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picnic42

Train Attendant
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
37
Location
Frankfort, Kentucky
The Amtrak employee by the name of Jensen, I think his first name was Bruce, at the Emeryville CA station was particularly helpful in announcing the CZ train and how to board etc. In his announcement he mentioned we all need to contact our Senators and Congressmen etc. to keep AMTRAK rolling!

Is there a place here or an other area on the internet to speak out or help AMTRAK to keep rolling?

How can we help to keep the trains rolling and ON TIME?

There seems to be issues with the freight trains now having precedence over the passenger trains, since they own the track we ride on. This rule change seems to have happened some time in 2013?

Also, some of our equipment is pretty old and failing often. On the SWC our #2 engine kept failing and caused us to be 12 hours late (along with being but behind freight trains)

I heard "Boardman" was on the SWC Chief heading west on or near the 11th or 12th of July. I am afraid he did not get the real picture of things about being late... I heard that actually some trains were set aside to make sure his train passed thru without delay.

I am very pleased with our last round trip "Outwest" that I need to try to do my part to keep things going and even improve our train system!

Can someone point me in the right direction to help or support?

Ralph
 
California, generally speaking, is not one of the problem states. The big problem states are generally non-seaboard states that tend to turn red on election maps. Not saying it's an inherently partisan issue, but those are also generally the states that either are undeveloped (and thus really don't have need for vast train networks, especially outside of any major cities) or developed since the car (and thus are very car centric) or lost vast amounts of service when the eastern railroads collapsed in the 60s and 70s. Since they are generally vastly under served by Amtrak and don't have the political momentum to establish passenger rail, they see Amtrak as a huge waste of money that they pay for and receive no benefit for that money.

Changing that is a huge uphill battle.
 
Green Maned Lion said:
California, generally speaking, is not one of the problem states. The big problem states are generally non-seaboard states that tend to turn red on election maps. Not saying it's an inherently partisan issue, but those are also generally the states that either are undeveloped (and thus really don't have need for vast train networks, especially outside of any major cities) or developed since the car (and thus are very car centric) or lost vast amounts of service when the eastern railroads collapsed in the 60s and 70s. Since they are generally vastly under served by Amtrak and don't have the political momentum to establish passenger rail, they see Amtrak as a huge waste of money that they pay for and receive no benefit for that money.
Click to expand...
One of the most unfortunate things that has happened in recent years is the growing tendency to paint passenger rail into a red/blue. There is not way that this should ever have happened.

Its in-state passenger rail service in one of the best things California does. A few of things have been very helpful in making that happen, some of which are unique to the state.

First, Look at the carriers on which they operate: The San Joaquin and San Diegan servcies operate on BNSF, formerly AT&SF tracks which was and is a generally passenger friendly railroad. Sit in the upper level behind the cab in the southbound San Joaquin trains and listening to the dispatcher-engineer talk and you would think you are hearing the planning to keep the Super Chief rolling. The Capitol Corridor trains, although now Union Pacific was Southern Pacific when it started and the SP was so desperate financially they would agree to almost anything that would bring in cash. The route is near dead level and double track so real freight train interference would require planning. This gets you to the most important point of all for any work a day short to medium distance passenger service: operational reliability, or to put it anouther way, general adherence to schedule.

Second: When talking about the routes, the alignment geometries permit reasonably high average speeds as curves are fairly large in radius and widely spaced. The exception, the San Diegan route is paralleled by a very congested highway, so its somewhat slow average speed still leaves it fast enough to be a realistic contended for moving people.

Third, the spacing of population centers makes for realistic overall travel times and their populations makes for a fairly high demand base.

Fourth: The state has been very consistent in its support of the service. Over the years stations have been remodeled, restored, rebuilt, replaced, platforms built new and smooth. Equipment is generally in good condition, the staff tends to be very positive in attidude, food service seems to have hit the right spot for the service and again, is consistent. All in all, the service has generally achieved the status of that motel chain advertizement of several years back: "The best surprise is no surprise."

Finally, let's not forget a well planned and functional system of captive bus route interfaces at multiple points along the way.

There are not many other places where what California has done would be possible. Ohio might be one, but it would take cooperation of neighboring states to get very far, for example, Detroit, Pittsburg and Indianapolis. There may also be the need for considerable improvements in track capacity and speeds. Texas, specifically the "Texas Triangle" might be another, but it would require MAJOR improvements to increase track speeds for scheduled times to be marketable.
 
I wasn't suggesting it was really a red/blue issue. It just happens to be mostly in states fitting my description. Correlation does not imply causation.
 

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