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Well, it looks like Amtrak will be cutting long distance trains back to 5x a week. Also heard there will be about a 10 percent cut in NE Corridor Trains. Also, Silver Meteor totally eliminated.
Just got an email from Amtrak that our monthly trips are cancelled on the Empire Builder in Jan, Feb, and March -- as we usually use #8 on Wednesdays TOH-GLN and then #7 on Thursdays GLN-TOH.
For the Empire Builder, it looks like #7 out of Chicago is X'CLD on Thursdays and Fridays. And the #8 into Chicago on Saturdays and Sundays are cancelled.
Guess we will be driving more.
Unfortunately this creates a lot of "I'll never use them again"... imagine spending $2600 for a bedroom and needing to get home on a certain day and getting your train cut.
Another blow for Amtrak.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Mr. Admin, how about those "things with wings", no fun, but six hours anywhere in the CONUS "over and done".
I gave up on Amtrak (haven't said never again) after a '20 AT trip on #52 (the day Kobe Bryant was killed) and decided it was simply a "meh" experience - and hardly worth the $1512 they want for same this year. Next time I ride Amtrak will be when I'm already out in the Corridor (have family in Greenwich, CT) and I have somewhere else to go within same.
It's your call whether to simply forget about a means that its own management really doesn't care about and those Congressmen from the rural states will matter less about getting it funded as time goes by.
$6.1B from the Infrastructure Bill is a pretty good haul. Possibly, even in a likely Trump '24 administration, some of the remaining $53.9B authorized, but not appropriated, will come to pass and that it will be applied to "what counts" - the NEC.
I think it is time to put any experiential rides in the "rear view mirror" and sing along with Bing "thanks for the memories".
MontanaJim Member # 2323
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I dont know, Mr. Norman, some folks are still dreaming. Maybe thats all it will be though, a dream.
Hopefully the cuts will expire by April. I really have to wonder what Amtrak thinks these cuts will accomplish. If Amtrak onboard personnel arrive away from home at the end of the 5 day cycle, they will have to be vanned back to their home base or payed for lodging-food in the layover. Are they saving money? Does Mr. Omicron figure in all of this?
Why pick on the Silver Meteor?
Richard
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Richard, the complete whacking of 97-98, Meteor, is likely the most rational cut to accept.
First, there are more population centers - Raleigh, Columbia, Tampa along the SAL - and two of those are state Capitals - than along the ACL. Further, be sure to note there is no change to 89-90, Palmetto, so everywhere along the ACL will continue to have "one a day". I further learned that 91-92, Star, will make an additional stop at Jessup GA "for the duration".
Finally, I have learned from reviewing material at other sites that the Star consists have been greatly expanded - at least long enough to work through the advance reservations taken for the Meteor. A reported consist of the Star was engines, 7 Coaches, Cafe, Diner, 5 Sleepers, Bagg - 15 cars. Now that's a Florida consist back "from days of yore".
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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12 revenue cars and only 1 diner and 1 cafe car? Maybe street food trucks should meet the train at every station. Hope they don't run out of grub!
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Allow me to "preemptively" answer the question someone could rationally raise; "why can't the Auto Train handle passengers without autos "for the duration" of the service cuts?"
Well, the next time we have a National emergency rising to the level of 9/11, I guess it can. But failing that, Amtrak, as successor to the Estate of the Auto Train Corporation, and CSX, as successor to the RF&P and SCL Railroads, hold a contract with one another stating only passengers with autos can be carried.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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quote:Originally posted by MontanaJim: I dont know, Mr. Norman, some folks are still dreaming. Maybe thats all it will be though, a dream.
*************************************** I hope, MontanaJim, the NC Hiawatha Line or any passenger train will return to central Montana. I guess it's up to how well the people of Montana are willing to help finance the endeavor. I also wonder what effect the recent BNSF divestment of the Montana Rail Link will have.
Richard
yukon11 Member # 2997
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman:
I think it is time to put any experiential rides in the "rear view mirror" and sing along with Bing "thanks for the memories".
*********************************** Bing Crosby really had a wonderful voice. I believe I still have an original Decca Records recording of "White Christmas", by Bing, which my parents bought in 1942. Speaking of Bing Crosby Christmas songs, here is my favorite:
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How Bing, and for that matter other artists from that era, were able to keep their voices with their steady infusion of tobacco - and the substance it was laced with to ensure one kept infusing it.
Jerome Nicholson Member # 3116
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What is the cause for these cuts? COVID? The snowstorms? Or is it the usual permanent LD train cuts that come thru Democratic Presidencies and which I hadn't expected from the Biden administration?
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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I think there is one cut that could become permanent. That is 97-98 Meteor.
As I noted earlier, the population centers on the route are located along the cobbled together route of 91-92 Star.
Amtrak is simply not in the "Speedway to the Sunshine" market that the ACL and SAL once were. That belonged to another day, and since that market was once so strong, it did "spill over" into the Amtrak-era.
But no other LD route has "two a day" end point to end point; none ever have save a short lived during '72 CHI-LAX over the Chief's route. I think Amtrak has decided it's time to have NYP-MIA "follow suit".
Dig over here and you will find consists I contemporaneously recorded about sixty years ago of "when Florida trains were Florida trains":
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First post on a new board! Good to see some familiar faces. Mr. Norman it’s an interesting choice - on a strict nickels and dimes basis the Meteor is a better train - but this choice is probably in line with Amtrak’s new mandate under IIJA - in that making a profit isnt the mission. Would probably make more sense revenue wise to do a split deal like last time or axe out the Star - but from a mobility/transportation point of view this was probably the correct choice to follow the law. Axeing the Star means killing all service to several stops including state capitals as you stated. Palmetto serves all the meteor stops.
I don’t think it’s going to be permanent is they are still hiring at Jacksonville base (position posted) and no furloughs issued.
The stated reason to state partners is staffing shortages due to Covid positives and supply chain issues causing issues with equipment availability.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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From Hilton Suites Boca Raton--
Well, I did it; observed 92(23) @ Deerfield Beach.
Impressive train, but then it's the "one a day" over a route that during the 90's and up to the 06 Bush43 "pruning" had "3 3/7th's a day" (1-2 Sunset, 89-90 Palm, 91-92 Star, 97-98 Meteor)
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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Yes, and up until 2004 used to make Ocala and other stops on the "S" line. Glad you made it down safe and sound, Gil, and thanks again for the pizza.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Hardly at least to my surprise, the frequency reductions for some, but not all, trains have been extended to roundly Memorial Day.
I know and respect some here think "travesty" but I hold differently. Some cuts, such as 97-98 Meteor, are overdue and should be permanent (add a Jessup GA stop to 91-92 Star).
Lest we forget, the Corridor has also had frequency reductions. There are reports that Aviella has had "issues" with pre-acceptance testing.
Finally, I've learned from reviewing other sites, that Amtrak operated a test train - apparently in response to a Florida DOT report, into the long dormant "Amtrak Station" at the Miami Intermodal Center. OK; you've ran a test train, and those who wrote such into the FDOT report can be happy that Amtrak did their bidding. But now that is done, Amtrak, just forget it and stay put in your existing facility even if the "two a day" frequency is restored.
MontanaJim Member # 2323
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I never like to see any routes cut. Need more trains in this country, not less. Many folks dont have a car, nor like to fly. Including myself. Also every time ive ridden the meteor and the star, the trains have been quite busy. Trains will prob get even busier with gas prices going up.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Montana Jim, please not forget that the Class I rail system is investor owned and where the "only line is the bottom line". Away from Vermont, where I'm sure the two Short Lines over which the Ethan Allen and the Vermonter operate Daily, are happy to host them (what have they got otherwise; a "one a day" freight?), Amtrak's "National Network" represents far more interference on the Class I system - especially considering the "bargain basement" rates Amtrak reportedly pays for the access.
While hardly high up (Mgt. Trainee), "I was there" on A-Day, but the washroom walls heard "they'll be gone in five years". So the Adios drumheads are long overdue.
But I do think that for the "can't drive, won't fly" crowd, there should be a five year minimum "ease the pain" busteetoot over any route eliminated. Lest we forget and unlike in Canada, there is not a single Amtrak stop that cannot be accessed by public highway.
disclaimer: author Long UNP
George Harris Member # 2077
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Unlike Mr. Norman, I have little to no sympathy for the fix the Class 1's have gotten themselves into. Their slimming down and determination to run mega freights have given them problems mostly of their own making. Something like the old joke about the boy that killed his parents and asked the judge for mercy because he was an orphan. The idea of basically pulling money out of the systems by selling off their assets is essentially theft. The moaning and groaning about "If we have to run one or two passenger trains a day it will destroy us." should be treated like the phony baloney that it is. This is particularly true where public money has been put into the system to improve things. (I am looking at you CSX along the Gulf Coast, and even more so UP between Joliet and St. Louis.) If you are in the business of providing a service, they you should be doing the utmost to do it well. That doesn't seem to be the case. Supposedly BNSF is doing soemwhat better than some of the others, nonetheless, I have seen loaded trains sitting in the first siding south of Tennessee Yard for as long as 3 hours. When running with reasonable time lost for meets, a freight can make Tennessee Yard (Memphis) to Birmingham in about 8 hours, based on a conversation with a BNSF engineer I am acquainted with, so why are they kicking it out of the yard to simply sit when they could have covered at least a third of the distance to their end of ownership?
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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quote:Originally posted by George Harris: I am looking at you CSX along the Gulf Coast, and even more so UP between Joliet and St. Louis
Mr. Harris, "I'm with you 100%" so far as the UP's "theft" goes. Those ARRA09 funds appropriated were for ostensible "High Speed Rail" between CHI and STL. Envisioned were "twelve a day" operating @ 110mph. Well, over ten years, what have we got? Still "five a day" with some segments up from 79 to 90mph - and Uncle Pete has a new route to serve Chicago (he already had the C&EI). The kicker was that he built an intermodal center near Joliet, and that spelled JOBS (never mind of the non-agreement minimum wage varietal).
Now so far as the Gulf Coast goes, the only exposure I've had to that was two trips on the Sunset East. However, Mother once during '62 had a round trip NY to Pascagoula for a christening. My Father "couldn't be bothered" and flew a charter to Mobile, but my Mother had a Bedroom in "Crescent Moon" (the Navy chartered it along with an 11BR "Royal--") one way on "The Crescent", return on the "Piedmont Ltd.".
And finally again, save for privately held BNSF (they still file an R-1 with Surfboard). Wall Street seems happy with the railroads' business plan. While my UNP is down as of Feb 28 2.4% since Jan 1, the S&P is down 8.2%. In short, investors cannot complain.
lordsigma Member # 197916
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Resuming the normal schedule is going to be difficult and take time. Mechanical understaffed especially Chicago to say the least…
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