Amtrak's latest faux-pas at Lancaster PA

[fairviewroad]

Here's a follow-up to this issue, albeit buried in a longer article about the Amtrak station in Lancaster:

[Amtrak executive Marilyn] Jamison...formally withdrew a petition submitted by an Amtrak police captain two months ago regarding rerouting station traffic.

The earlier plan called for closing the station entrance from North Queen Street. The effort was intended to accommodate buses, which were stopping in front of the station because drivers could not turn the 45-foot intercity buses within the station lot.

The lot and the bus canopies included in the recent renovation were designed for 40-foot buses which were then in use.

Jamison said she and other interested parties met Monday with representatives of Bieber Bus Service, a Kutztown company that uses the longer buses. The company agreed to have its drivers use the driveway and canopies and not stop in front of the station.

So it seems the earlier mentions in some news accounts of 60-foot buses were flat-out incorrect. The issue was 45 foot buses versus 40 foot buses. The article makes

it sound like Bieber simply agreed to use the current driveway, but a separate Amtrak press release makes it sounds as though Amtrak is the one that caved, by agreeing

to modify the bus turnaround area.

Also in the article, Amtrak apparently is getting started on improvements to the customer waiting room at LNC:

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/801122_Amtrak-prepares-plans-to-replaster--paint-Lancaster-train-station-.html#ixzz2IGxMNmw3

the Amtrak press release: http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/499/917/Amtrak-Lancaster-Station-Project-Update-ATK-13-010.pdf

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

It may not just be ecause of changing from 40-footers to 45-footers. The difference in turning radius is actually very small. I believe that the Bieber buses simply have poor maneuverbility, a problem reported by drivers of the models they use.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

If the design of the bus steering cause poor maneuverability than it show up as a larger turn radius.

I get your point.

My employer was buy a type of tractor that could not turn to save its life, but the newer model had a redesign steering system which made the turning radius much tighter. Of course by the time the changes occur, we gave up on the model and brand of trucks.

Edit due I-Phone seem unable to get a quote right.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Swadian Hardcore" data-cid="417982" data-time="1358484782"><p>It may not just be ecause of changing from 40-footers to 45-footers. The difference in turning radius is actually very small. I believe that the Bieber buses simply have poor maneuverbility, a problem reported by drivers of the models they use.</p></blockquote>

If the design of the bus steering cause poor maneuverability than it show up as a larger turn radius.

I get your point.

My employer was buy a type of tractor that could not turn to save its life, but the newer model had a redesign steering system which made the turning radius much tighter. Of course by the time the changes occur, we gave up on the model and brand of trucks.

I don't think it's the steering system so much that the wheels just don't turn much. Those buses (D-Series) are reported with very good steering, but the wheelbase is quite long and the wheels turn too little, presumably because of the huge rubber guards around the wheels.

See this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/runway27r/6033141303.

 

[BCL]

Totally off the wall, but since the area has a good proportion of people operating these things, does the parking lot have room for buggies?

Of course the difficulty would be where to board the horse.

 

[fairviewroad]

Totally off the wall, but since the area has a good proportion of people operating these things, does the parking lot have room for buggies?
Of course the difficulty would be where to board the horse.

Ha! The double meaning of the word "board" is quite amusing in this context. I don't think it would work too well to board your horse

onto a Keystone train!

To answer your question, I don't think there's any buggy parking at LNC. Lots of local businesses (mainly outside of the city) have horse

tie-ups, and it's quite common to see horse and buggies "parked" outside grocery stores, banks, clinics, etc. But in none of those cases

would the Amish person leave their horse there overnight (or typically for more than a few hours, tops). So like you said, the need to, uh,

board the horse would make it pointless to offer buggy parking at the LNC station. It's rare to see an Amish buggy inside Lancaster city

limits anyhow. Amish do utilize the local Red Rose Transit system so you will often see them in town (at Central Market, etc.). Or, many

hire non-Amish as unlicensed cab drivers. I'd imagine that's how they typically get to the train station when they want to use the train

(which they do, on many occasions.)

There has been talk for decades of a new Keystone station east of Lancaster in the vicinity of Leaman Place, which would likely be

more heavily utilized by Amish. But that project hasn't really progressed much beyond "talk." For an interesting read on the Amish

and trains, see this Philadelphia Inquirer article from more than 20 years ago.

 

[BCL]

Totally off the wall, but since the area has a good proportion of people operating these things, does the parking lot have room for buggies?
Of course the difficulty would be where to board the horse.

Ha! The double meaning of the word "board" is quite amusing in this context. I don't think it would work too well to board your horse

onto a Keystone train!

To answer your question, I don't think there's any buggy parking at LNC. Lots of local businesses (mainly outside of the city) have horse

tie-ups, and it's quite common to see horse and buggies "parked" outside grocery stores, banks, clinics, etc. But in none of those cases

would the Amish person leave their horse there overnight (or typically for more than a few hours, tops). So like you said, the need to, uh,

board the horse would make it pointless to offer buggy parking at the LNC station. It's rare to see an Amish buggy inside Lancaster city

limits anyhow. Amish do utilize the local Red Rose Transit system so you will often see them in town (at Central Market, etc.). Or, many

hire non-Amish as unlicensed cab drivers. I'd imagine that's how they typically get to the train station when they want to use the train

(which they do, on many occasions.)

There has been talk for decades of a new Keystone station east of Lancaster in the vicinity of Leaman Place, which would likely be

more heavily utilized by Amish. But that project hasn't really progressed much beyond "talk." For an interesting read on the Amish

and trains, see this Philadelphia Inquirer article from more than 20 years ago.

I found this:

http://amishamerica.com/amishtrak/

And simply entereing "amish riding amtrak" yielded lots of pictures showing Amish riding Amtrak or waiting at stations. I even read a few comments saying that Union Station in Los Angeles is well traveled among the Amish, who are often headed to Mexico for cheaper medical care.

 

[Paulus]

Totally off the wall, but since the area has a good proportion of people operating these things, does the parking lot have room for buggies?
Of course the difficulty would be where to board the horse.

Ha! The double meaning of the word "board" is quite amusing in this context. I don't think it would work too well to board your horse

onto a Keystone train!

To answer your question, I don't think there's any buggy parking at LNC. Lots of local businesses (mainly outside of the city) have horse

tie-ups, and it's quite common to see horse and buggies "parked" outside grocery stores, banks, clinics, etc. But in none of those cases

would the Amish person leave their horse there overnight (or typically for more than a few hours, tops). So like you said, the need to, uh,

board the horse would make it pointless to offer buggy parking at the LNC station. It's rare to see an Amish buggy inside Lancaster city

limits anyhow. Amish do utilize the local Red Rose Transit system so you will often see them in town (at Central Market, etc.). Or, many

hire non-Amish as unlicensed cab drivers. I'd imagine that's how they typically get to the train station when they want to use the train

(which they do, on many occasions.)

There has been talk for decades of a new Keystone station east of Lancaster in the vicinity of Leaman Place, which would likely be

more heavily utilized by Amish. But that project hasn't really progressed much beyond "talk." For an interesting read on the Amish

and trains, see this Philadelphia Inquirer article from more than 20 years ago.

I found this:

http://amishamerica.com/amishtrak/

And simply entereing "amish riding amtrak" yielded lots of pictures showing Amish riding Amtrak or waiting at stations. I even read a few comments saying that Union Station in Los Angeles is well traveled among the Amish, who are often headed to Mexico for cheaper medical care.

Yep, I've seen quite a few Amish over at LAUS myself.

 

[benjibear]

Septa no longer runs to Parksburg so they no longer turn trains in Lancaster.

The need for a station on the eastern side of Lancaster has been discussed for years. The distance between Lancaster and Parksburg is the longest distance between stations on the Keystone. The Amish and commuters that live in that direction would bennifit.

Parking at Lancaster, even after the renovations is very tight. This week, I was there to go to the ticket office and there were only a few empty spaces available which made me think why they don't have a space to run into the ticket office like a bus depot I remember having one.

Anyway, the discussion was to locate it adjacent to the Strasburg Railroad but that site would mean building on a curve which was going to cost alot more. There was other options but I have not heard any discussions lately in the last 5 years.

 

[me_little_me]

Totally off the wall, but since the area has a good proportion of people operating these things, does the parking lot have room for buggies?
Of course the difficulty would be where to board the horse.

You don't board the horse, silly! You board the buggy or board the train!

:giggle: