I have traveled many thousands of miles on many of the Amtrak LD routes. I always travel in coach. Several of my trips have been on Rail Passes.
My first rail trip was on a North America Rail Pass which sadly no longer exists.
The latest train I was ever on was the ViaRail Canadian. I slept on the floor of the Winnipeg station waiting for the train which showed up 16 hours late.
In Western Ontario there was an early snowstorm which took down wires to the signals. When this happens all trains stop or slow to about 10 mph.
I saw trhe signals get snowed in in Southern Oregon so we had to proceed slowly from K-Falls to Chemult.
There are many other reasons why the train dispatchers give orders to the engineers to go slower than the posted speed limit.
I have on occasion had the GPS working when trains are slightly exceeding the speed limit.
I have been on at least 3 Amtrak trains that arrived at my station more than 30 minutes early. These are usually on overnight trips when there is no freight traffic.
I still advocate for an earlier Empire Builder between MSP and SPK. If you had the shorter all coach EB "light" that left MSP at the same time as the regular EB left Chicago, I believe it could become profitable or at least break even.
Having the EB "light" leave SPK about 7 PM instead of the current 1:30AM would lure more passengers with destinations from MSP west.
My first rail trip was on a North America Rail Pass which sadly no longer exists.
The latest train I was ever on was the ViaRail Canadian. I slept on the floor of the Winnipeg station waiting for the train which showed up 16 hours late.
In Western Ontario there was an early snowstorm which took down wires to the signals. When this happens all trains stop or slow to about 10 mph.
I saw trhe signals get snowed in in Southern Oregon so we had to proceed slowly from K-Falls to Chemult.
There are many other reasons why the train dispatchers give orders to the engineers to go slower than the posted speed limit.
I have on occasion had the GPS working when trains are slightly exceeding the speed limit.
I have been on at least 3 Amtrak trains that arrived at my station more than 30 minutes early. These are usually on overnight trips when there is no freight traffic.
I still advocate for an earlier Empire Builder between MSP and SPK. If you had the shorter all coach EB "light" that left MSP at the same time as the regular EB left Chicago, I believe it could become profitable or at least break even.
Having the EB "light" leave SPK about 7 PM instead of the current 1:30AM would lure more passengers with destinations from MSP west.