Does anyone know which Amtrak trains operate material handling cars on the rear, and which do not. I am considering a private car charter, and would pick out an Amtrak route, if possible, so that the rear platform is not blocked by material handling cars. Any thoughts?
Posted by Eric (Member # 674) on :
That's a hard question! Most, if not all, long-distance trains have RoadRailers, material handling, and ExpressTrak cars. Some shorter routes, on the East Coast, *may* not carry the cars. A few *may* not trains: Coast Starlight Silver Service Adirondack Vermonter Ethan Allen Twilight Shoreliner Crescent (I believe these trains are all still running) I took a Coast Starlight trip in '99, and was able to look out the rear coach for the entire trip. I don't know if the Starlight carries non-passenger cars these days, but it would be worth looking into.
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Posted by MLC (Member # 58) on :
I have recently ridden on the Silver Star. Both norh and south bound trains had express/roadrailer cars on the rear. While in Florida, I also witnessed the passing of the southbound Silver Meteor. It too had non-passenger cars on the rear.
Posted by brakie (Member # 1131) on :
If it is still running the Lake Shore Limited has MHCs on the rear the last time I saw it.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
Can confirm the California Zephyr in fall of 99 and the Southwest Limited in spring of 01 use both boxcars and converted Budd coaches in MH service.
Additionally, SW Limited uses trailer-train for moving mail.
John
Posted by DC2001 (Member # 542) on :
I don't have first-hand information, but I've not recently heard of any express cars or RoadRailers on the Coast Starlight, Carolinian, or the City of New Orleans. The Sunset seems to have express cars on some days, other times it doesn't, so you would probably be taking you chances there.
Posted by 20thCenturyLimited (Member # 1108) on :
quote:Originally posted by PullmanCo: Can confirm the California Zephyr in fall of 99 and the Southwest Limited in spring of 01 use both boxcars and converted Budd coaches in MH service.
Additionally, SW Limited uses trailer-train for moving mail.
John
Are you talking about the Southwest Chief or the Sunset Limited? You are confusing the names of two trains.....
Posted by Eric (Member # 674) on :
In the mid-70s, the train was called the Southwest Limited, so maybe PullmanCo is talking about the Chief. To make things simple... I think both the SW Chief and Sunset carry mail and express. (Read the last sentence of DC2001's 11-12-01 post)
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Posted by 20thCenturyLimited (Member # 1108) on :
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Posted by MPALMER (Member # 125) on :
I have never seen any MHCs or express cars on the Carolinian or Twilight Shoreliner. I have seen some on the Silver Palm (both directions) and the southbound Crescent.
Posted by Eric (Member # 674) on :
Sorry 20th Century! The quote got me a little off-track. Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
I was on the Coast Starlight over Memorial Day weekend this year. Two roadrailers were attached to the northbound train at Oakland. There were none on the southbound train.
I was on the California Zephyr in August 2000. Our westbound train had several private cars at the front of the train. There were two Express freight cars between the private cars and the regular Superliners.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
California Zephyr in June 2001 had MHC on the back. Twilight Shoreliner in October 2001 did not. Cardinal in June 2001 did not. Carolinian never does. Capitol Limited in June 2001 did.
Chuck
Posted by Kent_Loudon (Member # 1174) on :
Adirondak does not carry MHC's. I spotted a PV on the rear southbound last Memorial Day.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
I can remember when the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe withdrew ALL rights to the use of the word Chief from Amtrak, for its inability to meet Santa Fe Passenger Department standards.
Maybe I did confuse them ... but it won't be a Chief, to me, until after I detrain in Kansas City on 1 Jan 2002. Then I will decided if Amtrak maintains the standards of Uncle John...
John
quote:Originally posted by 20thCenturyLimited: Are you talking about the Southwest Chief or the Sunset Limited? You are confusing the names of two trains.....
------------------ The City of Saint Louis (UP, 1967) is still my standard for passenger operations
Posted by 20thCenturyLimited (Member # 1108) on :
quote:Originally posted by PullmanCo: I can remember when the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe withdrew ALL rights to the use of the word Chief from Amtrak, for its inability to meet Santa Fe Passenger Department standards.
Maybe I did confuse them ... but it won't be a Chief, to me, until after I detrain in Kansas City on 1 Jan 2002. Then I will decided if Amtrak maintains the standards of Uncle John...
John
I don't belive the Santa Fe ever withdrew all rights from Amtrak to use the word "Chief", just their trademarked names "Super Chief" and perhaps "The Chief". "Southwest Chief" was never an AT&SF name and unless the AT&SF had an exclusive trademark for the use of the word "Chief" in general when applied to trains, Amtrak has every right to use it.
If you continue to use the old AT&SF standard on that route, you will be dissappointed - perpetually (don't even try).
[This message has been edited by 20thCenturyLimited (edited 11-19-2001).]
Posted by Geoff Mayo (Member # 153) on :
Sounds like it's "any train, any time", some trains more than others.
In my experiences this year: Sunset Limited did Texas Eagle did on two trains, did not on two others (between San Antonio to Chicago, both through and non-through services). All three Lake Shore Ltds did, both Boston and NY sections. Cardinal did not on one day but did on the following (might have been from the Kentucky Cardinal).
One of the Texas Eagles I saw had private cars sandwiched between the last coach car and some dirty great, noisy boxcars on the back. I'm glad I wasn't in those cars!
In addition, the Cardinal seems to convey extra cars sometimes on the back, closed off to passengers, either to or from Amtrak's workshops in Indianapolis. This prevents you looking out the back :-(
Geoff M.
Posted by reggierail (Member # 26) on :
SW Chief Nov 10, LAX-CHI, had many MHC cars on the rear. Nov 12, Capitol Ltd & Nov 13, Capitol Ltd, both had MHC cars. Cal Zephyr, CHI-SAC also had many cars on the rear Nov 14. Reggie
------------------
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
I was looking at a couple of the books in my library in the past couple of days.
One of the major muscle group problmes Amtrak had/has is that they were placed in business to haul passengers.
We forget that on the rails, First Class meant those trains, 99 44/100% with at least one rider coach, that were scheduled, both in the employee and the public timetables.
This included mail and express trains.
What we really have, for example, with trains 3 & 4, is not the descendant of the AT&SF 17/18 (Super Chief/El Capitan) these days, rather, something that should tracee its heritage to the Grand Canyon...
John
Posted by Super Chief (Member # 665) on :
For all those previous entries about the use of the Chief name on Amtrak trains here's the answer. When Amtrak took over Santa Fe passenger services, one condition Santa Fe demanded was the right to withdraw the Chief name from any trains. For a couple of years Santa Fe was happy with the way Amtrak ran it's trains. Thus the Super Chief and Texas Chief continued to use the name. Basically these trains were unchanged, mostly using the same equipment as in Santa Fe days. But, in 1974 when Amtrak decided to use a single 36 seat diner on a section of the Super Chief that could carry 300 passengers, Santa Fe took back the Chief names. Thus the Southwest Limited and Lone Star were created. When the Southwest Limited received Superliners in 1984, Santa Fe agreed that the service was adequate enough to bring back the Chief name. Thus the Southwest Chief received its name. Hope this clears up any questions about the Chiefs. I also agree with 20thCenturyLimited that anyone would be disapointed if they compare the Southwest Chief to any Santa Fe trains. Although it should be pointed out that towards the end of Santa Fe passenger service, even the Super Chief had lost some of its prestige. But even with this, the Super was still much much better than the Southwest Chief.
