Amtrak restores staffing positions at Marshall station

[IndyLions]

Longview is where the Thruway Busess for Shrevport and Houston meet the Eagle, and the Historic Rennovated Station is a great place with friendly,helpful agents.

It's not far to downtown, which has lots of good eating places.

I like it much more than Marshall,( a Crew Change Stop) although the Pretty Station, which has a Museum, is a neat place too.

Understood - but it doesn’t work well for business travel to Houston. If I get off the train in Marshall and drive a rental I save several hours of the work day.

 

[neroden]

The tap room was located in a disused rail freight room on the West side of the station. Amtrak decided they didn't like the arrangement and managed to kick the tap room out of the station earlier this year. That was a real shame since it was a fun place to chat and relax in a little town trying to make a comeback. Supposedly Amtrak had safety concerns allowing a bar to be located in a busy passenger station with two whole trains per day. Amtrak's own lease is about to expire and the previous owner had no leverage to dictate terms, but a new group (which includes novelist George R.R. Martin) recently purchased the Lamy station with the intention of bringing the tap room back and finding a way to keep both tenants happy. They are also talking about repairing and reopening the tracks to Santa Fe, but that project is likely to take a few years to complete under current conditions.

The Santa Fe - Lamy tracks are in OK condition for a tourist line, not much needed. The main problems are making sure that the locomotives and rolling stock is ready to run on the Santa Fe trackage which is now used by RailRunner. That means PTC-equipped locomotives. I expect delays for that reason.

 

[cocojacoby]

I guess if Congress can force Amtrak to restaff some stations they can force it to restore real dining car service.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I guess if Congress can force Amtrak to restaff some stations they can force it to restore real dining car service.

If they change the mandate that requires F&B not to operate at a loss.

 

[me_little_me]

If they change the mandate that requires F&B not to operate at a loss.

Or just convince Amtrak to change their accounting procedures. It's all in how you cook the books.

 

[MikefromCrete]

The reason Amtrak is required to not lose any money on food service is the result of a congressional mandate. All congress has to do is rescind the mandate.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The Santa Fe - Lamy tracks are in OK condition for a tourist line, not much needed. The main problems are making sure that the locomotives and rolling stock is ready to run on the Santa Fe trackage which is now used by RailRunner. That means PTC-equipped locomotives. I expect delays for that reason.

After watching a full-length video of the entire route it looks like you're right. It may not be super smooth but if they only need dinner train speeds and occasional mixed freight runs then it should be fine. The connection at Lamy appears to be physically severed but there's no practical method for keeping the lines separate in Santa Fe. Hopefully the cost of equipping one or two locomotives isn't too bad. I'd love to see passenger and freight runs return to this line.