Passenger Trains > With Florida Trains Cancelled.....

Could the Cardinal, Capitol Limited, Lakeshore, overnight NEC train, Crescent, etc. use additional sleepers? No one really knows when the Star, Meteor, Auto Train etc. will operate on regular route or a detour route.....Amtrak could try to recover some list revenue if demand us there! 

Perhaps, but Amtrak is not known for its ability to respond to demand very well by moving equipment, adding cars, and the like.  Even in Gene Poon's favorite piece of railroad: the Northeast Corridor!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/15 04:12 by sums007.

sums007 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Perhaps, but Amtrak is not known for its ability
> to respond to demand very well by moving
> equipment, adding cars, and the like.  Even in
> Gene Poon's favorite piece of railroad: the
> Northeast Corridor!

Hmm, then I guess all those extra cars that show up on the heavier traveled trains on the NEC are just holographic images :P

I believe you live in Silver Service territory [or close to it], so I'm wondering if you could tell us when the last time Amtrak dropped or added a car or cars to those trains in response to higher demand.

People on railroad.net quite a few years ago were complaining about the lack of capacity on # 170 south of NYC, and Amtrak finally did add a car to it I believe.  But then it went all the way to Boston, but not needed east of NYP. My main point, I guess, is that Amtrak doesn't respond to demand--or lack of it--very quickly.  Eventually maybe, but not quickly.  Lack of equipment certainly comes into play, but the company has chosen to get rid of a lot of rolling stock that perhaps could've been used when needed.  Just my .02 cents. 

One example was last season when the Auto Train dropped the sleeper lounge car (non revenue earning) and added a coach. The Auto Train has run up to 50 cars (plus power), the max allowed by CSX agreement; 17 cars plus 33 auto racks.
Previously they reportedly had fewer max cars because of electrical cable limitations. Supposedly a reduction in the power needs was achieved.

Posted from iPhone

sums007 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I believe you live in Silver Service territory ,
> so I'm wondering if you could tell us when the
> last time Amtrak dropped or added a car or cars to
> those trains in response to higher demand.
>
> People on railroad.net quite a few years ago were
> complaining about the lack of capacity on # 170
> south of NYC, and Amtrak finally did add a car to
> it I believe.  But then it went all the way to
> Boston, but not needed east of NYP. My main point,
> I guess, is that Amtrak doesn't respond to
> demand--or lack of it--very quickly.  Eventually
> maybe, but not quickly.  Lack of equipment
> certainly comes into play, but the company has
> chosen to get rid of a lot of rolling stock that
> perhaps could've been used when needed.  Just my
> .02 cents. 

The last time they added a car and indeed entire trains on the NEC was over the recent Popefest a few weeks back. Before that they did that over the fourth of July weekend. They also quite regularly throw in a 9th car on many Regionals based on load projections. They will never arrange to have any consist change done at New York Penn Station due to cognestion there. Hence additional cars go through to Boston.

Trust me, I lived in NJ until last year and I still go back there almost every month. Don't let my residence location fool you. I have been on NEC trains at least a few times almost each month of this year. I can sort of guess what th railroad.net people complain about. Of course they could do even more car additions on the NEC if they had the cars.

Actually I have no clue what happens on Silver Service regarding additional cars, since I have not used it much, and nor do I intend to. It is too slow for my typical travel patterns and the air fares to Newark from Orlando are too cheap to get me off the planes and onto trains. The only time I use LD trains is for leisure travel, and there usually is little time to do that in the US, since for the same money I can usually go to more exotic places and explore them by rail, instead of endlessly traveling the same few train routes in the US. The LD network is next to useless for my personal travel needs and patterns. But that does not mean that it is not useful for many others, and indeed it is. That is why I spend time advocating for it any way I can.

Jishnu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> sums007 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I believe you live in Silver Service territory
> ,
> > so I'm wondering if you could tell us when the
> > last time Amtrak dropped or added a car or cars
> to
> > those trains in response to higher demand.
> >
> > People on railroad.net quite a few years ago
> were
> > complaining about the lack of capacity on # 170
> > south of NYC, and Amtrak finally did add a car
> to
> > it I believe.  But then it went all the way to
> > Boston, but not needed east of NYP. My main
> point,
> > I guess, is that Amtrak doesn't respond to
> > demand--or lack of it--very quickly. 
> Eventually
> > maybe, but not quickly.  Lack of equipment
> > certainly comes into play, but the company has
> > chosen to get rid of a lot of rolling stock
> that
> > perhaps could've been used when needed.  Just
> my
> > .02 cents. 
>
> The last time they added a car and indeed entire
> trains on the NEC was over the recent Popefest a
> few weeks back. Before that they did that over the
> fourth of July weekend. They also quite regularly
> throw in a 9th car on many Regionals based on load
> projections. They will never arrange to have any
> consist change done at New York Penn Station due
> to cognestion there. Hence additional cars go
> through to Boston.
>
> Trust me, I lived in NJ until last year and I
> still go back there almost every month. Don't let
> my residence location fool you. I have been on NEC
> trains at least a few times almost each month of
> this year. I can sort of guess what th
> railroad.net people complain about. Of course they
> could do even more car additions on the NEC if
> they had the cars.
>
> Actually I have no clue what happens on Silver
> Service regarding additional cars, since I have
> not used it much, and nor do I intend to. It is
> too slow for my typical travel patterns and the
> air fares to Newark from Orlando are too cheap to
> get me off the planes and onto trains. The only
> time I use LD trains is for leisure travel, and
> there usually is little time to do that in the US,
> since for the same money I can usually go to more
> exotic places and explore them by rail, instead of
> endlessly traveling the same few train routes in
> the US. The LD network is next to useless for my
> personal travel needs and patterns. But that does
> not mean that it is not useful for many others,
> and indeed it is. That is why I spend time
> advocating for it any way I can.

A perfectly logical and reasoned response.  Thank you.

CSX Customer Advisory - CSX Rail Line in South Carolina Impacted by Flooding

October 7, 2015

CSX operations in South Carolina continue to be impacted by recent flooding. The line between Charleston, S.C. and Florence, S.C. is flooded near Kingstree, S.C., with water levels slowly receding. Customers with freight traveling across this line should expect delays of 24 to 48 hours. Traffic scheduled through this area is being re-routed and other lines are being restored as quickly as possible to allow service to local customers.  

As conditions in the area gradually improve, rail infrastructure in some locations could be as long as a week before being fully restored. CSX continues to closely monitor operations to ensure normal train operations resume as soon as possible.

The CSX Customer Service team is available 24/7 to field any questions should customers need more details. Customers with questions about shipments can contact the Customer Service Center via www.shipcsx.com or by calling 1-877-ShipCSX (1-877-744-7279). Customers can sign up on ShipCSX to automatically receive service advisory notifications.

This is interesting. Amtrak has two opportunities here.

1) With this notice from CSX, you can take a guess that Silver Service, Auto Train, and whatever else goes through this area will NOT run. Therefore, With what eqiupment EXISTS north of Virginia currently of the Silver Service trainsets, Auto Train trainsets etc. - Amtrak could augment additional trains that are in operation (e.g. Cardinal, Crescent, Lake Shore). There's some limitation with the Superliners as the only "East Coast" Superliner is the Capitol Limited now. But again, if there is demand - shift some Superliners from the Auto Train to the Capitol and send the Capitol Limited Superliners to the CA Zephyr. Shift it around for a week. I know this is more complicated than it sounds, but if this was private sector, I have a hard time believing it wouldn't happen IF demand is happening on other long distance trains. Amtrak has "Revenue Specialists" on their payroll - what are their recommendations? 

2) When everything comes BACK ONLINE Amtrak is going to have Silver Service and Auto Train booked. What resources can they then shift East or to these trains...........Amtrak may want to consider two sections of an Auto Train, for example. OR ship the car on the Auto Train and put people on the Silver Service as needed. CREATIVE SOLUTIONS!

Course there's also the issue that Amfleet II's and Viewliners can't get rotated to Hialeah for maintenance.

Let's just hope it is just a week.

And now if Amtrak wants to test running a diner on the Cardinal - they should do it, especially the Viewliner Diner.  

Interesting little scenrio that has come up.

WillRan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Auto Train has run
> up to 50 cars (plus power),

<cut>

> Supposedly a reduction in the power needs was
> achieved.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Yep, new LED lights have reduced power consumption on the train.

Posted from Android

The Silver Star is back on Friday.

http://www.scnow.com/news/local/article_354e8c3c-6df0-11e5-b40d-cf4abe2a2ebd.html