Passenger Trains > Topeka Sub Tuesday: Tioga Pass at Noria

Last Tuesday, I heard that #4 was late... again. So, I figured I'd try to catch it. What I did not know was that there was a PV in the consist.

1: Amtrak 148 leads the Chief past the E 1900 Road Crossing between Lawrence and Eudora. This is the second time in two weeks that a P42 failed and required a spare off of 3

2: Parting shot of Amtrak 4 with Tioga Pass on the tail end.

3: My feeble attempt to zoom in on the PV.

All Photos taken July 1, 2020

Thanks for Looking (and I may catch another late 4 again today)

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

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Sweet! It is so rare to get Varnish on Amtrak anymore. I thought that PVs could not be on the rear of the Southwest Chiefs?

SCUfoamer Wrote:
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> Sweet! It is so rare to get Varnish on Amtrak
> anymore. I thought that PVs could not be on the
> rear of the Southwest Chiefs?

They can be on the end of any train, they just have to go from end point to end point, i.e. Los Angeles to Chicago, no enroute switching allowed.
And the rates went up a lot too.

PHall Wrote:
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> SCUfoamer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sweet! It is so rare to get Varnish on Amtrak
> > anymore. I thought that PVs could not be on the
> > rear of the Southwest Chiefs?
>
> They can be on the end of any train, they just
> have to go from end point to end point, i.e. Los
> Angeles to Chicago, no enroute switching allowed.
> And the rates went up a lot too.

I believe the en route switching policy was that a switch was allowed at a stop of 30 minutes or more.  Has that changed?

Like the markers on the PV. Thanks for posting. 

Good news and bad news.
The good:  any PV out on the road is gfood news.
The bad:  that empty platform........I've spent many an hour out there on the move......liked to call it back porch railroading.
Norm Orfall is one of the best hosts in the business.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

Good catch, Richie! I knew #4 was late, and I knew Norm was on the rear, because he gave me a heads up. I was all set to catch him down at Strong City, but was forced into an unscheduled stop for petrol on the way down. Near as I can figure Norm smoked me by about 5”...

Posted from iPhone

agentatascadero Wrote:
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> Good news and bad news.
> The good:  any PV out on the road is gfood news.
> The bad:  that empty platform........I've spent
> many an hour out there on the move......liked to
> call it back porch railroading.
> Norm Orfall is one of the best hosts in the
> business.
>
> AA

The open platform is sorely missed by many. Of course, now it has turned into an attempt by some to "rat out" offenders. We received comments about the station stop in Galesburg, IL, where passengers stepped outside briefly to talk with a photographer during the station stop. As the train departed, all passengers headed back inside. This didn't stop a complaint from being lodged that the platform was occupied while in motion. This is why we can't have nice things...

llafro Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> agentatascadero Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Good news and bad news.
> > The good:  any PV out on the road is gfood
> news.
> > The bad:  that empty platform........I've
> spent
> > many an hour out there on the move......liked
> to
> > call it back porch railroading.
> > Norm Orfall is one of the best hosts in the
> > business.
> >
> > AA
>
> The open platform is sorely missed by many. Of
> course, now it has turned into an attempt by some
> to "rat out" offenders. We received comments about
> the station stop in Galesburg, IL, where
> passengers stepped outside briefly to talk with a
> photographer during the station stop. As the train
> departed, all passengers headed back inside. This
> didn't stop a complaint from being lodged that the
> platform was occupied while in motion. This is why
> we can't have nice things...

Doesn't help that a certain PV doesn't think that the rules apply to them either.

#4 = 12 hours late again today due to the BNSF derailment in Arizona. It is just now in the Topeka area. 

Tattletales are losers and need to be drawn and quartered.