Eastern Railroad Discussion > NYC to AC NJ route?

This morning the news indicated train service approved from NYC to the casinos in Atlantic City. It was reported as a 2.5 hour trip. Heh, New Jersey fans what route could that train take? NYC to AC via Camden is more than 2.5 hours and circuitous. Nothing south of Bay Head right? Freight line to Lakehurst/Tom's River still there? Even if they replace the track to Tuckerton, how can it go south to Absecon?

NYC - Frankfort Jct - AC Two locos or one loco-one cab car, one on each end to make the reverse move at Frankfort = 2.5 hrs.

gonut

Guessing that one loco would be diesel and the other electric?

Can't even make Frankford Jct into a station for Philly people as it's located in crappy neighborhood......

ChS7-321 Wrote:
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> Guessing that one loco would be diesel and the
> other electric?
>
> Can't even make Frankford Jct into a station for
> Philly people as it's located in crappy
> neighborhood......


Not true. A station could be built along Aramingo Ave. There are on and off ramps for I-95 right there as well. This would be a great spot for a station. You could not put the station back at the old location off of Frankford Ave.

Brian

Somehow I thought it would be more than 2.5 hours. How long does it take to go from 30th Street to Penn Station? It's been 20-25 years since I rode the NE corridor so maybe things are much faster. Getting old.

KINGCOAL505 Wrote:
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> Somehow I thought it would be more than 2.5 hours.
> How long does it take to go from 30th Street to
> Penn Station? It's been 20-25 years since I rode
> the NE corridor so maybe things are much faster.
> Getting old.

The current Amtrak timetable shows (for example) train 84 taking 1:20 PHL to NYP with stops at Trenton and Newark. NJT Philly to Atlantic City times are around 1:30.

I think that this service is going to be different from the NJT Phila/NYC service and is specifically for the AC market, and the casinos are going to be involved with the financing. Other stories suggested that this will have cars with nicer interiors and onboard services, at a premium ticket rate (although because government money is sort-of involved indirectly that a limited number of normal-priced seats have to be available also.) I don't think 30th Street factors in to this operation..

According to the press release, the trains will not stop in Philly. They will only stop in Newark and then run right to AC. No other station stops. The Casino's are buying 8 multi level cars and they will lease 4 Amtrak units for the service.


Brian

What ever happened to that Marlboro fun train or whatever weren't they bi levels. I'm sure if they are still around somewhere that they would be at a nice discount. The more I think though I sort remember seeing those being cut up. I know railfan trying to be rail exec only works in my basement LOL

How history repeats itself....

Anybody remember who brought the ACY line back to life?...

I traveled several times from Hartford, CT to ACY as it was a large enough market for Amtrak that they had one of their Atlantic City Express trains run from SPG to ACY on a daily basis.

The control cab brought up the rear, an F40 was used from SPG to NHV then an AEM-7 from NHV to Frankford Jct. and finally an F40 again from Frankford to ACY (Metropark was added as a station stop later on, but no stops from NWK until Absecon).
It looks like NJT will be welcoming back the engine change and running on the same route Amtrak once did.


-Tom

How does the trip lenght (timewise) of 2.5 hrs. compare to the charter busses from the bus terminal?
Rich S

All the equipment was scrapped, except possibly for the locos which may have been repainted and sold.

> from Hartford, CT to ACY
> as it was a large enough market for Amtrak that
> they had one of their Atlantic City Express trains
> run from SPG to ACY on a daily basis.

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When?

Amtrak finished reviving the route in 1989 and ran trains over it until '94 or '95? It was handed to NJDOT.
That's when NJT started running revenue service from ACY to PHL. Prior to that, NJT was not allowed to run revenue trains to PHL.

Last time I rode the route was in 93.

According to the local paper, the Amtrak service in the early 90's was a 100% Amtrak production and not at all successful. NJT has been running Philly-AC service ever since, and it is becoming more and more popular. This time around, the NYC-AC service has casino sponsership and should do much better business. NJT/Amtrak is simply driving the trains, the casinos are selling the tickets and promoting the service. We'll see.

Hi Clarence,

I wonder if the train to AC will attempt to attract high rollers? Thinking that riding a train would have to have some real perks to make it more satisfactory than flying in on a private plane. As I think you emphasized, the casinos probably have the resources to making it more luring where probably NJT/Amtrak is very limited budget wise. Many of us here will be watching with you to see how this unfolds.

Jim

I think they're looking to supplement the charter buses that run up and down the Parkway/Turnpike. Supposedly they're trying to promote AC as a weekend or multi-day trip and the train is part of that some how. The buses draw a low budget retail gambler crowd (seniors), the trains would be promoted to a younger more affluent market. High rollers with private planes aren't the market for this.
Clarence