Southwest Chief Summit

[Montanan]

Of course, the Southwest Chief is going to need a big pile of money in 2015 either way ... because even if the train moves to the southern route, a series of new stations will need to be built, probably along with other improvements as well. It'll be the less-expensive option, but it certainly won't be free.

I really hope, though, that the Raton Pass route somehow survives ... it's really a surprisingly scenic trip. And (with apologies to printman2000) the route through Amarillo is bleak, bleak, bleak.

Have you ridden the route through Amarillo?

I kinda think the cost of stations will come from local communities, not Amtrak.

Nope, not by rail ... but I've followed most of the route by car, except for the chunk that cuts across northwestern Oklahoma. I suspect my evaluation of the scenery would be comparable if I were on the other side of the right-of-way fence, but of course different people find different sorts of landscape appealing.

And I'm sure Amtrak would definitely pressure local communities to support the construction of station facilities along the route ... but of course those communities would be under no obligation to do so. If a major town where Amtrak planned to stop decided it wasn't progressive enough to support passenger rail, then Amtrak would be stuck.

 

[printman2000]

And I'm sure Amtrak would definitely pressure local communities to support the construction of station facilities along the route ... but of course those communities would be under no obligation to do so. If a major town where Amtrak planned to stop decided it wasn't progressive enough to support passenger rail, then Amtrak would be stuck.

Well, Amtrak can simply say build a station or we won't stop. I suspect a lot of towns still have their stations and can perhaps work with BNSF or other owners to start using them. I have spoken with the owner of the Santa Fe station here and he was very open to it being used again.

 

[George Harris]

It is very interesting at times to see what gets into the realm of pulic discussion and political pontificating and what sails smoothly past under the radar. On a per passenger mile basis, this is far cheaper than the money spent on the route of the Vermonter, mostly from Uncle Sugar's money pot, between Springfield MA and St. Albans VT. Yet, that work went off without a ripple of protest that I know anything about. Just for info, in case you missed it, the Vermonter route got a near complete relay with new rail. This work alone on the Southwest Chief route would both greatly improve ride quality and reduce maintenance cost.

 

[printman2000]

It is very interesting at times to see what gets into the realm of pulic discussion and political pontificating and what sails smoothly past under the radar. On a per passenger mile basis, this is far cheaper than the money spent on the route of the Vermonter, mostly from Uncle Sugar's money pot, between Springfield MA and St. Albans VT. Yet, that work went off without a ripple of protest that I know anything about. Just for info, in case you missed it, the Vermonter route got a near complete relay with new rail. This work alone on the Southwest Chief route would both greatly improve ride quality and reduce maintenance cost.

Just a quick search showed me that there are some differences. The most important being there is other traffic on the Vermonter route. On the SWC route, we are talking ONLY two trains per day.

 

[George Harris]

It is very interesting at times to see what gets into the realm of pulic discussion and political pontificating and what sails smoothly past under the radar. On a per passenger mile basis, this is far cheaper than the money spent on the route of the Vermonter, mostly from Uncle Sugar's money pot, between Springfield MA and St. Albans VT. Yet, that work went off without a ripple of protest that I know anything about. Just for info, in case you missed it, the Vermonter route got a near complete relay with new rail. This work alone on the Southwest Chief route would both greatly improve ride quality and reduce maintenance cost.

Just a quick search showed me that there are some differences. The most important being there is other traffic on the Vermonter route. On the SWC route, we are talking ONLY two trains per day.

Waht other traffic? To the best of my knowledge the other traffic is minimal freight.

 

[printman2000]

I have no knowledge. The article I read said freight traffic continued to run while the project was going on. Don't know how much there is, but there is SOME.

 

[sechs]

Just curious, what would the new route be? Would love to see it swing through OKC on the way to Amarillo, that would make extending the HF to KC unecessary maybe, and open up this area to go east and west without going to FTW. Don't know if that's possible, but would be nice for Oklahoma. Even if it went via KC-via Tulsa and maybe Joplin MO, would open up a whole new area of the country, though would add time and KS would lose out.

Belen-Clovis-Amarillo-Witchita

http://www.bnsf.com/customers/pdf/maps/subdivisions-map.pdf
From Newton, Arkansas City Sub. to Mulvane; Emporia and Panhadle Subs. to Amarillo; and Hereford and Clovis Subs. to Belen.

The Kansas Division map has station details, but no information about subdivisions:

http://www.bnsf.com/customers/pdf/maps/div_ks.pdf

 

[Anderson]

The biggest problem that I see with bailing out the Chief, at least on the state side, is that KS seems to be focused on the Heartland Flyer project (and I can't blame them, especially if they go with two-a-day on that route...we can all dream, at least). From a utilitarian perspective, that makes perfect sense.

On the NM...issues: Was NM's plan to buy that whole line part of some project to get something going up to Denver, or am I mistaken?

 

[gswager]

On the NM...issues: Was NM's plan to buy that whole line part of some project to get something going up to Denver, or am I mistaken?

I believe NM bought the tracks in 3 stages- 1st one was from Belen to ABQ. 2nd was from ABQ to Lamy area and then the 3rd one was into Colorado. Purpose of first 2 stages was for RailRunner commuter. 3rd one was envisioned for passenger train from El Paso to Denver in the future. The price of 3rd stage was a bargain! I haven't heard anything yet if NM asked BNSF money back over 3rd stage or not.

 

[Anderson]

On the NM...issues: Was NM's plan to buy that whole line part of some project to get something going up to Denver, or am I mistaken?

I believe NM bought the tracks in 3 stages- 1st one was from Belen to ABQ. 2nd was from ABQ to Lamy area and then the 3rd one was into Colorado. Purpose of first 2 stages was for RailRunner commuter. 3rd one was envisioned for passenger train from El Paso to Denver in the future. The price of 3rd stage was a bargain! I haven't heard anything yet if NM asked BNSF money back over 3rd stage or not.

I thought I remembered something like that being in the hopper. No wonder the CO guys were pulling their hair out about not being able to wrangle any rail grants...at least DEN-ABQ would probably have some ridership as a corridor train (esp. multiple daily frequencies within CO), but...ugh.

 

[eagle628]

It is very interesting at times to see what gets into the realm of pulic discussion and political pontificating and what sails smoothly past under the radar. On a per passenger mile basis, this is far cheaper than the money spent on the route of the Vermonter, mostly from Uncle Sugar's money pot, between Springfield MA and St. Albans VT. Yet, that work went off without a ripple of protest that I know anything about. Just for info, in case you missed it, the Vermonter route got a near complete relay with new rail. This work alone on the Southwest Chief route would both greatly improve ride quality and reduce maintenance cost.

Just a quick search showed me that there are some differences. The most important being there is other traffic on the Vermonter route. On the SWC route, we are talking ONLY two trains per day.

Waht other traffic? To the best of my knowledge the other traffic is minimal freight.

IDK how you define minimal, but there's generally at least a daily manifest freight north and south along the line, plus assorted locals.

 

[printman2000]

AMTRAK STATEMENT REGARDING THE CURRENT SOUTHWEST CHIEF ROUTE

Can you post a link to this info?

Found it...

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249239959338&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobhead

 

[sechs]

I believe NM bought the tracks in 3 stages- 1st one was from Belen to ABQ. 2nd was from ABQ to Lamy area and then the 3rd one was into Colorado. Purpose of first 2 stages was for RailRunner commuter. 3rd one was envisioned for passenger train from El Paso to Denver in the future. The price of 3rd stage was a bargain! I haven't heard anything yet if NM asked BNSF money back over 3rd stage or not.

As I recall, that third stage was by the insistence of BNSF, which doesn't really need the line and, certainly, doesn't want to pay for maintenance.