Atlantic Coast (Silver/Palmetto/Carolinian) Service discussion Q4 2023 - 2024 H1

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Today (2/17/2024), The following trains were cancelled:

89/90 south of Washington
97 north of Jacksonville (probably 98 too)
52/53

I believe all this is because of a CSX derailment in South Carolina.

So why can't any of these trains run over the S-line through Raleigh?

jb
 
98(17) terminated at JAX and will turn to be 97(17)
97(17) passengers that are only going as far as Petersburg were accommodated on regionals
97/98 and 52/53 for tomorrow (18th) are pending depending on how things go to clear up the tracks

CSX derailment - 17 cars derailed in a swampy area near Dillon, SC. Best case scenario is to have it opened within 24 hours (of when it occurred)
 
John Bobinyec said:
So why can't any of these trains run over the S-line through Raleigh?

jb
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Not enough crew to handle six extra trains through Raleigh. Also, RGH had already recrewed not one, but two, trespasser strikes over that route last night. Both 91 and 92 had critical incidents.

The reroute also adds about 3 hours running time, assuming CSX can get the surge of extra trains over the S-Line with no additional delays which we all know it cannot do.
 
Probably no pilots available too. If memory serves isn’t there a significant chunk between Cary and Columbia that doesn’t see a lot of freight trains either. So CSX likely doesn’t have a very deep pool of crews to draw from either.
 
I can see not running 89/90/97/98 over the S-line. The people getting on or off between Savannah and Selma can't be accommodated anyway and the ones for south of Savannah or north of Selma can be accommodated on the Carolinian and the Silver Star. But there is no alternative for the Auto Train and it can run the S-line because there are no stops. And you don't need Amtrak pilots, per se. CSX pilots would be sufficient. (NS pilots between Selma and Raleigh).

jb
 
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Several posters have inquired as to why Amtrak does not qualify all crews in the area to be able to detour on the "S" line and NS RGH <> SELMA. Also SAV - Florence - Selma for normal "S" line crew. Surely there would be times when there is a surplus of crews on the Florence section. Also, the need to qualify on operating the Auto Train consists for persons that normally operate on the "S: line.

In this case the "S" line may have been congested with CSX freights that detoured to Hamlet and back to "A" line. CSX may have not allowed any more Amtrak trains on the Columbia route?
 
west point said:
Several posters have inquired as to why Amtrak does not qualify all crews in the area to be able to detour on the "S" line and NS RGH <> SELMA. Also SAV - Florence - Selma for normal "S" line crew. Surely there would be times when there is a surplus of crews on the Florence section. Also, the need to qualify on operating the Auto Train consists for persons that normally operate on the "S: line.
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I am sure it has to do with how much additional money has to be spent to keep that larger pool of Engineers and Conductors qualified throughout the year. It is not just a matter of qualifying once but maintaining the qualification continuously, since no one can guess when the next derailment will be arranged by CSX.
 
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lordsigma said:
One thing that didn’t help in this case also is both 91 and 92 had been hit by trespasser/vehicle strikes and were 5 hours late so things were already screwed up when the derailment occurred.
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On the whole sparse networks are less resilient to failures of an edge in the graph. This is a mathematical reality. Places that have a more dense network typically are able to recover better because they simply have more resources available for day to day operations ready to be deployed when needed. Applies to both alternative routes and staff able to operate on those alternative routes.
 
What's the latest on the Meteor and Star consists as it relates to Viewliner Sleepers? Which cars are VLIs & which are VLIIs?

I have trips coming up in March (97 on 15-Mar and 92 on 22-Mar).
 
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IndyLions said:
What's the latest on the Meteor and Star consists as it relates to Viewliner Sleepers? Which cars are VLIs & which are VLIIs?

I have trips coming up in March (97 on 15-Mar and 92 on 22-Mar).
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Generally the 10 car is a V1 and 11 car is a V2. However, I have heard that at times, both cars are either V1's or V2's.
 
jis said:
On the whole sparse networks are less resilient to failures of an edge in the graph. This is a mathematical reality. Places that have a more dense network typically are able to recover better because they simply have more resources available for day to day operations ready to be deployed when needed. Applies to both alternative routes and staff able to operate on those alternative routes.
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it's especially spare at Raleigh. Two trains a day to get on the NEC. Both northbounds leave in the morning and both southbounds arrive in the evening. Buffalo - NYP has a considerably better schedule. That RGH schedule squelched me when I wanted to go from RVR to RGH for a meeting, wich would have meant two hotel nights.

Until the Long Bridge is finished, a more ambitious workaround would be to run trains between RGH or GRO or CLT; and RVR or FBG or ALX.

The coastal South is growing but still not the center of things. The corridor is Raleigh - Charlotte - Atlanta. On the Silvers there's not a metro with a population over a million until JAX. (It's even more striking on the endlessly rural, though sporadically congested, I-95, with Pedro's tower at South of the Border, SC, the tallest structure. There's a long history to it all, preceding even rural depopulation in the 1920s and 30s.) The HSR plan from CLT to ATL seems almost like a delay to any improvement. Atlanta to Tampa, Miami and Birmingham could be more important.

Back to NC/VA. As other one-day corridors show, those of us that already have multiple trains want frequency as much as other areas want new service.
 
Where are you catching those shots?
Before my recent trip, I tried catching the trains going by some of the web cams, but it was always a game of timing. And the sites went off air for some problem. I haven't checked if they are back up.

Here is a spotting picture resource: http://www.trainweb.org/amtrakpix/locoshots/viewliner/VIEWLINER.html
VL 1's have large blue stripe with a small red and white stripes on the top. VL2's have equal sized red/white/blue stripes.
Also, if you can see the roof, the VL1 have a prominent rib down the top, whereas the VL2's are relatively smooth.
 
UhClem said:
Where are you catching those shots?
Before my recent trip, I tried catching the trains going by some of the web cams, but it was always a game of timing. And the sites went off air for some problem. I haven't checked if they are back up.

Here is a spotting picture resource: http://www.trainweb.org/amtrakpix/locoshots/viewliner/VIEWLINER.html
VL 1's have large blue stripe with a small red and white stripes on the top. VL2's have equal sized red/white/blue stripes.
Also, if you can see the roof, the VL1 have a prominent rib down the top, whereas the VL2's are relatively smooth.
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I’m at the Newark, DE (NRK) station.

New River is the only VLI painted in the phase III livery
 
Seaboarder3023 said:
I still think it’s an absolute shame that the VL1 refurbishment program to bring them pretty much completely in line with the VL2 design was canceled, as the above photo is evidence of how nice it would have been.
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Merely painting them in the same livery is easy to do and does not require all the interior of the car to be modified. So I am not sure what the major and expensive refurbishment program that was canceled has to do with how the cars are painted outside. The original dreamers who talked about changing the interior of the cars to match the VLII were quite ignorant of what was involved and how expensive it is going to be. When reality struck, of course course was changed.
 
joelkfla said:
No toilets in the VL2 on 91(2), from Baltimore southward. Since I was in the VL2 H-room, where you can hear every little sound happening in the hallway to the vestibule, I eavesdropped the conversation between the SCA and the mechanics who came on at both WAS and Richmond. He told them that the pump motor for the evacuation system was running constantly, and he was afraid it would burn out, so he turned the system off. On the scanner, It sounded like the mechanics reset something and got it to stop running, but it started up again as soon as they left the car.

Fortunately, there were a couple of unsold rooms next door in the VL1. First he told us to use the bathroom in a bedroom. I did, and the floor was covered with urine. Guess somebody lost control when the car hit a bump. Then we were directed to use the toilet in a Roomette, which was fine. I'm glad we didn't have to hike all the way to the coaches, and deal with those overused bathrooms.

I called Customer Relations, and they gave me a $200 voucher.
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I had this same issue happen to my parents and I when we rode the Star in May of 2023 as well. Hope this isn’t an issue today because I’m riding the Star today!
 
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