Is there any easy way to find out who the host railroad is for a particular segment? I seem to recall seeing it as part of some of the route listings on the Amtrak website.
I ask because today's (09/05/06) Santa Barbara News-Press reported a signal problem that delayed some trains southbound from SBA yesterday by as much as five hours. They said that BNSF owned the track. I thought it was UP and Metrolink.
Frank in HOT SBA.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Isn't there a section in the National Timetable which lists host railroads by long-distance route segments? I think I recall seeing that in one of the reference sections.
I'd get up and confirm that myself but I'm pinned by the laptop in my lap and the black cat sleeping on my left shoulder!
Posted by eldee (Member # 4544) on :
yup. for most routes, in the section preambles of the amtrak system timetable, it lists the host roads by segment.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
Asking here would probably work as well as anything. If you have the SPV railroad atlases they also list the current and past ownerships. Newspaper statements of line ownership are probably the least accurate possible source. Mapquest is also near worthless. For example, the Norfolk Southern ex Southern Railway line from Salisbury to Asheville NC is labeled CSX in a number of locations on mapquest.
For the line in question, so far as I know only the part of the "Surfline" owned by BNSF is from near Los Angeles Union Station to Fullerton. South is owned by Metrolink or Coaster, and north is either Metrolink or Union Pacific, the ex Southern Pacific part of it, that is.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Thanks, folks. This would not be the first error reported since the mass exodus of editors and staff from the paper recently.
I seem to remember the part of the national timetable you were making reference to.
The disturbing thing is that they quoted an "Amtrak source" in their report.
Frank in cooling off SBA.
P.S. David, you are excused. You know what they say about "sleeping cats". Or is that only dogs?
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
Given the choice, I think I would rather disturb a sleeping *** than a sleeping cat.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Frank - yes the route ownerships are listed in the AMTRAK timetable -- see p. 87 of the current timetable for your route.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Off topic--
Mr. Frank SBA, it certainly appears that your local rag is the subject of much controversy. I cannot trace its ownership to any chain such as Gannet, Knight Ridder, Belo, or Tribune, and can only conclude it is independently owned apparently by a lady named Wendy Mc Caw.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
quote:Originally posted by George Harris: Given the choice, I think I would rather disturb a sleeping *** than a sleeping cat.
Cats or dogs
Classical or Jazz
Democrats or Republicans
Santa Clara or Blue Devils (obscure drum corps reference)
Uniters or Dividers
Cheese or cheese-like dairy product.
It takes all kinds.....after the beating I take out in the world some days I'm just thrilled that the cat chooses to sleep on me and doesn't demand anything while she's at it!
Posted by daniel3197 (Member # 27) on :
I am fortunate to know that the host railroad for the Santa Barbara segment of the Pacific Surfliner is the Union Pacific. Metrolink dispatches the Coast Line from Moorpark south(east) on in to Los Angeles. The UP currently controls the Coast Line from Moorpark north(west) all the way to the southern part of San Jose where the Caltrain Commuter railroad handles dispatching in the San Jose to Santa Clara (passenger terminal) area. From Santa Clara the UP does again pick up control of the line up thru Alviso, Newark and goes to Oakland and beyond. THe Caltrain commuter railroad continues their ownership on those tracks thru Palo Alto to the end of railroad at San Francisco.
The main San Jose passenger depot "Diridon Station" has become a very BUSY place over the past several years with now I think some 120 scheduled passenger trains on a weekday (Mon-Fri). We just recently got a big service increase from the Amtrak Capitol Corridor which boosted those numbers to what I another railfan said is now 120 trains. The San Jose depot should really be officially named "San Jose UNION STATION" because ALL of the following carriers currently serve it: Amtrak, ACE Commutes, Amtrak Capitols, Caltrain commutes (original SF to SF service) and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Aurhority (VTA Light Rail). This gives you an idea about why the San Jose to San Francisco commuter railroad Caltrain purchased their line which includes much of the San Jose area.
Amtrak sometimes publishes the host railroads in their national timetable. At other times they leave that rather vital information out of the timetable. You know, the traveling public does deserve to know who actually controls the railroad over which they ride on. I do not know where someone new to railroading can genrally find out what the Amtrak host railroad is for a given segment. When I first learned about railroads as a child it took me a while to learn who controlled what tracks and those things. I hope all of this helps you! --- Daniel
quote:Originally posted by sbalax: Is there any easy way to find out who the host railroad is for a particular segment? I seem to recall seeing it as part of some of the route listings on the Amtrak website.
I ask because today's (09/05/06) Santa Barbara News-Press reported a signal problem that delayed some trains southbound from SBA yesterday by as much as five hours. They said that BNSF owned the track. I thought it was UP and Metrolink.
Frank in HOT SBA.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Daniel - for the past 2 or 3 years, railroad ownership has been listed in the AMTRAK National Timetable
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Hey, folks--
Thanks for all of the information. It turns out that what I have must not be the National Timetable. It's the big brochure with all of the routes listed and general information on travel. I'm thinking that the host railroad information may be on the individual schedules since I know I've seen it somewhere.
Thanks, Daniel for the very detailed info on the hosts south of SBA. I would write to the News-Press to correct their reporting but the current owner doesn't like to hear about errors in reporting. She would probably categorize that as inserting my "personal views" into reporting.
Mr. Norman, you are quite right, Ms. McCaw (who divorced quite profitiably from cell phone magnate Craig McCaw) is the sole owner of the paper. She bought it from the New York Times. She is co-publisher with her "fiance" and "bon-vivant and consultant to the bottled water industry", whose name is Arthur von Weisenberg. His claim to being qualified for this job is that he was the editor of his school paper in Switzerland.
As of last Friday, 17 editors and reporters had quit. Those remaining are trying to get union representation to protect them. Lou Cannon, formerly of the Washington Post, and Sandor Vanocour, both local residents, have tried to talk to Ms. McCaw about the situation but she has ignored them. The latest report is that 3000+ people have cancelled their subscriptions (including me and our mayor) since July.
Best,
Frank in cloudy, cool SBA
Posted by delvyrails (Member # 4205) on :
If you want to know the owner of any given stretch of track, I'd recommend Harry Ladd's "U.S. Railroad Traffic Atlas". Each map lists all of a line's operators including Amtrak and shows the traffic density of every segment. There's a route map for each state and major freight carrier. There's also a train frequency map for Amtrak. Latest edition published 2003.