QUOTE: Originally posted by Tharmeni Re. deploying Amtrak folks and trains.... Let's remember that it took Amtrak 7 hours to deploy a crew to take over the Hoosier State last Sunday night.... A hurricane can move 210 miles closer in that amount of time.
QUOTE: Originally posted by tpatrick New Orleans has a plan. Next time a hurricane hits, Amtrak will come to the rescue. Never mind that last year an Amtrak train was available and not used. That's a lesson learned, I guess. So let's consider this scenario: It is August 2006 and a large hurricane has entered the Gulf of Mexico. It is a Category Two storm, but the forecast is for strengthening, perhaps to C-4. Its exact route is unknown, but it is expected to make landfall somewhere between Cameron LA and Mobile AL. What is known is that wherever it goes, it is going to be there in 3 1/2 to 4 days. Your name is Nagin. You are the mayor of N. O. When do you declare an emergency? Do you order an evacuation early and risk emptying the city for nothing? Do you wait for more clarity in the forecast? Exactly when do you have to make a decision? If you call Amtrak, where do the trains come from? How long will it take for Amtrak to gather its trains and personnel and move them to the Gulf Coast? How many trains could be scrounged up on short notice? Do you run your trains to destination and then to N. O., or do you kick your passengers out at the nearest station and turn the trains south? Does every freight train in the southeast go in the hole to let Amtrak through? Does N. O. have the yard capacity to handle the incoming trains or do you have to evacuate the freight before you can move the people? How about service for the incoming trains? And, leaving New Orleans where do they all go? Do they all run up the Illinois Central to some northern waypoint? Or do they fan out on different routes? If Amtrak can sucessfully save several thousand people from another disaster, does that change the public's view of the value of the rail passenger system? Does it change Congress? These are just a few of the questions that come to mind. Has anyone in authority given this any thought or is this just a half-baked scheme designed to make it look like preparation when really they hope it won't be needed? And what do you think? Could this be done? Are there answers for my questions or are just more questions? What would it take to make it work? Tim
QUOTE: Originally posted by rrandb The trick would be the logistics of trying to move equipment in to an area while every railroad there is trying to move their equipment and personel out. At 12,000 per hour you would need to load 1000 people per train X 12 trains at one train every 5 minutes. To sustain that for 12 hours you need 144 trainsets. All traffic must be flowing out to achive this taffic level so no trains could return.[2c] As always ENJOY
QUOTE: Originally posted by Tharmeni PoppaZit - Charley hit land 30 miles south of my house moving at an estimated 27 mph on August 13, 2004. So make no mistake -- they can move at 30 mph. Many stall for days, bringing down NOAA's "average speed".
QUOTE: Originally posted by Poppa_Zit QUOTE: Originally posted by Tharmeni PoppaZit - Charley hit land 30 miles south of my house moving at an estimated 27 mph on August 13, 2004. So make no mistake -- they can move at 30 mph. Many stall for days, bringing down NOAA's "average speed". Righto. That's kinda what I said.
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
QUOTE: Originally posted by tdmidget So jchnhtfd, since you have this thought out so carefully, exactly what would those "BNSF lines West" be?
QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie I can't help but have the feeling way in the back of my mind that reality will be a lot of politicians standing around arguing about which plan they should use and who should implement it and ............sploosh!
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