Passenger Trains > AutoTrain 53(18)

On board as we approach Sanford about 1:15 down, all account of dark signals Deland to DeBary. Very full train!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/17 09:48 by RevRandy.

RevRandy Wrote:
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> On board as we approach Sanford Abbott 1:15 down,
> all account of dark signals Deland to DeBary. Very
> full train!

Congratulations!

First train in over a week. Do you recall the lead-off stats? Number of rail cars, passengers, vehicles, seatings at dinner, etc.

didn't get that info - wife needing to travel with because of no flights into Key West and for her I had turned off the PA in our room while she wanted to talk.


Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> RevRandy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > On board as we approach Sanford Abbott 1:15
> down,
> > all account of dark signals Deland to DeBary.
> Very
> > full train!
>
> Congratulations!
>
> First train in over a week. Do you recall the
> lead-off stats? Number of rail cars, passengers,
> vehicles, seatings at dinner, etc.

There are 33 Autorack cars on Train 53 of 18th (FIRST SOUTHBOUND auto train)
I beleive I counted 49 cars Grand Total in the train
passing the AShland VA Railcams -yesterday monday 18th sept.
That would mean that there were 16 passenger superrliner cars.
I jsut counted the number of autoracks on an FB Video clip posted by VR at Selman NC.
That FB video was a nighttime video and very hard to see part of the superliner serction of that train.
---Daniel

Thanks for the info. 49 cars in total is just about max'd out, that's great for Amtrak

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Thanks for the info. 49 cars in total is just
> about max'd out, that's great for Amtrak

Thank you for that info Lackawanna , I did not know how long the AUto Train could be.
I
by the way, the southbound AUto Trian 53 usually passes Ashland VA railcams just after 2PM California time
or that is 5PM ET Washington DC time.
I have never seen the northbound AUto Train but train status records
seem to indicate a 7AM ET approx passing of Ashland VA , which is 4AM PT in California.

---Daniel

The Auto Train often leaves Lorton VA between 3.20pm and 3.50pm ET. Once boarding has been completed and safety briefings conducted, the train will pull forward, and the auto racks will be added to the rear. Sometimes that will be done in one cut, sometimes in two cuts. Air test, and they're ready to go. In Sanford, the sleepers and the coaches are combined first, then the racks are added. Sleepers are behind the power northbound, coaches are behind the power southbound.

The RF&P is a busy place between 4 and 5. There's a CSX intermodal, a VRE sb local, one Amtrak regional, and a nb Amtrak regional, so the DS has to balance a lot of moves. In the best case, the intermodal is not in evidence, the VRE is a few minutes late, and the regional is on time. The Auto-Train goes out on the main after the regional and is in good shape once it gets to track speed.

That happens, once in a while. In my experience of 12-15 trips, A-T is stuck behind the VRE and does 30 mph as the VRE stops at every cow crossing. The regional runs around A-T, as does the intermodal, and the A-T passes it in Richmond a few hours later. The radio is very active, so you can understand much of what's going on.

In our case, we were assembled and proceeded down to a stop clear of the switch. While being assembled, 91 roared past. Then we sat while the VRE went by south and a regional went north. We then entered the main, another northbound regional passed and we were switched over to the eastern track and proceeded apace. Our only major delay before Richmond's Staples Mill Station was about 2-3 miles north, where we crawled to a stop. As we were stopped a southbound regional passed us on the western tracks. We stayed stopped about 10 minutes. However, as we finally began again we passed the southbound regional which was stopped short of RVR. We then made excellent time all the way to Florence ... sleep kept me from noting the overnight performance, but in the morning we were about 20 minutes down into Palatka. It was after that, just short of Deland, that our problems with storm-messed signals began.

But, considering a major hurricane had passed this way only about a week before and some people in the area are still without power, we did well. Since my original plan (made back in March) had been to ride solo, get off the AT and drive the 7 hours home to Key West, I had purchased the priority unloading option so I could be on the road earlier. And there was our car off in the number 14 spot. However, with my wife along and the Keys still a work in progress we are enjoying the guest apartment of a professional colleague in Orlando before heading back to the Keys on the weekend ... off to see the Mouse.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> The Auto Train often leaves Lorton VA between
> 3.20pm and 3.50pm ET. Once boarding has been
> completed and safety briefings conducted, the
> train will pull forward, and the auto racks will
> be added to the rear. Sometimes that will be done
> in one cut, sometimes in two cuts. Air test, and
> they're ready to go. In Sanford, the sleepers and
> the coaches are combined first, then the racks are
> added. Sleepers are behind the power northbound,
> coaches are behind the power southbound.
>
> The RF&P is a busy place between 4 and 5. There's
> a CSX intermodal, a VRE sb local, one Amtrak
> regional, and a nb Amtrak regional, so the DS has
> to balance a lot of moves. In the best case, the
> intermodal is not in evidence, the VRE is a few
> minutes late, and the regional is on time. The
> Auto-Train goes out on the main after the regional
> and is in good shape once it gets to track
> speed.
>
> That happens, once in a while. In my experience of
> 12-15 trips, A-T is stuck behind the VRE and does
> 30 mph as the VRE stops at every cow crossing. The
> regional runs around A-T, as does the intermodal,
> and the A-T passes it in Richmond a few hours
> later. The radio is very active, so you can
> understand much of what's going on.