Best line I've heard on an Amtrak train

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There are a few operational issues between Charlotte and Greensboro.

There's Pomona intermodal yard just south of Greensboro off of track 1 (east track). Linwood yard sits just north of Salisbury and is off of track 2, the west track. So getting from Salisbury to Greensboro and vice versa is a challenge.

Also, the station platforms at Kannapolis and Salisbury are adjacent to track 2 (the west track) only. So there is a lot of crossing trains back and forth to get to the right track and keep them out of each other's way. There are plans to install a pedestrian bridge (like at Fullerton, CA) over the tracks (with elevators) at both stations to alleviate that.

The increase in freight traffic in the area seemed to coincide with the closure of the yard at Chattanooga.

Lastly, PTC was just started being used for the Piedmont trains about three weeks ago. All the other trains have been using it for a while.

jb
 
One time I was on a very late eastbound EB in Minnesota and the train suddenly went into emergency. I had a scanner and when they walked the train, they quickly found the duct tape on the air line between the baggage and transdorm had fallen off. They repaired it with more duct tape, pumped up the and we ready to go.

What they announced to the passengers is that we "hit a deer" (logical occurrence in Minnesota).

Guess they didn't want to announce the duct tape had fallen off the brake line...
 
When we got to Albuquerque on the Southwest Chief, we got off to walk around a bit. . We got off at Albuquerque and walked around some. My seatmate (not with us but assigned that seat) ran into us near the train and said, "Oh my gosh I am glad you are here. I thought maybe I had missed my stop." NOTE--Her stop was Chicago, same as ours. It was also the last possible stop for the train. I would think even the most geographically challenged person may see that Albuquerque and it's dry, dusty appearance is NOT Chicago.
 
I would think even the most geographically challenged person may see that Albuquerque and it's dry, dusty appearance is NOT Chicago.

Perhaps 10-12 years ago, I read an article that indicated less than 50% (or a substantial number like that) of high school seniors could reasonably point to Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago on a 'blank' outline map of the USA lower 48. Even fewer still could accurately indicate what the 'main business' was in Washington DC. Sadly, our education system in the USA is pumping out illiterates with a high school diploma. But then, the dropout rate is astronomical from my high school days in the early '60s.
 
One time I was on a very late eastbound EB in Minnesota and the train suddenly went into emergency. I had a scanner and when they walked the train, they quickly found the duct tape on the air line between the baggage and transdorm had fallen off. They repaired it with more duct tape, pumped up the and we ready to go.

What they announced to the passengers is that we "hit a deer" (logical occurrence in Minnesota).

Guess they didn't want to announce the duct tape had fallen off the brake line...

I'll put it this way. If I was a passenger who was just your Average Joe which many passengers are, and far from a railfan who understands this kinda stuff, I'd rather hear we hit a deer as opposed to we had an issue with the brakes. Even though a Air Hose is an easy fix, still best to keep passengers from freaking out. ;)
 
Perhaps 10-12 years ago, I read an article that indicated less than 50% (or a substantial number like that) of high school seniors could reasonably point to Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago on a 'blank' outline map of the USA lower 48. Even fewer still could accurately indicate what the 'main business' was in Washington DC. Sadly, our education system in the USA is pumping out illiterates with a high school diploma. But then, the dropout rate is astronomical from my high school days in the early '60s.
I just graduated high school last year and was never taught the locations of any cities besides knowing what state each capital was in. Virtually all the knowledge I have about geography comes from personal research or travel.
 
I'll put it this way. If I was a passenger who was just your Average Joe which many passengers are, and far from a railfan who understands this kinda stuff, I'd rather hear we hit a deer as opposed to we had an issue with the brakes. Even though a Air Hose is an easy fix, still best to keep passengers from freaking out. ;)
I suppose that is true, although being an animal lover my big fear whenever the train comes to a sudden stop in the middle of nowhere is that we hit an animal. I would rather know that a mechanical issue is present and being fixed by the crew than think a deer is dead, although admittedly most people follow a very different line of logic. So far, I have been on two trains that hit animals, both on the CZ in Utah. Once was a stray cow in the middle of the desert, while the other was a deer in the Wasatch Mountains that had apparently been previously hit by a freight train.
 
One time I was on a very late eastbound EB in Minnesota and the train suddenly went into emergency. I had a scanner and when they walked the train, they quickly found the duct tape on the air line between the baggage and transdorm had fallen off. They repaired it with more duct tape, pumped up the and we ready to go.

What they announced to the passengers is that we "hit a deer" (logical occurrence in Minnesota).

Guess they didn't want to announce the duct tape had fallen off the brake line...

If duct tape can’t fix it you aren’t using enough duct tape.

Rule 1: If it moves and it isn’t supposed to try duct tape. If it’s supposed to move and doesn’t try WD40. For all other problems try a hammer
 
I just graduated high school last year and was never taught the locations of any cities besides knowing what state each capital was in. Virtually all the knowledge I have about geography comes from personal research or travel.

Get off the train in Albuquerque and you will soon realize you are not in New York City.
 
One time I was on a very late eastbound EB in Minnesota and the train suddenly went into emergency. I had a scanner and when they walked the train, they quickly found the duct tape on the air line between the baggage and transdorm had fallen off. They repaired it with more duct tape, pumped up the and we ready to go.

What they announced to the passengers is that we "hit a deer" (logical occurrence in Minnesota).

Guess they didn't want to announce the duct tape had fallen off the brake line...
Duct tape works great on my vacuum cleaner hoses, so why not on other air lines? : )
 
Get off the train in Albuquerque and you will soon realize you are not in New York City.
Of course I would, but I know multiple people who wouldn't be able to tell the difference between downtown Albuquerque and suburban Chicago. Both are flat and moderate density, and if you didn't see the mountains there would likely be no sand indicating a desert visible from the train in downtown Albuquerque. I think a lot of experienced travelers such as those on this forum dramatically underestimate the lack of geographical knowledge some people have. Attached are Google Maps street view photos of downtown Albuquerque and Berwyn, Illinois, an inner suburb of Chicago along the Southwest Chief route.
 

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One of my favorites is a lady on the Texas Eagle riding from Austin to Chicago who kept asking every Conductor,OBS and many of the Passengers till we got to Joliet , if this was the Train to Chicago??!!!

On Saturday a couple got on the wrong TE in Ft Worth and ended up 150 miles the wrong way before figuring it out and getting off.

Jim
 
Of course I would, but I know multiple people who wouldn't be able to tell the difference between downtown Albuquerque and suburban Chicago. Both are flat and moderate density, and if you didn't see the mountains there would likely be no sand indicating a desert visible from the train in downtown Albuquerque. I think a lot of experienced travelers such as those on this forum dramatically underestimate the lack of geographical knowledge some people have. Attached are Google Maps street view photos of downtown Albuquerque and Berwyn, Illinois, an inner suburb of Chicago along the Southwest Chief route.

You can see mountains from virtually any random spot in Albuquerque. The big old Spanish Revival train station, even to someone that is not architecturally inclined, screams "Southwest," which is not a word anyone sane is going to use about Chicago, unless they mean "which part of Lake Michigan is Chicago on." I can't conceive of a way to confuse the two, really.
 
You can see mountains from virtually any random spot in Albuquerque. The big old Spanish Revival train station, even to someone that is not architecturally inclined, screams "Southwest," which is not a word anyone sane is going to use about Chicago, unless they mean "which part of Lake Michigan is Chicago on." I can't conceive of a way to confuse the two, really.

Nothing will ever be made foolproof, because fools are so ingenious....
 
You can see mountains from virtually any random spot in Albuquerque. The big old Spanish Revival train station, even to someone that is not architecturally inclined, screams "Southwest," which is not a word anyone sane is going to use about Chicago, unless they mean "which part of Lake Michigan is Chicago on." I can't conceive of a way to confuse the two, really.


You've obviously never seen the Spanish revival station in Homewood, Il.
 
20 years ago I was working at the Phillips Beach Plaza Hotel on the Boardwalk at Ocean City Maryland. I had a guest walk in to the hotel off of the boardwalk and ask me, "What is the name of that lake?" I smiled, thinking it was a joke, but the guy was serious. He had no idea that he had booked a room at a ocean front hotel and didn't realize the ocean wasn't a lake.

Perhaps 10-12 years ago, I read an article that indicated less than 50% (or a substantial number like that) of high school seniors could reasonably point to Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago on a 'blank' outline map of the USA lower 48. Even fewer still could accurately indicate what the 'main business' was in Washington DC. Sadly, our education system in the USA is pumping out illiterates with a high school diploma. But then, the dropout rate is astronomical from my high school days in the early '60s.
 
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Having dinner in the diner on the SWC out of LA a few years ago, one clueless individual at my table commented to me that he was "looking forward to our arrival in Chicago in about 4 hours". I corrected his estimate, saying that it would be more like 40 hours.

Perhaps he thought he was on the SWA instead of the SWC.
 
Being a "guru" is a fine achievement but hardly necessary. But I think anyone who's passed the eighth grade ought to know in which general direction to start traveling when one of the 25 largest cities in the country is named...no matter where he's standing in the "lower 48."

Myself, I've been a sailor, a private pilot, and an over-the-road truck driver. I generally know my way around....
 
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