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This last weekend I hiked the abandoned AT&SF grade between Williams and Ash Fork, AZ. This is the original 1882 line that was abandoned in 1960 after the mainline was rerouted to the north. It has a maximum grade of 2.6%. After the line was double-tracked it was used for westbound (downhill)...

It may be the cheese that's the dairy allergen. It's been a while since I've been on board (I'm finally looking at coming back) but a classic complaint was that you couldn't get eggs your way because they were using pasteurized liquid eggs, so scrambled was the only option. Did that change that...

Looking at a 1995 timetable, Tucson to Yuma via Phoenix was 6:53. From the 2020 timetable, it was 4:14, a 2:39 difference. It's pretty much a given that the west line will need a full rehab. They're not going to run it at 30mph (class 2) or less.

The main problem on the Raton line is steep grades. This requires more power and more fuel. This is obviously not a problem on the Phoenix subdivision, which has hardly any grades at all. I do think UP wants to reactivate it, but is hoping the feds and/or Arizona will pay for it. The...

If it's not actually usable, someone's going to have to fix it. The ADA compliance standard isn't "well, we tried".

Looks like there's a stuck record for Kingman for #3, which is causing it to not update correctly.

For whatever reason, Amtrak doesn't offer Las Vegas, NV - LAUS service. The service to Kingman only serves the Southwest Chief to/from the east, and the only other Antrak-connecting service is to Bakersfield. The bus (5612) does continue from Bakersfield to Oxnard and Santa Barbara, but it's...

Weird, it doesn't. You can book a multisegment NYP-MRC via CHI then MRC-PHA. Although the connection technically isn't guaranteed, the van will wait for the train because of the people with guaranteed connections.

I don't think I can directly link, but go to Historic Aerials and search for Dupont, WA. Scroll a little to the southwest and you'll see where it crosses I-5. You can then select different years of aerials and topo maps. The 1955 aerial is from before I-5. The 1969 one shows the then-new...

I thought the S-curve to get over the highway was a little odd. Usually the railroad was there first, and the railroad is the immovable object. However, looking at old aerial photos and topo maps, the S-curve has been there pre-I-5, since at least 1940. I-5 was formerly US 99, and I-5 south...

The proposed map does show a reactivation off the Phoenix west line, so here’s hoping.

The NEC trains are an obvious one. The Acela goes NYP to WAS in 2:55. The Pennsylvania RR timetable for 1952 shows the Congressional at 3:35. BOS to NYP on Acela is 3:45. The New Haven RR was 4:20 in 1955 for BOS to NYP on the Patriot. It's highly unlikely any other area has sped up though.

I was watching the #3 arrival at Flagstaff tonight and they brought a wheelchair lift for a passenger with a walker that couldn't navigate the steps.

Today #3 lost about an hour between RAT and LSV; #4 lost an hour and 20 minutes.

It's the Raton section of the SW Chief. And yes, I'm pretty sure it is the last main line with semaphores. Did they finally get funding to upgrade the line? Last I heard BNSF wanted to abandon it and it was deteriorating. The potential abandonment is why BNSF didn't want to replace the semaphores.

For at least a week, the Southwest Chief has been losing 45-90 minutes between Raton and Las Vegas, NM, going both ways. Is there a track issue? As far as I know, BNSF no longer uses it so it can't be freight conflicts.

Does anyone know who they're contracting with for the meals? Sometimes you can find the vendor's catalog.

The FDA bans open ice buckets, and there's no room for a dispenser in the car. The simple reason is that scoop or no, people dig their grubby hands into it.

The coffee urn is going to be a minimum of 1000W, so it pretty much has to be on its own circuit.

Do they still have the "shavers only" marking? Just imagine telling the designers in 1978 that people would be plugging in computers and phones.