Passenger Trains > Amtrak crew bases

Where are they, especially west of the Mississippi River.

On Board Services: CHI, SEA, OAK, LAX, NOL

Train Crews:

SWChief Route
( OBS are LAX based )

T&E: CHI,KCY,LAJ,ABQ,LAX

MEKoch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On Board Services: CHI, SEA, OAK, LAX, NOL
>
> Train Crews:

Which OBS crew would be based in Oakland? Unless you are counting the LSA for the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin Routes which share with Sacramento?

CZ would be CHI and CS would be LAX as far as I recall... I know Oakland supplies T&E for the Capitol Corridor, California Zephyr (to RNO), and the San Joaquin (E to Merced).

Empire Builder Route:

Engrs: Train Crews:
Minneapolis
Chicago Minot
?? Shelby
Minneapolis Spokane
Minot Seattle
Havre
Shelby
Whitefish
Spokane
Seattle Please add or correct

TIOGA PASS

aronco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Empire Builder Route:
>
> Engrs: Train Crews:
> Minneapolis
> Chicago Minot
> ?? Shelby
> Minneapolis Spokane
> Minot Seattle
> Havre
> Shelby
> Whitefish
> Spokane
> Seattle Please add or
> correct
>
> TIOGA PASS
=======================================================
add Pasco and Wenatchee

Let me try this fresh?
Crew bases are Seattle, Portland, Shelby St Cloud and Milwaukee they are T&E crew bases Spokane is engineer only crew base. Minneapolis Havre Whitefish Minot Pasco and Wenatchee are crew change points.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/13 20:45 by Frisco.

Other Amtrak crew bases out west are: KCY STL, Little Rock, San Anotinio, DFW, Albuquerque, LA, SLO, Merced, Oakland, Sacremento, Denver, SLC, Grand Junction, La Junta, I think there are a few others I just can't come up with at this time.

Omaha and Lincoln, Little Rock, Texarkana?

I see some layover points being listed as crewbases....

San Diego
Los Angeles
San Luis Obispo
Oakland
Sacramento
Merced (Engineer only)
Portland
Seattle
Spokane (Engineer only)
Shelby
St. Cloud
Milwaukee
Chicago
Carbondale
Lincoln
Denver
Salt Lake City
Reno
Albuquerque
LaJunta
Kansas City
St. Louis
Little Rock
Fort Worth
San Antonio
El Paso
Indianapolis
Memphis
Meridian
New Orleans

Interesting, a layover point is not considered a crew base? So then when we say that the Coast Starlight crew comes out of Klamath Falls, that would be false--correct? Because the KFS crew overnighted in a hotel, but they are really from----PDX? (or did I go too far north?))

What is included in a crew base, compared to a layover point?

I'm guessing the layover point is just that. No clerk, maybe a shelter or trailer with a fax machine for orders and a phone to "call in".

What's included in a crew base?

a crew base is just that
a layover point is where they go off duty, get their rest
and generally return to their starting point ( crew base )

A while back, I recall reading in a forum that a magazine (Trains?) published a US map showing routes and crew change points. Haven't been able to locate that in my recent searches. Update: just found mention of the May 2006 edition of Trains Magazine for this map. Haven't found the map however.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/13 09:06 by FrensicPic.

coaststarlight99 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting, a layover point is not considered a
> crew base? So then when we say that the Coast
> Starlight crew comes out of Klamath Falls, that
> would be false--correct? Because the KFS crew
> overnighted in a hotel, but they are really
> from----PDX? (or did I go too far north?))

Correct. A Crew Base would be the home location for the crew where they would go on/off their tour of duty. The crew on train 11 would be based in PDX for the PDX-KFS portion and the crew on train 14 would be based in SAC for the SAC-KFS portion. The respective crews would layover/"overnight" (daytime I know for train 14) in KFS at a hotel/motel and then proceed back to their crew base (home) the next day/night.

A crew base is where the crews live/originate from. a turnaround point is where they overnight/rest. The Denver comductors work east to Omaha and west to Grand Junction. Omaha has its own conductors and AC's that work east to Chicago. The Denver based engineers work Denver to Lincoln. Lincoln has its own engineers that work to Ottumwa. Ottumwa is a crew turnaround. No one is based there. Chicago based engineers work west to Ottumwa.

From a thread on Train Orders last July...
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,2827444,2827474#msg-2827474

Scroll down to Jaanfo's post and you'll find a link to the map from Trains Magazine, May 06.

John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/13 13:28 by FrensicPic.

roadman3313 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> coaststarlight99 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Interesting, a layover point is not considered
> a
> > crew base? So then when we say that the Coast
> > Starlight crew comes out of Klamath Falls, that
> > would be false--correct? Because the KFS crew
> > overnighted in a hotel, but they are really
> > from----PDX? (or did I go too far north?))
>
> Correct. A Crew Base would be the home location
> for the crew where they would go on/off their tour
> of duty. The crew on train 11 would be based in
> PDX for the PDX-KFS portion and the crew on train
> 14 would be based in SAC for the SAC-KFS portion.
> The respective crews would layover/"overnight"
> (daytime I know for train 14) in KFS at a
> hotel/motel and then proceed back to their crew
> base (home) the next day/night.

Thank you much. I understand it now.

Another example could be in Florence, SC, which is a crew base. The crew will take 89(Palmetto) south to its termination point is Savannah, GA. Then they will rest at a hotel that night and bring the northbound Palmetto(90) back to Florence the next morning. They get off the train and go home til their next run.

Posted from iPhone

Tim Rich
S. Ogden, UT

To add more to the mix, Florence is both a crewbase AND turnaround point. 89/90 is handled by Florence crews both north and south. 97/98 south are crewed out of Jacksonville. 97/98 to the north is crewed by a Florence engineer and Washington train crew. 52/53 is crewed out of Sanford on the south end, Lorton on the north end.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/13 18:58 by LoadLimited.