Passenger Trains > Florida Trains Reroute

Why can't Amtrak at least run the Auto Train on 19/20's route as far as Atlanta and then detour down to JAX so people stranded with their cars could get home?  Yes it would take longer but they could run it every other day so they still only need the two trains.  Or.....why do I have to think about this stuff?  Why can't Amtrak think about it?   I think they are just saving money as according to them all their LD trains lose money.

Why go as far as Atlanta?  They could run it on the same route they are using for freights.  Hamlet to the S line and back onto the A line at Savannah.

jfrank39 Wrote:
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> Why can't Amtrak at least run the Auto Train on
> 19/20's route as far as Atlanta and then detour
> down to JAX so people stranded with their cars
> could get home?  Yes it would take longer but
> they could run it every other day so they still
> only need the two trains.  Or.....why do I have
> to think about this stuff?  Why can't Amtrak
> think about it?   I think they are just saving
> money as according to them all their LD trains
> lose money.

Part of the problem is that it takes so much longer to make the trip via Atlanta that you cannot maintain a daily service using just the two consists that they have. I am sure they have thought long and hard about it. They are not reallya s stupid as some here seem to think they are.

If it was that easy to just... poof.... run the Auto Train on NS and then on another CSX line not used to hosting a passenger train, it would have been done. Problem is, it's not up to Amtrak, and even if they got the ok, the delays that train would run into would make all of the passengers very mad. If Amtrak gets a reasonable re-route, and a guarantee that it won't be too delayed, then ok.

Penalty-free refunds all around is what I see;  that and would-have-been Auto Train passengers braving the very traffic they sought to avoid, and likely on highway detours, too.  They can't stop their daily lives because a train isn't running.  It's unfortunate, but a situation beyond control.

There is a 90 mile long stretch of I-95 in South Carolina out of service. It isn't pretty going north/south from anywhere in the Carolinas, Georgia, or Florida.

All life is subject to "Without Notice".

GenePoon Wrote:
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> Penalty-free refunds all around is what I see;
>  that and would-have-been Auto Train passengers
> braving the very traffic they sought to avoid, and
> likely on highway detours, too.  They can't stop
> their daily lives because a train isn't running.
>  It's unfortunate, but a situation beyond
> control.

Maybe.

I mentioned on another thread my sister (who has tickets for the A/T next week) lined up one way air on United, and she is shipping their car.  The Auto-Train is very convenient, but people have alternatives. Especially older people who wouldn't want to undertake a 20 hour drive.

A-T has a lot of fans for good reason, and I hope they're back in business as soon as possible.

johnpage, I believe that I-95 in South Carolina has been reopened.  I might be wrong about that, but I believe I read that today.

Just checked the South Carolina DOT road report website and some part of I-95 are open for local traffic only, but no through traffic. It's still a mess.

In the past Amtrak has run 91/92 on the Southern from Washington to Charlotte, and then the "R" line to Columbia, so it can be done.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

It's all up to the freight railroads. The will need detours. Then qualified crews and or pilots

Posted from Android

We have plans to try to run 91/92 Friday night its normal route.  No word yet on the Meteor, Palmetto or AT.

KV1guy Wrote:
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> We have plans to try to run 91/92 Friday night its
> normal route.  No word yet on the Meteor,
> Palmetto or AT.

PLEASE PLEASE AMTRAK - put a FULL Diner on this train and some extra coaches and sleepers!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!! If the train should run. It will certainly be delayed and why keep people pent up with just "Amfleet Cafe Food."

At least 91/92 are gonna get going, stuff like this can always screw up things! When will the Star get a full diner again anyway!

Posted from Android

A major bridge north of Moncks Corner, SC is now believed to be out..."washed out, gone" is how
a CSX source reports it.  If it's truly gone, it will take not weeks, but months to replace it.

It is a lift span over navigable water...will be a big job to replace.

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GenePoon Wrote:
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> A major bridge north of Moncks Corner, SC is now
> believed to be out..."washed out, gone" is how
> a CSX source reports it.  If it's truly gone, it
> will take not weeks, but months to replace it.
>
> It is a lift span over navigable water...will be a
> big job to replace.

Well, I'm sure they dont have lift bridges sitting around waiting for something like this to happen.     Will be a huge job.     I'm suprised pictures are not surfacing - if not from those in the area, but from news sources...

If reports of loss of bridge are accurate, CSX is wisely keeping a lid on info.    

Its not accurate...as reported by Train Chaser, its still there.  However, it has yet to be determined if the smaller girger bridge over the Black River has been comprimised.

The photo above is the drawbridge just below the Santee-Cooper dam at Lake Moultrie.

Here's an aerial view of the Black River bridge just south of Kingstree, SC: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kingstree,+SC+29556/@33.6500315,-79.8341857,213m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x88ffbc201ced1293:0x7c62888ee5cbbe3d!6m1!1e1