Passenger Trains > Starlight Altamont/Tehachapi reroutes

Word on the tracks is that Amtrak is working on plans to reroute the Starlight between Oakland and LA during for 2 weeks in March and a week and a half in April due to UP track work south of SJ. There are 4 seperate work windows duing which time the trains will reroute. Between Oakland and LA the trains will detour via Niles Canyon/Altamont Pass and the Tehachapi Loop. No passenger stops will be made between Oakland and LA. Stay tuned for more details later.

This makes ZERO sense. Why in the Hell would they run #11 to the Bay Area, only to go back east over Altamont and down the Valley and over Tehachapi? Why not just offload passengers in SAC, send them west on Cap trains and the LA passengers can stay on?


If this happens, my armis going to snap off from scratching my head in disbelief.

When the Starlights detoured in 2008, many of them arrived at LA or Sacramento 4 hours ahead of schedule. By going the way of Oakland/Altamont Pass, they can use those 4 hours to at least serve another major metro area and a good chunk of passenger loads. This works out well for those who booked a sleeper and expect to get a sleeper out of Oakland at 9 PM, not post-midnight in Sacramento. Same for southbound sleeper passengers who like to sleep in till 8 AM instead of being woken up at 5:30 and kicked off the train in Sacramento.

Oh I forgot to add this is only for the southbound Starlight, train #11. Apparently 14 will run the regular route northbound.

Once again TRAIN 11 ONLY!!!

Dates are as follows: The trains detouring will be TRAIN #11 originating March 7-14, March 22-30, April 7-14, and April 22-24

The actual dates the trains will operate on the detour will be a day later than the dates posted above.

The route will be: Oakland to Niles Junction, through Niles Canyon and Altamont Pass to Lathrop, using the UP line throught the San Joaquin Valley to Bakersfield and over Tehachapi Pass to Mojave and Lancaster, through Palmdale and San Fernando to Los Angeles.

TRAIN 14 WILL NOT DETOUR and all the information released thus far is subject to change, but there is internal notice going out about the detour.

Will the trains use the BNSF route down the valley, or the UP? There's no connection between the ex-WP and ex-SP at Lathrop that would allow a direct move from Altamont Pass to Bakersfield on an all-UP routing.

stevedavis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Will the trains use the BNSF route down the
> valley, or the UP? There's no connection between
> the ex-WP and ex-SP at Lathrop that would allow a
> direct move from Altamont Pass to Bakersfield on
> an all-UP routing.


The prior message says:

> ...using the UP line throught the San Joaquin Valley to Bakersfield...

Even though there is no direct connection, the Lathrop wye could be used to get the train going toward Manteca.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/11 13:30 by GenePoon.

What are the details of the track work south of San Jose?

Oh boy, only 11 is detouring and not 14, now this makes absolutely no sense! If UP is doing trackwork forcing #11 to detour, then why does #14 get to take its original route? Someone please explain, I'm confused

Amtrak784 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh boy, only 11 is detouring and not 14, now this
> makes absolutely no sense! If UP is doing
> trackwork forcing #11 to detour, then why does #14
> get to take its original route? Someone please
> explain, I'm confused


By the time 14 reaches the work area, the work crews will have finished for the day.

stevedavis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Will the trains use the BNSF route down the
> valley, or the UP? There's no connection between
> the ex-WP and ex-SP at Lathrop that would allow a
> direct move from Altamont Pass to Bakersfield on
> an all-UP routing.

I saw just the other day on another rail forum an inquiry as to why the UP had asked for trackage rights on the CFNR from Lyoth to Tracy, a distance of about 2 miles. That would permit Amtrak a straight away move from the ex-WP to CFNR via an existing connection then direct to ex-SP at Tracy to Lathrop and the San Joaquin Valley.

Mexrail

Amtrak784 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh boy, only 11 is detouring and not 14, now this
> makes absolutely no sense! If UP is doing
> trackwork forcing #11 to detour, then why does #14
> get to take its original route?


Let's say track work is being done between Salinas and San Jose, CA between the hours of 6 AM and 5 PM. Train #11 southbound is scheduled to depart from San Jose at 10:07AM (normal schedule, not present 2-hour delay schedule) and arrive to Salinas at 11:48. Due to the work-window, the southbound train can't get through, therefore it has to detour. As for Train #14, which departs northbound out of Salinas at 6:36 PM, a hour and half past the work-window, can pass through the work site and continue to San Jose.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/11 15:20 by F40PHR231.

Work will be done between MP 89 and MP 174 on the Coast Sub. 80,780 ties to be replaced.

The two main reasons for going to Oakland then South and over the Altamont are passenger convenience, and crew usage. SLO engineer who brings #14 North will layover in OAK instead of SJC then take next mornings #11 South (with SAC Conductor and AC)and go to Bakersfield. That crew will then van to SLO to get rested and work North on next days #14. #11's SAC engineer will deadhead OKJ to SJC to get rested and work back on that nights #14.

If they routed #11 through Stockton on the morning of March 13 -- and made a station stop there -- they would probably take on 250 passengers.

No joke, that's a very likely scenario, if it happened.

<g>

We expect to pick up those extra 250 scattered between SAC, EMY and OKJ stops. At least on a few of the detours. Of course the question is how do they all get back from LAX. No stops after OKJ except for crew change at East Bakersfield.

David.Curlee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If they routed #11 through Stockton on the morning
> of March 13 -- and made a station stop there --
> they would probably take on 250 passengers.
>
> No joke, that's a very likely scenario, if it
> happened.

What comes to mind is those pictures of trains in India and other such countries with people on the car roofs and hanging out the windows and etc. Actually, I think Amtrak would be wise to re-think this detour for that particular day--------it could be mass rioting from Oakland to San Berdoo!!
:-)
C.
>
>

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

Most of the detour dates are after daylight savings time starts, so assuming #11 is back to its usual Seattle departure time, I would guess there's a good chance of rounding the loop before dark.

Dave

mexrail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I saw just the other day on another rail forum an
> inquiry as to why the UP had asked for trackage
> rights on the CFNR from Lyoth to Tracy, a distance
> of about 2 miles. That would permit Amtrak a
> straight away move from the ex-WP to CFNR via an
> existing connection then direct to ex-SP at Tracy
> to Lathrop and the San Joaquin Valley.

Does a detour routing like this even require a trackage rights agreement? Maybe UP wants easier access from Tracy to the DOD facility at Lyoth or is it possible they want to abondon the ex-SP trackage from Tracy to Lathrop and just use the ex-WP?

David.Curlee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If they routed #11 through Stockton on the morning
> of March 13 -- and made a station stop there --
> they would probably take on 250 passengers.
>
> No joke, that's a very likely scenario, if it
> happened.
>
Or, you can just buy a ticket on the Pacific Railroad Society's "Diamond Jubilee" and you can ride over Tehachapi twice on April 2 & 3, have the "Ocean View" in the train, and get the Palmdale Cutoff and Cajon Pass thrown in at no extra charge. http://www.pacificrailroadsociety.org/

Barry Draper



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/11 19:43 by barrydraper.