Passenger Trains > Superliner Demand

All this talk about Superliner deployment.....so the current trains are in their
"off-season" consist....i.e., trains 3 & 4 are down to 2 coaches.  Fine and dandy.
Now, train 4 was showing sold out ( except for sleepers ) from Hutchinson to Chicago
for 09December, and that was as of 03December. Oh, they'll bring back a 3rd and maybe
a 4th one later this month, but they'll be very anxious to start cutting back right after
the first.

Why not have a floating consist like The Canadian. Start with the Winter minimum. In the case of The Canadian, It's 9 cars total. As sleepers sell out, add another as long as equipment is available. 

30(3) was down one coach at Hyndman, two total.

2 coaches - goes to show what an inherently weak train the Capitol Ltd is without the PIP of the Pennsylvanian thru coaches. The combined LSL has 5 60-seat coaches, and usually fills them.
(IOW, they killed the wrong East Coast-Chicago train in 2005).

3&4 should at least have a KC cut coach. There is a market there - it's the fastest means of ground transportation between there and Chicago, IF they were smart enough to market it as such.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/16 06:41 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> 2 coaches - goes to show what an inherently weak
> train the Capitol Ltd is without the PIP of the
> Pennsylvanian thru coaches. The combined LSL has 5
> 60-seat coaches, and usually fills them.
> (IOW, they killed the wrong East Coast-Chicago
> train in 2005).
>
> 3&4 should at least have a KC cut coach. There is
> a market there - it's the fastest means of ground
> transportation between there and Chicago, IF they
> were smart enough to market it as such.

And then you guys would be complaining on how long it takes them to cut out that coach and that XYZ Railroad could do it in 5 minutes!

I don't think so. I think they did this in 2015 Thanksgiving or Xmas.

The_Chief_Way Wrote:
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> they'll bring back a 3rd and maybe
> a 4th one later this month, but they'll be very
> anxious to start cutting back right after
> the first.

They'll need a set of Superliner coaches for the Winter Park Express.   BSB

Ok, you add a coach and sell how many extra seats? The next day what is the demand? Did you want to actually ride or looking at last minute to find sold out train?

Bob

Posted from Android

PHall Wrote:
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> And then you guys would be complaining on how long
> it takes them to cut out that coach and that XYZ
> Railroad could do it in 5 minutes!

3/4 already has significant dwell time in KCM....should be enough to switch a car.

Dave

DavidP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PHall Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > And then you guys would be complaining on how
> long
> > it takes them to cut out that coach and that
> XYZ
> > Railroad could do it in 5 minutes!
>
> 3/4 already has significant dwell time in
> KCM....should be enough to switch a car.
>
> Dave

And it begins!  .  .  . 

Adding a car at Kansas City might be OK as long as the road crew does the switching.

If a dedicated switch crew would be needed, the proposal is a non-starter.  There isn't enough revenue in low-yield coach to pay the bills.

They've done over the holidays before. It is not a proposal.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/16 12:43 by joemvcnj.

The proposal to relocate unused SuperLiner cars from the AutoTrain during the summer etc has been mentioned from time to time.

I'm on today's train 53 with 15 partly filled cars. About 300 passengers sprinkled over the cars.

No reason why 10 to 12 cars couldn't go for a Rocky Mountain high during the summer.

Posted from Android

Some of you guys say use Superliners for a Ski Train. I think I have a better idea. How about using some Bombardier Bi-Level Commuter Cars?
High capacity cars with two low level doors on each side. You could put a ski rack on the lower level.
These would be much more suited to the service then Superliners would be.

Sure, good idea maybe but Superliners are Amtrak's plan for the Winter Park Express ski train. === === = === JLH

robj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ok, you add a coach and sell how many extra seats?
> The next day what is the demand? Did you want to
> actually ride or looking at last minute to find
> sold out train?
>
> Bob
>
> Posted from Android

I'd be put off by the "sold out" status and seek alternate transportation. There's no way I'd want to be part of sold out coach class on a Superliner..........

highgreengraphics Wrote:
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> Sure, good idea maybe but Superliners are Amtrak's
> plan for the Winter Park Express ski train. ===
> === = === JLH

But are they? Do they have enough "spare" cars to run a Ski Train without impacting the other trains?

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> highgreengraphics Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sure, good idea maybe but Superliners are
> Amtrak's
> > plan for the Winter Park Express ski train. ===
> > === = === JLH
>
> But are they? Do they have enough "spare" cars to
> run a Ski Train without impacting the other
> trains?

Considering all the extra Superliner coaches that ran over Thanksgiving holiday - Amtrak should have no trouble finding 8 to 10 Superliners to operate a weekend train in the dead of winter in Colorado. The Ski train will operate when the Capitol Limited goes from 3 to 2 Superliner coaches. There's three Superliner Coaches right there. There was an extra coach on the Coast Starlight. There's four Superliner coaches. So just between two trains I've come up with seven Superliner coaches. And then lets not talk about the Superliners that Amtrak "has to operate" on some Midwestern routes in place of Horizon cars that tend to freeze up..............

jp1822 Wrote:

> I'd be put off by the "sold out" status and seek
> alternate transportation. There's no way I'd want
> to be part of sold out coach class on a
> Superliner.......... 

Sure beats the gray dog.  I got bustituted CHI to CIN several years  ago.  A sold out  Superliner would have been great compared to the bus.   The driver had to tell a rowdy group to hold the noise down.  The language was awful, like being in a rolling bar room..  

John

30(5) was down one coach at Hyndman, two total

Seems to be a pattern, several days with this consist