Cape Flyer

mgdemarco wrote:How are locomotived chosen for the Flyer?

whatever is available on Friday morning

2038 leading south, and for the second time this year 1511 leads north.
Pretty packed train tonight

This weekend's counts:(For only Boston, Braintree, Brockton, and Middleboro. Southbound trip.)
Friday: 363
Saturday: 195
Sunday: 111

The ViRoCo wrote:This weekend's counts:(For only Boston, Braintree, Brockton, and Middleboro. Southbound trip.)
Friday: 363
Saturday: 195
Sunday: 111

I was on the Friday train in coach 502, it was almost standing room only

Did they have the whole train open or were some cars closed off?

RRCOMM wrote:Did they have the whole train open or were some cars closed off?

whole train is open, no cars are ever closed off on the Flyer....need all the room they can get...doesn't help that there are only 4 cars for seats...the other is the cafe and the bike coach

Does StefanW's tracker usually cut out {EDIT: and back in} at the end of MBTA territory? I was using a URL to look only at train 9001 (Friday's Southbound trip)
http://sites.harvard.edu/~wuensch/T/com ... train=9001" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And it cut out as soon as they stopped at Middleboro (though, admirably, Stefan's tracker has a green route all the way to Hyannis), {EDIT and now (when the train is reporting about halfway to Wareham} it is all back on.

Arlington wrote:Does StefanW's tracker usually cut out {EDIT: and back in} at the end of MBTA territory? I was using a URL to look only at train 9001 (Friday's Southbound trip)
http://sites.harvard.edu/~wuensch/T/com ... train=9001" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And it cut out as soon as they stopped at Middleboro (though, admirably, Stefan's tracker has a green route all the way to Hyannis), {EDIT and now (when the train is reporting about halfway to Wareham} it is all back on.

That's pretty much consistent with what I've seen this season. The train also disappears as it is about to cross the canal, reappears in the West Barnstable area and disappears a final time in the vicinity of the old Yarmouth station.

Is there a study that can be shown to Cape NIMBYs that proves that a train going 60mph on CWR is quieter than one going 30mph on stick rail? (And the faster train is within earshot of a stationary Abutter for half as long).

This past weekend I was the target rider: sending two of l my kids on ahead by train on Friday (to be picked up by our hosts) rest of us by minivan Saturday, but I returned to the city by train to work last night, along with lots of others who is infer were similarly the city guy/gal.

It has been a while since we discussed here how the CF competes with and complements the P&B bus, with the CF targeted at peak car times and the P&B running (faster scheduled time) 2 hours before and 1 hour after. I don't see how the train can ever increase frequency until it can run at bus speeds on-Cape otherwise the bus is the better/cheaper solution at all times that the Sagamore (& approaches) are not crushed--which is actually most of the day/week.

The Flyer had a close call Saturday evening just north of Buzzards Bay. Apparently there were trespassers near the tracks and the train slammed on the brakes and within a few minutes the area was flooded with police cars. We were delayed about 15-20 minutes.

Having had two great Sunday-homeward trips in a row, I've lost my objectivity as a fan of the Cape Flyer. I just want plain old higher speeds on the Cape (well maintained stick rail should do it--like some ballast & tie work, yes?)

On both trips they got off about 2mins late, while they drifted ~10min late int the B-stretch (Buzzards Bay-Brockton-Braintree) the both pulled to only ~3mins late by the time we arrived at South Station (9:05 arrival vs schedule 9:02). Nicely done.

Last night I rode on the right in an MBB with the big windows. Near-every two-seat had one person in it, and many groups took up (or made) facing sets.

Having ridden on both left and right, I still don't get why no stop at West Barnstable (seems an easy upgrade to the Cape Codder station there) and I didn't see any activity at Bourne (though, by then, it was getting dark)

Is theBourne stop and passing siding still going to happen for the 2016 season? It seems like two great ideas that go great together:

1) Cape track speeds are so low, there are a *lot* of people whose trip would be faster if they could drive at 40/50/60mph to Bourne (especially if they are living/staying inward of Hyannis, in which case road speeds of 15mph could even be faster than driving *out* to Hyannis only to ride the CF at 30mph back to Boston)

2) The passing siding is designed to let 2 trains pass over the bridge at a single lowering.

3) The on-cape trip is so slow anyway (see #1) that a stop anywhere isn't going to slow things down much.

Still, no word on increasing speeds anywhere?

Ditto on West Barnstable, and Sandwich, too. Bourne, Sandwich, and West B. all have lots of houses and summer places (cottages, hotels, camping) walking or biking distance from them. If the Needham line can stop in Forest Hills, Rozzie, Bellview, Highland, and West Roxbury, and then go on to Hersey, Needham Jct, Ctr, Hts, and still be a pretty decent trip, the Cape Flyer can stop 3x in 22 miles. If Sandwich is really a problem, I guess the Bourne station would help, but that's still driving not walking. Sandwich station, for example, isn't much more than a quarter mile from the Daniel Webster Inn. It just seems so obvious that some people would like to go there car free, especially if they were antiquing people rather than beach people, or had bikes to ride over to the beach, that I am surprised no one in the town has put up the money for a Wareham-type platform, or apparently even discussed it publicly. (Maybe they did, and I missed it.)

This weekends set is by far the most unique all year. First off for the first time ever we have a double ended GP40MC set (1136 leads south, 1126 leads north). Second the 1513 is on the set this time instead of the 1511. Lastly, Kawasaki CTC #1706 is randomly at the very end of the set. What a way to end the season.

Unofficial counts out of Boston this weekend so far:

Friday - 220 and 15 bikes

Saturday - 180 and 13 bikes

D

MetroBostonRailways wrote:This weekends set is by far the most unique all year. First off for the first time ever we have a double ended GP40MC set (1136 leads south, 1126 leads north). Second the 1513 is on the set this time instead of the 1511. Lastly, Kawasaki CTC #1706 is randomly at the very end of the set. What a way to end the season.

TWO locomotives AND TWO Cab Cars! Talk about trying to defy Murphy.