Ah, I had not heard nor thought about the problems an extra long LSL consist would have pulling into NYP from the Empire tunnel. Thanks for posting this. Now the plan to go eastbound on the CL & Pennsylvanian and westbound on the LSL makes sense. Interesting track interlocking and connector constraints are into play to add the Pullman service cars to the trains.As for using the LSL eastbound .... on the eastbound tacked onto the LSL they'd have a somewhat serious problem at Penn Station with the tail of the train sticking out and fouling part of the A Interlocking ladder blocking access to tracks 1 through 4 completely, which would be entirely unacceptable. For the westbound the tail would still foul part of the interlocking in the east but much less severe consequences, since that will not make tracks 1 through 4 inaccessible any more than they already are from that end.
There really is no track available at Penn Station that is accessible from the Empire Connection that can hold 12 or 13 cars plus an engine or two AFAICT.
Are there any reported dates or ballpark guesses as to when Amtrak might start on and then complete the re-build of the A interlocking ladder? That would allow an eastbound LSL with the Pullman cars to access the 17 car long platforms.