Passenger Trains > Simplifying San Antonio Ops

Given the recent issues with the Eagle, and the line between San Antonio and Del Rio being over capacity for UP. Should it be considered of moving the Eagle's departure time back to 8am from San Antonio? The way the cars are exchagned in San Antonio is quite a mess going east/north and I'm surprised it's not taking a hit on the CSI scores. When #2 is on-time or even slightly late the end Coach and Sleeper are dropped just prior to the platform. The empty Eagle (Yard Job) then reverses down and picks up the 2 cars and pulls them down to the platform but with only those 2 rear cars exposed (as #2 is on the track closest to the station). Now if the Sunset is early they have time to switch the sleeper to the proper position at the head end next to the dorm (which takes between 45 mins and 1 hour). This usually starts around 5:00-5:30am. Station work is done before the switching of course. However it seems to put a pressure on the mechanical crews who have to work on 2 trains at once and usually both end up taking a hit. #2 does have an hour of pad built in towards Houston, but due to directional routing towards Beaumont it's guaranteed to take at least a 30 min hit as the backup moves and top speed of that line is 60mph (old MoPac versus the SP line which #1 takes is 79). When #2 is late the thru cars are tacked onto the rear of #22 and then the Dorm car runs without an attendant nearby. This is an issue for many of the elderly passengers from getting to the Diner and the Lounge. Also creates a panic for the attendant as if they're required in the dorm car they then run the entire legnth of the consist. This is corrected in Chicago when they reshuffle the Sleeper to the head end prior to #21's depature the next day. 

With UP's Del Rio Sub currently over capacity with both BNSF trackage right freights and their own trains between Spofford (junction with line to Eagle Pass) and San Antonio, #2 and #1 usually lose on average about an hour. Now on every day the Sunset runs with the exception of Thursday, #1 and #2 have to meet somewhere between Spofford and San Antonio, which causes even more of a mess. If the Eagle was moved back to an 8am depature, mechanical would have enough time to work on both trains efficently, and some of that padding from #2's schedule in Houston could be used to pad it to Beaumont improving OTP across Louisiana. And maybe move the departure of #2 to 7am in the event of a late arrival. This of course allows the yard job to switch the Sleeper to the head on the Eagle. 

Thoughts and opinions? 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/18 19:43 by SunsetLtd.

Does the Texas Eagle still have a dedicated business unit?  If so, who's the leader of that group?  I have a reason to reach out.  Any help is appreciated.

Bob Andrews
The Catalpa Falls Group, LLC
San Antonio, Texas

I have little sympathy for the operating railroads at this time.  Keeping one passenger train on time three days per week should be EASY!   

Instead the freight railroads operate 12,000 ft. trains; they have almost no one around when there are problems; trains don't fit in sidings; to walk a freight train takes about two hours especially at night, if there is a problem; signal and track crews are 60-75 miles away; extra boards are usually much too short, so they have no one around who is rested, and trains are simply parked in every siding; etc. etc.   

They shoot themselves in the foot, and then plead to Amtrak that they are SO busy, and the passenger train schedule too tight.  

It seems there are a couple of minor problems here that have become a bigger one. First, if the 422 thru cars are both left on the rear some days, why can't that be done permanently? I understand the distance from the diner is an issue for some passengers, but it's already been this way all the way from LAX. Second, the staffing issue is a simple fix of reassigning the attendants.

If 22 left later, there may be some unintended consequences further downline. Especially when UP hands off to BNSF, to TRE and back to UP. This may already be apparent if 22 regularly loses more time as it travels across Texas.

I'm not terribly familiar with the routings around SAS. Any chance someone could post a diagram with the 'normal' routings for these trains? Also, do the westbounds have any similar challenges?

IIn the past 10 years or so, I've gone both ways in the 421/422 sleeper perhaps 10-15 times.  I've concluded it's 'luck of the draw' in terms of arrival time, time until departure, a switching crew with time on their hands or not, or even if the switching crew is simply having a bad day. 

In my 'scattered' experience, every time, the through sleeper and coach were at the end of the train CHI-SAS both ways, with a coach added behind them CHI-STL as train 421/422.  At SAS, most of the time, westbound, the coach and sleeper are turned somewhere and simply added at the rear of #1. My thinking is that's the easiest to accomplish, if there isn't too much interfereing RR traffic to/from wherever the wye is.  It's great looking out the rear window of the sleeper when the train starts flying low west of El Paso.  Only once did they do the 'SAS Shuffle' and put the through sleeper immediately ahead of the diner, resulting in everyone in roomettes now travelling head first while sleeping.  That first morning after SAS, I was surprised to find the diner 'right there'.  Going the other direction, I don't recall the through sleeper and coach being in any other position than the end of the train LAX-SAS.  That allows a quick 'drop and run' at SAS if they're running late.

In my opinion, 'breaking apart' the westbound through sleeper and coach at SAS and splicing them in at two different locations in the outbound #1 is a lot of extra work...extra cuts and hitches to be made, each of which take 15 minutes or more to accomplish.  Perhaps there's situations at SAS where they can't simply wye the two cars from CHI and go.  Perhaps it's the result of not(?) having any HEP power available at SAS other than the locomotive on #21 that the times I was awake and out and about, they kept the entire arriving train #21 on HEP power so the through cars could have A/C the whole time.  I went to bed and to sleep before #1 arrived each time, so I don't know how/when/how fast they switched the two cars from #21 to #1.  Going the other way, we were quite late once then the crew outlawed 10 miles shy of SAS, so it was 6-7 AM before #2 finally arrived.  I think they used a switcher to simply pull the two cars off #2 and put them on the back of #22, which was still headed east.  I have pix of both trains side by side appearing ready to race each other out of town.  Instead, #22 backed out of the station maybe 2-3 miles then headed forward out of town.  Perhaps the wye tracks were out of service or blocked by other trains?  Why they can't do it the same way consistently over the years behooves me.  

The thing they should've left alone was leaving the Eagle Cars on the rear of the Sunset, the maneuver they do now is not effecient!

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The way the Eagle comes into San Antonio is what determines how the cars are dropped or added. The 2 routes north to San Marcos are the old Katy and the old MoPac, these are UP's Austin Sub mains 2 and 1 respectively. #21 runs down the old MoPac the night before. It takes the Kerrville Lead past the old MoPac station in San Antonio to reach the old SP, and arrives with the engine facing North. In the morning #22 backs up about a mile to the crossover at Tower 112 to access the old Katy line to head north. Essentially the Eagle serves San Antonio in a giant loop meaning the set is never wyed. This is what leads to the shuffle when #21 arrives as the coach and the Sleeper need to be spotted on the closer station track for #1 to hitch onto. #1 arrives facing south, so if #21 arrives in enough time #1 pulls past the station and backs in right up to the thru cars.  Going east since both trains are facing north, #2 does the cut and run, and #22 just does what #1 does and back onto the thru cars. After they're joined and boarded they reverse on out of the station. 

If they truly wanted to make things easy and keep things to a bare minimum, they could ask UP to route them down the old Katy from Schertz to Tower 112 then back into the station. This does happen on occasion when there's too many dead trains on the old MoPac line. The issue with this being UP directionally routes everything out of San Antonio going north; the old Katy is primarily northbound traffic, and the old MoPac is southbound. With no sidings between Schertz and Tower 112 on the old Katy (and it being ABS and not full CTC), This may nail #21 if there's a few freights already headed up the line. Also UP does like to change crews going north on the old Katy usually just past the VA hospital off the 410 Loop. This hits #22 on occasion, as they'll sit south of the freights while the recrew takes place and then painfully follow them up to Schertz where they can get around them. Also if they arrive via the old Katy the night before, they'll have to depart on the MoPac headed north in the morning. The old MoPac does have a higher speed limit, but there's a lot of locals out working the rock plants between New Braunfels and Bracken that i'm sure UP doesn't want to clear to get Amtrak out of the way. They could go back to running Coaches right behind the dorm, and the diner and thru cars on the end (which they do most summers). However the issue of 321/322 comes into play as they tack that Coach onto the rear in STL. These passengers will then have to walk through the Sleeper to get to the Lounge and Diner which tends to defeat the purpose of Sleepers being "First Class". 

This would also make things easier in Fort Worth and both Eagles wouldn't be vying for a spot through Tower 55 at the same time. They'd meet between Forth Worth and Cleburne which happens anyway if 22 is late. TRE runs an hourly schedule on weekdays, so that wouldn't change it's slot onto the TRE. Another thing that could possibly be of interest is adding a stop in New Braunfels. If routed up the old MoPac it puts them right through the heart of downtown New Braunfels that could attract quite a few people. There may be a station only 10 miles up the road in San Marcos, but the Sunset does something similar with Pomona and Ontario out in CA. A stop in downtown NB would pull people from Canyon Lake and more suburban San Antonio (region that's growing rapidly). Downtown San Antonio at 6am isn't exactly the best place to be out in the open waiting to board. 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/18 08:33 by SunsetLtd.