Passenger Trains > OT-Fly during Spring Break

I found flying during spring break versus 40-hour late Amtrak train 8 Empire Builder service (due to landslides or washout) to be the more reliable means of transportation March 2017. 

 Virgin America flight at Denver and San Francisco, California, March 2017. 

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Meal at your seat was a nice blessing - a rare treat these days!   Virgin America being absorbed by Alaska Airlines. 

American downsizing has hit all forms of transportation...

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Thought this was a train site?

Trains, Planes & Automobiles

Nice looking meal, presented at your seat.

I wonder if Amtrak has explored expanding the Acela meal at your seat feature to LD trains? Dropping the dining car could make a significant difference in weight and cost of operations.

It is useful to consider alternate forms of transportation in view of the current Amtrak fiasco's.  Good grief, you can fly around the world in less time than the EB  in question was late. 

cozephyr Wrote:
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> Meal at your seat was a nice blessing - a rare
> treat these days!   Virgin America being absorbed
> by Alaska Airlines. 
>
> American downsizing has hit all forms of
> transportation...

I have always enjoyed my Virgin America flights. Lets hope Alaska keeps the same level of service.

Cheers,
Jack

cozephyr Wrote:
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> Meal at your seat was a nice blessing - a rare
> treat these days!   

Rare - yes!

What do they do for the passengers who like their meat well done?

Also, was the lady in the first picture the co-pilot?

By the three stripes on her shoulder, I would say yes.
Or to put it in railroad terms, she is the fireman.
CJV in Illinois

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Landslides are Amtrak's fault.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> It is useful to consider alternate forms of
> transportation in view of the current Amtrak
> fiasco's.  Good grief, you can fly around the
> world in less time than the EB  in question was
> late. 

 Yes lady is a Virgin America copilot.   Amtrak kept their passengers safe considering the harsh conditions encountered lately with heavy rains, landslides, washouts and derailments.   Time was tight and I needed to get to the Wet coast.

Fly by wire aircraft certainly have a clean looking control panel.  Note the tablet with a glide path or climb out map.  Not unlike the way some folks have described PTC.

For some travelers, time is money, and I fully appreciate alternative forms of transportation. What I appreciate by traveling by LD trains is the interaction with fellow passengers. Not so much on short haulers.What I've noticed in the last few years is that the only eye contact most people make is with their phone/computer. Push the button and I'm doing something with my phone. Don't get me wrong I fully appreciate everything technology has to offer. Just an old f_ _t  speaking his mind.  



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/17 11:54 by Cupolau.

I don't mind occasional plane or bus pictures here...like many railfans, I enjoy almost all forms of transportation. LD trains are neat, interesting and can serve a purpose.

However only a very small niche market exist for train travel over a few hundred miles. Somewhere Amtrak publishes the average distance passengers travel on each LD train. Most routes it's under 650 miles in coach.

Posted from Android

cozephyr Wrote:
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>  Yes lady is a Virgin America copilot.   Amtrak
> kept their passengers safe considering the harsh
> conditions encountered lately with heavy rains,
> landslides, washouts and derailments.   Time was
> tight and I needed to get to the Wet coast.

You needed to get to the Wet coast, or the West coast? Well, actually, I guess it could be either one today!
So, how did you get into the pilots cabin? Or were you the pilot?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/17 15:17 by StarlightRider.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Nice looking meal, presented at your seat.
>
> I wonder if Amtrak has explored expanding the Acela meal at your seat feature to LD trains?
> Dropping the dining car could make a significant difference in weight and cost of operations.

Amtrak Acela (First Class) meals are actually prepared at the airline kitchens at Dulles(among others), and delivered from there in small rolling carts just like the airlines use.  The cost of the Acela meal is included in the cost of the first class seat, which last time I checked was more than $100 above coach:WAS-NYP $251 Acela coach $380 First Class for 6PM departure.  Taking this approach would quickly price out all those pesky coach passengers (and me too, although I've enjoyed Acela First Class when traveling with my spouse). :-)

Then again, this approach seems to work for VIA on the Canadian...they even have signs to keep the coach passengers in their place,and away from the diners used by sleeping car passengers. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/17 15:25 by hazegray.

Thanks. There's definitely a market for $3 per mile rail fares with lunch included.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Fly by wire aircraft certainly have a clean
> looking control panel.  Note the tablet with a
> glide path or climb out map.  Not unlike the way
> some folks have described PTC.

Modern Airbus jets like the one pictured have a side-stick controller mounted to the left of the captain and right of the first officer in place of the traditional control yoke.  Thus you get that nice open space in front of the pilots.  Boeing continues to use the control yoke, even though its newer aircraft like the 777 and 787 are also fly-by-wire.

The Wabtec Cab Display Unit (CDU) for PTC is a bit bulkier.  I'd say it's more robust than the displays in that Airbus flight deck but that's to be expected given the respective operating environments. 

niagara484

in place of the traditional control yoke.

Actually, I suppose that one could venture the notion that the stick is the conventional appliance, as is the tailwheel.

StarlightRider Wrote:
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> cozephyr Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >  Yes lady is a Virgin America copilot.  
> Amtrak
> > kept their passengers safe considering the
> harsh
> > conditions encountered lately with heavy rains,
> > landslides, washouts and derailments.   Time
> was
> > tight and I needed to get to the Wet coast.
>
> You needed to get to the Wet coast, or the West
> coast? Well, actually, I guess it could be either
> one today!
> So, how did you get into the pilots cabin? Or were
> you the pilot?

This may be a surprise, especially in a post-9/11 world, but most flight crews are still happy to show passengers around their "office" before and after a flight.  All you have to do is ask as you're boarding or deplaning.  I've been welcomed in the flight deck many times the past few years, including a Delta DC9-50 in Louisville, KY, a KLM MD-11 in Amsterdam, and a United 787 in Toyko.

It's sadly the sort of thing that rarely happens anymore with locomotives.  I'm sure there are many engineers and conductors that are just going to say "no" to avoid the risk of the inward-facing camera picking up "unauthorized personnel" in the cab.  In a way it's another disconnect between the public and the railroads.  I'm sure many of our older members here had their interest in trains stoked by a friendly crew that invited them to climb up the steps into a steam locomotive or diesel.

niagara484