thefirewarde
Service Attendant
I hadn't heard about additional Roanoke round trips, but I'm in favor. I thought there was a Charlotte Lynchburg DC trip waiting on Charlotte Gateway and the Long Bridge (and equipment availability).
Per OpenRailwayMap there's quite a bit of single track starting adjacent to Zachary Taylor Highway to just after the Rapidan River crossing, over nine miles. Then you have over four miles of double track, then at Orange you drop back to single for maybe seven miles (I'm guessing they use the Washington district not Washington Subdivision?) - what I'm saying is, if they aren't in their slots in the first place I do kind of see how they hit more delays through there. Hopefully that spot, whatever is actually causing the issue, is on VPRA's radar.Someone (i.e. Amtrak or NS) has not done well with the addition of the second RNK frequency. In the mornings 3 Amtrak trains need to meet generally between Manassas and Charlottesville. There's ample double track there. But somehow they rarely manage it smoothly and often all 3 lose about half an hour south of Culpeper. 176 used to be very dependable; now it's late to WAS almost every trip. I don't get it. Adding in 20 to the mix 4 hrs later than the previous schedule certainly didn't help. There is almost never freight interference. The southbound trains are very frequently late departing WAS even if they arrive early. What is the persistent problem? VA is not getting what we paid for imo. Even so ridership is astonishing to me. 150+ people on the CVS platform is normal on Sunday mornings when all 3 trains arrive within half an hour (or so)!
No. I have observed at least once a freight passing through CVS on the far track while an Amtrak train was in the station loading.Could it be a problem similar to what is happening in Columbus, WI with the Borealis? There is no platform (as far as I know) on the mainline farthest from the station. Does this artificially create single tracking conditions?
It’s awesome! I watched the first inbound train to the station arrive and also met people from Amtrak, VPRA, and the local government! Interior of the station looks amazing and is a great waiting space, and being level with the train was nice too.New Newport News station in service
https://www.13newsnow.com/article/n...news/291-8f729d06-7592-4cc9-9672-14d35f3f07e2
From the looks of it, HRT has not fully moved into the station yet. I was over at the bus loop to watch the inbound train reverse into the wye and saw spots reserved for HRT buses.In my opinion the stations awful at least when trying to access it by public transportation. I took the first afternoon Northbound train yesterday out of the station. Arrived on the last train into the old station (Just made it! I was already on DC and rearranged my trip to head down).
Nearly missed the train because my HRT public bus was a good 20 minutes late, plus the long walk up the long driveway into the new station. There was a collection of people at the front of the platform photographing the train leaving.
The ironic part was after running to catch the train, we sat in Williamsburg for a good 25 minutes waiting for the Thurway Bus from Virginia Beach to arrive! We left had Newport News without it.
Grew up ion the Bristol area. As much as I would like to see SW Virginia get better service unfortunately you are correct. SW VA has been veery isolated from Richmond so it has been neglected due to the geography of the terrain. The glaciers cut in the wrong direction.Getting the service running at all is a decent first step. Incremental improvements as grant money comes up should be fine at least until VA has digested their DC-Richmond service improvements. If it came down to it I'd rather see Roanoke - Richmond - Norfolk exist than a gold plated NRV extension, though obviously both would be nice. Similarly there are other higher priority projects so long as the NRV is getting built at all, and then in the early 2030s I expect there'll be room in the queue for improvements.
Unless they're doing electrification - that could easily take VPRA's focus for a decade or more.
No glaciers that far south, even during the Ice Ages. The long mountain ridges are a result of a collision between the ancestral African continent and ancestral North America.. The glaciers cut in the wrong direction.
More precisely collision between the ancestral North America and Gondwanaland. But yes, the part of Gondwanaland that was involved in the formation of the Appalachians eventually split from Gondwanaland into the African continent. nicely described in this NPS documentNo glaciers that far south, even during the Ice Ages. The long mountain ridges are a result of a collision between the ancestral African continent and ancestral North America.
The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority board of directors has approved a recently negotiated plan with Norfolk Southern to acquire the railroad’s former Southern Railway route out of Alexandria, Va., to Manassas, Va., and gain Amtrak train access to the NS main line beyond Roanoke, Va., to Christiansburg, Va.
In a press release, the agency notes the board’s acceptance paves the way for the agreement to be finalized, according to D.J. Stadtler, VRPA’s executive director. No dollar amounts were referenced, but Roanoke-based Cardinal News reports some previously revealed details.
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