Passenger Trains > CSXT Dispatching keeps a late Star from getting later

The northbound Silver Star was over 2 hours late approaching Hamlet NC yesterday, Thursday 3/2/23.  Normal practice for the S Line from Hamlet to Raleigh is unless Amtrak is several hours late, L620 holds in Hamlet yard until Amtrak gets by, then he follow Amtrak north up the line.  But on this day, CSXT had 2 additional northbound in the picture - the every other day B439-02 empty stone shuttle for Sanford and a loaded G970-01 grain train for Aberdeen.  Holding L620 for an Amtrak out of it's window could jeopardize that job getting all it's work done and could delay the Sanford-Wilmington stone shuttle that runs on a fairly tight schedule and the loaded grain train that the ACWR and customer had crews scheduled and waiting for.   So L620 was turned loose at it's normal time, now in front of Amtrak.  By the time The Star was ready to depart Hamlet, the L620 was able to clear up in the yard at Aberdeen, allowing the Star to leap-frog by him, and keeping everyone rolling with minimal delay.

Here we see the Star overtaking L620 in Aberdeen at 910 AM on a rainy Thursday morning.  The ACWR power in foreground is waiting to serve as manned helpers to get the inbound G970 up Aberdeen hill.  The CSXT power on inbound grain trains stay with the trains, but to get a 90 to 110 car train up Aberdeen Hill requires an assist from a couple ACWR units or they have to double the hill.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/23 05:51 by scraphauler.

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Nice video and explanation.

PCBill

Thank you for some background.  I must say it looks like Amtrak is really scorching the ballast to make up time.;>)   Is that full track speed?   

In the last ETT generally available to the public, passenger trains had a 45 mph restriction at Aberdeen. Remember, this is Class III track and the top end for passenger trains is 60 anyway. 

With all the money that NC has spent on upgraded passenger service, why do they ignore the old Seaboard mainline (S line)?   They could use f inancial incentives to CSX to upgrade this track back to 79 mph?  

Glad to see CSX giving the passenger train a preference in their dispatching.  So often, it seems that Amtrak is put in the siding and told to sit still.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/23 08:02 by MEKoch.

> With all the money that NC has spent on upgraded passenger service, why do they ignore the old
> Seaboard mainline (S line)?

Because it carries almost no intra-state passengers. Over 4 million people live in the counties traversed by the Piedmont trains. The counties along the S-line south of Raleigh that have Amtrak stations comprise only about 200,000. Yes, there are North Carolinians who board the train and ride south to Florida, but not nearly as many as ride the trains north.

To be fair, NCDOT is very intent on a restoration of the S-line north of Raleigh. Also, NCDOT was a participant in the negotiations that kept signals on the S-line south of Raleigh after the hurricane damage in the 1990s. If CSX had had their way, the Silver Star would be on the A-line and Raleigh-Hamlet would have fallen to 25 mph by now. 

ctillnc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Because it carries almost no intra-state
> passengers. Over 4 million people live in the
> counties traversed by the Piedmont trains. The
> counties along the S-line south of Raleigh that
> have Amtrak stations comprise only about 200,000.
> Yes, there are North Carolinians who board the
> train and ride south to Florida, but not nearly as
> many as ride the trains north.
>
> To be fair, NCDOT is very intent on a restoration
> of the S-line north of Raleigh. Also, NCDOT was a
> participant in the negotiations that kept signals
> on the S-line south of Raleigh after the hurricane
> damage in the 1990s. If CSX had had their way, the
> Silver Star would be on the A-line and
> Raleigh-Hamlet would have fallen to 25 mph by
> now. 

To expand on what ctillnc said, there's only two stops south of Wake County.  The is no stop in Lee County, population 48k, there is a stop in Moore County, population 102k,  and there is a stop in Richmond County, population 42k.  Latest statistic I can find shows Southern Pines (Moore County) sees about 8000 passengers a year (or about 11 people on or off per train) and Hamlet (Richmond County) sees about 4000 passengers a year.   Not too shabby for rural stations on a once each way per day long distance train, but certainly nothing to get too excited about. 

Line remains signaled, line is maintained to 60 mph standards and CSX continues to invest in it.  NCDOT is committed to growing the Piedmont Corridor and rebuilding (with VADOT the S Line north of Raleigh.  Wake, Durham, and Johnston Counties are working with NCDOT to establish commuter rail on a Durham - Cary - Raleigh - Clayton corridor.  Those are the state's priorities, rightfully so.  The US 1 corridor south out of Wake County is exploding with growth (as is all of the greater Raleigh/Durham/Wake Forest areas) in both residential AND rail using industrial.  Future of the S Line seems safe.  Could it host more and faster passengers some day?  Maybe someday. But not enough demand yet. 

Nice video and that's just good dispatching, even if the local had a bit longer to do their work, making sure Amtrak 92 had clear track helps!