Amtrak Thanksgiving extras

[jis]

Yeah, as far as I can tell, and Thirdrail can of course correct me if I am wrong, it has been a long time since Amtrak ran any "extra sections". They do run additional time tabled trains for which a separate time table is published.

 

[PVD]

Last extra sections I rode were on "Eastern Air Shuttle" They kept rolling out planes until everyone on line was on a plane. Collected fares on board. Sometimes the hours would blend.....(still doing extras for 5 o'clock when it was time for 6 o'clock) but as they went to bigger planes it was less common

 

[City of Miami]

176 out of Roanoke had 9 coaches + engine this morning [that is 1 extra coach]. Enough leaves have fallen now that I can see it clearly from my home as it passes through CVS.This augmented consist has been normal in past years around TG and maybe 1 or 2 other occasions. But in view of the reported limitation at Roanoke, variously attributed on another thread to overnight storage space, platform or wye, one wonders how this is possible.

 

[Ryan]

Pay attention to sources. The one that knows what they are talking about says it’s the wye, and that they are looking at an increase to 10.

Sounds to me like that’s a tight fit, but 10 can be accommodated.

If you see more than that, then they’re doing the extra work to cut the consist and wye it in pieces.

 

[PVD]

i would imagine that need be, you could probably add/drop a car with the engine swap in Washington if you cant run it all the way South.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Last extra sections I rode were on "Eastern Air Shuttle" They kept rolling out planes until everyone on line was on a plane. Collected fares on board. Sometimes the hours would blend.....(still doing extras for 5 o'clock when it was time for 6 o'clock) but as they went to bigger planes it was less common

Except now, when we roll out an extra plane, it will be a jet-powered Electra. (from a Washington Post ad I have when they retired the 1049 Constellations.

 

[PVD]

Connies, Electras, DC-9, 727, and towards the end A-300 (only Boston, not permitted to DCA at the time) If a DC-9 was the first section, the Electra was waiting in the wings (ouch). Then, when the Electras retired it was 727-DC-9. The 727-200s were around pretty much till the end of the actual shuttle...They flew for US Air and Trump also

 

[west point]

A-300 B2Ks were the preferred plane for the shuttles as they had lower weight limits that were fine for short haul trips and not much baggage. They also served DCA ( Washington national ) as they had a very good sound profile especially when taking off to the north. AFAIK largest aircraft to ever serve DCA .

 

[PVD]

I thought that regular service to DCA was denied using the "excuse" that the weight not distributed over a large enough area because of the arrangement of the gear. I have seen a video of a DC-10 land at DCA but that was a diversion, not a scheduled flight.

 

[Guest]

Thanks all for the info. My train was indeed a standard NEC consist - total of 8 passenger cars with one being business class. Interestingly two of the eight had reupholstered seats. Seats look nicer but with the same floors and walls, a bit odd looking.

 

[PVD]

The cars are being refurbed in "stages" seat covers and cushions, carpet, restroom floors, wainscoting, bulkhead walls, lighting, BC curtains and cafe car service areas are done as material and schedule allows. The hoped for completion is next summer.