Passenger Trains > Auto Train at Ashland, VA

Been wanting to share these photos.  In early August, I was in Virginia for a family trip.  My son joined us later in the week, and came down via Amtrak.  So with my son travelling to Ashland, I got there early to catch some CSX and Amtrak trains.  One of the Amtrak trains I saw was the southbound Auto Train.  Here are some photos and a video of the train from Ashland on August 2nd.

1 - The engines passing the station
2 - All Superliners on the train
3 - Transition from coaches to carriers

A couple more and the video to follow. 

 

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Last of the photos..

4 - A little advertising never hurt
5.  The end of the train
6 - Video of the Auto Train rolling by

Hope you enjoy! 
 

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Nice series, thanks for sharing.  Your video picked up the sightseer lounge, which is occasionally used on the Auto-Train. It's the second car

I count 7 coaches and 3 full sleepers? That's it on the sleepers? In proportion, lot of coaches versus sleepers! Surprised. Why they put a Sightseer Lounge on the Auto Train and not just another Cross Country Cafe continues to puzzle me. There's 17 Cross Country Cafe cars - somewhere! Certainly enough to go around between City of New Orleans, Capitol Limited and Auto Train with new "East of the Mississippi" food program. Texas Eagle had Cross Country Cafe's at one time. They could sub them with the full diners that came off of the Auto Train Coach section if needed......Still should be enough though. I know they need the booth seating in the Sightseer Lounge for extra coach dining seating, but just stick another Cross Country Cafe Car on. Finally a regular use for these cars!

They normally have the 33100 series Lounge cars in the Consist.
Maybe one of those cars is down for routine maintenance work?


jp1822 Wrote:
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> I count 7 coaches and 3 full sleepers? That's it
> on the sleepers? In proportion, lot of coaches
> versus sleepers! Surprised. Why they put a
> Sightseer Lounge on the Auto Train and not just
> another Cross Country Cafe continues to puzzle me.
> There's 17 Cross Country Cafe cars - somewhere!
> Certainly enough to go around between City of New
> Orleans, Capitol Limited and Auto Train with new
> "East of the Mississippi" food program. Texas
> Eagle had Cross Country Cafe's at one time. They
> could sub them with the full diners that came off
> of the Auto Train Coach section if
> needed......Still should be enough though. I know
> they need the booth seating in the Sightseer
> Lounge for extra coach dining seating, but just
> stick another Cross Country Cafe Car on. Finally a
> regular use for these cars!

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

OCF - nice photos and did you get the chance to check out the hobby store right down the street from where you were? It was a nice place with a wide selection of train accessories.

You can watch a YouTube virtual camera positioned at the Ashland station.  Never ceases to amaze me the amount of running wrong main (dispatcher's discretion) here as seen in the video.  Ashland is a Quiet Zone so not much horn blowing for crossings.  Construction of new platforms and other improvements currently taking place at station..  There is/was a former C&O wooden caboose (ex-Hocking Valley) just west of the tracks off the main street crossing.  The former train store (original?) owner at the mentioned location relocated to Summervile SC a few years ago.  I think another train store has opened as a successor.  Also a nice restaurant (Iron Horse?) on the s/b side a couple blocks from the station/visitor center.  Great place to eat and watch trains.

boejoe Wrote:
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> You can watch a YouTube virtual camera positioned
> at the Ashland station.  Never ceases to amaze me
> the amount of running wrong main (dispatcher's
> discretion) here as seen in the video.  Ashland
> is a Quiet Zone so not much horn blowing for
> crossings.

I thought the RF&P usually ran left handed main so this is a holdover from those days.  Could be wrong and just seemed that way, and now with all the traffic on that line that CSX runs whichever main is clear

Correct, no more "wrong main" on RFP sub. Two and three tracks, all 261 signalled, whatever works best for the DS.  

The CSX dispatchers work hard, with Amtrak, CSX, and VRE all in the picture in northern Virginia. Two tracks, three tracks, back to two tracks, etc.

Trains run around each other, these dispatchers handle it very well.

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Pattenburg Wrote:
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> OCF - nice photos and did you get the chance to
> check out the hobby store right down the street
> from where you were? It was a nice place with a
> wide selection of train accessories.

Thank you.  Nash and I were able to take a look and I did buy a Candian grain car I had been wanting.