Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
<p>[quote user="blue streak 1"]</p> <p>[quote user="Sam1"]</p> <p>+The reserve cars were positioned in SA when the Sunset Limited's departure time out of LAX was moved back to 10 p.m., thereby reducing the connection time in SA and the window to transfer the two cars from the Sunset Limited to the northbound Texas Eagle.  As noted, if  the Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle does not make the connection in SA, the northbound Eagle would not have a sleeper. If the SA/LAX bound Eagle is very late and cannot transfer its through cars to the Sunset Limited, the northbound Eagle has the required cars for the return trip to Chicago. If this were to occur, the reserve cars probably would be coupled onto the Sunset Limited because they would be needed eventually in LAX to balance the equipment needs for the eastbound Sunset/Eagle.</p> <p>The spotted cars are heated and/or cooled so that they can be placed into service quickly. I presume the beds in the sleeper have been made up. If the cars are required for the northbound Eagle, the sleeper would be serviced by the attendant who arrived the night before on the Eagle terminating in SA, which is the normal procedure given the change of the car attendant in SA.</p> <p>The only time the reserve cars would be needed is when the through cars are transferred. That happens three days a week.  On the other days of the week, when the southbound Eagle terminate in SA, they are available for the trip back to Chicago. Thus, the only potential use for the parked cars occurs on those days when the Sunset Limited is operating.</p> <p>This whole mess could have been avoided by dropping the Sunset Limited, running the Eagle as a through train, on a three day a week schedule, and implementing a connecting trains from New Orleans to SA.  As noted, Amtrak apparently did not push the issue for reasons unknown. So the result is that a passenger railroad that some say is equipment constrained keeps two cars in San Antonio that as a seldom tapped reserve.  Not only are the cars idle most of the year, Amtrak had to have the city electric utility build a power supply connection for the energy required to keep the cars warm and/or cool.  </p> <div style="clear:both;">[/quote]</div> <div style="clear:both;"><strong>SAM ---  The extra cars were not discussed much when I was there but it was mentioned that if east bound Sunset is too late the normally thru cars on the late Sunset then become the standby cars.  The mechanical   people in SAS seem to like the spare cars as they can substitute any bad order car when needed.  They seem to have enough parts there to fill out their work time getting the spare cars *** and span.  Wonder if CHI ever sends down car(s) to be worked on with a spare car changed to the terminating Eagle when it arrives SAS ? </strong>[/quote]</div> <div style="clear:both;"></div> <div style="clear:both;">I doubt the veracity of the mechanical folks explanation for the reserve cars in San Antonio.  They were only placed there after the latest change in the Sunset Limited's schedule, which narrowed the transfer window from nearly eight hours to 4 hrs. and 50 minutes for the westbound transfer and 2 hrs and 10 minutes for the eastbound transfer.</div>
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag