What would you add?

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Bluegrass: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville

Buckeye: Detroit - Toledo - Columbus

Cincinnatian: Detroit - Toledo - Cincinnati

Cuyahoga Valley: Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland

Pioneer Zephyr: Chicago - Davenport - Cedar Rapids

Queen City Limited: Chicago - Indianapolis - Cincinnati
Pretty good name/route matches....except for the Chicago-Davenport-Cedar Rapids one....maybe more appropriate to call it, "Hawkeye Rocket" or something like that?
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How 'bout something along the lines of "the Iowan" or "Iowa Zephyr"?
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Bluegrass: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville

Buckeye: Detroit - Toledo - Columbus

Cincinnatian: Detroit - Toledo - Cincinnati

Cuyahoga Valley: Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland

Pioneer Zephyr: Chicago - Davenport - Cedar Rapids

Queen City Limited: Chicago - Indianapolis - Cincinnati
Pretty good name/route matches....except for the Chicago-Davenport-Cedar Rapids one....maybe more appropriate to call it, "Hawkeye Rocket" or something like that?
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Changed to the Iowan. Thanks for the name suggestions!
De nada.
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I would add the Ozark Range Runner: St. Louis - Springfield - Tulsa - Oklahoma City.

The Springfield stop would also serve the major tourist destination of Branson, MO, and would be connect to Branson by a Thruway Motorcoach. I'd chose the train name because it runs through the Ozarks and because it would continue the "Runner" branding of Missouri's passenger trains. The service would be funded by both the MO and OK DOT's
 
Kansas City Hub:

Heartland Flyer: Kansas City - Oklahoma City - Fort Worth

Kansas City Zephyr: Chicago - Galesburg - Kansas City

Prairie Star: Kansas City - Hastings - Denver

Los Angeles Hub:

Apache Limited: Los Angeles - Yuma - Phoenix

Desert Wind: Los Angeles - Las Vegas

Golden Gate: Los Angeles - San Jose - San Fransisco (CalTrains Station)
 
Desert Wind: Los Angeles - Las Vegas
Why not have the Desert Wind run its entire former route: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - SLC - Ogden?
It seemed a little long for a corridor route. The original Desert Wind was long-distance, and the meeting times were impractical with the California Zephyr. All of the posts I make here, unless stated otherwise, are Corridor proposals.
 
Desert Wind: Los Angeles - Las Vegas
Why not have the Desert Wind run its entire former route: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - SLC - Ogden?
It seemed a little long for a corridor route. The original Desert Wind was long-distance, and the meeting times were impractical with the California Zephyr. All of the posts I make here, unless stated otherwise, are Corridor proposals.
Got it.
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I would add the Ozark Range Runner: St. Louis - Springfield - Tulsa - Oklahoma City.

The Springfield stop would also serve the major tourist destination of Branson, MO, and would be connect to Branson by a Thruway Motorcoach. I'd chose the train name because it runs through the Ozarks and because it would continue the "Runner" branding of Missouri's passenger trains. The service would be funded by both the MO and OK DOT's
How about, "Sooner Runner"?
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I would add the Ozark Range Runner: St. Louis - Springfield - Tulsa - Oklahoma City.

The Springfield stop would also serve the major tourist destination of Branson, MO, and would be connect to Branson by a Thruway Motorcoach. I'd chose the train name because it runs through the Ozarks and because it would continue the "Runner" branding of Missouri's passenger trains. The service would be funded by both the MO and OK DOT's
How about, "Sooner Runner"?
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That’d reignite the OU-Mizzou rivalry, all right!BOOMER!
 
**Long Distance**

This list includes new routes as well as current routes that have been altered.

Chicago Hub:

Empire State: Chicago - Detroit - Niagara Falls - Albany - New York Penn

Peachtree: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Atlanta

Silver Comet: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Atlanta - Orlando - Tampa

Great Plainsman: Chicago - Omaha - Denver

Bostonian: Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland - Buffalo - Albany - Springfield - Boston

Lake Shore Limited: Chicago - Detroit - Niagara Falls - Buffalo - Albany - Springfield - Boston

New York Hub:

Silver Meteor: New York Penn - Washington - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Tampa

Silver Palm: New York Penn - Washington - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Miami

21st Century Limited: New York Penn - Philadelphia - Pittsburgh - Cleveland - Toledo - Chicago

Los Angeles Hub:

Texas Chief: Los Angeles - Phoenix - El Paso - Dallas

Centennial: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Grand Junction - Denver

Other ideas? Suggestions? Comments? Concerns? Quote the post and add your own, or drop a line!
 
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**Long Distance**

This list includes new routes as well as current routes that have been altered.

Chicago Hub:

Empire State: Chicago - Detroit - Niagara Falls - Albany - New York Penn

Peachtree: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Atlanta

Silver Comet: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Atlanta - Orlando - Tampa

Great Plainsman: Chicago - Omaha - Denver

Bostonian: Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland - Buffalo - Albany - Springfield - Boston

Lake Shore Limited: Chicago - Detroit - Niagara Falls - Buffalo - Albany - Springfield - Boston

New York Hub:

Silver Meteor: New York Penn - Washington - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Tampa

Silver Palm: New York Penn - Washington - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Miami

21st Century Limited: New York Penn - Philadelphia - Pittsburgh - Cleveland - Toledo - Chicago

Los Angeles Hub:

Texas Chief: Los Angeles - Phoenix - El Paso - Dallas

Centennial: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Grand Junction - Denver

Other ideas? Suggestions? Comments? Concerns? Quote the post and add your own, or drop a line!
Seems weird to call the train going through Philly and Pittsburgh the "21st Century Limited" but you can call it whatever you want:)

Could you combine the Centennial and Great Plainsman into one Chicago-Los Angeles train via Las Vegas-Denver?

Why not just have the Silver Palm go to Tampa and keep the Meteor to Miami?

Great adds though. Several of the old Amtrak routes cut brought back.
 
**Long Distance**

This list includes new routes as well as current routes that have been altered.

Chicago Hub:

Empire State: Chicago - Detroit - Niagara Falls - Albany - New York Penn

Peachtree: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Atlanta

Silver Comet: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Atlanta - Orlando - Tampa

Great Plainsman: Chicago - Omaha - Denver

Bostonian: Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland - Buffalo - Albany - Springfield - Boston

Lake Shore Limited: Chicago - Detroit - Niagara Falls - Buffalo - Albany - Springfield - Boston

New York Hub:

Silver Meteor: New York Penn - Washington - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Tampa

Silver Palm: New York Penn - Washington - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Miami

21st Century Limited: New York Penn - Philadelphia - Pittsburgh - Cleveland - Toledo - Chicago

Los Angeles Hub:

Texas Chief: Los Angeles - Phoenix - El Paso - Dallas

Centennial: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Grand Junction - Denver

Other ideas? Suggestions? Comments? Concerns? Quote the post and add your own, or drop a line!
Seems weird to call the train going through Philly and Pittsburgh the "21st Century Limited" but you can call it whatever you want:)
My vote is for the Capsylvanian.
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It seems like Minnesota's missing from these lists.
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If I were to add more routes, I'd add:

Duluth - St. Paul - Des Moines - Kansas City (perhaps connecting to an extended Heartland Flyer)

St. Paul - St. Cloud - Fargo - Grand Forks - Winnipeg

St. Paul - Mankato - Sioux City - Omaha - Kansas City

St. Paul - Willmar - Marshall - Sioux Falls - Sioux City - Omaha - Kansas City

Fargo - St. Cloud - St. Paul - Milwaukee - Chicago via both La Crosse and Eau Claire.

New trackage would be required, but St. Paul - Rochester - Winona and then to Chicago via the current Builder route would be another addition.

Just dreaming a bit.
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**Long Distance**

This list includes new routes as well as current routes that have been altered.

Chicago Hub:

Empire State: Chicago - Detroit - Niagara Falls - Albany - New York Penn

Peachtree: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Atlanta

Silver Comet: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Atlanta - Orlando - Tampa

Great Plainsman: Chicago - Omaha - Denver

Bostonian: Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland - Buffalo - Albany - Springfield - Boston

Lake Shore Limited: Chicago - Detroit - Niagara Falls - Buffalo - Albany - Springfield - Boston

New York Hub:

Silver Meteor: New York Penn - Washington - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Tampa

Silver Palm: New York Penn - Washington - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Miami

21st Century Limited: New York Penn - Philadelphia - Pittsburgh - Cleveland - Toledo - Chicago

Los Angeles Hub:

Texas Chief: Los Angeles - Phoenix - El Paso - Dallas

Centennial: Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Grand Junction - Denver

Other ideas? Suggestions? Comments? Concerns? Quote the post and add your own, or drop a line!
Seems weird to call the train going through Philly and Pittsburgh the "21st Century Limited" but you can call it whatever you want:)

Could you combine the Centennial and Great Plainsman into one Chicago-Los Angeles train via Las Vegas-Denver?

Why not just have the Silver Palm go to Tampa and keep the Meteor to Miami?

Great adds though. Several of the old Amtrak routes cut brought back.
1) The original routing didn’t seem to go much of anywhere major in PA, so I sent it south to run between Pittsburgh and Philly to add LD service to NYC as well as keep current LD service levels on the western end (Indiana and Ohio) after I routed the LSL via Michigan and Canada.

2) It’s possible. I had a reason for keeping them separate but for the life of me I can’t remember why now. Really need to write these things down [emoji6].

3) The idea was to keep the Comet and Meteor together because of the similarity between the celestial bodies. In reality, it would just be a switch of the names, as Miami wouldn’t lose any service.
 
There's been a lot of discussion on here about what Amtrak should be doing with the money it's getting. A lot of it focuses on service expansion, but the question is: where should service be expanded?

Say hello to the first incarnation of the Amtrak National Expansion and Modernization Project, or NEMP. 

(For those of you who follow my posts in the "What Would You Add?" thread, this is the same thing)

I had the idea for the NEMP when I made my first few posts in the "Amtrak's Future" forum. I took all of my ideas as well as many of the ones I saw from others in the thread and compiled them into one Word document (still in process). However, despite the actual paper copy not being complete, I was able to make this sample "system map", showing potential new routes for Amtrak in the future. Note: the Sunset East is still missing from this map (forgot to add it back), but it's on the list. 

This is by no means a "done deal". Changes will be made depending on what happens with actual service expansions or cuts as changes in city pairs. 

The list: 

Corridors:

Expanded Wolverines (2x pair)

Expanded Blue Waters (1x pair)

Expanded Pere Marquettes (1x pair GRR-CHI, 1x pair GRR-DET)

Expanded Hiawatha (2x pair)

Expanded Lincoln Service (2x pair)

Expanded Missouri River Runner (1x pair)

Extended Heartland Flyer to Wichita

Cincinnatian (Detroit-Toledo-Cincinnati)

Lake Cities (Detroit – Traverse City)

Buckeye (Detroit – Toledo – Columbus)

Bluegrass (Chicago – Indianapolis – Louisville)

Cuyahoga Valley (Chicago – Toledo – Cleveland)

Iowan (Chicago – Davenport – Cedar Rapids)

North Star (Chicago – Milwaukee – Minneapolis)

Lake State (Duluth - Minneapolis)

Prairie Rocket (Minneapolis - Omaha - Kansas City)

Black Hawk (Chicago – Dubuque)

Quad Cities Zephyr (Chicago – Quad Cities)

Queen City Limited (Chicago – Indianapolis – Cincinnati)

Prairie Star (Kansas City – Hastings – Denver)

Desert Wind (Los Angeles – Las Vegas)

Kansas City Zephyr (Chicago – Galesburg – Kansas City)

Apache Limited (Los Angeles – Yuma – Phoenix)

Golden Gate (Los Angeles – San Francisco)

Long Distance:

21st Century Limited (NYP – Philadelphia – Pittsburgh – Cleveland – Toledo – Chicago)

Bostonian (Chicago – Toledo – Cleveland – Buffalo – Albany – Springfield – Boston)

California Chief (Chicago - Omaha - Denver - Las Vegas - Los Angeles)

Empire State (Chicago – Detroit – Niagara Falls – Albany – NYP)

International (Chicago - Detroit - Toronto)

Lake Shore Limited (Chicago – Detroit – Albany – New York City)

Peachtree (Chicago – Indianapolis – Louisville – Nashville – Atlanta)

Silver Comet (Chicago – Indianapolis – Louisville – Nashville – Atlanta – Orlando – Tampa)

Silver Meteor (NYP– Washington – Savannah – Jacksonville – Orlando – Tampa)

Silver Palm (NYP – Washington – Savannah – Jacksonville – Orlando – Miami)

Sunset Limited (Los Angeles - San Antonio - Houston - New Orleans - Tallahassee - Orlando)

Texas Chief (Los Angeles – Phoenix – El Paso – Dallas)

Amtrak Expanded National Network.png
 
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Very 'creative' map....are you going to build railroads where there aren't any? :huh:
It's just a template that generally follows the interstate system, yes. I had trouble finding a RR map that was 1) nationwide and 2) wasn't marked. It's only a sample. 
 
Cincinnatian (Detroit-Toledo-Cincinnati)

Buckeye (Detroit – Toledo – Columbus)

Queen City Limited (Chicago – Indianapolis – Cincinnati)
If we're adding Columbus and adding service to Cincinnati, why not 3-C? Kasich is leaving the Governor's office soon, at least there's better than a 0% chance now I hope.

It would be good to see some more East-West service through Cincinnati and Columbus (via Pittsburgh/Philadelphia) as well.
 
There's been a lot of discussion on here about what Amtrak should be doing with the money it's getting. A lot of it focuses on service expansion, but the question is: where should service be expanded?

Say hello to the first incarnation of the Amtrak National Expansion and Modernization Project, or NEMP. 

(For those of you who follow my posts in the "What Would You Add?" thread, this is the same thing)

I had the idea for the NEMP when I made my first few posts in the "Amtrak's Future" forum. I took all of my ideas as well as many of the ones I saw from others in the thread and compiled them into one Word document (still in process). However, despite the actual paper copy not being complete, I was able to make this sample "system map", showing potential new routes for Amtrak in the future. Note: the Sunset East is still missing from this map (forgot to add it back), but it's on the list. 

This is by no means a "done deal". Changes will be made depending on what happens with actual service expansions or cuts as changes in city pairs. 

The list: 

Corridors:

Expanded Wolverines (2x pair)

Expanded Blue Waters (1x pair)

Expanded Pere Marquettes (1x pair GRR-CHI, 1x pair GRR-DET)

Expanded Hiawatha (2x pair)

Expanded Lincoln Service (2x pair)

Expanded Missouri River Runner (1x pair)

Extended Heartland Flyer to Wichita

Cincinnatian (Detroit-Toledo-Cincinnati)

Lake Cities (Detroit – Traverse City)

Buckeye (Detroit – Toledo – Columbus)

Bluegrass (Chicago – Indianapolis – Louisville)

Cuyahoga Valley (Chicago – Toledo – Cleveland)

Iowan (Chicago – Davenport – Cedar Rapids)

North Star (Chicago – Milwaukee – Minneapolis)

Lake State (Duluth - Minneapolis)

Prairie Rocket (Minneapolis - Omaha - Kansas City)

Black Hawk (Chicago – Dubuque)

Quad Cities Zephyr (Chicago – Quad Cities)

Queen City Limited (Chicago – Indianapolis – Cincinnati)

Prairie Star (Kansas City – Hastings – Denver)

Desert Wind (Los Angeles – Las Vegas)

Kansas City Zephyr (Chicago – Galesburg – Kansas City)

Apache Limited (Los Angeles – Yuma – Phoenix)

Golden Gate (Los Angeles – San Francisco)

Long Distance:

21st Century Limited (NYP – Philadelphia – Pittsburgh – Cleveland – Toledo – Chicago)

Bostonian (Chicago – Toledo – Cleveland – Buffalo – Albany – Springfield – Boston)

California Chief (Chicago - Omaha - Denver - Las Vegas - Los Angeles)

Empire State (Chicago – Detroit – Niagara Falls – Albany – NYP)

International (Chicago - Detroit - Toronto)

Lake Shore Limited (Chicago – Detroit – Albany – New York City)

Peachtree (Chicago – Indianapolis – Louisville – Nashville – Atlanta)

Silver Comet (Chicago – Indianapolis – Louisville – Nashville – Atlanta – Orlando – Tampa)

Silver Meteor (NYP– Washington – Savannah – Jacksonville – Orlando – Tampa)

Silver Palm (NYP – Washington – Savannah – Jacksonville – Orlando – Miami)

Sunset Limited (Los Angeles - San Antonio - Houston - New Orleans - Tallahassee - Orlando)

Texas Chief (Los Angeles – Phoenix – El Paso – Dallas)

View attachment 11138
I don't think that you should cut the Empire Builder. Also there are no tracks on that Vegas to Denver route.
 
The Desert Wind ran from Denver to Las Vegas, but via Ogden/Salt Lake City. Your map should show either a branch off the CZ route in SLC, or else a jog north from Denver to near Cheyenne to join the Union Pacific Overland Route west to Ogden and then south.
 
The Desert Wind ran from Denver to Las Vegas, but via Ogden/Salt Lake City. Your map should show either a branch off the CZ route in SLC, or else a jog north from Denver to near Cheyenne to join the Union Pacific Overland Route west to Ogden and then south.
There are also tracks going se from Provo. Unfortunately, the tracks from SLC to LV don't go through the populated areas. 
 
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