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Automatic Train Stop (ATS) has been in use for nearly a century and has proven to be a reliable system. The pickup shoe is mounted on the outboard side of the loco truck and is positioned to pass within 1.5" of the stationary shoe mounted trackside (per Wiki). Hopefully the shunt antenna will...

I, too, get an error message when trying to download the "273 page 3-ring binder" from McKinsey.

Well, that's a raw deal. You have my sympathies. FWIW, I believe there are no Amtrak employees at the Jeff City station. Sounds like maybe you got bad info from a volunteer who was staffing the station?

Here are links to Part 2 and Part 3: Amtrak at 50: Defining the "Basic System" of Service Routes - The Eno Center for Transportation (enotrans.org) Amtrak at 50: How McKinsey Designed A National Railroad - The Eno Center for Transportation (enotrans.org)

A few things on the roomettes that previously escaped my notice but are now clear, thanks to turtlypo: - Occupant of the upper berth can see out of the upper section of the window (Figure 11-69). - On the aisle side of the cabin there is only a single small(ish) window in the door. The wall...

There may well be a market for this, but the real hurdles are obtaining equipment and negotiating reasonable trackage rights terms from UP. I don't see it happening anytime soon. And, if CAHSR is ever fully completed it will make an overnight train a moot issue.

Fascinating read! Thank you, Paniolo Man for making these available. I am struck be the incredible complexity of the specifications and wonder if Amtrak will find multiple bidders, and if the bids will be deemed affordable. The Superliner IIs cost about $2.3M each in 1991, which is $5.2M...

For a limited time FNBO is offering 40K AGR points when you sign up for the Preferred Mastercard, up from 20K points previously. To get the full 40K points you must spend $2K in the first 3 months. If points can be redeemed for approx. $0.027 each then the 40K points are worth $1,080, less...

Indeed. According to the presentation deck the earliest to start any service is 15 years out. Conceptual Timelines for Implementation (pg 154): Near Term: 2040 - 2050 Mid-Term 2050 - 2060 Long Term: 2060+ I'm still buying green bananas, but I'm not planning on being around to ride anything...

Superliners are fluted, no? Edit: I guess they are a mix of fluted and flat panels.

Are they painted for purely cosmetic reasons? Or perhaps the car shell is not entirely SS? Seems that polished SS would be lower maintenance than paint. I can't recall any smooth sided heritage/legacy equipment in polished SS, though. Maybe the smooth sided design doesn't hide imperfections...

Tangled indeed. Doesn't Amtrak calculate break even using "above the rail costs", which means that the NEC is not charged (in break-even analysis) for anything to do with the track? Yet, LD route economics do get an accounting charge for the fee paid to the host railroad for use of the track...

Trains News Wire did an analysis of how equipment shortages are strangling ridership on the LD trains. https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/a-closer-look-at-how-capacity-impacts-growth-on-amtraks-network-analysis/?_ga=2.204494163.27362900.1707329774-215885997.1707329773 A couple...

Is there a landing page from which all of the monthly reports can be accessed? I've tried whittling down the URL to back into it, but without success.

UP's revenue in 2022 was $24.8 Billion. In the same year, total revenue for the Coast Starlight (which is 84% on UPRR tracks) was $43M. UP's "share" of that revenue based on mileage would have been $36M. $36M is equivalent to 0.15% of UP's total revenue. It's barely even a rounding error...

A little Googling reveals that the minimum required liability coverage for a commercial truck carrying non-hazardous cargo greater than 10K pounds is only $750K. This level was set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Agency in 1980 and has not been increased since then. Adjusted for inflation...

You're right! The ad popped up again and this time I clicked through. It went to a site called Career Boutique and it wanted your email address to show you the purported job openings. I reported it as misleading and possibly a scam.

Saw this ad in my Instagram feed. I follow Amtrak's account on Instagram so no doubt it was a targeted ad. Glad to know they are using various channels to try to get new hires on board.

Good point about the platform in LaPlata. I don't know if that location is a rare exception to the "rule", or if there are many locations with platforms greater than 8" above the rail on freight tracks.

Even though the new ALCs can provide more HEP (head end power) than the P32s, I believe there is a limit to train length related to the amperage that the Superliner trainline cables can carry (~1,200kW for the total system). To maintain an adequate amount of power for each car this usually...