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This afternoon while riding the southbound Surfliner #784, we went in the siding just east of Ventura at about 2:30pm, and the northbound Coast Starlight (3 hrs late) and Surfliner #771 passed by...anyone know what caused the delay to the Starlight?
Eric Member # 674
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The Starlight has been having delays off and on for the last month or so. Track work, heavy traffic, and crews going dead are a few of the problems. I'm not sure what caused the delay to this particular Starlight, but it might be one of these items. On another forum, people were beginning to call it the "Starlate," so this probably isn't the first time that there was a delay.
BCAmtrak1 Member # 148
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I am quite curious if Amtrak would ever route the train via Palmdale and Bakersfield through the Central Valley and shift the crews to Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento(Already crew change both directions) What do you think
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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quote:Originally posted by BCAmtrak1: I am quite curious if Amtrak would ever route the train ... through the Central Valley.... What do you think
Well, it would lose a lot of business because it would no longer serve popular tourist destinations like Santa Barbara, San Simeon, Monterey, and San Francisco. there's nothing comparable in the central valley to attract riders. Plus I would never have occasion to ride it again because it would no longer serve my area.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
[This message has been edited by Mr. Toy (edited 08-05-2001).]
reggierail Member # 26
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I believe the name of the train is the Coast Starlight, not the San Joaquin Starlight. There are currently no rails between Los Angeles & Bakersfield set-up to handle passenger service. Even when there was, there was bus service available between Bakersfield & Los Angeles that would save, I believe over an hour compared to staying on the train. Reggie
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Greg Member # 66
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A reroute via the central valley would bypass the prime tourist destinations of the central coast as well as the Bay Area and also the most scenic portion of the current route. Whatever the delays on the current coast routing, trying to route the Starlight through the heavily congested single-track Tehachapi Pass would do nothing to improve on-time performance. In the past, the freight railroads have strongly resisted routing even a single daily frequency of the San Joaquin through this route between Bakersfield and Los Angeles. Why would the Starlight be any different? A central valley routing would likely be no faster, no more reliable, and have a smaller customer base than the current routing. In any event, the heaviest freight traffic and main congestion on the route seems to be from the Bay Area to Portland. With route options limited between those points, Amtrak remains at the mercy of UP.
Greg
Konstantin Member # 18
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The Coast Starlight has some of the best scenery of any train in the country, and its best scenery is along the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The only reason why I ride the Coast Starlight is because of the excellent scenery. I am sure that others are like me, and the Coast Starlight would lose a lot of business if its best scenery were lost.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
MattAtTrainWebDotCom Member # 14
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Late Starlights are no news anymore. I think the train would have to fall off of the cliffs at Vandenberg into the Pacific for me to be surprised anymore. Although I will say, 11 & 14's performance is not predictable, and either one may arrive into the terminus early one day and 4 hours late the next.
About the scenery, I think I'd dive into depression if 11 & 14 were taken off the coast. I live for that portion of the route. Now, it would be nice if Amtrak could use their original Talgo set, which has sleeping cars, and run an overnight train from Oakland to LA via Lancaster, Tehachapi, & the San Joaquin Valley. An overnight train between LA and the Bay Area should take precedence over a supposedly imminent Coast Daylight service.
------------------ -Matthew J. Melzer matt@trainweb.com Trains on the Web ? TrainWeb.com !
MPALMER Member # 125
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I was surprised by the lateness because the Starlight was so early into its northbound run and was already so late. Lateness of this train (and others) make it impractical to ride. Even railfans don't always have that much flexibility.
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