Crying Shame the Sunset Doesn't Run East of NOL

[had8ley]

I have info from an impeccable source that Alabama is broke and couldn't put up two cents to re-start Sunset East service. This is the old "he did it" story~ "We wanted to run service (service suspension) BUT the states wouldn't come up with the $$$". The dead horse is now officially buried. hboy:

 

[NY Penn]

It is my understanding that the SL could run from LA to Orlando with no additional equipment.

But could it run 4 days LA to Orlando with no additional equipment.

NO.

It's actually true that no extra equipment is needed for a 3-day/week SSL to Florida. 4 days/week, there isn't enough equipment.

 

[henryj]

The crying shame is that people expend all their energy venting here, and apparently too few have any energy left to vent on those that might make a difference, namely the Congress-critters.

The success of the Eagle is attributed to a grassroots movement - TEMPO. How about all those that can run up a thread half a dozen pages long here every month on this subject get together and form a grassroots organization to promote the Louisiana - Florida service and work diligently at it for a year or two. You never know, one might even succeed! But one thing is for sure, just venting here will not cause anything to change.

Too true. Things change because people demand they change, and demand it visibly and demand it from the right people.

Things don't happen because of some invisible process that is beyond anybody's control. Or if it does it's only because people let it happen.

We did this already. In January 2008 we formed the group called Sunset Marketing and Revitalization Team (SMART)at the behest of NARP. At the inaugural meeting we had reps from NARP, TEMPO, Amtrak, LARP, Mayor John Robert Smith, and numerous other groups and people. I chaired the meeting. Shortly after it was formed the team fractionalized into it's parochial groups and agenda's and started sniping at each other and it disintegrated in to a shouting match that no one wanted any part of, least of all Amtrak or TEMPO. In addition to that the group was dominated by Florida people who's sole purpose was to restore service to Florida, ignoring the state of the existing train which was treading on thin ice itself. Then Amtrak dropped the 'daily' bombshell and flatly stated they would never go back to Florida. It took two to three years, but this initiative has all but disapeared now as the responsible people just tired of the bickering and left. The initial web site on Google was abandoned when the LARP people took over and moved it to Yahoo. It is now pretty much abandoned itself. Of course each of these groups tried to ban the 'other' people they did not agree with. So now there are a couple of groups that still actively pursue improvements to the Sunset Limited which limps along just doing it's job with no improvements on the horizon. The following are the only two groups that are still active as far as I can tell.

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/SunsetFriends/

http://groups.google.com/group/sunset-limited-west?hl=en

When I found out about TEMPO at that first meeting I did not understand why they did not take this task on or why they did not step up after the daily service proposal was announced. I still don't know why. The PRI or PIP or whatever you call that study really proposed a daily Chicago to LAX Eagle. The Sunset is dead or confined to a coach only train SAS to NOL however you want to look at it. But as you can see from the posts here and elsewhere, the contraversy goes on and the Sunset gets nothing. If anyone wants to try and jump start this initiative feel free to join one of the existing groups and go for it. I for one have had enough.

 

[trainviews]

The crying shame is that people expend all their energy venting here, and apparently too few have any energy left to vent on those that might make a difference, namely the Congress-critters.

The success of the Eagle is attributed to a grassroots movement - TEMPO. How about all those that can run up a thread half a dozen pages long here every month on this subject get together and form a grassroots organization to promote the Louisiana - Florida service and work diligently at it for a year or two. You never know, one might even succeed! But one thing is for sure, just venting here will not cause anything to change.

Too true. Things change because people demand they change, and demand it visibly and demand it from the right people.

Things don't happen because of some invisible process that is beyond anybody's control. Or if it does it's only because people let it happen.

We did this already. In January 2008 we formed the group called Sunset Marketing and Revitalization Team (SMART)at the behest of NARP. At the inaugural meeting we had reps from NARP, TEMPO, Amtrak, LARP, Mayor John Robert Smith, and numerous other groups and people. I chaired the meeting. Shortly after it was formed the team fractionalized into it's parochial groups and agenda's and started sniping at each other and it disintegrated in to a shouting match that no one wanted any part of, least of all Amtrak or TEMPO. In addition to that the group was dominated by Florida people who's sole purpose was to restore service to Florida, ignoring the state of the existing train which was treading on thin ice itself. Then Amtrak dropped the 'daily' bombshell and flatly stated they would never go back to Florida. It took two to three years, but this initiative has all but disapeared now as the responsible people just tired of the bickering and left. The initial web site on Google was abandoned when the LARP people took over and moved it to Yahoo. It is now pretty much abandoned itself. Of course each of these groups tried to ban the 'other' people they did not agree with. So now there are a couple of groups that still actively pursue improvements to the Sunset Limited which limps along just doing it's job with no improvements on the horizon. The following are the only two groups that are still active as far as I can tell.

http://finance.group.../SunsetFriends/

http://groups.google...ited-west?hl=en

When I found out about TEMPO at that first meeting I did not understand why they did not take this task on or why they did not step up after the daily service proposal was announced. I still don't know why. The PRI or PIP or whatever you call that study really proposed a daily Chicago to LAX Eagle. The Sunset is dead or confined to a coach only train SAS to NOL however you want to look at it. But as you can see from the posts here and elsewhere, the contraversy goes on and the Sunset gets nothing. If anyone wants to try and jump start this initiative feel free to join one of the existing groups and go for it. I for one have had enough.

That's understandable - and a sad story :unsure:

With that lack of cooperation nothing is ever going to happen, at least on a grander scale. The only way forward I see is to try to get some local/regional improvements, which might then seed the ground and up the pressure for a full restoration. By this I mean a Texas pressure to get a supplemental daily on the HOU-SAS segment or at least a supplement for the four "missing" days like the Hoosier. This will of course mean that Texas has to find money for a corridor service subsidy. It can later be extended to NOL.

The other obvious thing to do would be for Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama groups to press for an extension/daily service to connect Biloxi and Mobile. The run is pretty short, would fill a local need and could easily be done with the equipment already sitting in NOL. It should be relatively inexpensive to do, and the three days a week it runs as a SSL extension should fall under the LD budget. Amtrak might swallow that if the states pay for a corridor service the remaining four days.

In effect this will amount to a daily service Mobile-Houston. Aside from being the most densely populated segment of the route, it will also create a good deal of pressure to get both the full route restored and to get it daily. And even if that doesn't work, it will still be a great improvement for the region, which really needs to get started on feasible corridor services.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Is there a way to bring back the Sunset East without losing money? Because if there isn't then I can't really blame Amtrak for ignoring this initiative. And with America's voters electing more and more intransigent Tea Party types I don't see Amtrak receiving any additional funding for a route like this.