The LSL is three consists, and the Cardinal is only two (four if it’s made daily), so that would still leave three as protects, which I think is plenty. Of course we now know that the Boston section of the LSL is losing checked baggage, but if it kept it, I think replacing the full baggage car with a bag-dorm would make a lot of sense, considering the sole Boston sleeper often sells out and such a short section really doesn’t need an entire baggage car.
South Dakota is doable. You can run a North/South train to Sioux Falls from KC (or even Dallas as a "supersized" heartland flyer) via Omaha. Not saying it's the best solution, but it technically would meet the requirement of service.Siegmund said:
Wouldn’t simply restoring the Pioneer in its last incarnation before it was discontinued, take care of Wyoming?
But wouldn't a CZ reroute through Wyoming lose the Rockies? :unsure:
Exactly. That's why I said: "bite my tongue".....
Yep, but it's not a terrible Route, just not the Beautiful Rockies between Denver and Utah!
Well there are the coal trains from Bond and the few from Grand Junction. But as for actual thru freight, in the recent past, I’ve seen a road frieght or two that often times would do some switching along the way and then the pretty much daily BNSF trackage rights train.
CDoT already runs bus service from Grand Junction/Glenwood Springs to Denver via I-70, which is much faster than the Moffat route and probably has considerably higher on-line traffic potential thanks to the ski areas. It doesn't seem like it would be a very good idea to take on paying for an expensive piece of mountain railroad when one crossing of the Rockies would do just as well.
Tell me a little about that BNSF train....is it actually operated by a BNSF crew, or a UP crew?
I’m not 100% on the crew but I believe it’s BNSF. It runs most days and was one of the appeasements for the UP/SP merger. I’m pretty sure it’s a Denver to Stockton H train and usually has at least one DPU.
Would the trip between Glenwood and Denver be quicker with just a Charger and four single level cars? Might make it a compelling case time wise.
When the San Francisco Zephyr ran the route, it was quicker getting to Salt Lake (or was it Provo) and vice versa.
A lot faster...like comparing a country road to a super highway...or a single track mountain railroad to a sometimes triple-track 90 mph railroad...
The bus has a 2.5 hour advantage between GSC and DEN. There is no way to make the two modes time competitive short of a clean-sheet rail crossing of the Rockies.
For Denver area resident's, the traditional weekend getaway to Glenwood Springs on the Zephyr has nothing at all to do with speed, but rather the leisurely ride thru the spectacular scenery.
My guess is the UP would probably offer trackage rights since they'd be responsible for maintenance still. More likely is a downgrade to the minimum BNSF needs, which won't be workable for Amtrak.Now that brings up an interesting scenario, if UP decided to abandon that route, and leave it to BNSF....
Would BNSF actually take it over.....or....would they demand trackage right's on the UP mainline from Cheyenne to Salt Lake City in lieu of it?
Yeah. The Moffatt Line will be maintained at the minimal grade necessary for serving a few Coal Mines until they last. After that the business case becomes highly questionable. So it is either State sponsored or nothing. Just my partly informed speculation.
