News on daily Sunset (incl older east of NOL discussion)

[CCC1007]

No bag dorm from what I can see.

 

[WoodyinNYC]

Here is a video I took of the Amtrak inspection train arriving today at Chipley, FL. I was using a still camera tripod so there is a bit of shake.

Thanks for the video. It was good to see that. And thanks for being there as part of the crowd.

Don't know if anyone told the good people of Chipley that the proposed schedule has that stop in the middle of the night. Maybe they know and accept it. After all, a train at 3 a.m. is much better than no train at all.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

A train at 3 a.m. is much better than no train at all.

Simply having any train at all might be better for the region as a whole but I don't see it as having much of a benefit for the city that gets stuck with the 3AM stop. Once the Sunset Limited switched to 3AM departures and 4AM arrivals at SAS I simply stopped riding it. And so did a lot of other people. At that time of night there are no buses, no shuttles, no ride sharing services, and no acceptable excuses for dragging your poor friends and family out of bed. Which means I'm stuck with a lousy sleep schedule and I'm forced to spend up to $80 on our ridiculous Taxi Mafia. For the vast majority of airports it's extremely rare to have scheduled flights arrive or depart anywhere near 3AM, even including major international gateways. Same situation with the vast majority of modern passenger rail services. Late night trains might be of no particular concern to retirement age night owls, but for working age folks on a schedule 3AM services are a non-starter.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Can you imagine ? Needed two locos to power the train ? Guess a single loco that failed would have been very embarrassing to JOE ! Was that a Bag-Dorm in the consist ?

Did you notice the units were back to back? Gee...I wonder if it had to do with the runarounds the engine had to do on at least two occasions.

 

[jis]

The two locos in Phase III back to back looked beautiful in Jacksonville yesterday. Couldn't quite get a good shot due to the platform canopy getting in the way though.

 

[Greg]

Does anyone know what kind of celebration (IF ANY) was had in Lake City, Florida yesterday?

 

[Palmetto]

Perhaps Thirdrail can answer this one: what kind of seniority was needed to successfully bid on this job? Was it even open for bid? Or were the T&E crew hand picked?

 

[pennyk]

Perhaps Thirdrail can answer this one: what kind of seniority was needed to successfully bid on this job? Was it even open for bid? Or were the T&E crew hand picked?

I heard yes, the crew was hand picked and everyone was superb. I am on my way home on 97 now and I think we picked up a few of the cars in JAX from the Inspection train that 92 did not take with it. I heard that our train is so long now that we will need double stops in every station. Since we have not stopped since JAX, I cannot verify that.

 

[Thirdrail7]

The crew was handpicked except the T&E crews were CSX employees piloting the train since there are no AMTRAK crews qualified on the territory at this point. I don't know if CSX hand picked them.

 

[neroden]

A train at 3 a.m. is much better than no train at all.

Simply having any train at all might be better for the region as a whole but I don't see it as having much of a benefit for the city that gets stuck with the 3AM stop. Once the Sunset Limited switched to 3AM departures and 4AM arrivals at SAS I simply stopped riding it. And so did a lot of other people. At that time of night there are no buses, no shuttles, no ride sharing services, and no acceptable excuses for dragging your poor friends and family out of bed.

Well, if you have a spouse, *and* you're travelling alone, it is often possible to get your spouse to drop you off at the train station, bus station, or airport even at 3 AM. But yeah, 3 AM service will certainly suppress ridership.

 

[neroden]

I'm looking forward to seeing reports from the rest of the Florida cities. I fear that Talahassee and Pensacola will be less excited than the Mississippi cities were. We'll see!

 

[pennyk]

I'm looking forward to seeing reports from the rest of the Florida cities. I fear that Talahassee and Pensacola will be less excited than the Mississippi cities were. We'll see!

I heard there was a large and enthusiastic crowd in Tallahassee, and the governor of Florida was not in attendance.

 

[Greg]

There indeed was a very very large turnout in Tallahassee and all cities in Florida west of tallahassee. also Madison had a great turnout. The only one I have not seen a report on is Lake City florida.

 

[Seaboard92]

I tried to go to Lake City but the construction on 90 made it very hard. But I can say it seemed like the entire town of Live Oak was by the track.

 

[neroden]

How was the turnout in Jacksonville?

Honestly, I think someone needs to talk in private to the mayors and city councils and warn them that they probably can't rely on the state governments. It would be great if the states did their part, and but the cities should have a backup plan for funding this at a city or county level.

 

[Agent]

Here's a video of the special from YouTube user Chrisean Williams that shows part of the crowd that greeted the train as it arrived in Lake City, Florida.



This video from JaxRailfanner is of people making speeches at the station in Jacksonville. The only looks of the crowd come at the 6:34 mark and at the very end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJJTZNfKkwE

 

[DSS&A]

Hi,

This article explains why the Govenor of Mississippi supports the proposed restoration of Amtrak service on this line. He has the correct understanding that all transportation systems are subsidized and that the subsidy should spur and support private economic development.

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2016/02/why_mississippi_is_tooting_amt.html

 

[WoodyinNYC]

This article explains why the Governor of Mississippi supports the proposed restoration of Amtrak service on this line.

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2016/02/why_mississippi_is_tooting_amt.html

That site, al.com, has been on this story with excellent reporting.

The articles show that the reporter and editor actually understand how Amtrak works. (We've all read articles elsewhere that are just a bundle of words wrapped in confusion.

Thanks for the latest, DSS&A, and keep us posted.

 

[WoodyinNYC]

Yes, they have evolved into two different topics. One continues to deal with an actual up-and-running 3-day-a-week train in Texas, NM, Arizona, and CA that may have an interesting future. The other is a proposed new service that would substitute for, but not continue, the former train, and it will operate in FL, Alabama, Miss., and Louisiana.

Now this thread is conjoined at the title, but mixing the posts in one thread is not good.

 

[PRR 60]

Recent discussion of the various proposals for restoration of service on the Gulf Coast east of New Orleans has been moved to a new topic.