oltmannd No work at Porter today...let's see what happens.
No work at Porter today...let's see what happens.
rcdrye An easier reroute than South Shore would be CN(GTW) from South Bend to Harvey IL, then CN(IC) to the St Charles Air Line. The stop at South Bend would be a casualty, as NS and CN connect east of the station. Amtrak HAS run Michigan trains on the South Shore, but Superliners on the Capitol might be an issue.
An easier reroute than South Shore would be CN(GTW) from South Bend to Harvey IL, then CN(IC) to the St Charles Air Line. The stop at South Bend would be a casualty, as NS and CN connect east of the station. Amtrak HAS run Michigan trains on the South Shore, but Superliners on the Capitol might be an issue.
I presume the Amtrak Michigan trains were off the Wolverine line, as the Pere Marquette service (CSX) connection in Michigan City appears severed on Google Earth. The Wolverines could connect to the South Shore line using the freight line in Michigan City, and avoid street trackage running and the "S" curve. This could potentially remove 8 of the 14 ATK trains per day that use the NS bottleneck.
Question ?
Since Amtrak is chartering these buses is someone from the Thruway bus division setting up these buses and monitoring them for proper maintenance ? Also a 5-1/2 hr each way for a driver would seem to violate HOS rules if any delay at all ? That is not even counting waiting time at rail stations ?
daveklepperisn't riding a bus better than another four hour delay?
blue streak 1 Question ? Since Amtrak is chartering these buses is someone from the Thruway bus division setting up these buses and monitoring them for proper maintenance ?
Since Amtrak is chartering these buses is someone from the Thruway bus division setting up these buses and monitoring them for proper maintenance ?
I would be surprised if Amtrak doesn't already have standing arrangements with reliable charter bus operators around the country for those emergencies when a train can not operate. Maintenance should be monitored by FMCSA.
rcdrye An easier reroute than South Shore would be CN(GTW) from South Bend to Harvey IL, then CN(IC) to the St Charles Air Line. The stop at South Bend would be a casualty, as NS and CN connect east of the station.
An easier reroute than South Shore would be CN(GTW) from South Bend to Harvey IL, then CN(IC) to the St Charles Air Line. The stop at South Bend would be a casualty, as NS and CN connect east of the station.
Two problems I see here. One is that the connection at Harvey is not very good particularly on the IC end. Amtrak has occasionally operated the Cardinal/Hoosier this way. They have indicated to me that they have considered funding improvements to this connection to avoid Yard Center permanently. But the second problem might be how receptive the CN would be to this. They are not exactly Amtrak friendly.
BTW on a recent Hoosier trip the short GTW segment was the best riding track on the trip.
Went back to my maps. The CN/GTW crosses the UP's ex C&EI/C&WI route used by the Cardinal and Hoosier State at Thornton Jct - a better route. In fact CN is used from the former Monon to Thornton Jct.
Buslist rcdrye An easier reroute than South Shore would be CN(GTW) from South Bend to Harvey IL, then CN(IC) to the St Charles Air Line. The stop at South Bend would be a casualty, as NS and CN connect east of the station. Two problems I see here. One is that the connection at Harvey is not very good particularly on the IC end. Amtrak has occasionally operated the Cardinal/Hoosier this way. They have indicated to me that they have considered funding improvements to this connection to avoid Yard Center permanently. But the second problem might be how receptive the CN would be to this. They are not exactly Amtrak friendly. BTW on a recent Hoosier trip the short GTW segment was the best riding track on the trip.
If the infrastructure (RoW) were owned and maintained by a quasi-governmental agency with safe funding sources (ten-year appropriations and user-fees from operators), these questions and problems would not exist.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
rcdrye Went back to my maps. The CN/GTW crosses the UP's ex C&EI/C&WI route used by the Cardinal and Hoosier State at Thornton Jct - a better route. In fact CN is used from the former Monon to Thornton Jct.
It is no longer owned by the CN, it has been in CSX's hands since June 2013.
An "expensive model collector"
The UP from Thornton Junction is a better route? That segment of the Cardinal/Hoosier State is the source of the long running time and delays that those trains encounter. They virtually creep through Yard Center and also have slow operating speeds at 75th St. Note that they take almost a hour and 15 minutes to go the 30 miles between Union Station and Dyer on the outbound trip and an hour 30 on the inbound. That is the reason Amtrak is considering operating them via the IC. Sometimes it takes more than a map to understand things.
[quote]
schlimm If the infrastructure (RoW) were owned and maintained by a quasi-governmental agency with safe funding sources (ten-year appropriations and user-fees from operators), these questions and problems would not exist.
What you are advocating is essentially the British (and to a certain extent the European) model. This is only partially jokingly referred to as vertical disintegration. My former team and I (I am now retired) have worked in and about the British Railway business as consultants since 2000. In fact I was brought over to London to help deal with the post Hatfield meltdown in October 2000. During the ensuing years we worked for Railtrack, something then known as "the company limited by guarantee" (which later became Network Rail), Network Rail, RSSB ORR and Virgin West Coast so I can say I've seen this system in action up close and personal. And arguably this sort of setup might solve these relatively minor local issues discussed here, but it would replace them with far more serious issues nationwide.
I won't drone on and on about the topic but will tell you that establishing something like this in North America would be something of a disaster and is not going to get any support from these quarters.
BTW the root cause finding committee for the Hatfield derailment blamed the structure of the privatization of BR for about 50% of the related issues.
Network Rail is essentially a government corporation, unlike the private Railtrack, and seems to have a much better record than its private predecessor. According to the European Rail Agency, in 2013 Britain had the safest railway based on number of train safety incidents. For the US, I suggested basically the same thing, which is essentally what Germany and France have as well.
STB issues another call for service metrics of NS's Amtrak performance.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/10/feds_ask_norfolk_southern_to_e.html
blue streak 1 STB issues another call for service metrics of NS's Amtrak performance. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/10/feds_ask_norfolk_southern_to_e.html
Metrics - schmetrics. Everybody and their brother knows the numbers are bad. The question is WHY? Bad numbers don't explain themselves and give a path to fix the problem(s).
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Well Amtrak could run South Bend/GTW to Griffith, IN entering the former EJ&E there(it's a straight thru route) thence to Matteson around the new connector loop to the IC thence downtown to the St. Charles Air Line into CUS. They could add stops at Valpo and possibly Dyer or even Chicago Heights IL.
The above route sounds plausible as a detour but it doesn't look like it would make up any lost time.
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