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  1. John Bredin

    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    As the tracker map shows only 1340 just west of Milwaukee Station, and 340 *would* be south of Milwaukee Airport if it existed but there's nothing there, I presume the screen at Chicago Union Station was in error and there is no separate 340 tonight.
  2. John Bredin

    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    Interesting that tonight the Borealis is a little late, but the corresponding Hiawatha 340 is on time. Either the screen is wrong, or Amtrak sent out a Hiawatha trainset from Milwaukee as 340 when the Borealis became late.
  3. John Bredin

    Steam train near Chicago 5/6/24?

    That sounds right. As it says in your link, "May 6, Portage, Wis. to Bensenville, Ill."
  4. John Bredin

    Steam train near Chicago 5/6/24?

    I was running lunchtime errands in downtown Deerfield (IL) at 1:35pm when I heard what sounded like a steam train with chugging and a steam whistle! I was less than a block from the tracks but there were buildings and trees in the way so I saw little, but I'd swear I saw some steam or smoke. The...
  5. John Bredin

    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    As to concerns about Hiawatha (CHI-MKE) passengers displacing Borealis (beyond MKE) passengers or vice versa, WisDOT & IDOT have planned for some time now to expand the Hiawatha to 10 round-trips. Money was appropriated for projects to increase capacity in Illinois but local NIMBYs torpedoed...
  6. John Bredin

    Glacier National Park, and nearby towns (Whitefish, Essex, East Glacier, West Glacier)

    Reviving this thread as I'm looking into a July trip to Glacier Nat'l Park via the Empire Builder and particularly into what one can see and do without renting a car. Because rental cars ain't cheap, one of us shouldn't be stuck looking at the road rather than the scenery, and I've heard...
  7. John Bredin

    Amtrak Dining and Cafe Service discussion 2024 H1

    I like the Angus cheeseburger, it's my go-to meal on the Lincoln Service. De gustibus non disputandum and all that.
  8. John Bredin

    A case of illegally establishing residences in Caltrain station offices

    Judging from the two stations on Google Streetview, Burlingame depot looks like it would make a nice and cozy apartment while modern Millbrae Caltrain/BART station doesn't. I hope Caltrain tries to recoup their money by renting out the apartments if they can legally (zoning, etc.), especially...
  9. John Bredin

    Dreamstar overnight train between San Francisco and Los Angeles?

    A train that leaves the Bay Area at night and arrives in Los Angeles in the morning, and a train that leaves Los Angeles at night and arrives in the Bay Area in the morning, doesn't need heavy population in the middle where the train is passing through in the small hours of the morning. And it...
  10. John Bredin

    Chicago Union Station discussion

    Technically, there IS a direct entrance to the northern platforms only, the stairs-only Madison St. entrance. But: (1) it's not at all accessible, and useless with any large amount of luggage, due to having only stairs, (2) it has a big rolling gate so it can be closed when the station is...
  11. John Bredin

    St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago (TCMC) second daily service

    With all due respect, Amtrak left Midway for SPUD because a city-center legacy station was considered an upgrade. Unlike some old stations that survive as mostly not a train station, it still has the concourse leading out to the platforms. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the aerial view...
  12. John Bredin

    Texas High Speed Rail

    Can't CNBC use its own resources (vast conglomerate Universal!) rather than relying on a hit job analysis from the reliably anti-rail "Reason" Foundation?!
  13. John Bredin

    Long Distance (LD) fleet replacement RFP discussion H1 2024

    Just started reading this most interesting and revealing document! I already see a couple of interesting points on the "split trains" (Empire Builder, Texas Eagle & Sunset Ltd.): * On the Empire Builder, the diner and first-class lounge will go with the Seattle section but both sections will...
  14. John Bredin

    Chicago Union Station discussion

    I forgot about the old entrances at Clinton/Adams and Clinton/Jackson! I don't *think* either is closed. I was referring only to the new entrance in the middle of the block on Clinton where I understand the Harvey House used to be.
  15. John Bredin

    Chicago Union Station discussion

    A handful of stairs down from street level to station level, and no ramp, but there's an elevator off to your left as you come in from the street. Whether it's worth bumping a rolly-bag down a few steps not to wait for a very short elevator ride is up to each traveler.
  16. John Bredin

    Pittsburgh Amtrak Station past, present and future

    I've gone to the Einstein Bagels on Grant, the street leading from the station, when killing time changing at Pittsburgh. As I recall, I asked the station agent, and they had a photocopied map of nearby restaurants. That was in 2018, so it may be different now. I just checked Google Maps, and...
  17. John Bredin

    FRA Long Distance Service Study discussion

    Yes, and Chicago-Philly direct exists now too. But the Cardinal is significantly longer (albeit more scenic and serving other markets along the way) than a direct route via Pittsburgh, which is what the FRA is suggesting for Indy-Philly and I was suggesting for Chi-Philly.
  18. John Bredin

    FRA Long Distance Service Study discussion

    As a Chicagoan, I can't help notice that if this comes to fruition as planned, various direct trips would be possible -- for instance, Denver to Houston, Indianapolis to Philadelphia -- that Chicago doesn't get without a change of trains. I don't begrudge *any* of these proposed routes, as the...
  19. John Bredin

    Capitol Limited cancelled in both directions, 2/13/24

    Let me expand on my preceding post: sending the Monday westbound train east of the incident back to WAS makes sense, but it was short-sighted not to run the Cap from Chicago to Pittsburgh Monday night so there'd be a westbound Cap trainset Tuesday.
  20. John Bredin

    Capitol Limited cancelled in both directions, 2/13/24

    If the disruption is east of Pittsburgh in WV, why wouldn't Amtrak run a shortened Cap between Chicago and Pittsburgh? Some people take the Cap only for that portion and the Pennsylvanian for the first part of their westward trip or last part of their eastward trip.
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