If you live in a city without Amtrak service and are traveling to a city without Amtrak service, you don't use Amtrak. You either fly (and rent a car) or drive (and use your own car.)
I'm not holding my breath waiting for Amtrak to run from Las Vegas to Nashville, TN. (Or from Las Vegas to much of anywhere. The latest LV-LA Basin proposal would end up at a park-and-ride north of the Cajon Pass.)
If it was still possible to get passenger service from almost any large town, I might consider it. Until then, fuhgeddaboudit!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with LOTS of passenger service)
tomikawaTT wrote: If you live in a city without Amtrak service and are traveling to a city without Amtrak service, you don't use Amtrak. You either fly (and rent a car) or drive (and use your own car.)I'm not holding my breath waiting for Amtrak to run from Las Vegas to Nashville, TN. (Or from Las Vegas to much of anywhere. The latest LV-LA Basin proposal would end up at a park-and-ride north of the Cajon Pass.)If it was still possible to get passenger service from almost any large town, I might consider it. Until then, fuhgeddaboudit!Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with LOTS of passenger service)
Even if your city HAS Amtrak service, you might still find that driving yourself or flying are the best/only options. There are many, many reasons why Amtrak could do better. Sadly they will not do better with the resources they have at hand. Amtrak needs help-not more money- unless they can find how to make Amtrak work by meeting customer needs. Then it could work.
I seriously examined a trip via Texas Eagle from Little Rock to Baltimore with two train changes one at Chicago and the other for the corridor to Baltimore.
Transit time two days.
Fares Too much money.
It is literally easier to go down to the Airport and hop onto a southwest 737 and rent a car out of BWI. Cheaper too and all of that traveling can be done in half a day.
Or I can drive two days on the interstate with a hotel stop.
If Amtrack created Corridor systems through out the USA and tied 3 or 4 reginal cities together.. like .. Dallas-Little Rock- St Louis with connections to another Corridor that runs Little Rock-Nashville-Roanoke and eventually to DC and beyond.
Then we will talk travel. Especially if they actually use high speed rail like Maglev or TGV technology and race the airliners at thier own game.
Only then will I be willing to pay for such a service.
WHen I survey the dominance of the freight railroads and seeing amtrack shunted off to the side to let a bunch of hot-stuff containers through with toilet paper.... kinda hard to get serious about that.
They need to scrap it and start it all over and do it right the first time. Without constant talk of budget cuts, government congressonal screwing and late late late schecdules.
Lateness is the number one reason. I recently called Amtrack to determine when the Texas Eagle will pass through and Im given the run around and ultimately hung up with no information on time to Little Rock. I guess it will be either at midnight or Noon on the day before or after it's schedule arrival time.
Sometimes I hear it on the Main not far from my home at 2 in the morning or catch it at 8 am at work.
No way will I risk sitting on the platform that long.
I have not even gotten ON a train to decide for myself if the actual experience of travel ON a train is worth the troubles and tribulations. Im better off huddling in the bottom of a rusted out and trash filled gondola trying to hide from the crew.
I read over and over again about the glory of our passenger service with trains on schedules that are so demanding and requiring the best in power and speed along with luxury/communciations to take care of our society back in the 50's
I did ride the British Intercity system out of London and Suffolk in the late 80's several times the week I was there and was very happy with the level of service, speed and good munchies in the snack car. Maybe this American Tourist is not aware of amtrack like issues in the Intercity rail at the time but certainly had nothing to complain about.
Amtrak does it well. If you are on a Vacation, a rail fan, and in no hurry, it can be a Fun trip. Like the 1950s! Lets face it, long haul is for the tourest, and Amtrak long haul is just that.
Short haul, the commuter into a majior city is best left to the city and state Governments. It's cheeper than building more Interstate Highways and downtown parking places. Cutting air pollution is another factor. Where everybody heads into a city center to work as in , Boston, New York, Phiadelphia, and Chicago, rail does work and work well.
Amtrak's Notheast Corridor, Boston to Washington, 500 miles, 19 trains each way each day, speeds up to 150 mph, runs when Airlines don't fly, remember, "If You Have To Get There, Take The Train". If you would like to think about the cost to the Government, what would it cost to widen I95 through some of the most expensive realestate in the world?
Don U. TCA 73-5735
I took a quick Amtrak trip for the first time in years last week. Isn't because I don't support Amtrak, but more of a case of having nowhere I needed to be that is served by Amtrak.
On a side note, if you're going to take apart how the railfan industry doesn't support various aspects of the hobby, you will have a full time job. Take museums for example. Many railfans won't visit museems as they're only interested in the latest and greatest. (**Nothing wrong with that unless they are freeloading on photos and not supporting the organizations running said equipment)
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Soon after Amtrak was formed, we started having kids. There went all our money. Not only have I not ridden Amtrak, I haven't flown either. I only go where I can afford to drive, and thanks to the hike in gasoline prices, I won't being doing much of that.
By-the-way, WVRailadvocate,
Some of these folks have hit the nail on the head. AMTRAK simply has to be going in the direction they're headed. The NEC is a prime example of what AMTRAK does right. I believe it is THE way to travel between D.C. and Boston. But get outside of that corridor, both AMTRAK and their HOST freight railroads make travelling by rail impractical. Let's take TRAINS 29 & 30, the famed CAPITOL LIMITED. I can't tell you how many times I've been trackside near Cumberland and have pittied the poor souls trapped on that Superliner, sometimes behind schedule from 6-12 hours...obscene. Other than the novelty of traveling by rail, it is simply quicker (and most probably cheaper) to take the plane.
fifedog wrote: By-the-way, WVRailadvocate, Some of these folks have hit the nail on the head. AMTRAK simply has to be going in the direction they're headed. The NEC is a prime example of what AMTRAK does right. I believe it is THE way to travel between D.C. and Boston. But get outside of that corridor, both AMTRAK and their HOST freight railroads make travelling by rail impractical. Let's take TRAINS 29 & 30, the famed CAPITOL LIMITED. I can't tell you how many times I've been trackside near Cumberland and have pittied the poor souls trapped on that Superliner, sometimes behind schedule from 6-12 hours...obscene. Other than the novelty of traveling by rail, it is simply quicker (and most probably cheaper) to take the plane.
Yes, the Capitol in Amtrak's era has always been kind of a slowboat. I remember the first time I took the Broadway Limited to Chicago in 1980, having to wait in Pittsburg for several hours for the Capitol Limited to show up, for in those days the two trains combined at Pittsburg for the remainder of the trip to Chicago. Fortunately Amtrak finally stopped this practice sometime in the 80's.
Back on the original subject, most of the Amtrak trains I rode came in on time or somewhat close to schedule (1-2 hours or so). The Broadway was good about being on time, the Cardinal not as good, but not that bad either.
I still take joy rides although much of the joy has gone since amtrak swiched to genes#!ts. Now when your rolling stock has small windows and outdates the F40PH do you
a. Get new rail cars
b. lower Fairs
c. rebuild your F40PH fleet and with the money you saved rebuild your cars
d. blow off the cars and spend your surpluse money on crappy locomotives to replace your good F40PH fleet and put off the cars as long as you can (at which point you will be straped for money)
If you chose (d.) then congradulations a high paying corprit job is wateing for you in amtrak.