Piedmont and North Carolina DOT Service discussion

[George Harris]

Love the map, but need to pick a few nits:
Nashville - Jackson - Memphis does not exist. Jackson - Memphis was removed in about 1967, and Bruceton - Jackson in the 1980's?? You can do Nashville - Memphis via McKenzie, but west of Bruceton is unsignaled.
The Nashville - Birmingham line does not go through Huntsville AL, but through Decatur AL, about 30 miles west.
The arch shown in the Mobile - Montgomery line swings the wrong way. Reality is fairly close to direct with a little easting first so that it about nicks the corner of the Florida Panhandle. About 10 miles east of this corner is Flomaton AL, at which point the line to Pensacola and Jacksonville takes off, heading near due south to Pensacola, which is closer to the Alabama line than shown on the map. Flomaton to Tallahassee is unsignaled.
While Nashville - Chattanooga - Atlanta is a good idea, the line has significant lengths that are curvy and slow. The point of turn between Nashville and Chattanooga is Stevenson AL, not Bridgeport, Stevenson being even further west. This line is 150 miles versus about 130 miles via I-24. A more direct line could be built to get the line down to about I-24 length, but require 30 to 50 miles of new track, including an about four mile long tunnel under Monteagle Mountain.
I quit here.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

There were also recent VA ROW purchases that might help get a second Charlotte - Greensboro - Lynchburg Regional going. I don't think VA would be ready for that before the fifth Piedmont is in action, but at what point does the NCRR from Greensboro to Charlotte run short of capacity in NS's eyes?

A 5th Piedmont is in the works at some level but over a year out based on what was said in a group I was in by NC DOT officials. I am not sure where Winston-Salem -- Greensboro -- Raleigh fits in increased NC Service. It made the Corridor ID cut for study and the K line between W-S and Greensboro is not seeing much freight. But if that route sees a few trains a day there could be 8-10 round trips a day for passenger trains between Greensboro and Raleigh on what is essentially single track with some long passing tracks at best. Then again that train may not happen for decades as other cities fight for service.

Personally I would love to see something run up the NS main line north of Greensboro into VA that was opposite the timing of the current Crescent. Arriving high noon in Greensboro and leaving DC 6 AM or so. I know the S-line is the high speed future for SE HSR since it would bring in high population areas of Richmond, Raleigh, Durham before getting to Greensboro and then to Charlotte and it will be shorter by some distance to help with times, but that is still going to be a longer trip than the Crescent route to DC. I do realize population centers are also very important and curves and hills are a part of the mix as well in determining train speeds.

 

[jis]

The much discussed on again off again proposal for a daytime Washington DC to Atlanta train could ideally be this second train on the Southern route, basically restoring a service that existed in the past in Southern Railway days.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

The much discussed on again off again proposal for a daytime Washington DC to Atlanta train could ideally be this second train on the Southern route, basically restoring a service that existed in the past in Southern Railway days.

I suggest we call it the Piedmont Limited just to confuse everyone.

 

[jis]

I suggest we call it the Piedmont Limited just to confuse everyone.

Or maybe the Peachtree to confuse a little less

 

[thefirewarde]

I suggest we call it the Piedmont Limited just to confuse everyone.

I've mentally tagged the one terminating in Charlotte because of SC/GA dragging their feet the "Emerald City Limited".

 

[ascii42]

Or maybe the Peachtree to confuse a little less

Until you get to Atlanta:
"Take the Peachtree to Peachtree Station, not to be confused with Peachtree Center MARTA Station, both of which are on Peachtree St, not to be confused with the other 70 roads in Atlanta with Peachtree in the name..."

I suggest stops in Peachtree Corners and Peachtree City.

 

[railiner]

I’ll toss “The Southerner” into the ring…

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

2024 so far seems to have good numbers

https://www.wcnc.com/article/travel...avel/275-2c2eb045-25d6-4d08-8da6-5bae921eeff7

 

[west point]

2024 so far seems to have good numbers

https://www.wcnc.com/article/travel...avel/275-2c2eb045-25d6-4d08-8da6-5bae921eeff7

Did anyone catch the mistake in the article.?

Also as 20% increase in riders is not the best metric. NC went from 4 RTs to 5. To carry same number of riders for each train the increase should have been 25%. To this poster that is a slight disappointment.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Did anyone catch the mistake in the article.?

Also as 20% increase in riders is not the best metric. NC went from 4 RTs to 5. To carry same number of riders for each train the increase should have been 25%. To this poster that is a slight disappointment.

Mistake is one word about ownership.

It would be nice to have had 25% more riders but it is more riders, and it is also with less stops on some of the trains.

A good measure would be how many rode the train and took cars off the road because the 5th RT made it doable. Anything that is adding riders is a positive even if the extra riders are not increasing at the same rate as RTs are increasing.

 

[Willbridge]

Mistake is one word about ownership.

It would be nice to have had 25% more riders but it is more riders, and it is also with less stops on some of the trains.

A good measure would be how many rode the train and took cars off the road because the 5th RT made it doable. Anything that is adding riders is a positive even if the extra riders are not increasing at the same rate as RTs are increasing.

Sometimes on an incremental new service there is a time lag before ridership responds. I try not to remember from my transit days how often a pessimist would come in with a grim report of failure in the first days of an added trip, and then never talk about it when it picked up.