Passenger Trains > Well, I upgraded my roomettes...so much for schmoozing.

So I called Amtrak to inquire about upgrading two roomettes to a single full bedroom...I wasn't eligible for the bidup program since I was already in sleeper service and one has to bear in mind that on Auto Train, all sleeper capacity is apt to sell out early for any specific run. Having train 53 on 6th June, I asked about upgrading on the same train. And here it is....a room was available and the upcharge was a mere 350$ more or less. Ouch! Well, I took it. It moved us back two cars but if they are building the train the same way as last year it'll put us closer to the dining and lounge cars. 

Well the cake ain't all dough....I looked at what a new ticket would cost....my overall expense for this trip is about 300 dollars less than if I had tried to buy today instead of three months ago....even with the upgrade I am ahead of last minute takers. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/22 07:28 by engineerinvirginia.

All depends on,time of year,day of week,north or southbound.
So try to plan a trip around those perminters.
PS I am still in the first grade and leanring to spel.


Uncle Joe

retcsxcfm Wrote:
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> All depends on,time of year,day of week,north or
> southbound.
> So try to plan a trip around those perminters.
> PS I am still in the first grade and leanring to
> spel.
>
>
> Uncle Joe

I assume southbounders are dwindling being Florida is trending toward hot and humid...so that should make this trip a little cheaper than it might otherwise have been. But I reckon there's always a contingent that will ride anytime of year because they travel a lot anyway...and Auto Train is usally a good gig. I would be one such traveler and since I have a job yet I can only travel when on vacation....that limits my choices. 

I remember when the great Brian Rosenwald was tweaking with the Coast Starlight. He and his chief, Gil Mallory, had blueprints draw for new auto carriers to haul behind the Coast Starlight so it could be an Auto-Train service in the car-centric West Coast. Amtrak, apparently did like the embarrassment of his successes with the Coast Starlight  and kicked him upstairs to Chicago. Any TOs know where those blueprints went?

RRBMail Wrote:
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> I remember when the great Brian Rosenwald was
> tweaking with the Coast Starlight. 

I doubt whether the concept would work on the West Coast.  It works on the East Coast because it transports snow birds between the north and the south that tend to spend long periods of time in either region.  We don't have many snow birds on the west coast.    

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

webmaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RRBMail Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I remember when the great Brian Rosenwald was
> > tweaking with the Coast Starlight. 
>
> I doubt whether the concept would work on the West
> Coast.  It works on the East Coast because it
> transports snow birds between the north and the
> south that tend to spend long periods of time in
> either region.  We don't have many snow birds on
> the west coast.    

Agreed, one would like to think that this concept could work in several places, but if anything was a niche product this is it!

Perhaps one could find a popular destination and see if people who go there come from one region who could be easily drawn to a central departure point, well i think the current route is that route…really nothing more to say. It’s a perfect setup for the market it serves…but if Amtrak is really wanting to make new features for LD service, brainstorming wont do any harm!

Posted from iPhone

RRBMail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I remember when the great Brian Rosenwald was
> tweaking with the Coast Starlight. He and his
> chief, Gil Mallory, had blueprints draw for new
> auto carriers to haul behind the Coast Starlight
> so it could be an Auto-Train service in the
> car-centric West Coast. Amtrak, apparently did
> like the embarrassment of his successes with the
> Coast Starlight  and kicked him upstairs to
> Chicago. Any TOs know where those blueprints went?

Don't know about the rest, but somewhere in my archive (boxes in a storage unit), I have my drawing of extending Tunnel 3 at King Street station to accommodate racks on the rear of the south man. The north would pull through the coach yard and cut them off before heading to the station.

TAW

RRBMail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I remember when the great Brian Rosenwald was
> tweaking with the Coast Starlight. He and his
> chief, Gil Mallory, had blueprints draw for new
> auto carriers to haul behind the Coast Starlight
> so it could be an Auto-Train service in the
> car-centric West Coast. Amtrak, apparently did
> like the embarrassment of his successes with the
> Coast Starlight  and kicked him upstairs to
> Chicago. Any TOs know where those blueprints went?

I've said for years they needed one on that train!

And you do have a market of snow birds in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, so yes it would work... have to pickup spots near Tacoma, near PDX and he'll you could even add a spit near Spokane... there would be plenty of revenue imo. And you could do a pickup/ drop near Fremont and somewhere in Socal, but I would do it as a second section to not delay the main train.
Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/22 14:40 by goduckies.

Alot of people go from the Midwest and Canada to the southwest (Texas, New Mexico and Arizona).  The Eagle could be a real revenue generator in the winter months, with auto racks set off at San Antonio, El Paso and Tucson.  

MEKoch Wrote:
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> Alot of people go from the Midwest and Canada to
> the southwest (Texas, New Mexico and Arizona). 
> The Eagle could be a real revenue generator in the
> winter months, with auto racks set off at San
> Antonio, El Paso and Tucson.  


Amtrak can't find people to work as ticket agents. How could they possibly find people to load and unload autoracks?

Not to mention the hours of time you'd have to add to the schedule for picking up, spotting and setting out the autoracks.

In Lorton VA and Sanford FL, my understanding is the car loading crews for Auto-Train are contractors. The supervisors, check in staff, and train folks are employees.

FWIW, Amtrak's competition on the Auto-Train includes the contract auto haulers + the airlines. My sister and her husband used to take A-T twice a year. Drive down to VA, sleep on the train, drive to south Florida. Easy-peasy. They are getting up in years now, so a car hauler picks up their car and others outside the gate of their community, and delivers it to NJ about 25 hours later. I drive them to the airport down here, and they are home when their car arrives.  Cost wise, it's a few hundred dollars more than Amtrak, but it's zero driving compared to about 10 hours.  I suspect Canadian and PNW snow birds already have similar alternatives to Tucson etc.