Amtrak Autumn Express 2015 (Oct 24 & Oct 25)

[Mystic River Dragon]

Yes to all of those in the post above!

 

[Seaboard92]

As someone who works I. The excursion business as a planner. Over night trips generally not make as much money. And are much harder logistically to plan. And I don't think you'll ever see one in all honesty for awhile.

 

[railiner]

I wonder about that....way back in the late '60's, I rode the very successful fantrip operated by Ross Rowland's 'High Iron Company', from Hoboken to Bingo via Port Jervis on the former Erie, then overnight, then return via Scranton on the former DL&W.

At that time, the only 'freight only' trackage was from PJ to Bingo....there was still service to Binghamton on the Lackawanna, and commuter trains from Hoboken to PJ...

Of course, the star attraction was the motive power....former Nickle Plate Berkshire 759....

 

[neroden]

Hmmm.

I have the interesting idea of a one-way trip: Albany-Binghamton-Scranton-Harrisburg. (Make your own way back from the other end!) It has the advantage of all being on NS.

I think the line is too slow, though.

 

[railiner]

Hmmm.

I have the interesting idea of a one-way trip: Albany-Binghamton-Scranton-Harrisburg. (Make your own way back from the other end!) It has the advantage of all being on NS.

I think the line is too slow, though.

I'd buy that!

How many hours do you think it would take? Twelve or so?

Would be better to run it closer to June 21 for max daylight, but then would lose the foliage factor....

 

[neroden]

Hmmm.

I have the interesting idea of a one-way trip: Albany-Binghamton-Scranton-Harrisburg. (Make your own way back from the other end!) It has the advantage of all being on NS.

I think the line is too slow, though.

I'd buy that! How many hours do you think it would take? Twelve or so?

I don't know. You can drive the parallel road route in less than 9 hours while avoiding expressways -- it's only 350 miles. (It follows NY 7, US 11, and US 15.) So *if* Norfolk Southern maintains the line to Class 3 standards (passenger speed limit 59 mph) and the signals allow for those speeds, it would be about that fast. But I bet they don't. If the line were maintained to class 4 standards and appropriate signalling were installed, it could be faster.
12 hours is an interesting Wild Ass Guess. I think you'd have to look at the NS timetable & track charts to figure out how badly they're undermaintaining the line, though, in order to get any real idea of how fast you could run an excursion.

The nice thing about this idea *if the line is fast enough* is that Amtrak hands the train to NS at Schenectady (Amtrak-owned) and picks it up at Harrisburg (Amtrak-owned) -- or vice versa -- NS shoots it through from one end to the other nonstop -- and no other railroads are involved. Since Amtrak provides a lot of service from Albany to the NEC and from Harrisburg to the NEC, people can make their own way back by Amtrak...

It would require "running backwards" from Schenectady to Albany, so an extra locomotive or a cab car.

 

[jis]

Acela150 can probably give us reliable information about the state of that NS route from his internal NS sources.

A more practical circle trip out of Philly or HBG might be Harrisburg - Wilkes Barre - Scranton (Steamtown) - Pocono Summit - Stroudsburg - Easton - Bethlehem - Allentown - Reading - HBG.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Remember:

This trips are scheduled to coincide during the period of the New River Gorge trip and the Spencer trip. The trip should be near an area that serves as an equipment base. There must also be time to return the train to said base. Therefore, I don't foresee a one way trip or a trip originating in the south.

 

[City of Miami]

The NC Transportation Museum Autumn Excursion rolled into CVS about an hour ago. 3 engines, 27 cars: 11 Amfleets including 2 food service cars, the rest a beautiful mix of private cars, Pullmans, domes, diners, coaches. They unload (2 spots) and stay here for about 3 hours before heading back to Spencer. It follows the same route as the Crescent, but the Crescent is almost always in darkness, both ways. Yesterday the train went to Asheville instead of Charlottesville.

The New River Gorge Excursion was last weekend and the weekend before, Sat and Sun both weekends.