Search results

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
  1. Rafi

    Buffalo Depew station

    Bumping this thread. Does anybody happen to know what the taxi or Uber situation is at Depew for the westbound LSL, which has a scheduled arrival at 12:30 AM? I’m planning a trip and will need to get to downtown Buffalo after the LSL pulls in. Any advice would be appreciated! Rafi
  2. Rafi

    L'Enfant

    And count me as one of those non-VRE Amtrak passengers. I work near the L'Enfant VRE station, and on the occasions when I travel to Culpeper after work, I ticket myself out of WAS and hop on at L'Enfant. I'll be doing the same in a few months when I head to Norfolk. It's a great alternative to...
  3. Rafi

    Crescent 19 sold out on the 21st at 3:55 - Need ticket!

    "Near" is a relative term. In Virginia, if you're within an hour, you're local. So in this case, Charlottesville and Richmond are, in fact, nearby. As for how to get from Richmond to Charlottesville, the theory is that Megan's sister might be willing to pick her up, which would not be anything...
  4. Rafi

    Crescent 19 sold out on the 21st at 3:55 - Need ticket!

    Megan, a few other options: 1). Take an Amtrak Regional from Philadelphia to Washington, DC and catch a greyhound bus out of DC to Charlottesville. 2). Take an Amtrak Regional from Philadelphia to Washington, DC and catch a VRE commuter train from DC to Manassas, VA if your sister can come...
  5. Rafi

    SWC issue heating up

    Unfortunately, I think it's a matter of when, not if this is going to happen--at least the way things have been going. Sad news, to be sure. What's not immediately clear to me is how, exactly, the SWC will make the platform at Belen. The platform track there is stub-ended on the southern side...
  6. Rafi

    Parking at Newport News

    Folks, While I've ridden out of NPN many times, I've never had occasion to park there and leave a car and I've paid little attention to the parking lot. I'm going to have that opportunity in the next few months, so I was wondering if anyone knows just how plentiful parking is at NPN. The lot...
  7. Rafi

    where to park to pick someone up at Baltimore Penn Station?

    I think everyone has pretty much covered the options for getting to Aberdeen with a change of trains (and that's something I'd definitely consider), but I can clarify the pick-up options in Baltimore a bit. If your friend picks you up in Baltimore, there is a big circular driveway in front of...
  8. Rafi

    Status of NER Extensions within VA

    Speaking as a part-time Culpeper resident, I think I can speak with some confidence on the state of Amtrak there. Fredericksburg and Manassas are not viable alternative stations to Culpeper, plain and simple. On a map they may look close, but, really, you're just going to drive to where you...
  9. Rafi

    Status of NER Extensions within VA

    The counter argument to that (which I sort of, but not entirely agree with), is that what would be lost in Lynchburg, would be gained twice over in Charlottesville and Culpeper with people who want to make day trips to DC and people who want to get to New York by noonish. Rafi
  10. Rafi

    Status of NER Extensions within VA

    Who knows. I don't think they've even gotten that far yet. Right now the state's just figuring out where to get the money for the track improvements that NS wants, then they need to figure out stations. Schedule comes much later. I can tell you that even though CSX plays a minor role in the...
  11. Rafi

    Status of NER Extensions within VA

    The bridge to which you're referring is the access bridge from the Hotel Roanoke to downtown Roanoke. I've often wondered if a stairway and elevator from that bridge down to the center platform would be an easy stopgap until a pedestrian bridge could be built at the old N&W station, but I...
  12. Rafi

    Status of NER Extensions within VA

    There's been thought, and while everyone would love to have it, it's just not cost-effective right now. You think west of Roanoke is slow? HAH! Charlottesville-Doswell (just north of Ashland, VA) makes the Bristol route look like the TGV. If you've ever ridden the Cardinal from Charlottesville...
  13. Rafi

    Status of NER Extensions within VA

    The track is fine for the most part. Recent excursion trains on that stretch of track have run right around 60 mph for the entire stretch; I'm not sure if 79 is allowed with the current track, however. Norfolk Southern's concerns are primarily related to track capacity and signal improvements...
  14. Rafi

    Status of NER Extensions within VA

    My understanding is that, in true CSX fashion, the improvements they want to the peninsula line are entirely capacity-related and have nothing to do with speed to NPN (although that would likely be improved as a byproduct). I know that CSX was requiring either a Y or a long siding (can't recall...
  15. Rafi

    Status of NER Extensions within VA

    Here's a quick update: ROANOKE: Virginia has shown increased interest in extending the Lynchburg train to Roanoke thanks to the very successful launch of the SmartWay Shuttle that connects to the train in Lynchburg and makes stops in Bedford, Roanoke, and Blacksburg. There's still no money...
  16. Rafi

    Flood disruption of 48/49 today

    I had wondered the same thing myself with the Pennsy route. My guess is that NS couldn't spare the capacity (I noticed that 42/43 didn't make it past Harrisburg yesterday) or maybe the crews weren't available. Also, I should clarify.... 449/49 are bussing all other PAX east of PGH to WAS (I...
  17. Rafi

    Flood disruption of 48/49 today

    48/448(07) are headed to DC on the Capitol Limited's route via Pittsburgh. Passengers for ERI-BUF-ROC-SYR detrained at CLE and are being bussed. All others will be accommodated on other trains at DC. Rafi
  18. Rafi

    Sunset Limited to LA

    Just to echo and condense what the previous posters said, here's the rule of thumb: If you want to guarantee your seeing the Pacific Ocean from the Pacific Parlour car, you'd have to book to depart Los Angeles one day later. You will likely pay a higher fare for this plus your hotel room...
  19. Rafi

    How Long to See All of the NE?

    You're also forgetting that Washington-Lynchburg and Washington-Newport News is considered part of the NEC as well. Need to work those in if you want to be complete. Rafi
  20. Rafi

    29(18) Detouring though MI

    I'm with you, Ryan. A Michigan detour is on my bucket list. As far as I know, the train misses Detroit's station, but not by much. Rafi
Back
Top