Riding Amtrak (NW Mailing List)

[NW Mailing List]

Harry,

As usual, you hit the nail on the head.  I have no experience riding N&W
trains, but I used to ride Great Northern trains, and even Canadian Pacific
trains.  Up to the end, their passenger service was superb.  I think it
accounts in great part for the place railroads hold in my esteem.  Today,
the freight railroad have no "dog in the fight" and no incentive to make
Amtrak look good.  As far as they are concerned, they would just as soon see
Amtrak go away.  That is too bad, because if the public saw a connection
between Amtrak and the freight railroads, then maybe the freight railroads
would be more accomodating of Amtrak.  My experiences with Amtrak have
generally been favorable.  I have ridden Amtrak's Empire Buildier, Southwest
Chief, Coast Starlight, City of New Orleans, and other locals and regional
service.  BNSF does the best to support Amtrak, and does try to keep Amtrak
trains on schedule.  UP could care less, and most delays I have experienced
on Amtrak trains have been on UP trackage.  For example, the routine for
Amtrak's Coast Starlight is that if it can leave on time from Seattle, it
will be on time until it reaches UP trackage in Portland, then it will be
late into Los Angeles.  Regardless if it leaves on time from Los Angeles, it
will usually be late into Seattle, although it is amazing how much time they
can make up when UP and BNSF allow them to.  We left 8 hours late from Santa
Barbara on one trip, but arrived only 1 hour late into Tacoma.  Locally,
we've dubbed the Coast Starlight as the "Coast Starlate".  Amtrak does its
best to ensure passenger connections are met with other Amtrak trains.  I've
seen them take passengers off north of Sacramento and bus them ahead to make
connections with the eastbound Zephyr.  I've seen them do the same north of
LA to make connections with the easbound Southwest Chief.  I give credit to
the Amtrak crews for making the best of what they have.  And taking the
Coast Starlight is worth the trip regardless of whether it is late or not.
So is the Empire Builder.  But you won't find the same fine gourmet food
served in the diner that one would have had when the Great Northern ran the
passenger service.

Cheers,
Kert Peterson
Fircrest, WA

On Tue, Aug 31, 2010, Harry Bundy wrote:


>

>

>

> In 1959, Dave Garroway of NBC's "Today" show interviewed

> Stuart Saunders standing in front of No. 4 at the Roanoke

> passenger station.  Saunders said there'd have to be 400

> passengers on board to reach the break-even point.  I can't

> vouch for his accounting, but N&W soldiered on, reducing

> some of the "fluff" and eliminating some of the service

> (Ex. Nos. 9-10).  There was no evidence I saw that N&W

> deliberately intended to run passenger traffic away.

>

> During the Brosnan-era on the Southern, it wasn't unusual

> to have No. 46 (The Tennessean) arrive Knocksville just as

> No. 28 (The Carolina Special) to Charleston was leaving.

> For any passengers scheduled to transfer . . . .tough.  This

> changed.  Southern didn't join Amtrak. but Graham Claytor

> DID take efforts to improve service.  A supervisor from the

> Atlanta Diesel Shop was assigned to The Crescent disguised

> as Mr. Fix-it.  In reality, he was taking notes of all the delays.

> On the single track portions Birmingham-NOLA, dispatchers

> were putting The Crescent in sidings behind freights to make

> meets.  Rather than let the psgr. train ahead, the dispatchers

> would let the psgr follow the freight.  That practice ended.

>

> Amtrak ?  Well today's employees do what they're supposed

> to, but nothing more.  No 'thank-you's".  No "may I's". On No.

> 16's diner, I left my ticket on the table and the waiter scouted

> the train to return it to me.  Would an Amtrak employee do

> the same ?

>

> Here in the Old Dominion, proposals are to increase the

> maximum authorized speed over the former RF&P to 90 MPH.

> >From Main Street Station-Richmond to the south bank of

> the Potomac River, it's 113 miles.  On the average, it will cost

> $15.5 million for additional track and signals.  In the winter

> of 2003, a 4-inch snow near Milford caused a signal failure.

> CSX suspended all passenger service.  This winter, CSX

> suspended North East Corridor trains originating at Richmond

> and Newport News and the Virginia Railway Express commuter

> service from Fredericksburg account snow, but NS attempted

> to operate its schedules.  In one instance, NS originated

> The Carolinian at Charlotte and terminated it at Raleigh to

> avoid a CSX shut out at Selma.

>

> Unfortunately, in the public's eye, Amtrak bears the fault

> for the contract carriers' actions.  Last winter,The California

> Zephyr arrived Chicago 10 hrs. late account weather and

> hitting a pick-up in Iowa.  NBC interviewed some passengers

> that described the journey as "duh train from hell".  But to

> those BNSF and Amtrak employees that brought the train

> across the Midwest, my greatest respects.  CSX ? They

> wimped out.  And now federal and state grants are going

> to the SEHSR for speeds of 130 MPH when there's fair weather.

>                                                             WHEW!

>                                                              Harry Bundy

>

>

>

>

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