Amtrak Crescent Discussion

I live in Atlanta and have been riding the Crescent for years. I assure you they serve dinner out of Atlanta unless they are hours late. The diner opens before ATL then closes while the train is stopped in the station in ATL. Then it and the lounge re-open. Lots of people board in ATL so it is quite crowded. They do serve lunch into NYC the next day.

Coming south, same thing, they close before Washington then re-open after WAS to a large crowd. Though this is a New Orleans to New York train, its biggest draw is between WAS and ATL and they certainly do eat.

Ayup last February dinner was served leaving Atlanta and I look forward to it again this coming February.

Amtrak train #20, The Crescent, conveyed Pullman car Kitchie Gammi Club from New Orleans on Tuesday to New York on Wednesday. I got a marginal photo of it blasting through Princeton Junction, NJ, at 110 mph in a heavy, cold overcast.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs ... 05_01_05_7

The train was pulled by a pair of AEM7's and was 54 minutes early.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs ... 05_01_05_5

Ten minutes earlier I photographed Metroliner #102.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs ... 05_01_05_3

The mist above the train is water being removed from the catenary by the pantograph, moving at 125 mph.

nice pictures chuchubob

I like the colour of that PV coach. Tuscan true red.

NS and CSX each currently operate seperate lines in VA between Orange and Charlottesville. Amtrak has trackage rights over both, using NS for the Crescent, and CSX for the Cardinal, or so I understand according to the desktop version of my 2003 North American railroad map. The CSX route goes through a small town called Gordonsville, but since the Cardinal doesn't stop there, why can't the Cardinal shift the Charlottesville-to-Orange portion of its route to NS, instead of staying on CSX as it does now?

My recollection of the track arrangement at Charlottesville is that "you can't get there from here," i.e., there's a diamond crossing of the two railroads but that's all

The former C&O diverges from NS at Orange and runs more-or-less due south to Gordonsville, where there is a wye with the line from Richmond. The former C&O then heads more-or-less due west to Charlottesville. The former C&O station, now offices, is at the east end of downtown. The C&O parallels Main Street to the former Southern RY station (now a bar), which has platforms on both the west side (Southern RY) and south side (C&O). The former C&O then crosses the former Southern on about a 70 degree diamond. The only connection is (or was -- not sure if it's still there) in the southeast quadrant, allowing a NB train on Southern to head east on C&O or a westbound C&O train to go south on Southern.

For both trains to run down the Southern to Charlottesville, the Cardinal would have to make a reverse move to get onto CSX to head west.

The last time I saw the connection used was in the early 1980s, when a Southern steam special from Alexandria ran to Charlottesville. The train was left on the platform at the Southern station, and the engine backed through the connection to turn on the C&O turntable (since removed), then ran around the train to take us back north.

Ms. Bly,
Thanks for sharing that very interasting info.

If Amtrak can find the cars will they expand the Florida and Louisiana trains.

As far as I know, Amtrak's limit is 18 passenger cars, although some host roads may impose shorter limits.

One constraint that cannot be overlooked is that all too many stations on the LD system only have platforms of length for two or maybe three cars. This would result in double and triple stops - a practice not endearing to on time performance.

Lastly, we must consider Amtrak's wise policy of permitting low level platform boarding and alighting only where there is a train crew member in attendance. Even if platforms were long enough for the entire train, there would need be "streetcaring" through the coaches at stations. Passengers carrying luggage through coaches is a recipie for an injury.

And, on the railroad, injuries DO "make for a bad day".

Why would a host railroad impose shorter limits? CN can operate 30 car Canadians for VIA and generally keep them on time (sure there’s a few exceptions). And during the summer the Ocean is 20 cars and when combined with the Chaleur it’s 25 cars+.

Is it a FRA thing here on passenger train lengths? If Amtrak had enough cars could we find CN operating 30 car trains here too? Now that would be an impressive City Of New Orleans!

I have emboldened the operative word in my statement above, Mr. Minuteman.

although some host roads may impose shorter limits.

The direct answer is "I don't know'. However, I do know that the Canadian National requires two locomotives on trains over its IC lines with consists in excess of nine cars.

The 18 car limit was imposed by Amtrak first as a limit for providing steam and subsequently HEP to the cars.

Personally I'd rather see 2 8 car trains than 1 16 car train.

Even if some of the trains have to scrimp by w/o say dinners or sleepers, I suspect frequent trains would get higher ridership than fewer but longer trains.

Also, with more trains, you can serve slightly different routes between major destinations, which further encourages people to ride the train.

So, while 16 car trains may be nice to see, perhaps they aren't the best solution.

There were some 18-20 Cars Cal Zeypher at one time they ran with the Desert Wind and Pioneer.