Passenger Trains > Does Amtrak trains lay over for the night in Greenfield Mass?

  The current Amtrak schedule shows two late arrivals in Greenfield which is the train's final stop.  Then there are two morning southbound trains that originate in Greenfield.  Does the equipment and the crews
lay over for the night in Greenfield?  At one point,in the past,  I thought the crews and equipment went south from Greenfield to Springfield in the evening and then returned north from Springfield to
Greenfield in the morning.  I did not know if those runs carried passengers but they do not show up on the Amtrak web site.

Thank you very much

renf Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>   The current Amtrak schedule shows two late
> arrivals in Greenfield which is the train's final
> stop.  Then there are two morning southbound
> trains that originate in Greenfield.  Does the
> equipment and the crews
> lay over for the night in Greenfield?  At one
> point,in the past,  I thought the crews and
> equipment went south from Greenfield to
> Springfield in the evening and then returned north
> from Springfield to
> Greenfield in the morning.  I did not know if
> those runs carried passengers but they do not show
> up on the Amtrak web site.
>
> Thank you very much

The Valley Flyer is crewed by the Springfield line crews based out of Springfield and that’s where the equipment is based. They deadhead the equipment from Springfield up to Greenfield for each southbound trip and do the reverse after each northbound arrival in Greenfield. On weekend days and any other days that run with the Saturday or Sunday schedule the deadhead runs for the single Valley Flyer can be purchased and used by passengers (trains 400 and 499.)

The Vermonter is different - it’s crews work that train only - the conductors are out of Springfield and the engineers are out of Brattleboro. The engineer working the northbound run overnights along with the conductors at St Albans. The engineer working south from Brattleboro runs to Springfield (where the Springfield line crews take over the train) and then takes the northbound train back to Brattleboro returning home the same day.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/22 18:54 by lordsigma.

Springfield MA must be a growing crew base with the several trains based there. The Valley Flyer, the Hartford trains, etc.
 

Nope.

The last trips to Greenfield always deadhead back to Springfield for servicing and to spend the night.  Watch the Springfield MA Virtual Railfan to see the 2 deadhead arrivals about 11:30PM and 1:00AM, give or take.  Sharp eyes will 'briefly catch them (southbound coach lights)' 50-100' after they've crossed CSX under the freeway about 8-10 minutes before they've reversed direction and enter the Springfield station.

From what I've seen on the Springfield VR, both trains are cleaned, serviced, and inspected in the wee hours of the day before the same trainsets return deadhead to Greenfield about 4:30AM and 5:30AM each weekday morning.

Of note is that on Saturdays and Sundays only, the early bird departure to Greenfield is at 7:50AM and carries passengers.  It spends about 20 minutes 'recovery time' in Greenfield and then departs for Springfield and New Haven.  I and a friend made that trip on 10/8 to catch the peak fall colors.  There were about 12-15 passengers leaving Springfield, with most of them off at Northhampton.  Southbound, about 12-15 on at Greenfield and a good crowd boarded at Northampton, nearly filling every seat on the 2 car train.

  Thank you very much for the information.  Do  I understand correctly that the equipment moves from Greenfield to Springfield late at night and the moves from Springfield to Greenfield early in the
morning carry passengers on Saturdays and Sundays but not on week-days.  That seems strange since all of those deadhead moves are completely staffed.

   Thanks for any information you may have about which deadhead trains on the Valley line do or do not carry ticketed passengers.

                                         

renf Wrote:
>    Thanks for any information you may have about
> which deadhead trains on the Valley line do or do
> not carry ticketed passengers.
>
I think it comes down to how many potential passengers would not only want to go to Holyoke, Northampton, or Greenfield, but want to board before 6AM?  Yes, there's a couple of 'early bird' departures to New Haven and Washingon at 5:10AM and 5:45AM respectively and they each get a fair number of passengers at SPG.  But going north at that hour?  Ticketing could also be a problem at that hour as there would need to be an Amtrak ticket agent on duty about 4AM, give or take....for MAYBE 1 or 2 passengers per week...in a good week.