Long Distance Network

[Thomas]

Just for fun- What changes would you do to the long-distance network? It has to make economic sense for Amtrak, however. It can't be just a random route that nobody would ride, it has to have high potential.

 

[MrEd]

Create a train that would go coast to coast.

 

[FriskyFL]

Create a train that would go coast to coast.

Otherwise known as the Sunset Limited.

 

[PetalumaLoco]

Whatever it is, put dome cars on it!

 

[BobWeaver]

I've thought for a while that South Carolina should explore a North Carolina DOT Piedmont-style train from the Greenville Spartanburg area through Columbia down to Charleston with a few intermediate stops. Time it correctly, and it could serve as a connection between the Silver service and Crescent instead of having to go through NC or DC.

 

[Shotgun7]

Find a more efficient way to run the Sunset all the way to Miami again. And if there's no possible way that the train can perform anywhere near on time for that duration, play with the schedules. I mean this: Make the train run five to six days per week. Three of those days, keep the contemporary NO-LA run, appealing more to those traveling within these states that don't want to be delayed because the train's coming all the way from FL. The other 2-3 days, run all the way to Miami (Yes, Miami!) which will appeal more to those say in FL traveling to california. They're already on the train for 3 days, what's another couple of hours?

One of the original excuses as to why the route was first cut back to Orlando was that there wasn't nearly enough ridership throughout Florida to justify the added cost and delays. Most of these accusations were based on radically falsified records. Reports were made that the average number of pax boarding at my station, Deerfield Beach, was two. In reality, the average was somewhere around SIXTY two. Most of these people were headed to places like Texas, Arizona, and California. Now, getting there by Amtrak is out of the question for most travelers. Amtrak is losing TONS of customers who, at one time, relied on trains to get to destinations out west. A connecting train to NO, while it would be a step, wouldn't be nearly as successful simply because of the hassles involved. In terms of convenience, most of this country's rail-served cities are cut off from one of the most profitable travel destinations in the world! IMHO, it makes more sense to kill off trains like the Cardinal and Texas Eagle than it did to cut the Sunset back to New Orleans. (And no, I'm not saying these trains aren't important. I'm saying that, based on ease of connections, the SL Florida extension would create more ridership than either if managed correctly).

 

[MattW]

I think there should be a route from my hometown direct to my college![/randomroutenoonewouldride]

In all seriousness, there should be a N-S connection somewhere out west, and then perhaps more E-W connections here in the Eastern states. It doesn't make sense for people to have to go all the way to Chicago just to go Northbound from Say Texas to Colorado. Or go to WAS, then CHI from ATL just to go out west. Amtrak needs to fill in the gaps first!

 

[Guest_TransAtlantic_*]

How about a twice-a-day Southwest Chief?

 

[edding]

Phoenix/Tempe Hello! 5th largest city in the US.

 

[Kramerica]

- Extended Sunset Limited or a new New Orleans to Jacksonville (or Miami) train

- Chicago to Florida

- Desert Wind & Pioneer (Vegas NEEDS to be served)

- Phoenix needs fixing

- Extend Heartland Flyer to St Paul via KC and Des Moines. This will allow better circulation out west without having to go to Chicago.

- NYC to LA train, bypassing Chicago via Pittsburgh, Columbus, Indy, St Louis, and KC.

Those routes (in that order) would fix the biggest holes of the current system.

 

[spacecadet]

The most obvious is to bring back the Broadway Limited.

This was the best and most popular route from New York to Chicago for many years - the last time I rode it, we had 21 cars. It's the fastest and most direct train between those two points. (It wasn't always, going back to the days of the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad when the two routes were pretty much tied. But as Amtrak ran them, the BL was faster.) It connects the biggest cities between New York and Chicago, including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

At a certain point, Amtrak started running low on equipment and noticed that they had three NYC-Chicago trains and one Washington-Chicago train, so they decided to cut one. So, first, they started terminating the BL at Pittsburgh and changed its name to the Three Rivers. Then they stuck all Heritage equipment on it and bogarted its dining car. (I actually prefer the heritage equipment, but the point is Amtrak didn't have enough Viewliners.) Finally they decided it was no longer worth running one train with heritage sleepers from Pittsburgh to Chicago and they killed the whole thing.

Nowadays they apparently keep 11 Viewliners in storage. They still have a shortage of diners but that's supposed to be temporary as they overhaul the heritage stuff (and they've just asked congress for 25 new diners and 15 new single level sleepers). They could resurrect the Broadway Limited if they wanted to. And I guarantee people would ride it if they did.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

The one I'd do is bring back Amtrak to approximately its April '79 network, minus the Hilltopper, but plus the Desert Wind.

 

[Chris J.]

The one I'd do is bring back Amtrak to approximately its April '79 network, minus the Hilltopper, but plus the Desert Wind.

And keep the Downeaster.

 

[WICT106]

I think I would fix up the track around Madison WI and re-route the Empire Builder through Madison as It goes between Milwaukee and the Twin Cities. I would also resurrect the North Coast Hi, and the North Star.

 

[AlanB]

Nowadays they apparently keep 11 Viewliners in storage. They still have a shortage of diners but that's supposed to be temporary as they overhaul the heritage stuff (and they've just asked congress for 25 new diners and 15 new single level sleepers). They could resurrect the Broadway Limited if they wanted to. And I guarantee people would ride it if they did.

There aren't 11 Viewliners in storage, in fact there are none in storage. At any given time 39 cars are required to cover the various routes, 3 cars are on standby, 3 are in the shop for PM/90 day inspections, at least 2 are in the shop for major overhaul work. That only leaves 3 cars unaccounted for and I have no idea about wreck status or whether those 3 other cars may be used for further protection during the winter months due to freeze-up issues.

The only stored cars in the Amtrak fleet that I'm positively aware of are 42 Amfleets, a few of which have already been returned to service. I suspect that the Heritage dorms, perhaps a few Heritage diners, and maybe a few other things are also in storage, but I have no direct knowledge of this. But again, there are no Viewliners in storage.

 

[Hanno]

Just for fun- What changes would you do to the long-distance network? It has to make economic sense for Amtrak, however. It can't be just a random route that nobody would ride, it has to have high potential.

I often thought it would make sense to have an express train from Washington, DC to a destination in FL, perhaps Orland, with no stops in between. Something similar to the Auto Train. If it was non stop (except for the necessary crew change and fuel) I think it could compete with the airlines even to a greater degree.

 

[jphjaxfl]

Just for fun- What changes would you do to the long-distance network? It has to make economic sense for Amtrak, however. It can't be just a random route that nobody would ride, it has to have high potential.

I often thought it would make sense to have an express train from Washington, DC to a destination in FL, perhaps Orland, with no stops in between. Something similar to the Auto Train. If it was non stop (except for the necessary crew change and fuel) I think it could compete with the airlines even to a greater degree.

Through the winter of 1970/71, the Seaboard Coastline operated the winter only Florida Special between New York and Miami with limited stops. The 18 car Pullman/Coach train picked up or dropped off passengers at all the major corridor cities to Washington, then it followed the Atlantic Coastline route to Jacksonville with only an operating stop in Baldwin which is located on a belt line outside of Jacksonville, then no stops until West Palm and then all stops to Miami. It orginally followed the Florida East Coast until 1967 when FEC has a long strike and eventually abandoned their passenger service at which time the Florida Special and other ACL trains to Miami traveled via the former ACL route to Auburndale, then the former SAL route to Miami as Amtrak does today. The Florida Special was very popular and was sold out in advance. The train often included special entertainment so passangers would feel like their vacation started the minute they boarded the train. Amtrak did operate a winter only train for 2-3 winter seasons in the early 70s, but it was nothing like the Florida Special.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Restore the Floridian service between Chicago and points in Florida, including the Mouse House. That could even be notched up to include an Auto Train as well, but I know that would involve a monumental task building a facility in Chicago and likely having to upgrade Sanford.

 

[syntaxfactory]

I second the Madison fix and the run from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Des Moines/KC.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Did the Broadway Limited serve the small towns in PA?

I kind of like the Pennsylvanian...

 

[dspacekd]

Build new tracks for dedicated high-speed lines stretching from New York/Washingyon to Los Angeles/San Francisco (and points in between) as well as New York/Washington to Miami and points in between. Also, I thought of high-speed links between PHX/LAX/LAS would be awesome and the land and demand is there for it! If we really wanted to do it we could (we put men on the moon after all)... just think about going from coast to coast in 12 or so hours! I honestly hope to see it in my lifetime...

 

[PRR 60]

Did the Broadway Limited serve the small towns in PA?
I kind of like the Pennsylvanian...

Depends on which Broadway Limited.

The Amtrak Broadway Limited served the usual Pennsylvania stops with no local passengers between New York and Harrisburg.

The PRR Broadway Limited (what I call the REAL Broadway Limited) made very limited stops in Pennsylvania (North Philadelphia, Paoli, Harrisburg, Altoona and Pittsburgh) and did not carry local passengers between New York and Pittsburgh.

 

[spacecadet]

The only stored cars in the Amtrak fleet that I'm positively aware of are 42 Amfleets, a few of which have already been returned to service. I suspect that the Heritage dorms, perhaps a few Heritage diners, and maybe a few other things are also in storage, but I have no direct knowledge of this. But again, there are no Viewliners in storage.

"Storage" was not the right word. I'm not sure what the right word would be as a catch-all for cars that are active, but not on the grid.

The point is Amtrak runs 39 out of its 50 Viewliners. And all 50 are roadworthy. Several years ago, they used to run IIRC 44 out of 48 then-roadworthy Viewliners, which was probably not the best policy given deferred maintenance etc., but I don't see why they couldn't run 41 out of 50 today and bring back the Broadway Limited.

Also, Amtrak has 81 inactive Amfleet cars that they would like to return to service. I'm not sure if they would really need these to get one LD train back in service or not.

Dining cars are currently the biggest problem, but I believe that's more a question of cost (as everything really is, I guess) than a lack of equipment - they do have I think eight heritage diners that they are not running nor actively working on, and while these were slated for rebuild, it doesn't seem like anyone really knows their current status. I guess they could run a Diner Lite on a resurrected BL, not that I'd be in favor of that. If they do manage to get their 25 new diners, I would think they could run a real diner on a new route.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Did the Broadway Limited serve the small towns in PA?
I kind of like the Pennsylvanian...

Depends on which Broadway Limited.

The Amtrak Broadway Limited served the usual Pennsylvania stops with no local passengers between New York and Harrisburg.

The PRR Broadway Limited (what I call the REAL Broadway Limited) made very limited stops in Pennsylvania (North Philadelphia, Paoli, Harrisburg, Altoona and Pittsburgh) and did not carry local passengers between New York and Pittsburgh.

I say we still need a local train from PGH and PHL.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Of course being from Oklahoma we are anxiously awaiting final approval to extend the Heartland Flyer north into Kansas to connect with the Chief. As of now, it looks like final studies are being reviewed and just about everybody seems to be on board, but since it involves several layers of government, it may still be a while.