Train pairs meeting up

[ScottR]

Are The schedules set so that all the trains meet up at approximately the same time? For instance the below map shows a lot of the coming/going trains meeting up around 1.00 pacifIc time. I know the scale is big so they are actually some distance from each other, but a few are an hour late and looks lIke they would be passing each other soon. Coincidence or design?

 

[Cal]

I don't get how anyone benefits by having trains meet up at approximately the same time, so I'm gonna say coincidence.

 

[jiml]

Probably a combination of coincidence with the need for a passing siding or double track. I'm sure there's a plan, but with Amtrak's timekeeping it would have to remain flexible and Train A isn't going to wait to meet delayed Train B unless it's occupying the single track ahead.

 

[GAT]

Not germane to Amtrak, but resting in my archives as one of the great videos shots I never managed to capture – walking across the pedestrian bridge over the double tracks at Tonneins, France at the precise moment two TGV’s passed each other below at about 170 – 200 mph. Had I known they were coming, I certainly would have been ready for them. They were gone before I could even think about it. But what a sight!

 

[user 30354]

Are The schedules set so that all the trains meet up at approximately the same time? For instance the below map shows a lot of the coming/going trains meeting up around 1.00 pacifIc time. I know the scale is big so they are actually some distance from each other, but a few are an hour late and looks lIke they would be passing each other soon. Coincidence or design?

Probably mostly a coincidence, although schedules may be similarly arranged for each route so they just happen to meet at the same time (for purposes of finding the best schedule, not so they all meet at the same time.)

 

[Trogdor]

The meets are a function of the planned schedule rather than the schedule being a function of planned meets.
Generally, for both reasons of connectivity and overall market service, LD trains tend to serve the same areas daytime in both directions and overnight in both directions. As a result, the natural meets tend to be mid-day and mid-night (offset by approximately 12 hours). If trains met at 7 am, then the train in one direction would serve an area in daytime and the other direction would be served overnight.

 

[ScottR]

Thanks Trogdor…that makes perfect sense.