blue streak 1Thereis only one non stop end to end train. Auto train. Wonder what its load factor is ? Once a route gets ore than one service that does not have same end points then load factor can increase. Amtrak's Florida schedule probably had a high load factor but was zapped because of shortage of equipent
During most of the year, from what I have heard, AutoTrain has a high load factor - especially in Snowbird and Sunbird seasons. How the loading is fairing with the Covid restrictions on the destination areas might be troubling.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
There is only one non stop end to end train. Auto train. Wonder what its load factor is ? Once a route gets more than one service that does not have same end points then load factor can increase. Amtrak's Florida schedule probably had a high load factor but was zapped because of shortage of equipent
blue streak 1Yes those figures do show 50 - 60 %. However that is for the full route. Crescent is prime example. Almost always cclose to full ATL - WASH. Beyond those points rapidly emptying. Silver services Orlando is big north toward WASH. A Amtrak used to publish the max load segment. For Crescent Before Lynchburg service that would be part of the Charlottesville <> WASH segment. Have not seen those figures in years.
Amtrak used to publish the max load segment. For Crescent Before Lynchburg service that would be part of the Charlottesville <> WASH segment. Have not seen those figures in years.
When it comes to long distance passenger service, too many people only look at the end to end passenger number without taking into account any of the intermediate traffic that the train also handles. On some routes I suspect the intermediate traffic far out numbers the end to end traffic.
While the Amtrak route structure pales in comparison to the railroad operated networks - both from a passenger perspective as well as a mail and express perspective. Mail with both storage mail cars and working RPO's; express cars being picked up and set off along the route. Remember the days of the Pullman set out sleepers on many trains.
Yes those figures do show 50 - 60 %. However that is for the full route. Crescent is prime example. Almost always cclose to full ATL - WASH. Beyond those points rapidly emptying. Silver services Orlando is big north toward WASH. A
blue streak 1Until Amtrak trains are no longer almost full on nearly every route do not do anything to reduce capacity of any train. All these so called improvements just reduce capacity. IMO it will be 2025 or 2026 before capacity will exceed demand. That is if Amtrak does not start a bunch of additional trains.
Last I rode the Texas Eagle in April 2021, sleeping car was about 40-50% empty. When Trains states the train is almost full in coach I think they mean to the pandemic seating standard of only 50-60% of the coach seats available.
blue streak 1 Until Amtrak trains are no longer almost full on nearly every route do not do anything to reduce capacity of any train. All these so called improvements just reduce capacity. IMO it will be 2025 or 2026 before capacity will exceed demand. That is if Amtrak does not start a bunch of additional trains.
Until Amtrak trains are no longer almost full on nearly every route do not do anything to reduce capacity of any train. All these so called improvements just reduce capacity. IMO it will be 2025 or 2026 before capacity will exceed demand. That is if Amtrak does not start a bunch of additional trains.
The last time JPS1 posted some load factors on different routes they were far from 100%, more like 45-58% as I recall.
While not exactly to the original poster's concept (trying to add services without losing coach seats, as I understand it), the discussion does remind me of France's premier pre-TGV train, "Le Mistral".
In addition to 2 dining cars, it had a rather unique bar car. About 2/3 of the car was a bar. The other 1/3 was composed of a bookstall, office center, and hairdressing salon.
The "bookstall" was a small shop counter, where one could pick up last minute necessities, including a fresh tie or fashionable scarf.
The "office center" consisted of a small space with a couple of secretaries, typewriters, dictation equipment, etc. You could dictate a letter, and have it typed up for you before disembarking -- at no cost. The secretaries were provided by Kelly Girl or Manpower or some such agency, and the office equipment by Olivetti, all "for promotional consideration".
And the hair salon advertised "for both men & women" (don't recall if there was a charge for that service).
Overmod charlie hebdo ... a single vestibule and exit per car has been the norm on ICE trains on DB for many years. And this works despite the very short station dwell of many of the German trains. I wonder if part of this is careful 'staging' of passengers about to board so they don't interfere with detraining passengers. What typifies German equipment that does not operate from high-level platforms?
charlie hebdo ... a single vestibule and exit per car has been the norm on ICE trains on DB for many years.
And this works despite the very short station dwell of many of the German trains.
I wonder if part of this is careful 'staging' of passengers about to board so they don't interfere with detraining passengers.
What typifies German equipment that does not operate from high-level platforms?
Platforms are mixed in height, so a few (2-3?) stairs also drop down where needed, whether ICE, RE or what are left of older, more conventional, loose car stock.
Passengers seldom need to line up on platform for boarding a car to a specific location, as the old Kurswagen concept is long gone. Passengers are very orderly in boarding, stepping to one side of any door to allow disembarking first, always. The exception might be large groups of traveling football fans,
OvermodAnd this works despite the very short station dwell of many of the German trains.
They have very long platforms at Osterholz-Sharmbeck, Bremen, Hannover, that I think help them out with the fast load and fast detrain. Those are not all ICE routes either. Plus all the doors open on the train and the conductor can close them all from one location by pressing a button in any one of the vestibules. A whistle sound of an alarm plays when the doors start to close, if your in the way of the door it will bounce back vs crush you. Once all the doors are closed I think a light on the side of the car or in the can illuminates.
They used to stage passengers on the platform by destination marked on the side of the coach, and I am not sure they do that a lot with ICE......can't remember.
Also, I think they are all high level platforms as I don't ever remember a step down to a platform or even a step box.
One thing that was pretty cool though on the non-ICE cars, in each vestibule there is a medicine sized cabinet that has the car electronics and fuzes / breakers along with a folder of all the maintence and checks written down for the car. You needed a special circular key to open which I had from my home alarm system back in the states (same type key and it fit....lol).
charlie hebdo... a single vestibule and exit per car has been the norm on ICE trains on DB for many years.
Returning to the topic, a single vestibule and exit per car has been the norm on ICE trains on DB for many years.
Here comes the train/Whistle pealing/Best avoid/That run-down feeling...
Don't go passing
on a slope
unless you have
a periscope
Burma Shave
Remember the Maine!/To hell with Spain/And don't forget/To pull the chain! Burma-Shave.
(I will not invoke poor Ms. Arnold-Murray's memory... although it is tempting...)
here's two:
Speed up pa
Wing the dinger!
Grandma just gave
Those bikers
the finger.
Burma Shave.
Speed up Pa!
Give 'er the gas
here comes a trooper
to ticket
your ass.
These may or may not be authentic.
rdamon Shaving Cream? https://youtu.be/G8ffkDf0ol4
Shaving Cream?
https://youtu.be/G8ffkDf0ol4
Burma shave !
Would be interested in learning the degree of usage the 20th Century Barbershop experienced. It was still available the first time I rode the Century in 1958, but I did not use it.
Reemember that Classic-Era overnight Pullman travel gave the option of the porter shining one's sh shoes. Roomettes, bedrooms, compartments, and drawing rooms all had a special shoe locker, in the corridor wall, with a second door to the corridor for the porter to access. Passengers in section simply left their shoes on the floor just outside the curtains.
Tipping the porter was expected. As a child going to sumer camp, my parents gave me a quarter for that purpose, in the days when a New York subway, elevatd, streetcar, and bus ride each cost nickle. In the 50s and 60s, a Dollar was OK.
rdamonI knew all those years listening to Dr. Demento would pay off!!
Never have so many wasted hours been so well spent.
I knew all those years listening to Dr. Demento would pay off!!
rdamonShaving Cream?
Safety and egress to ground through a vestibule door are not quite mutually exclusive but you'd have to work hard for them not to be so.
Overmod BaltACD Where does the 'S' word fit? If that word is 'sarcasm' it fits nicely. I will confess it got me thinking whether some sort of folding trap could be rigged off the blind end, that would give access out of a door right at the end of the car to a platform and stairs to at least the typical 'trap level' and perhaps to the ground. As this would almost certainly be 'emergency-only' this need not be particularly robust; only a couple of minutes with an Eli Gilderfluke sharp #2 pencil would show how to make it wheelchair-lift accessible. Emergency egress from a vestibule door could easily be inflatable along the lines of an emergency slide; it would be a bit like a 'whale tail' curving to both sides with handles all the way down...
BaltACD Where does the 'S' word fit?
If that word is 'sarcasm' it fits nicely.
I will confess it got me thinking whether some sort of folding trap could be rigged off the blind end, that would give access out of a door right at the end of the car to a platform and stairs to at least the typical 'trap level' and perhaps to the ground. As this would almost certainly be 'emergency-only' this need not be particularly robust; only a couple of minutes with an Eli Gilderfluke sharp #2 pencil would show how to make it wheelchair-lift accessible.
Emergency egress from a vestibule door could easily be inflatable along the lines of an emergency slide; it would be a bit like a 'whale tail' curving to both sides with handles all the way down...
Sarcasm doesn't fit in railroad world - SAFETY is the S word.
BaltACDWhere does the 'S' word fit?
The whole intent of this exercise was to think of added services on a Passenger Train that could be provided without cutting back on coach seats. The idea of putting a bar in a coach car would be to save the expense of a seperate lounge car while still providing mixed drinks or beverages on demand.
As for the barbershop, you would only make more revenue with added seats if the train car ran at capacity. Since that is a rare occurance on most Amtrak trains, adding seats that would stay empty is probably not better at revenue than a barbershop would be. Also the added convience of hitting two birds with one stone might attract more riders. Approx 1 person per 20 min sitting for maybe $12-15 for a guys haircut, plus tip. Eliminating the non-rev space of the restroom, I still think that the barbershop is a win.....though serving liquor and light salty snacks at your seat would probably be a bigger win.
I've cut my own hair with a electric clippers and for most of the haircut I can jump up and down while still cutting the hair without fear of cutting myself. Thats why most clipper sets provide the plastic guides. Yes there are very short times of precision and close cut where rough track would be an issue but in the cases of really rough track like that would you want the passengers on their feet and moving around the train to begin with? Probably not.
CMStPnP BaltACD So in a single car operation - how does one board and leave a car without vestibule space for ingress and egress? You still have the transit door through the diaphram, it's just a larger step down to the ground.
BaltACD So in a single car operation - how does one board and leave a car without vestibule space for ingress and egress?
You still have the transit door through the diaphram, it's just a larger step down to the ground.
Where does the 'S' word fit?
BaltACDSo in a single car operation - how does one board and leave a car without vestibule space for ingress and egress?
On that stretch of the Buckingham Branch Railroad that the Cardinal uses, with that bad track, getting a haircut would be a painful, bloody experience.
Still in training.
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