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Thanks! Arrived safe and sound to LAX, 7 hours and 21 minutes behind schedule (due to, inter alia, overheating of the no. 2 engine, a borrowed BN loco to remediate that issue, and signal problems). I will say that I've lived in LA my entire life and I've never seen the LA River like I saw it...

I’m on train 3. We’re operating into LAX (albeit with a 6+ hour delay that’s unrelated to the weather) this morning. The delay and cancellations have caused a bit of havoc for connecting pax, though - seems like they’re not going to bustitute.

A better idea how to run the railroad by what, exactly? Making sure that there are dinner chocolates? That's absurd. I know that people on this board don't like hearing it, but there was--and remains--a distinct need to cut costs at Amtrak if it is to survive. Exactly - couldn't have said it...

Actual enforcement will be difficult and, I predict, fairly lax. One can't overlook the deterrence value, however, of such a policy.

You're certainly not wrong. The question is how much revenue Amtrak stands to lose - and I don't think it'd be much.

It may appear trivial, but it adds up to a significant figure. The bean counters are doing their job.

That memo said nothing of the hard product -- is it just a standard coach seat with more stuff included in the fare? If so, the only worthwhile one is the WiFi -- but if it's like the other Amtrak Connect set-ups, the folks in the upper level of the car will have access too...

That would make sense - then it's an infrastructure problem and not an equipment problem.

Prices seem in line with what one would expect, honestly. Expensive vis a vis something at a supermarket? Sure, but not unreasonable considering that one is on the train. On the Starlight, the cafe is certainly popular--as one nears LAX, they're often sold out of most items (if not all). It's...

Simple. Cost. The diners don't make money anyway -- why cut in more to the capital expenses budget to relieve an inconvenience which only happens on a couple of routes for half an hour at most? It just doesn't make sense. Even when you're designing a car from the ground up, you're adding tens...

You'll be fine -- even if they ask for it, you're unlikely to run into someone anal enough to care. I always carry around a driver's license and a passport card... Good for situations like these, I guess.

People are in a fritz because MH17 was operating over a war zone. Half the planet is a war zone. Airplanes have been flying over Afghanistan and Iraq for the last decade without issue. Thousands of airplanes (including Japanese and Korean registered aircraft) fly over North Korea every year...

The rest of the country does subsidize all other sorts of travel. The Interstate Highway System is a subsidy for the motor vehicle and trucking industry. EAS (and the rest of the federally funded system) are subsidies for the airlines. Amtrak is merely subsidized in a more direct manner--in one...

I've been a member of a Scout troop going up (and back) to Chemult from LAX. We had our own car; it would not be a nice place to be for a non-scout (or even for this scout). Anyhow, I've encountered some genuinely interesting people on Amtrak--in both the good and bad way. No one worth writing...

They do--I was on an Amfleet II when I did NYP-YUL this past summer.

Here's the direct link to the NTSB report. (It's a PDF.) http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?file&fn=6&name=S%3A%5CDOT_56GB%5CRailroad%5CWEBSEARCH%5CRAR-94-01.pdf

Most don't have it in the seats, but there need to be certain ash trays onboard for the airplane to operate legally.

Try this: www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5953836/ Basically, it looks like the guy took the wrong turn. Interesting to note that this particular 744, G-BNLL, was involved in another accident a few years back when she clipped a SriLankan Airbus.

I've eaten considerably worse for long stretches of time (up to two weeks, Scout camp) so I don't think that eating Amtrak for a couple of weeks would be an issue.

That's fantastic. Now, if only the Starlight could get it...