posted
Richard, interesting vid; even if "slanted editorializing" and with abundant technical errors.
First, not sure of the origin.of the car noted: "Silver Holly". It would appear to be one of the "low profile" C&O Dome-Obs ordered by C&O, and sold to the D&RGW without ever entering revenue service on Chessie.
The seven CZ 16 Section "Silver (trees)" were Maple,Larch,Palm,Poplar,Aspen,Pine, Cedar.
Secondly, thanks for nice words about the passenger trains once offered by "my MILW". By the time I made the scene June 1970, they were essentially "gone". Of the Parlor Skytop "-- Rapids", the "Priest--" was destroyed by fire at MILW Shops Oct '70. You can be sure a Mgt. Trainee with three months service was "uh, not exactly privy" to the facts and circumstances of the car's destruction, but rumors of arson, even deliberate, abounded. All of those cars were no longer in revenue service at the time of the incident. The "Afternoon" had been whacked, and they had been withdrawn from the "Morning", but still they had resale. If arson, it was a disgruntled employee (not me). Shops was well patrolled.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Richard, somebody writes good fiction. That ex-C&O Dome Obs was fitted with a vestibule and used mid-train on the "Royal Gorge" - a daylight train from Denver via Pueblo, the Gorge, Tennessee Pass, to Salt Lake City.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
In my days at Fort Collins, my date, aka wife Mary, and I rode the CZ one frosty January day from Denver to Bond, CO (aka Orestod) and after a 40 min scheduled layover (imagine that with today’s CZ) we returned on the Yampa Valley mail. We thoroughly enjoyed that return as we sat in the rear car with just a handful of passengers. It was a car identical to Silver Holly.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Within the scope of this topic as titled, The Wall Street Journal has printed an article and circulated today titled "A Flight Plan For Amtrak":
Fair Use:
..The signs are aimed at the thousands of train passengers who rumble each day through North Philadelphia—two banners 14 feet high by 26 feet wide, mounted outside an old package-sorting facility built in the heyday of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
“SAVE AMTRAK,” one says. The other: “FIRE ANDERSON.”
No one has stirred up the people who feel deeply about the national passenger railroad—long-haul train fanatics, safety regulators, union employees, private railcar owners—quite like Richard Anderson, the former Delta Air Lines Inc. boss who took over as Amtrak’s chief executive in 2017.
It's "the usual litany" to me regarding the LD's, PV's. the advocacy groups. It hardly breaks new ground around here, but to The Journal's readership base less informed of Amtrak affairs, it could "break new ground".
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
This is a link to a Senate Committee hearing on Amtrak. Afterwatching the whole show, I thought Anderson did a good job of dodging the bullets from the Senators. He knows how to play the game and referred to the senators as his boss.
For those who don’t think congress cares about the LD network, watch this. Forget all the economic and social reasons for an effective primarily state supported corridor network Anderson envisions. All these gentlemen wanted to discuss was the Southwest Chief! Anderson may have picked the wrong sacred cow to target. But he did not commit to keeping anything beyond this fiscal year, with three exceptions: CZ, EB, and CS. 2020 should be interesting. Glad we plan to ride the Sunset and SWC this year.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Mr. Anderson knows that Amtrak is at an X-roads with the LD's ("Network", as referred to at another site); they have to be re-equipped. This is unlike what was faced with the "Clinton Cuts", where new equipment was being delivered as the cuts were implemented.
With only thirty one V-II's undelivered (and nobody in any rush to get them), it's time for long and hard thinking about the efficacy of ordering some 600 single and bi-level cars for the existing LD's - let alone the expansion the advocacy community wants to see.
RPSA70 does call for a national system; but I'm unaware of where it calls for a network, i.e. the LD's. Amtrak presently operates Locally sponsored intercity services on both Coasts and in the middle, and they stand ready to operate others if the sponsorship is there.
In short, even without the LD's a case could be made that Amtrak IS national in scope.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Bloomberg has an Opinion piece portrayimg the LD's as an adventure, but "forget it" so far as reliable point to point transportation.
Fair Use:
By the time it crossed the Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa, last week, our California Zephyr was running more than eight hours late on its journey from the San Francisco Bay Area to Chicago. The last meal, a free, off-menu beef stew, had just been served in the dining car. My wife and I opted instead to consume a couple of Maruchan Instant Lunch cups, purchased in the cafe, accompanied by a half bottle of Kendall-Jackson chardonnay, also from the cafe. Occasional wafts of sewage odor tainted the air, the aging Superliner cars creaked and rattled, and the dining- and sleeping-car staff exuded fatigue and resignation. Even the conductor, who had just gotten on at Ottumwa, sounded appropriately defeated when he reaffirmed over the loudspeaker that, yes, every connecting train in Chicago, including the Lakeshore Limited to New York for which we had tickets, would be leaving before our train got there.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
In the Bloomberg article, I have to wonder (playing Devil's advocate) why Richard Anderson wants to retain the Calif. Zephyr, Coast Starlight and Empire Builder as they represent 3 of the 4 top money losers. But, I would hate to see the 3 wiped off the Amtrak map.
Of course, the ridership figures for the LD's, compared to the commuter trains, is far less. I don't think, however, that the predicate that follows should be that all LD's should be forsaken.
The Boomberg article mentions that the wine, on the Zephyr, was Kendall Jackson chardonnay. That might well justify keeping the Zephyr. The Kendall Jackson Private Reserve chardonnay is a favorite of mine. Much better than the stuff offered while on the Starlight (exception being Columbia Crest which I think does make some good wine).
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
