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I would be hesitant about trusting their web site yet. As a lark, yesterday I tried to see what the reservation procedure was. I picked Nov 14 from Chicago. There was A type compartment for $1900+ (for 2), B type (for 2) for $0.00 then C & D for $800/$500 (if I remember correctly). So I picked B. It actually let me select it then wanted to know if I wanted electronic ticketing ($0.00) or mailed tickets ($25.00). I chose electronic. Then it took me to the pay page. At that point I decided not to enter my CC info even though the price was $0.00. What would happen if I did?Resurrecting an old topic..
But, does anyone have some first-hand knowledge on how this venture is working out? Considering I've not heard a peep about Iowa Pacific's Pullman service in some months, I got curious. They are selling accommodations, and the next scheduled departure is from Chicago this Wednesday (Nov. 14th) enroute to New Orleans (I imagine hitched to the back of CONO.) According to the website, all choices of accommodation on that trip are still available... I'm not sure that is a good sign.
My thoughts exactly Jim!It's a nice looking O,peration for sure and IF one can Afford it, probably Worth it! Personally I think putting the $$ into trips on the Ocean and the Canadian would be more value for the dollar! The CONO and the LSL are not the best Routes Amtrak runs, wonder why they didnt use the Zephyr, Chief or the Empire Builder for these Land Cruises??
It's a nice looking O,peration for sure and IF one can Afford it, probably Worth it! Personally I think putting the $$ into trips on the Ocean and the Canadian would be more value for the dollar! The CONO and the LSL are not the best Routes Amtrak runs, wonder why they didnt use the Zephyr, Chief or the Empire Builder for these Land Cruises??
Disclaimer: Wish I could afford to ride anyway! :giggle:
The single night trip costs less to operate and aims at a different travel market than a 2 night Chicago to west coast service. The prices for a 2 night trip for CHI to LAX, based on their current prices, might be in the $2K to $5K range, which is a lot. The economics of and market for a 2 night trip, for what they are doing, has to be shakier than the one night service. At the prices they are charging, they are not going after the railfan - although there will be some who book the service, but the high income and wealthy individuals who live in NYC and Chicago who will take a luxury overnight train in place of flying to CHI or NYC.It's a nice looking O,peration for sure and IF one can Afford it, probably Worth it! Personally I think putting the $$ into trips on the Ocean and the Canadian would be more value for the dollar! The CONO and the LSL are not the best Routes Amtrak runs, wonder why they didnt use the Zephyr, Chief or the Empire Builder for these Land Cruises??
I generally agree with this as the main reasons for choosing this route first. The CONO is also one of Amtrak's shortest trains in terms of consist length, which also plays into the decision when adding an additional 6 heavyweight cars on the tail. As it is, Amtrak is placing a second locomotive at the point when hauling the Pullman cars, where-as the CONO would normally only run with one. When it comes time to run on the LSL, things could be interesting. I'm seeing three locomotives on the point very soon, including two dual-modes into NYP.Agreed, I think such a premimum service would do nicely on the "out west" trains like the CZ and the SWC. The reason though I bet they picked the CONO and the LSL is that a shorter trip allows equpiment to be turned and used more often. It also makes it easier to keep food stocked and fresh on each trip.
So I guess they are betting they will get "more bang for their buck" on these routes. Though I really hope the next line will either be the Card or CZ
They have to use Amtrak for a myriad of reasons. For the foreseeable future (if they continue to exist more than a few years and then fizzle out like AOE) the Pullman service will be permanently hitched to the back of a standard Amtrak consist like a red-headed stepchild.Are they pulled behind the CONO, or do they have their own loco?
I was not writing about the really wealthy people who would charter a private biz jet to travel between NYC and CHI. Or own their own biz jet. The market for the Pullman are the higher income and comfortably off types who can afford to pay $2K or $4K without worrying about it. NYC has more millionaires than any other place in the US by a respectable margin as I recall.Well, I have no idea who they're targeting right now. Wealthy people would presumably be able to charter a car wherever they wanted to go. This service won't really cater to folks like that. Rail fans may not be rich but they might be willing to save up and splurge on a luxury rail trip as we've seen in numerous trip reports on this very forum. Folks like me, who aren't rich but have little or no debt to worry about can afford these sorts of trips by controlling spending elsewhere in the budget. Once you start traveling internationally $2K - $5K doesn't sound quite so outlandish anymore. My vacation time is usually in short supply but I've still managed to take weekend trips as far away as Tokyo as it's much easier to get a Friday and Monday off than a full week. In any case my guess is that this service is intended for professionals who are curious about passenger rail and want a step up from the current sleeper class. Another theory is that this service is intended to help capture sales of folks who book late and find the Amtrak cars sold out. Unfortunately, since Amtrak apparently has no reservation agreement with the Pullman operation I'm doubtful most folks who encounter sold out trains will even be aware that this option exists. Seems like some sort of commission or revenue sharing arrangement would be highly preferable to the current scenario where folks just randomly stumble upon this. Are there any signs or other indicators at the stations where these cars operate?
Why would Amtrak or smart Government ever consider such an idea when it would increase the loss for Amtrak by doing so?I always believed that the future of Amtrak, included replacing their sleepers (on some routes) with those owned and run by an outside service (or selling some routes off to private railroads) but there is no indication that this is even being considered. With the huge deficit and fiscal crisis that Washington has created, (and now has to deal with) anything may be possible. Time will tell. .
Just as a matter of interest, are there still many people who own and travel in their own PV?I was not writing about the really wealthy people who would charter a private biz jet to travel between NYC and CHI. Or own their own biz jet. The market for the Pullman are the higher income and comfortably off types who can afford to pay $2K or $4K without worrying about it. NYC has more millionaires than any other place in the US by a respectable margin as I recall.
Private varnish is similar in cost to a nice house. A private jet is similar in cost to DOZENS of nice houses.Just as a matter of interest, are there still many people who own and travel in their own PV? That probably compares to a private jet cost-wise, but would take a more railroad-inclined person.
No additional switch is needed in Pittsburgh to manage the car shuffling needed in the eastbound direction. The crossover that we hear about is needed for doing the same shuffle in reverse in the westbound direction. So the eastbound can already be run via Pittsburgh without any new crossover construction. Indeed I believe their preference might be to run it westbound via Pittsburgh too, if they could, but currently they can't.My understanding is....
The current runs on the City of New Orleans is for training. They do plan to use this route for service.
The New York and Chicago route that has not seen a train, will be the Capitol Limited route east to Pittsburgh then connect with the Pennsylvanian to New York. Still waiting on that switch in Pittsburgh. Also may change if the Lake Shore Limited flips with the Capitol Limited.
This is the most helpful post I've seen in this topic. Thank you jis. That clears a lot up.No additional switch is needed in Pittsburgh to manage the car shuffling needed in the eastbound direction. The crossover that we hear about is needed for doing the same shuffle in reverse in the westbound direction. That is why only the eastbound is via Pittsburgh.My understanding is....
The current runs on the City of New Orleans is for training. They do plan to use this route for service.
The New York and Chicago route that has not seen a train, will be the Capitol Limited route east to Pittsburgh then connect with the Pennsylvanian to New York. Still waiting on that switch in Pittsburgh. Also may change if the Lake Shore Limited flips with the Capitol Limited.
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 and engine or two AFAICT.
Yeah, tracks 7 & 8, with 8 being the last track that can still get to the Empire connection, can both support a 13 car train. But that leaves no room for an engine. And maybe, just maybe, track 8 could support 1 car/engine hanging off the platform without fowling any interlocking if they hung half the engine off at one end and half a car off the other 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.
Neither was I. Private jets, private yachts, and exotic sports and luxury cars are mainstream purchases among wealthy individuals. While private varnish is a rarther sparse secondary market of limited appeal, even among the extremely wealthy. For example, who is still making brand new private rail cars the same way numerous brands are still making brand new private jets and luxury yachts and exotic automobiles? Nobody I know of. Private varnish is a market that is so tiny compared to other luxury transportation that it's barely on the map at all.I was not writing about the really wealthy people who would charter a private biz jet to travel between NYC and CHI. Or own their own biz jet.
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