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I understand that the new Amtrak skeds will go into effect soon. Does anyone have a preview of what changes will be made? I'm particularly interested in the Silver Palm.
Thanks!
Ed
Kent Loudon Member # 902
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Covering all bases, eh Ed?
Ed Hein Member # 890
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Yeah, I figured it wouldn't hurt!
Ed
DC2001 Member # 542
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quote:Originally posted by Ed Hein: I understand that the new Amtrak skeds will go into effect soon. Does anyone have a preview of what changes will be made? I'm particularly interested in the Silver Palm. Thanks! Ed
Last infomation I saw (Oct. 1), the Texas Eagle schedule would be lengthened (south of St. Louis) to better reflect timekeeping reality. The Eagle just completed another month of 0% (yes, zero) on-time performance. At that time, schedules for some trains - including the Silver Palm and other Florida trains - were "not yet available".
I did notice (on the Amtrak website) changes of 5-15 minutes or so for departures on the Lake Shore Limited, but (apparently???) no sweeping changes that the rumor mill had suggested.
Ed Hein Member # 890
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Thanks for the reply. It seems that when an Amtrak train runs consistently late, the "fix" is to lengthen the schedule.
Ed
skinsfan31 Member # 910
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It may be that the Texas Eagle schedule (and I'm pretty sure that this is true), was overly short to begin with. Remember that the railroads of the West, especially, are very crowded with freight traffic, and the schedule needs to reflect the realities of the time it takes to travel the distance. Example, Dyer, IN, is 29 miles from Chicago, yet the Cardinal takes an hour to cover that distance through the yards of Southside Chicago, due to the heavy traffic. It isn't necessarily a "quick fix", but perhaps a recognition that ideal conditions for running the train don't exist.
Chuck
Eric Member # 674
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I read on another forum that the new schedules won't go into effect until Dec. 9, when the NEC schedules change. Anyone with different info, please post.
lakeshorelimited Member # 576
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Yeah, I will be interested to see the new NEC skeds.. they move stuff around on there a little bit which does make a difference. Nothing drastic that I know of except the Texas Eagle that was already mentioned. I saw what you did about the Lakeshore.. WB is due into ALB at 6:55 and SDY at 8:35. My really old National timetable says it should be into SDY at 9. The WB departure from SPG is the same.. my guess is they're going to try to speed up the yard work in ALB. Is this a new change for the winter, or did this change a while back? I can't remember..
Ed Hein Member # 890
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My newsletter from the Philly Chapter, NRHS, lists a lot of changes for the NEC. Most are related to the Metroliner and Acela. A few are other trains, but I saw no mention of any Silver Service changes.
Ed
lakeshorelimited Member # 576
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Thanks for the info Ed.. can I ask you a specific question? Any big changes for NHV-SPG service or Empire service?
Ed Hein Member # 890
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Train 495 becomes 471 and runs about two hours later. I believe that there are a couple of other changes, but didn't spot them this morning in a quick read.
One other thing: they're saying that after next March the Metroliner name will be extinct. Many Metroliner trains are being replaced with Acela train in the latest, and also in the Dec. 9 sked. I guess by next March there will be so few, or maybe none, that the term will be useless.
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