Amtrak Fall Foliage trips out of Philly

[AmtrakBlue]

On the train waiting to depart !

Yay! Enjoy!

I should run out and find a railfan spot to watch the train go by. Maybe, maybe not (it's cold out there brrr).

 

[FreeskierInVT]

Same here! Car 54553. Amtrak staff just came through and said today's train has two locomotives and 16 cars. Quarter mile long.

 

[pennyk]

On the train waiting to depart !

 

[FreeskierInVT]

Just departed!

 

[mignyc]

Not sharing my row wih anyone ... thrilled .

Intra-car doors not closing though....boo.

 

[mignyc]

we also cannot hear the narrator at all.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

The way that the MSU Spartans manhandled my beloved Wolverines, I wish I HAD opted to use my ticket instead.

Surprisingly, it sounded like the "foam factor" was even kept in check.... 'Course Davey Crocket wasn't on board......

I wish I could have been there to get in the way, not sit down, ignore the conductor, etc. etc...

Here is what the Detroit Free Press said about the game:

That wasn’t a victory, it was the Spartans stomping wine from maize-and-blue grapes.

Yikes!
On a better note, from this article article at WILX.com:

Fans began rolling into East Lansing Friday evening aboard Amtrak's "Rivalry Train" from Chicago.Amtrak is piloting a new program shuttling football fans from rival schools across the country to their game weekends.

Even Sparty was there for the train's arrival Friday as the mostly Spartan-filled train unloaded.

"Everyone already takes the Amtrak to get up here so why not go as a group," said Katie Uphaus.

Lucas Brockner was the lone Michigan fan on board.

"It was interesting... [the MSU fans] said just don't talk to us too much," he said jokingly. "It's all good fun."

 

[FreeskierInVT]

Today's train "by the numbers"

16 cars

2 locomotives

0.28 miles in length

Oldest car from 1967

Youngest car from 1989

860 passengers

254 mile route

 

[Ian]

Great ride so far. I took pics of railfans at the Newark , DE Station taking pics of us. My only regret is that I can't take pics of the train from the outside.

 

[pennyk]

we also cannot hear the narrator at all.

I rarely heard the narrator yesterday, however, when I was in the restroom once, I could hear perfectly, but the view was awful. :lol:

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Great ride so far. I took pics of railfans at the Newark , DE Station taking pics of us. My only regret is that I can't take pics of the train from the outside.

I got a video of ya'll passing by between WIL and NRK. I've asked another AUer to post it for me.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Great ride so far. I took pics of railfans at the Newark , DE Station taking pics of us. My only regret is that I can't take pics of the train from the outside.

Keep an eye out for mooners. There was one yesterday on the right side as we headed up the river. Can't remember exactly where...maybe past Columbia, not sure.

 

[jis]

The oldest car is the Metroliner Conference Car 9800.

The youngest car is one of the later production Horizons in the consist.

I suspect that the two engines are newer since the P40s started rolling out in 1992 AFAIR.

 

[jis]

Great ride so far. I took pics of railfans at the Newark , DE Station taking pics of us. My only regret is that I can't take pics of the train from the outside.

Keep an eye out for mooners. There was one yesterday on the right side as we headed up the river. Can't remember exactly where...maybe past Columbia, not sure.

It was before Columbia. Somewhere around Safe harbor. I don;t recall exactly where.

 

[Bob Dylan]

we also cannot hear the narrator at all.

I rarely heard the narrator yesterday, however, when I was in the restroom once, I could hear perfectly, but the view was awful. :lol:

Penny in a Public Restroom on a Train??? The Horrors! :help:

 

[battalion51]

The oldest car is the Metroliner Conference Car 9800.

The youngest car is one of the later production Horizons in the consist.

I suspect that the two engines are newer since the P40s started rolling out in 1992 AFAIR.

822 likely would've come out sometime in 1993. 145 was part of the second run of P-42s and likely came off the line sometime in early 2001. As a point of reference 834 was completed in November 1993 and 141 was completed in January 2001.

 

[battalion51]

I had my phone plugged in, and followed along on

the Verizon Navigator. I was not able to connect to the car's wifi for some reason, but the 4G coverage worked most of the way.

Based on the consist posted earlier the challenge likely lies in the fact that y'all had Amfleet II Cafes in the consist. My understanding is that the receivers for Wi-Fi for the single level fleet are in the Amfleet I Cafes, and then the signal is distributed to the trainline via COMM cables that carry the PA, door commands, etc. If you didn't have a receiver in the consist then it wouldn't have been possible to connect in any car, even if its normally capable.

 

[AlanB]

I had my phone plugged in, and followed along on

the Verizon Navigator. I was not able to connect to the car's wifi for some reason, but the 4G coverage worked most of the way.

Based on the consist posted earlier the challenge likely lies in the fact that y'all had Amfleet II Cafes in the consist. My understanding is that the receivers for Wi-Fi for the single level fleet are in the Amfleet I Cafes, and then the signal is distributed to the trainline via COMM cables that carry the PA, door commands, etc. If you didn't have a receiver in the consist then it wouldn't have been possible to connect in any car, even if its normally capable.

You are 100% correct Battalion, this consist only contained Amfleet II cafes. The AMF II's have not yet been outfitted with WiFi. And it is the cafe cars that carry the cellular modems that provide the backbone connection to the Internet. The AMF I coaches only WiFi hotspots that connect to the uplink in the AMF I cafe cars. No AMF I cafes means no WiFi from Amtrak.

 

[railiner]

Surprisingly, it sounded like the "foam factor" was even kept in check.... 'Course Davey Crocket wasn't on board......

It was a mostly mature, civil, railfan demographic. Courtesy, and good behavior was the norm..........

 

[mignyc]

this trip is incredible.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Surprisingly, it sounded like the "foam factor" was even kept in check.... 'Course Davey Crocket wasn't on board......

It was a mostly mature, civil, railfan demographic. Courtesy, and good behavior was the norm..........

Booorrrriiiinnnngggg.... :giggle:

 

[jis]

Just because behavior was good does not mean that foam was not flowing freely. You just had to be involved in many of the animated conversations to realize that. If you just sat in your seat and watched the scenery go by, you wouldn't know.There was also quite a party going on in the lounges from time to time. And then there was the current and past Amtrak folks get together in the front lounge too.

What surprised me pleasantly was how well prepared Amtrak was with well positioned and trained staff wearing special Shirts issues for the occasion, and the relatively good readiness to deal with large crowds at 30th St. Station. It was also fun to make acquaintance with Duece from the Amtrak K-9 Unit. Very nice dog who exhibited a marked level of philosophical disinterest in the excitement all around and sat quite alert but with a look of benign amusement.

 

[mignyc]

someone was smoking and the staff are determined to find them.

 

[jis]

someone was smoking and the staff are determined to find them.

Maybe they will drop him/her off at Enola and let him/her find his/her way back

 

[railiner]

Oh. the 'gathering' was in the first lounge, eh? Sorry I missed the opportunity to meet you's guys.....I was sitting "up front, in 'first class'". Old habit of mine to always sit in the first car, especially if a 'railfan window' was available. The only 'view' out front was of the 822's nose, but the 'whistle music' was sweet at the crossings.....