What would you like to see covered in Trains magazine?

I would like to learn more about how passenger trains of various kinds get dispatched on freight railroads.  How does Metra thread their commuter trains over UP, BNSF and IC tracks?  How does that one ex Milwaukee Road line from Chicago to Milwaukee handle all of that commuter traffic along with 7 roundtrip Hiawathas plus the daily Empire Builder along with whatever freight uses that route?

What is Metra doing to more or less keep their commuter trains on time while Amtrak is having serious trouble keeping many of its trains on schedule?  What does a commuter agency have to bring to the table in terms of extra track, sidings, signals, or whatever to work integrate that large amount of passenger traffic with their host railroads?  What would Amtrak have to provide (such as on the Illinois corridor trains which are said to have schedule keeping problems) to get the same result?

I'd like to see the occasional commuter's-eye-view of suburban service, especially if it's new.  (A thread above re:  MBTA's new rail line I found quite informative.) 

Also is there time to unpack some of the "tech talk" about later-generation LRV's?  I'm not saying waste time dumbing it down, but I bet I'm not the only railfan who is boggled by recent descriptions of motors near the wheels and why. 

Paul Milenkovic wrote:

I would like to learn more about how passenger trains of various kinds get dispatched on freight railroads.  How does Metra thread their commuter trains over UP, BNSF and IC tracks?  How does that one ex Milwaukee Road line from Chicago to Milwaukee handle all of that commuter traffic along with 7 roundtrip Hiawathas plus the daily Empire Builder along with whatever freight uses that route? What is Metra doing to more or less keep their commuter trains on time while Amtrak is having serious trouble keeping many of its trains on schedule?  What does a commuter agency have to bring to the table in terms of extra track, sidings, signals, or whatever to work integrate that large amount of passenger traffic with their host railroads?  What would Amtrak have to provide (such as on the Illinois corridor trains which are said to have schedule keeping problems) to get the same result?

Me!!!! Flanked by 2 Amtrak passegner trains(joking).  Everytime I pick up a railroad book, there is something about freights and steam.  Don't get me wrong, I know there the backbone of railroad industry but people forgot about the passegner trains of then and now.  Do a cover base on communter trains and Amtrak and how they help shape the big cities then and now.

Just me speaking from the intercom of the Acela...

awalker1829 wrote:

I would like to see more articles on developing rail transit programs, such as the Tucson, Arizona Modern Streetcar Project and the Phoenix Light Rail. Tucson's Modern Streetcar should be operational by 2012 but is already in the advanced planning stages.

To say in different words some of what I said before, and I hope most people above will agree with me, is that City Rail needs to be more than "spot news":  We hear about when an LRV a line is funded, when it's about to open, possibly shortly after it opens, and perhaps major crises of funding enroute to development or accidents once the line is in operation.  I'd like to see more about system development, why one brand of LRV is chosen for a project rather than another.  I also think that talking to people who are new to LRV is a useful thing because they have -- if not none -- than different preconceptions of what LRV or streetcar ought to be.  Perhaps the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER is talking to LYNX riders, but I'm not hearing about that in TRAINS.  That part reiterates the commuter's-eye-view I mentioned above.

Also, I keep meaning to say:  Wouldn't it be great if one or more of TRAINS' maps-of-the-month were to show all LRV systems in the USA (or just the post-1980 ones if space forbids). 

Or all the commuter-rail lines? 

Or all the RT? 

 (with the understanding that big cities or urban areas with many and complex lines could not fit them all into the Map of the Month [NJT, Metrolink, NY Subways]).   

awalker1829 wrote:

I would like to see more articles on developing rail transit programs, such as the Tucson, Arizona Modern Streetcar Project and the Phoenix Light Rail. Tucson's Modern Streetcar should be operational by 2012 but is already in the advanced planning stages.

  I agree with AWalker, I would like to see more articles on transit systems in my part of the country,The SW USA.. New Mexico's Railrunner,Utaha's FrontRange and Az,Tx,granted theres only so much you can say about one commuter or light rail system but still,it is always nice to see articles on places in our area of the world and not always the NORTEAST...Take Dallas Tx. for instance,DART is growing by leaps and bounds and No one ever says anything about it..Also the NRHS is holding its convention in FT.Worth,Tx.next month and Trains has not said a thing about it or had a railfanning article on the area yet !

  Thanks for letting me vent..

Sincerly,

videomaker wrote:

awalker1829 wrote: I would like to see more articles on developing rail transit programs, such as the Tucson, Arizona Modern Streetcar Project and the Phoenix Light Rail. Tucson's Modern Streetcar should be operational by 2012 but is already in the advanced planning stages.   I agree with AWalker, I would like to see more articles on transit systems in my part of the country,The SW USA.. New Mexico's Railrunner,Utaha's FrontRange and Az,Tx,granted theres only so much you can say about one commuter or light rail system but still,it is always nice to see articles on places in our area of the world and not always the NORTEAST...Take Dallas Tx. for instance,DART is growing by leaps and bounds and No one ever says anything about it..Also the NRHS is holding its convention in FT.Worth,Tx.next month and Trains has not said a thing about it or had a railfanning article on the area yet !   Thanks for letting me vent.. Sincerly,

  .   Just call us the Scoot Coalition!  - a.s.

Clevelands RTAs Busway and Shaker Rapid and Red Airport Line and Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway

apusztai wrote:

Hi, One of my duties at Trains is to edit the City Rail column. What would you like to see covered? Do you like to read stories about new or improved service? If so, am I lacking coverage in a certain geographical area? Am I lacking coverage of a certain type of commuter or transit service? Are you interested in learning what transit systems in other countries are like? Or, do you prefer to read broader topics? Let me know what you think!  Thanks!

Angela,

What can WE do to help you expand the coverage? 

Do you need "field reporters & photograpers?"  Since the main focus of "Trains" is Freight railroading and Amtrak/VIA, could we submit relatively short overviews of our local systems with relevant "news-y" photos of recently opened lines, renovated stations, newly acquired equipment, etc?

How about historical photos along with a current image in the same location (sort of a "Then and Now" comparison)?

Paul F.

For people very very seriously interested in light rail, you must visit the website:

www.lrta.org

TRAINS is a general railroad magazine.   The Light Railway Transport Association puts out a members magazine Tramways and Urban Transit that keeps readers up to date on the news of every planned and operating light railway system everywhere in the world, has technical articles, explores specific cities and systems in depth.   It does not cover commuter railroads adequately nor heavy rapid transit and doesn't claim to do so.  And its editorial coverage is definitely slanted to that Kingdom wherefrom most of American culture originated.   I recommend it.  Following after TRAINS and CLASSIC TRAINS, it is tops in railroad reading for me.   For me some of its most interesting articles are on some of the most scenic Swiss mountain interurban lines.

For similar intensive coverage of New Jersey Transit, the LIRR, Metro North, all SEPTA's rail operations, and the New York subways, the New York Division Bulletin of the Electric Railroaders Association, HQ at GCT in NYC, cannot be beat.

Hi, Paul:

 I want to thank you and everyone else who replied to my question. Sorry it took so long to write back. I've peeked in and taken a look at replies here and there though. Yes! Please do write me with article proposals and photos. I'm currently putting together a list of topics for 2009 City Rail topics. I've taken some of your suggestions, too, I might add.

My e-mail address is apusztai@trainsmag.com. I look forward to hearing from you. Photos may be uploaded and directed to me as the editor at www.contribute.kalmbach.com. Don't forget to include detailed captions. Remember to answer the question: Why should readers care about your topic?

I hope you like what you see for the remaining issues this year and what's to come in '09. Keep in mind that everyone likes to read about their respective neighborhoods, which is precisely why I try to throw in an overarching topic that may appeal to more people in a given month.

 Thanks again for your replies. I'll check back with you soon.

 Take care!

I live in Oklahoma City, where we have no rail transit service.  The fight to begin light rail or commuter rail service here seems to be an uphill struggle, with no support for (make that hostility towards) rail transit from the city government.  This issue is intertwined with the effort to prevent our Union Station rail yard from being destroyed to re-route Interstate 40, currently running about four blocks to the north.  The Union Station yard is at the center of a network of track and right-of-way that would be a great asset to jump-start any rail transit system.

I would like to see coverage of these issues, and I would like to see an article or series on how to build support for and implement a rail transit system in cities which currently have no service.

Doug Vincent

I am glad to see that TRAINS is gaining a balance of old/new, freight/passenger, domestic/foreign, and incorporating rapid transit as a part of "railroading".  I grew up in the NYC metropolitan area and a subway was as much a train as any LIRR, DL&W, ERIE, or PRR movement.  Often,however, when I have mentioned commuter rail and rapid transit being "railroading" as much as the EL or CR or NS freight operations seen here (Bingahmton, NY) some 200 miles from New York City, I get funny looks and comments.  But the logistics are the same just more complicated and faster on the same 4ft 8 1/2 inch wide paths.  Those close to me have found how fascinating these systems are by riding them with me.  Riding historic (or parts of historic) routes, single track lines, 6 track lines, electic or diesel locmotives, multiple unit cars, subways and elevated subways, light rail lines (diesel and electric, street and private rights of way), and heavy commuter lines, seeing how they interconnect, opens a new understanding and appreciation of railroading.  (I am for hire in escorting these trips, by the way.)  With new light rail and commuter operations coming on line yearly, sometimes over former or existing rights of way, history is relearned as is the value of  mass transit.  I appreciate that TRAINS has opened this page in the magazine to explore and reveal how much railroading is done under the guise of "mass transit".  These mass tansit lines can give the railfan an inexpensive ride and learning experience.

 I am really interested in subway service and commuter rail service.

The recent coverage is great and getting better.

The subtle differences between commuter rail and passenger rail, and the fact that they're wholly separated in Eastern USA, has always perplexed me.  Covering the different history of commuter rail and how it evolved as a state-subsidized form of passenger service, and how Amtrak specifically avoided commuter rail, and finally the divestiture of commuter rail from Conrail to state agencies.

I would also like to find out the economic reasons why we believe that commuter and passenger rail cannot and should not be completely paid for by its users.

Thanks for soliciting our thoughts!

Maybe after it starts, an article about ACES. Atlantic City Express Service is the train run by the casinos between NY Penn and AC. Service starts February 6. If anyone rides it, the story of your experience would be a great article.

Two possibilities: 

1) Major system infrastructure extensions/upgrades.  Not so much CTA in Chicago finally woke up and decided to reduce deferred maintenance on the brown (formerly Ravenswood) Line or in the line to O' Hare Airport, but on the order of, say, Seattle extending its light rail to places previously not on its network.

2)  Once a month, an overview of transit/commuter rail systems; including a) where they reach to, and what they do now, and b)  (and more important to me), what they plan to do in the future.  Recommend MAJOR systems (e.g. -- Metra, CTA, MBTA, Metro North, Caltrain, NY MTA, Long Island RR, SEPTA, NJ Transit, Metrolink, etc,) and not Podunk ones (NICTD, RailRunner, VRE, etc.), or at least, hit the biggies before you tell us what's up in Boise.

 My two bits. -- billio

I would like to see something about Chicago-land Metra in the colum. Something dealing with the "push pull" modes the dinky's use or just about the commuter hauler in general, say for example a story on how long metra has been in businuss and how they have managed to do that.  Also here's a idea, how Metra's ticket sales have fluxuated during this economic downturn and how thay plan to deal with that. Hope to see some Metra in some of the upcomming issues!

I would love to see Trains Magazine would pick on montly basis one small railroad and profile their operation. It would give the reader the inside on their operation.

Picking up on the above post, again TRAINS is not specifically a light rail oriented magazine or transit oriented.   But a real in-depth history and examination of current operations of the Salt Lake City MAX system would also cover the freight operations of the diesel-operated short line that shares most of the tracks with operations at night when the light rail cars don't run.  Including motive power and crews.    So such an article would appeal to general interest as well as those interested specifically in transit.  I would hope the detail would extend to a side elevation line drawing of the latest light rail cars operated, with labels for air conditioning equipment, batteries, inverter, and a tebulation of horsepower and number of motors, maximum acceleration and braking rates, and perhaps cost.

Rge NJT River Line, Camden-Trenton, NJ,  with Conrail freight at night, is equally interesting, but not as typical since its passenger service has diesel light rail cars.

For the Oklahoma City man who wants to advocate rail transit, again www.lrta.org is recommended.   You will even be able to download some good material directly from the website at no charge.   The Light Railway Transit Association is both an educational and an ADVOCACY organization.

As noted above, system expansion, increase (or decrease) in service, new developments (equipment), MoW, etc.

Maybe since we know that it's actually going to happen, something on ARC (Access to the Region's Core) and THE tunnel (Trans-Hudson Express) would be nice. It feateres a new two-track tunnel under the Hudson River into a new station in the Farley Post Office building. It will allow better flow of traffic and more trains into/out of the city.