amtrak

[ndbprr]

i was thinking of an epic train trip.  Chicago to LA on the southwest limited.  LA to Seattle on the coast starlight and return to Chicago on the Empire Builder.  So I went to the Amtrak tracker and there is virtually no train on time .  A few regional ones are but all the long haul trains are late every day.  It would be virtually impossible to make any connections without a layover in LA and Seattle. He** of a way to run a railroad 

[CMStPnP]

ndbprr

i was thinking of an epic train trip.  Chicago to LA on the southwest limited.  LA to Seattle on the coast starlight and return to Chicago on the Empire Builder.  So I went to the Amtrak tracker and there is virtually no train on time .  A few regional ones are but all the long haul trains are late every day.  It would be virtually impossible to make any connections without a layover in LA and Seattle. He** of a way to run a railroad

I'm pretty sure you mean the Texas Eagle from Chicago to LA but what do I know?

Not very many Amtrak Long Distance Passengers are on board for the time keeping or the marathon circle the country trip.   Just my observation.  Maybe you have observed differently but I have not encountered a lot of arguments between Amtrak Conductors and paying LD Passengers when the train is hours late.    Nobody seems to really care and so I would not anticipate a lot of angry letters to Amtrak management on late LD trains.

[MidlandMike]

There is the Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle as mentioned, and the Southwest Chief.  The Southwest Chief is the quicker direct route, ex-Santa Fe.  I have taken such circle trips, but I always stopped a few days in the connecting cities.  Lots of railfaning in LA, and Seattle.  A side trip to San Diego is interesting, and you could make it your CA endpoint, where frequent service on the Coaster route means not worrying about missed connections.

[PJS1]

ndbprr,

According to Amtrak’s Host Railroad Report for June 2022, the On-Time-Performance for the long-distance trains is poor.

 

The Southwest Chief’s All-Stations OTP for June was 14.7% while the most recent 12 months was 37.6%. The average minutes late was 125 for June and an average of 93 minutes per month for the most recent 12 months. 

 

For the Coast Starlight, the All-Stations OTP for June was 45.8%; the most recent 12 months was 54.2%.  The average minutes late was 63 minutes for June and 86 minutes for the most recent 12 months.

 

For the Texas Eagle, the All-Stations OTP for June was 35.1% while the most recent 12 months was 50.7%.  The average minutes late was 113 in June and 90 for the most recent 12 months.

 

Since retiring in 2007, I have taken the Empire Builder from Chicago to Portland, the Coast Starlight from LAX to Portland, the Southwest Chief from Kansas City to LAX, and the California Zephyr from Denver to San Francisco and vice versa.  I have also taken the Texas Eagle, my hometown train, if you will, from Temple, TX to Tucson and LAX.  The California Zephyr was the best ride hands down. 

 

The only reason to take the Texas Eagle from Chicago to LAX is if one is going to a city in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or one of the California cities along the route.  This is especially true now.  The train is running with just one sleeper, a diner/lounge car, and two coaches. 

[BEAUSABRE]

Hey, Amtrak now offers Low Speed Rail!

PJS1

The train is running with just one sleeper, a diner/lounge car, and two coaches. 

That is what is supposed to be part of the "National Nework" - sorry, but that's what DPM used to call "Playing with big Lionel set". 

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

You should really consider going through Amtrak Vacations.  They offer several circle tour packages which include a one or two day layover in connecting cities.  Lynn and I have taken two of these tours and they were quite enjoyable.

[Gramp]

We're planning to travel Amtrak to Dallas for Thanksgiving, and fly back afterward. Set up with Thruway/Hiawatha/Texas Eagle with a roomette. Am feeling a little leary re: whether Amtrak will deliver. Read today about passengers being bussed from San Antonio because of on board septic system failure.  
What with all the challenges public transport has been having, I wonder if I should hang it up and drive. Of course then there's the question of early winter weather. 

[railfanjohn]

Gramp

We're planning to travel Amtrak to Dallas for Thanksgiving, and fly back afterward. Set up with Thruway/Hiawatha/Texas Eagle with a roomette. Am feeling a little leary re: whether Amtrak will deliver. Read today about passengers being bussed from San Antonio because of on board septic system failure.  
What with all the challenges public transport has been having, I wonder if I should hang it up and drive. Of course then there's the question of early winter weather. 

 

 

Gramp:

Did you make your Thanksgiving trip on Amtrak?
If so, how was it?

[243129]

Amtrak LD trains should be relegated to sightseeing excursions in the good weather months for their respective areas. Regional service instituted where population dictates.

 

[charlie hebdo]

243129

Amtrak LD trains should be relegated to sightseeing excursions in the good weather months for their respective areas. Regional service instituted where population dictates.

 

 

Exactly Joe, as for the most part, those routes do not support an actual passenger transportation service.

[Overmod]

Personally, I continue to think of the 'transportation' argument as a political fiction to keep Amtrak scrambling along.

In my opinion the 'correct' answer to most of the small-community-transport stops is going to be autonomous railbus-sized vehicles, capable of platooning during peak seasons.  Put hover seats and hostel-style sleeping accommodations in them.  As with Joe's point about the Acela II sets, let cost be no object in the amenities of one-time procurement of the equipment, but design it for easy and minimal maintenance (and operating) cost.

Then run the long-distance sleeper trains as long-distance sleeper trains, and charge what the traffic bears.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Autonomous, as in unmanned?  At any rate, even a single railbus, RDC or motor car will take up as much track space as a conventional train.

[Overmod]

CSSHEGEWISCH

Autonomous, as in unmanned?

As in not having an engine crew.  There would be at least one person onboard as an attendant, but they would not be driving, or requiring multiple recrews on hours during the run.

At any rate, even a single railbus, RDC or motor car will take up as much track space as a conventional train.

The 'correct' answer to this, as it is for any zero-man-crew approach, or for self-guided freight cars or consists, is CBTC.  That should have been 'part and parcel' of the 2008 Federal PTC legislation, but we all know the problems with how that was mandated and how it has turned out.  Perhaps when the kludges are rectified with new, more sensible legislation, this omission can be fixed.

A more important discussion is the level of CEM necessary to allow these vehicles to 'coexist' with freight trains.  A great deal of recent history involves failure of various companies attempting to provide passenger equipment that can pass a purely structural 850K buff test.   

[Gramp]

railfanjohn

 

 

Gramp

We're planning to travel Amtrak to Dallas for Thanksgiving, and fly back afterward. Set up with Thruway/Hiawatha/Texas Eagle with a roomette. Am feeling a little leary re: whether Amtrak will deliver. Read today about passengers being bussed from San Antonio because of on board septic system failure.  
What with all the challenges public transport has been having, I wonder if I should hang it up and drive. Of course then there's the question of early winter weather. 

 

 

 

 

 

Gramp:

Did you make your Thanksgiving trip on Amtrak?
If so, how was it?

 

Well, we ended up cancelling the whole trip.  I had a new med cause dizziness.  Had to wean off of it.  Travel went out the window.  I checked on progress of what would have been our train.  On time, wouldn't you know?

[railfanjohn]

Gramp:

Sorry to hear you had to cancel your Thanksgiving trip.  I'm hoping your health issues will be quickly resolved.  Very interesting that the train you would have taken turned out to be "on time".

 

[blue streak 1]

Gardner's reply about all idle cars at Beech says it all.  Amtrak is having to borrow parts from idle cars. This is a problem going back over 10 years ago.  Amtrak has never ordered enough parts for its equipment.  Just look at the shortage of P-40 and P-42 trucks.  The  "just in time"  metric for spare parts will not work in the long run.  Now JIT is being hit by the supply chain problems that have been amplified by the pandemic.

Rail cars and equipment can easily last 40 - 60 years.  That is well beyond normal parts needs for most other industrys.  The freight RRs seem to have solved the problem mostly by keeping the same suppliers and making parts backwards compatible. The exception being GE loco parts that has been tightly controlled by not allowing any after market vendors.

IMO there is only one solution.  Amtrak contracts should have sunset provisions in all procurement contracts.  When any contractor or vendor wants to discontinue any part of equipment that involve the tooling, drawings, procedures, etc these items will go to Amtrak as part of the procurement  contract.  

The other item is that this Amtrak has to stop is the save money metric by not stockpiling enough parts using JIT.  

There are several intermediate stations that have maintenance personnel for various reasons.  Maybe these are at last count Richmond, Florence, Jacksonville, Charlotte, ATL. Mempis, Toledo, San Antonia, Minneapolis, Denver, Minot.   If enough parts were available these personnel during regular shift with no trains could have a car parked on a siding where they could do minor work to keep these cars in good shape.  That would leave the major stations time to handle the heavier work.  Of course ground HEP would need installing.  Some stations probably do not have a near by siding.

[BaltACD]

The biggest problem Amtrak has for sourcing parts is that the manufacturers of the bulk of their equipment are no longer in business.

[blue streak 1]

BaltACD

The biggest problem Amtrak has for sourcing parts is that the manufacturers of the bulk of their equipment are no longer in business.

 

 

Agree.  Amtrak has never kept track of their vendors .  If they did the vendors shutting down might enable to save parts  and more importantly toooling or at least plans or controlling software to make a part.