Smoothest Tracks Question

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tommylicious

OBS Chief
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Sep 9, 2013
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Which overnight train leaving from Chicago has the smoothest ride? The Eagle was crazy rough at night. Thanks.
 
None of them do while you're still in the various yards and going across interlockings, diamonds etc.

The Western Trains are mostly pretty smooth once they get outside of Chicago proper.

The SWC has some really rough track on the BNSF route in Western Kansas and the City of New Orleans rolls over some pretty rough tracks around Memphis.

Overall I'd say the Empire Builder on the Hi- Line has the smoothest ride,( BNSF tracks) all things considered!
 
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A few weeks ago I had the rare chance to "enjoy" an overnight run on the Texas Eagle from CHI-STL and slept like a kitten because the new UP "high speed" was so smooth. But once past STL it got pretty choppy.
 
jimhudson said:
Overall I'd say the Empire Builder on the Hi- Line has the smoothest ride,( BNSF tracks) all things considered!
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Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of riding the Empire Builder. Yes, it was a pleasure. However, it did have dramatically more bounce and sway than I recall from earlier trips, especially in Montana.
 
OlympianHiawatha said:
A few weeks ago I had the rare chance to "enjoy" an overnight run on the Texas Eagle from CHI-STL and slept like a kitten because the new UP "high speed" was so smooth. But once past STL it got pretty choppy.
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Agreed. The Eagle after you have dinner and get tucked in to bed seems like it's going off the tracks!
 
In my experience nearly every route West of Chicago has some seriously rough tracks somewhere on the route, often in multiple locations. Over the years I've eventually gotten used to it but as the deterioration continues it begins to unnerve me again until I have a chance to reacclimate. Some members have claimed that rough track has nothing to do with safety even though some of the rougher spots have seen targeted speed reductions.
 
I think the point that has been made is that maintaining a track to the FRA track class standards does not guarantee non-rough tracks. It is a huge jump from that to come to the conclusion that rough tracks do not have anything to do with safety. Of course they always do for some threshold speed and beyond.

It is also possibly true that some Class Is have cut a few corners in the past even on tracks they claimed were FRA compliant at some track class level, until they were caught with their pants down and fined heavily and speed restrictions slapped on after FRA inspection. A classic case of this was the route of the Silver Star between Cary NC and Savannah GA, couple of years back.
 
jis said:
I think the point that has been made is that maintaining a track to the FRA track class standards does not guarantee non-rough tracks. It is a huge jump from that to come to the conclusion that rough tracks do not have anything to do with safety.
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My guess is that as the track gets rougher and rougher the relative safety for a given weight and speed probably decreases. While that may not mean the track and train have exceeded the formal safety envelope I would imagine that it does mean the margin for error has been reduced. Where I live the train is already slower than every other form of mechanized transport available and if it were up to me I'd probably slow it down further over especially rough areas in order to create as much of a safety margin as reasonably possible rather than playing it closer to the limit than necessary. No reasonable person expects Amtrak to be more timely than any other means of travel, but we certainly do expect Amtrak to be at least as safe if not substantially safer.
 
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For some reason what at one time used to be the premier raceway of the country between Chicago and Denver, has always had relatively lousy track at least since I started traveling by Amtrak in 1978. yeah it occasionally improves a bit but then goes right back into the toilet.
 
Devil's Advocate said:
. No reasonable person expects Amtrak to be more timely than any other means of travel, but we certainly do expect Amtrak to be at least as safe if not substantially safer.
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That is one of the best statements I have read on this forum......
 
I too have noticed an increase in rough track on the BNSF and UP over the last few years. Is it deferred (or poor) maintenance, or heavy coal and oil traffic, or some combination of both? Possibly the slowdown in coal (and presumably oil) traffic owing to the beginning of a shift to sustainable energy may be a help in this area.
 
jis said:
For some reason what at one time used to be the premier raceway of the country between Chicago and Denver, has always had relatively lousy track at least since I started traveling by Amtrak in 1978. yeah it occasionally improves a bit but then goes right back into the toilet.
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Have to agree with that...based on my extensive rides over that Denver-Chicago route in the seventies and eighties. Continuing East on the Lake Shore, it was amazing how Richard Spence took Conrail's tracks virtually from "worst to first". After spending a lot of the governments loans to almost totally rebuild it. I thought that the SP in that era had some of the best mainline trackage. He brought a lot of SP practice over to Conrail with him....I recall hearing engineers over the scanner telling their conductors: "Dragger, Number 48". And then a little while later the conductor answering: "Highball the dragger, Number 48".....This was something that I previously heard extensively on the SP's Donner Pass line.
 
tommylicious said:
It is also possibly true that some Class Is have cut a few corners in the past
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For "some class Is", read "CSX", I presume...
even on tracks they claimed were FRA compliant at some track class level, until they were caught with their pants down and fined heavily and speed restrictions slapped on after FRA inspection. A classic case of this was the route of the Silver Star between Cary NC and Savannah GA, couple of years back.
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CSX under John Snow and Michael Ward... same railroad which was dumping trains on the ground all over the Water Level Route in NY until NY's US Senators started investigating.

tommylicious said:
Which overnight train leaving from Chicago has the smoothest ride? The Eagle was crazy rough at night. Thanks.
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I would say the smoothest in recent years is riding on NS track from Chicago to Cleveland (LSL & CL), once you get past the interlockings.
 
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