on the Empire Builder from Everett and Seattle have annoyed me a few times in coach on that eastbound run.
 
NW cannonball said:
Dickinson had this <http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DOT-OST-1995-697-0095> $2 Meg air subsidy but seems they gave it up.What subsidies (aside from the oil-drilling subsidies) Williston gets - yo no se.

My uncle had a place near Medora - ran some cattle and a few stripper wells way back in the 50's.

Whole area is so different now -. Used to be the 50 BBL/day from the wells on the back 4000 acres helped feed the cows. Or fuel the Piper Cub.

Now any landowner near Williston can rent out house trailer space (with electric, no sewer) for a couple thou per month.

And the drunken workers going back to the oilfield on the Empire Builder from Everett and Seattle have annoyed me a few times in coach on that eastbound run.
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Williston is not an EAS airport. It is locally funded, and like the Amtrak station, it is overwhelmed with traffic.

Our daughter lives in Sidney MT (about 45 minutes from Williston), and she says the oil boom seems to be slacking off a bit. The locals will not shed many tears over that. While it has brought in a ton of money, and the majority of the oil workers are just fine, it has certainly disrupted the lifestyle of the area. The rent for an apartment in Sidney is about the same as it is for an apartment in New York. Sidney is not often mistaken for New York. Craziness.
 
Maybe now more of those oil roustabouts will fly instead of taking the train. But then again, it may not be as easy for them to get drunk on the plane. And if they show up at the airport already drunk, they might not get on the plane at all.
 
Hmm....

  • DIK - MSP is $357, ISN - MSP IS $388, both on Delta taking under 2 hours on a 50 seat crj.
  • WTN - MSP on Amtrak is from $86 to $148 taking 12 hours.

Add a roomette and Amtrak's still cheaper and more comfortable.

There ought to be plenty of traffic for both to co-exist.
 
Also have to consider the connections at MSP to other locations which adds hundreds of other fares to compare.

I haven't been to Williston, but I've flown into Minot, and that place is a zoo as well. The airport terminal has cars and trucks all parked in the grass The terminals two gates are overwhelmed because they can't fit all the aircraft that overnights there. Delta even throws a larger Airbus on the route as well.
 
SP&S said:
Hmm....
  • DIK - MSP is $357, ISN - MSP IS $388, both on Delta taking under 2 hours on a 50 seat crj.
  • WTN - MSP on Amtrak is from $86 to $148 taking 12 hours.

Add a roomette and Amtrak's still cheaper and more comfortable.

There ought to be plenty of traffic for both to co-exist.
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Amtrak better raise fares because they are packed at the current fares. The EB is too cheap.
 
chakk said:
Maybe now more of those oil roustabouts will fly instead of taking the train. But then again, it may not be as easy for them to get drunk on the plane. And if they show up at the airport already drunk, they might not get on the plane at all.
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Stereotype much?
 
fairviewroad said:
chakk said:
Maybe now more of those oil roustabouts will fly instead of taking the train. But then again, it may not be as easy for them to get drunk on the plane. And if they show up at the airport already drunk, they might not get on the plane at all.
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Stereotype much?
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Funny, i was just travelling with my brother and his wife and we passed through Williston on Sunday (24th) and had lunch with a really nice, level-headed roustabout headed home for Spokane. Meanwhile, some dude who got on the night before was kicked off the train and arrested in Shelby MT!
 
thecravecase said:
fairviewroad said:
chakk said:
Maybe now more of those oil roustabouts will fly instead of taking the train. But then again, it may not be as easy for them to get drunk on the plane. And if they show up at the airport already drunk, they might not get on the plane at all.
Click to expand...
Stereotype much?
Click to expand...
Funny, i was just travelling with my brother and his wife and we passed through Williston on Sunday (24th) and had lunch with a really nice, level-headed roustabout headed home for Spokane. Meanwhile, some dude who got on the night before was kicked off the train and arrested in Shelby MT!
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He was arrested, huh? Yeah, there's a lot of hot-heads on the EB. I've seen people get kicked off in the middle of nowhere in North Dakota. Serves him right!
 
Swadian Hardcore said:
thecravecase said:
fairviewroad said:
chakk said:
Maybe now more of those oil roustabouts will fly instead of taking the train. But then again, it may not be as easy for them to get drunk on the plane. And if they show up at the airport already drunk, they might not get on the plane at all.
Click to expand...
Stereotype much?
Click to expand...
Funny, i was just travelling with my brother and his wife and we passed through Williston on Sunday (24th) and had lunch with a really nice, level-headed roustabout headed home for Spokane. Meanwhile, some dude who got on the night before was kicked off the train and arrested in Shelby MT!
Click to expand...
He was arrested, huh? Yeah, there's a lot of hot-heads on the EB. I've seen people get kicked off in the middle of nowhere in North Dakota. Serves him right!
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They should have kicked him off in the middle of nowhere!

I heard from another passenger he was exposing himself in the lounge car. They made a hurried announcement asking all conductors to the lounge car. Then in Shelby there were probably 3 or 4 cop cars waiting w/ an ambulance. Practically the whole train poured out onto the platform to see the commotion, myself included. Not much I could see going on. But I overheard others in Whitefish wishing they could have taken him aside before the cops got to him. If it was the guy I was thinking it could be, he was already drunk and extremely loud at 7am breakfast.

Kudos to Amtrak for handling the situation! And glad I only ventured to the dining car and sleepers, haha!
 
My question is how did he get drunk? Did he buy the booze in the cafe car? If so,

why did the cafe car attendant continue to sell booze to a drunk person?

I had an experience where a passenger, sitting next to me in coach, was buying

beer in the cafe car and drinking in his seat. He continued to buy more beer,

two cans at a time, until he was drunk leaving the empty cans strewn about

his seat and the aisle of the car. Nothing was done by Amtrak except to

continue to sell him more beer. When he got off the train in WAS, he fell

flat on his face - and that was the last I saw of him.
 
My question is how did he get drunk? Did he buy the booze in the cafe car? If so,

Shanghai said:
why did the cafe car attendant continue to sell booze to a drunk person?
I had an experience where a passenger, sitting next to me in coach, was buying

beer in the cafe car and drinking in his seat. He continued to buy more beer,

two cans at a time, until he was drunk leaving the empty cans strewn about

his seat and the aisle of the car. Nothing was done by Amtrak except to

continue to sell him more beer. When he got off the train in WAS, he fell

flat on his face - and that was the last I saw of him.
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That made me ROFL!
 
As the OP - let me say that on my only 3 or 4 MSP-SEA and back trips in the last 3 years, a total of 8 one-ways in 3 years -

Once in a roomette with a late-teen son - there were some noisy drinkers in another roomette eastbound from SEA. The conductor asked them to cool it - twice. They did not cool it. They did not reach Whitefish on their scheduled day.

Once in coach a group of 4 "Willistonies" had monopolized 2 seats each by the time I boarded at Everett, but the train was full. I wasn't going to go looking in another coach, so I stopped by an empty pair of seats and threw my carry-on up on the rack and sat down. "Hey - that seat is reserved, the 3 of them cried" -- Me - "I see one seat-check for Whitefish, I'm taking the free seat" - None of them took it up with the conductor when the conductor came by to lift tickets. None of them took the issue up with me for the rest of the ride. The group of them did give me a few dirty looks. Which is not a problem - just smile back at them. One of them did pretend that he feared I might steal his backpack when he went to the bar car again. But really, no problem.

By midnight the late drinker returned and decided he didn't want to be in the seat next to me - his buddies had to accomodate him..

Some minor resentment from the Willies - but - I had 2 seats to myself, slept well.

Next morning, after Whitefish, one of the Willies was still drunk and hungover and spilling his guts loudly to his buddy - fortunately for him I was the only intruder in the rear 3 rows of the coach. Seems his girl-friend pregnant with his kid had dumped him when he was back in Seattle - he going back to a lucrative but demanding job near Williston -- but little chance to make his family life work.

So another few hours later this same guy is all lovey-dovey with the conductor - asking for help (please do not laugh) -- "conductor -- sir -- is it possible that the motion of the train is making me nauseous?"

The conductor very politely did not say the obvious "It is not the train, it is your over-indulgence in the intoxicating liquor that causes you discomfort - please to sit quietly and rest" - no this is North America - .

But -- only four hours later, somewhere in Montana, this same loozer, boozer, in denial, annoying traveling companion - when a geezer (not want this to be offensive - I figure I'm a geezer also these days) passenger with a crutch fell in the aisle when the train jumped at a switchover -

This same annoying Willie non-insightful annoying boozer bozo - he ran - to assist the passenger who fell. And did a pretty good job of assistance.

So -- maybe I have a grudge against the "Willies" -- cause sometimes groups of them don't have a clue for the society of the train.

But - the money in the oilfields - I no longer resent the people who go there - nor the local profiteers - the 49-ers gold rush is a cultural icon - yeah?

Maybe - theoretical naive free-market theory says -- for sure -- maybe - the situation in Western NDAK will normalize.

Meanwhile -- make the best of it.

Thanks - take care
 
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