Carolinian discussion

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

What is the normal consist for the Carolinian?

No baggage car today 24 Nov 2023 on 80. Not sure if they added a coach but I counted 1 engine, 5 coach, a cafe and 1 business class.

I thought there might be an extra coach for the holiday travels but that would seem to make a baggage car even more needed.

 

[PVD]

I thought it was the Piedmonts that had baggage, not the Carolinian. Do I have that wrong? Sounds like an extra coach.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I thought it was the Piedmonts that had baggage, not the Carolinian. Do I have that wrong? Sounds like an extra coach.

Baggage cars have returned so both 79/80 and 89/90 have baggage cars now. Though I think I read they removed them when they added the extra holiday cars - due to platform lengths, I think.

 

[PVD]

Thanks, that makes sense.

 

[PVD]

Carolinian / Piedmont Train | Amtrak
this is what misled me, if I look at the scheduling tool it shows baggage service back on the Carolinian, but I guess they need to fix this.

Thanks AB for setting me straight with more up to date info....

 

[jis]

Baggage cars have returned so both 79/80 and 89/90 have baggage cars now. Though I think I read they removed them when they added the extra holiday cars - due to platform lengths, I think.

If they removed it the reason must have been something else since the Carolinian is not really all that long. It shares the baggage service stations with the Silver Star and the Crescent, with the caveat that it uses a different platform from the Crescent at Greensboro, but IIRC that platform is not all that short.

 

[Acela150]

Baggage cars have returned so both 79/80 and 89/90 have baggage cars now. Though I think I read they removed them when they added the extra holiday cars - due to platform lengths, I think.

79 hasn’t had a baggage car all week. I’ve been passing them near Zoo on 600 every day. So that logic may be true.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

If they removed it the reason must have been something else since the Carolinian is not really all that long. It shares the baggage service stations with the Silver Star and the Crescent, with the caveat that it uses a different platform from the Crescent at Greensboro, but IIRC that platform is not all that short.

Charlotte has a platform that is very long and I can't see the Carolinian being so long as to not fit on the platform with an extra coach and keep a baggage car. A few stations don't have checked baggage and Greensboro has a long platform for both platforms. Not all of the platform is covered but it is able to have room for the station baggage golf cart to move to the end of the platform if needed.

Seems like you could at least attach a baggage car and use it at the stations that have the platform length and if any stations just can't fit this short train then those stations go without checked baggage. Having checked baggage for CLT, GRO, RGH (and likely DNC and Cary) would open up some space for those stations that either don't have checked baggage and likely few passengers such as Burlington, or even any bigger stations that just can't fit the entire train on the platform.

Could it be so many Amtrak station agents take off over the next few days there just is not enough staff to handle bags and everything else. Most stations baggage check is at the station agent window but Greensboro has a separate room and that does require more than one person to work that station for the more in-demand trains such as the Carolinian and Crescent.

 

[jis]

In my experience Cary is the one that routinely requires the Star to double spot. Its platform is quite short on both sides IIRC and also blocks a grade crossing at least on the Hamlet side.

BTW, the station manager at GRO is quite a character. I got to talk to him briefly in the passing when I spent many hours at GRO connecting from the Carolinian to the Crescent. He does take his job very seriously. They seem to need to do a station sweep every so often to get non-Amtrak ticketed people, mostly spillovers from the bus station, out of the Amtrak waiting room. It is a beautiful and clean station.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I had a video clip of this morning's 80 and I posted on another social media site. A reply was that the storage track in Charlotte can only hold 7 cars. Looking at Google Earth I think I know of which track the Carolinian is stored though it also looks like it could hold about 8 or 9 cars this reasoning does make a ton of sense.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

In my experience Cary is the one that routinely requires the Star to double spot. Its platform is quite short on both sides IIRC and also blocks a grade crossing at least on the Hamlet side.

BTW, the station manager at GRO is quite a character. I got to talk to him briefly in the passing when I spent many hours at GRO connecting from the Carolinian to the Crescent. He does take his job very seriously. They seem to need to do a station sweep every so often to get non-Amtrak ticketed people, mostly spillovers from the bus station, out of the Amtrak waiting room. It is a beautiful and clean station.

Greensboro is gorgeous for a station of its size. I think I say that every time I mention my home station, but it really is.

 

[jis]

I had a video clip of this morning's 80 and I posted on another social media site. A reply was that the storage track in Charlotte can only hold 7 cars. Looking at Google Earth I think I know of which track the Carolinian is stored though it also looks like it could hold about 8 or 9 cars this reasoning does make a ton of sense.

That makes sense. It certainly is the case that in the consist plan Carolinian never has more than 8 units, 7 passengers cars and one locomotive. If a Coach is added, the Bag gets removed.

 

[west point]

That makes sense. It certainly is the case that in the consist plan Carolinian never has more than 8 units, 7 passengers cars and one locomotive. If a Coach is added, the Bag gets removed.

The best could tell the siding for the Carolinian measures ~~ 700 feet. 8 units at 85 feet = ~~ 680 feet. Fairly tight storage. Too bad there probably has never been consideration to add / remove cars at Raleigh?? Does anyone know what the planned length of the CLT gateway sstation platform is planned?. Also the length of the never used maintenance location?

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

The best could tell the siding for the Carolinian measures ~~ 700 feet. 8 units at 85 feet = ~~ 680 feet. Fairly tight storage. Too bad there probably has never been consideration to add / remove cars at Raleigh?? Does anyone know what the planned length of the CLT gateway sstation platform is planned?. Also the length of the never used maintenance location?

The covered part of the platform measures 1500 ft and the siding is around 700-730 on the long side but the tracks may be too close at that point 9 cars would certainly be the limit and that might be impossible. Platforms at new station are 1100 ft long. They are pretty easy to see on Google Earth as they are a block from the baseball stadium.

Greensboro is 1179 ft for the northern Crescent platform though the cover is shorter than the platform. The southern Greensboro platform for the Carolinian/Piedmont is 786 feet long and the cover is shorter than the entire platform.

That reduction in platform length at Charlotte is very telling about the history of train travel in the US. I wonder how long the Crescent was in 1979 when Amtrak finally took over the Crescent.

 

[John Bobinyec]

In Charlotte, the Carolinian is stored overnight on the Office Track, which is just south of the station. It is just long enough to hold the normal consist. So if a car is added, one has to be removed, unless other arrangements are made for overnight storage.

jb

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Carolinian 80 hit a trespasser just west of Durham. Expect delays all the way to NYP today I would expect delays all the way to NYP for 80 today.

73 is also having to deal with this and it has not left Raleigh yet and it should have been on its way by 10 AM.

 

[CraigInNC]

I am traveling next Saturday on the Carolinian (80) from CLT to WAS is a day train. Is it worth the extra $ for business? The free drinks are irrelevant since I will bring my own. I am more interested in seat comfort and atmosphere. It has been a while since I have ridden on a day train more than just a couple of hours. This is 9 hours 45 minutes.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

A bit more room in BC. Passengers tend to be a bit less loud and rowdy, but generally I have never had problems except the last time I was in coach on the Carolinian. A grandmother was using foul language to her grandchildren. I did not mind the language, I have been known to use the same words to other adults, but I did feel bad for the kids. That women clearly needed a smoke and was clearly tired of her grandkids. She was only on the train from Raleigh to Greensboro. I don't think she could have made it to High Point.

You also have curtains on the windows in Business class and I am pretty sure there are no curtains in coach class. If you on the right side of the train you may have the sun in your eyes a bit more northbound.

And the free drinks.

 

[OmahaRoad]

I have only used business class once on the Carolinian and it was fine; I can't say it's enormously worth it unless the business class cost isn't that bad when you're traveling (or if you do BidUp, which is I think what I did). That said, it was a short trip. I can't tell if there's actually most seat space/comfort--maybe a little? Others can chime in there since I've only done BC once. It was quieter for sure than coach class.

The main thing I'd say from my experience is that the Carolinian is often incredibly full these days, which is good for Amtrak, but rather bad for general atmospheric noise/chaos/condition of bathrooms/cafe car lines, etc.. I've worked remotely from the Carolinian about 3 times now, and it was (naturally) harder to work when the train was really full. Also, I find the space and comfort of the Amfleet I cars used on the Carolinian to be worse than the Silver Star's Amfleet II coach seating. I live in the Triangle, so I often go to Raleigh and take the Star north instead of the Carolinian. So perhaps worth it for such a long trip to have a tish more space and less chaos?

McLeansvilleAppFan posted while I was writing, and I will say that my last Carolinian trip in March, I was stuck next to a (very kind, polite, and friendly) young guy who was unfortunately a smoker and probably also a weed vaper, and the smell + being closer to him in the Amfleet I coach seats wasn't the best!

 

[TheVig]

I’m in the lounge this morning at NYP killing time before we head back to CLT on the Carolinian. We are in business class. Last I checked this morning coach was showing sold out between NYP-CLT and only 2 seats left in business.

Yeah, the cafe line will be long and the toilets in the coach cars will become extra funky today.

 

[DetroitTed]

In early April, I took the Palmetto from Baltimore to Florence, SC in Business Class. To me it was worth it for the assigned seat and the curtains. That train also was very full.

 

[thefirewarde]

That makes sense. It certainly is the case that in the consist plan Carolinian never has more than 8 units, 7 passengers cars and one locomotive. If a Coach is added, the Bag gets removed.

How does this impact Airo consists if Charlotte Gateway isn't finished when the Carolinian Airo sets are ready? IIRC there are six car and eight car sets but no seven car sets. While there's nothing stopping Amtrak from adjusting a trainset length, that's a nonstandard trainset when the whole point of Airo is to have everything match.