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GBN, some of us don't care to go to Florida at all and so there is no reason for us to drive out east and take the train south. (You seen one palmetto bug, you seen 'em all.) On the other hand, all that wine one could responsibly drink . . . What about irresponsibly? Is that possible?
All the same, I'd love to check the AT off my bucket list. It sounds like a splendid trip.
Palmland, why would there be different union rules for AT crews? Amtrak is Amtrak, isn't it?
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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There aren't really any different rules to speak of for A/T OBS employees, although it is considered a separate craft, ie separate seniority roster from rest of OBS around the country. Part of the reason for the consistent service, imho, is the fact that they still have permanent OBS Chief's that ride/work these trains. Also due to the volume of work/passenger loads, there is more of a teamwork atmosphere amongst the A/T crews.
Posts: 332 | From: Long Island, NY USA | Registered: Jan 2004
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A few years back, I attended a Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers meeting in Winter Park, and one of the speakers was the Amtrak Florida Market Manager. He told us that the crews that worked the A/T were essentially hand-picked, and represented the "best of the best" Amtrak personnel. Don't know if they work under different rules, but I'm sure some additional "bennies" must inure to them.
Posts: 1569 | From: Ocala, FL | Registered: Dec 2006
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Interesting to revisit the old 11 BR sleepers. I didn't recall the cars I rode skipping letter "I", a fact confirmed in my old "Pullman Company Descriptive List of Cars". Seaboard all-bedroom sleepers used car diagram 236 which shows bedrooms A-K including "I". These 6 cars were named "Avon Park, Hialeah, Ocala, Sebring, Tallahassee, and Venice". UP 11 BR sleepers from the "Placid" series: "Placid Bay, Placid Waters", etc. are from the same diagram number. My book doesn't show UP's 11 BR "Star" or "Sun" series. C&O 11 BR cars such as "Monticello", "Mount Vernon", etc. and Southern's "Royal" series ("Royal Court", etc.) are based on diagram 270 which also designates a bedroom "I". It would be interesting to see if there are indeed any cars that skip that letter.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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To GBN: Welcome back to Florida. Are you driving back to Illinois or Amtraking on A-T? If driving, when and via which routing?
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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I always thought it a mistake for Amtrak to do away with the OBS chief position. A good one solved many problems quickly and headed off others. I met one who had plunged into the Colorado River and rescued a No. 5 passenger bent on drowning herself.
Like others here, I've noticed a distinct improvement in the quality of on-board service on all the Amtrak trains I've ridden in the last year and a half, and have heard that retraining has been involved. Perhaps Auto-Train has inspired that.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Mike, the On Board Service crews hold what in the industry is known as Partly Excepted positions. They are covered by Agreement, but instead of the traditional "bid and bump' prevalent throughout the industry, they are selected by management for the positions. On some roads, swuch positions are known as "PAD" i.e. exempt from Promotion Assingment and Displacement rules.
Of interest, I learned that for Train & Engine crews, the jobs are not all that desirable as they involve a double lodging 27 hour layover at away-from-home Florence. The Assistant Conductor on 53(20) formerly held a VRE job, but when Amtrak lost that contract and he chose to stay with Amtrak (that takeover was indeed "fractuous"), he had to take what he could hold. Prior to the VRE loss, the jopbs were often force assigned.
But with the existing schedule, there is simply no alternative such as basing T&E at Florence with short rest (respite) at Lorton (even more of a problem under the RSIA '08 revisions to Hours of Service).
Finally, my return will be drive with scheduled stops in Statesboro (th) and Nashville (Fr) arriving home Saturday evening.
Posts: 10761 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I think the different roster, as MDRR explains, on AT is a legacy of the days when it was privately operated. Maybe someone can confirm. Certainly handpicking your staff would go a long way to insuring consistency of service. From a crew standpoint I would think it would be desirable too. Probably good tippers and no passengers getting on or off in the middle of the night. So again, if it works well here, why not clone it in the midwest - as we have discussed many times.
Interesting, GBN, about the T&E crews. Even though I'm a resident of the state, Florence would not be a place I'd want to spend 24 hours every week. Nothing near the train station, except a hospital, and no doubt they are lodged in a motel near the Interstates. Guess you could spend your time at Denny's. Sounds like they could run a second section of AT some 12 hours later and get a faster turnaround on those crews!
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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Mr. Norman's AutoTrain trip entices me. But I don't enjoy very long drives so I would probably do an AutoTrain roundtrip. Lorton is 3.5 hours from New Hope, PA.
Posts: 498 | From: New Hope, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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But that does make me wonder - if someday forums of this type will be on Facebook or some social networking site? What would you lose or gain?
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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About a week before I finished graduate school I was chatting with an undergraduate student on the bus and she mentioned this new thing she had learned about in the computer lab....
She said "It's called email and I think it might really catch on....."
That was the first I had ever heard of email and sites such as this were beyond my imagination at that point....
And that was not that long ago..... not quite 17 years actually. There have been so many changes since. Lot's of changes just since I discovered RailForum 7 years ago this month.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote:Originally posted by notelvis: About a week before I finished graduate school I was chatting with an undergraduate student on the bus and she mentioned this new thing she had learned about in the computer lab....
She said "It's called email and I think it might really catch on....."
That was the first I had ever heard of email and sites such as this were beyond my imagination at that point....
And that was not that long ago..... not quite 17 years actually. There have been so many changes since. Lot's of changes just since I discovered RailForum 7 years ago this month.
In 1982 Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company in New York introduced "Comet" - utilizing Local Area Networks to link the basic computer terminals on our desks which had been previously only used to access computerized avvount records - it was cumbersome to access, but it was possible to enter messages addressed to other in-bank users -- I hated it, was convinced it would never take off, and only very reluctantly started using it --- it's been downhill ever since.
Posts: 24 | From: Connecticut | Registered: Feb 2011
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There was a time in my life where I owned season tickets for the Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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"Tied up" as of 430P CT Sat Feb 26 after a 20min "delay" to shovel 1" of that "Blanc" stuff off the drive.
Posts: 10761 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Welcome home Gil. Please tell me that the weather will change radically in the next month. It is little more than that until our visit. Same for Boston TBlack.
I don't do cold weather well.
-------------------- Vicki in usually sunny Southern California Posts: 951 | From: Redondo Beach, CA | Registered: Aug 2006
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83 degrees here today. The only thing I have to shovel comes from the "exhaust" of my horses. Sorry, Vicki!
Posts: 1569 | From: Ocala, FL | Registered: Dec 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Henry Kisor: GBN, some of us don't care to go to Florida at all
Mr. Kisor, even though I have been to Florida more times in this life than I can count (but have never set foot on the Upper Peninsula), I am still of the "no earlier than Thanx nor later than Easter (forget THIS year's Easter, which is as late as I ever recall)" gang.
There was one exception however; this was a response to a family emergency during August 1998. What I shall not forget was the blast of torrid, humid air walking the 'jet-way" at KFLL (also from parking lot to hospital and v.v - and 'crawling little friends" about the hotel grounds - as well as one that sneaked into my room through the A/C unit). It was even worse than that I felt arriving at VVTS (look that one up yourself: hint, the IATA for same is SGN) during July '67.
Posts: 10761 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Hello Saigon..... and that's an educated guess made without looking anything up.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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That was one country we sadly didn't get time to see during our whirlwind honeymoon tour of SE Asia. I fully intend to resolve that in the future. Several trains to ride there!
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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March 24 Auto-Train trip was a pleasant surprise. On arriving at Lorton we were advised that, because incoming northbound had been delayed two hours due to heavy smoke from brush fires, boarding would be delayed at least an hour. The informative quality and frequency of announcement updates were models of customer service. While boarding started about 45 minutes late, it was completed efficiently (165 cars and about 350 passengers), with the result that the train departed at 3:45 rather than 4:00 PM. Sleeping car attendant (Chris) was helpful and informative, dining car attendants were also friendly and efficient. The dinner (beef filets) was surprisingly good, and the ulimited wine (proudly identified as Virginian) was of high quality. The ride was even and steady; what railroad noise there was acted more as lullaby than annoyance. I would have appreciated the thicker masttresses I recall from Pullman equipment up until 1960's, but the bunks were fairly comfortable., The only problem was rattling of door to shower/toilet - which was fixed by wedging a wash cloth in while closing it, which eliminated the noise. After a good continental breakfast, we arrived Stanford precisely at 9:00 AM, and were in our car and underway at about 9:35. Overall, the trip was comfortble, refreshingly well-managed and a real value. Probably being a southbound run this time of year made it less crowded -- I am virtually certain to repeat in 2012. Overall, the operation was well run from beginning to end.
Posts: 24 | From: Connecticut | Registered: Feb 2011
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Thank you for your very positive summary of your Auto-Train trip. It encourages me to travel on it. It's always nice to hear when someone enjoys a train trip.
Posts: 498 | From: New Hope, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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The Sanford station is roomy and well laid-out; very similar in design and appearance to the Lorton station: news stand, snack bar, information and ticket desk. They have a very efficient multiple lane system for picking up your car as your number is called, so there is no delay if one or two owners are slow to claim their cars
Posts: 24 | From: Connecticut | Registered: Feb 2011
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Thanks for the positive report. Did you sample the lounge car? Was it a Sightseer or a diner acting as lounge-as has been the norm on AT.
I wonder if there is a market, at least during the busy seasons, for a second section of the train with maybe a 8PM departure. Although I suspect Amtrak doesn't have track capacity in Lorton for additional train set -assuming they could round up enough cars.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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From Mr. Palmland's immediate, it would appear that he would prefer to have 330XX Sightseer Lounges regularly assigned to the Auto Train rather than the 3310X "diner acting as a lounge".
The six Lounges that were converted from 380XX Diners are configured Tables, Snack Bar, Lounge Banquettes and Settees on the Upper Level. On the Lower, there is Smoking Lounge (for which I give an A-/B+ for keeping me and the foul fog separated), a deactivated phone booth, and additional Lounge Settees. There are two cars assigned to each set with one in the Coach and the other in the Sleeper sections of the consist. The car in the Sleeper section is placed Tables forward and hence adjacent to the Diner. On peak journeys, those tables are used for Diner seating. Although I normally do not use the Lounge car on any train (hey I'm paying heap big wampum for my privacy; use it), I guess an exception is the "comp' wine tasting offered on AT.
Any reader here knows my thoughts (...if you've seen one Pine Tree...) regarding the route's scenery, and I think Amtrak was wise to reassign Sightseers away from the AT and rebuild surplus Diners (lest we forget, just as the S-II's were being delivered, the Mercer Cuts whacked the Pioneer and Desert Wind) to Lounges.
Posts: 10761 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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GBN - sounds like they've done a nice job on the lounges, but yes, I'd still rather see a sightseer.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Henry Kisor: GBN, you should be on Facebook . . .
I was; for about three weeks. I guess you could say my curiosity was aroused enough to 'find out what it is all about"; what with this movie and upcoming IPO.
On March 11, I set up an account complete with photo and a reasonably full profile. I amassed fifteen "friends" all of who I knew personally. However, with the collection of mindless tweet like "status updates' and considering the care that I take when posting here, I was soon wondering 'what's here for me"?
On April 3, I requested that the account be deleted.
Posts: 10761 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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GBN - I share your views as to the non-necessity of Sightseers on the Auto-train route and the inanity of Facebook: The Tidewater region of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia as well as the Florida flatlands require no great vista-watching equipment; and after a monthlong sampling of the blogging and twittering I dropped Facebook.
Palmland - Good thought about a second section, although a departure later than 8PM might generate better demand.
Posts: 24 | From: Connecticut | Registered: Feb 2011
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Space assigned is C/5240. Fare? well, I'm like Willard and his Tax Returns.
Oh well, it looks like I am committed to a trip report.
Posts: 10761 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Voyage 20 is now complete; more to follow.
Posts: 10761 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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