First train leaves Roanoke (10/31/17)

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New service is always great news but what is sad is that you have two beautiful little used stations by the tracks in Roanoke and none are Amtrak waiting areas. I believe those tracks at Roanoke extend to TN. Perhaps this presents a future opportunity to get train service back to that state
 
New service is always great news but what is sad is that you have two beautiful little used stations by the tracks in Roanoke and none are Amtrak waiting areas. I believe those tracks at Roanoke extend to TN. Perhaps this presents a future opportunity to get train service back to that state
Hopefully TN will step uto the plate to fund such, once Virginia is done with extending it to Bristol.
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This morning I appear to be on the first 171 Roanoker due to storm cancellation yesterday. Rosey today though.
The storm has no effect on service to Roanoke yesterday, as service didn't start until today. 171 went to Lynchburg yesterday and deadheaded to Roanoke.
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Wasn't the 171 a shorter run than originally scheduled yesterday using a substitute consist?
 
This morning I appear to be on the first 171 Roanoker due to storm cancellation yesterday. Rosey today though.
The storm has no effect on service to Roanoke yesterday, as service didn't start until today. 171 went to Lynchburg yesterday and deadheaded to Roanoke.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Amtrak Forum mobile app
Wasn't the 171 a shorter run than originally scheduled yesterday using a substitute consist?
Just looked, and it still had 8 cars, which is what 171 and 176 has been running with all week so far.
 
This morning I appear to be on the first 171 Roanoker due to storm cancellation yesterday. Rosey today though.
The storm has no effect on service to Roanoke yesterday, as service didn't start until today. 171 went to Lynchburg yesterday and deadheaded to Roanoke.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Amtrak Forum mobile app
Wasn't the 171 a shorter run than originally scheduled yesterday using a substitute consist?
Just looked, and it still had 8 cars, which is what 171 and 176 has been running with all week so far.
I did not mean length of the consist. I meant length of the run. My understanding from reading various other rail related groups is that it did not originate from Boston as it is normally supposed to. Did I misinterpret what I read? It is possible.
 
This morning I appear to be on the first 171 Roanoker due to storm cancellation yesterday. Rosey today though.
The storm has no effect on service to Roanoke yesterday, as service didn't start until today. 171 went to Lynchburg yesterday and deadheaded to Roanoke.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Amtrak Forum mobile app
Wasn't the 171 a shorter run than originally scheduled yesterday using a substitute consist?
Just looked, and it still had 8 cars, which is what 171 and 176 has been running with all week so far.
I did not mean length of the consist. I meant length of the run. My understanding from reading various other rail related groups is that it did not originate from Boston as it is normally supposed to. Did I misinterpret what I read? It is possible.
Ah, gotcha. Yesterday it originated in Boston was it should've. Everything real fine yesterday. Monday it originated in NYP.
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TN is currently not interested in expanding passenger rail service in the state. However, once service is extended to Bristol, there would literally be passenger rail service on East Tennessee's doorstep (assuming they use the old Bristol train depot as the station). That could change TN's attitude toward passenger rail along the Eastern border of the state, especially if many Johnson City, Knoxville, and Chattanooga residents drive to Bristol to board the train. In the intern, Amtrak could run a Thruway Motorcoach south from Bristol along I-81/I-75/I-59 to Johnson City, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Birmingham, and along I-40 to Nashville. (I chose Birmingham for the Crescent connection because the Atlanta station problems preclude running the Chattanooga Thruway to that city).
 
I know that there is no direct train route between either NFK or NPN and RNK. However, what I found interesting on the Amtrak site is that I can't theoretically book a round trip from either NFK or NPN to RNK via transfer in WAS. The only way I could take Amtrak to Roanoke would be to book one way from either NFK or NPN to WAS and then book another segment from WAS to RNK. Then I would have to do the same for the return trip. Thus I would have a total of four segments for a round trip.

So why doesn't the Amtrak site allow for a round trip with transfer in WAS even though the layover there wouldn't be terribly long?
 
... once service is extended to Bristol, there would literally be passenger rail service on East Tennessee's doorstep. That could change TN's attitude toward passenger rail along the Eastern border of the state .. In the interim, Amtrak could run a Thruway Motorcoach south from Bristol along I-81/I-75/I-59 to Johnson City, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Birmingham ...
Yes, I agree. States like Tennessee and Iowa that have been hold-outs against passenger rail could begin to feel envy when their neighbors start to enjoy better service.

And yes, Amtrak should test and build the market beyond Roanoke with Thruway service to Bristol and beyond.

Having a train route -Bristol-Knoxville-Chattanooga-Birmingham could solve the low ridership problem of the south end of the Crescent. And if Atlanta hasn't solved its station problem by then, Birmingham will look really good. Then ATL will feel envy. LOL.
 
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They can't keep extending trains indefinitely. The only reason VA service works is because they just take trainsets that would be sitting in DC overnight and send them to Richmond or points beyond, but you can only do that for so long. Bringing 171/176 west again runs up against reasonable calling times at the terminus, plus I would think crew rest overnight, and increases the chance of a delayed train by the time it makes DC, which is bad for NEC passengers that I expect make up most of the set's ridership. And the answer can't be to just add another train because of the lack of Long Bridge slots (I think VA has one or two unused, but VRE will surely want more capacity at some point with their plans to increase service on the western line) and to a lesser extent the RF&P. They've done wonderful work with this model, but it doesn't have much further it can be pushed.
 
Right, people on various website want to extend this train all the way throughout the south, but it just won't work as Keellhauled points out. The train's attraction is that it allows a day's work in D.C. If all those places in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, etc., want train service they have to step up to the plate like Virginia has and sponsor their own trains. I don't think Tennessee would get all worked up on sponsoring a train if the Lynchburger was extended to Bristol. After all, Tennessee has had Amtrak service on its west side (CONO) since the beginning of Amtrak, but hasn't cared less about adding new service out of Memphis.

The Lynchburger has been a success, let it remain a success.
 
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[SIZE=11.6667px]A Bristol to Atlanta route would be a no-brainer. I know that Atlanta Peachtree is not an option but perhaps a new station on the North side of Atlanta just for this service? [/SIZE]

I'm not saying the Bristol train would itself be extended to Atlanta... but that route would be a great route with very large population centers being served.

And while the route from Chattanooga to Birmingham isn't quite as densely populates as northern Georgia, it would still see good ridershipI think.
 
They can't keep extending trains indefinitely. The only reason VA service works is because they just take trainsets that would be sitting in DC overnight and send them to Richmond or points beyond, but you can only do that for so long. ... They've done wonderful work with this model, but it doesn't have much further it can be pushed.
Not thinking that Bristol-Knoxville-Chattanooga-Birmingham would be modeled on the Amtrak Virginia trains. That's a different thing.

This "Bristol train" would have to be modeled on the Crescent or the Lake Shore Ltd. Ya know? A long distance train, with sleepers, and passengers sleeping between Roanoke and Knoxville, and right thru Bristol, like they used to do. LOL.

Also not thinking it will be soon. It will take time, money, equipment, host railroad agreement etc. But it might come as soon as a revived Broadway Ltd.
 
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TN is currently not interested in expanding passenger rail service in the state. However, once service is extended to Bristol, there would literally be passenger rail service on East Tennessee's doorstep (assuming they use the old Bristol train depot as the station). That could change TN's attitude toward passenger rail along the Eastern border of the state, especially if many Johnson City, Knoxville, and Chattanooga residents drive to Bristol to board the train. In the intern, Amtrak could run a Thruway Motorcoach south from Bristol along I-81/I-75/I-59 to Johnson City, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Birmingham, and along I-40 to Nashville. (I chose Birmingham for the Crescent connection because the Atlanta station problems preclude running the Chattanooga Thruway to that city).
That sounds like a good plan....

Tennessee might be more interested, if instead, or in addition to going from Chattanooga to Birmingham, the train went from Chattanooga to Memphis, albeit via AL, and MS......
 
Right, people on various website want to extend this train all the way throughout the south, but it just won't work as Keellhauled points out. The train's attraction is that it allows a day's work in D.C. If all those places in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, etc., want train service they have to step up to the plate like Virginia has and sponsor their own trains. I don't think Tennessee would get all worked up on sponsoring a train if the Lynchburger was extended to Bristol. After all, Tennessee has had Amtrak service on its west side (CONO) since the beginning of Amtrak, but hasn't cared less about adding new service out of Memphis.

The Lynchburger has been a success, let it remain a success.
It seems to me that there are still many possibilities for quick wins... cities close to the Northeast Corridor (perhaps < 100 miles?) which could relatively easily be added to the network like Roanoke, by extending or re-routing existing Northeast Regional service.

As Mike explains above, the huge advantage for Roanoke is not the long-distance possibilities, but the new availability of a day return to DC, or a overnight / weekend trip to Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, etc.

Which other large cities might be contenders for such additional service?
 
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