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  • Lake Shore Limited

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1508081  by jonnhrr
 
Backshophoss wrote:Believe that Cafe car goes to Chicago,but only serves the Boston section passengers when on the combined train from Albany.
Unless this has changed recently, when I was on 449 they served lunch between Boston and Albany, which was gratis for sleeping car passengers, who were also escorted in for lunch before the cafe opened for the coach passengers. Of course this was before the Anderson downgrade, may be different now.

Note that half of the cafe also serves as Business class (or did when I took it).
 #1508098  by CVRA7
 
My wife and I were sleeper passengers Monday and got a "free" lunch in the café out of Albany to Springfield. Earlier, out of Chicago, we had breakfast in the "1st Class Lounge." So sad to see the new diner wasted in that service. Both ways the on board staff was excellent, doing the best they could under the circumstances.
 #1508295  by twropr
 
Something bizarre happened today the 10th. Amtrak.com shows #48 arriving Cleveland at 5:11 am and departing 6:50 am; #49 arrived at 5:59 am and departed at 6:19 am. With single track serving the CLE station, only one train could be there at a time. So #48 must have done some of its station work and back out to Drawbridge to allow #49 to come in, then entered again and done some more work at CLE after #49 left.
Anyone know more about this?
Andy
 #1514966  by Jeff Smith
 
https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/07/m ... -rail.html
...

Amtrak announced Tuesday that the Lake Shore Limited has returned to scheduled operations between Boston South Station and Albany two weeks ahead of schedule following infrastructure improvements by host railroad CSX.

The Lake Shore Limited has a maximum speed of just 80 mph — just 60 mph west of Worcester — and can take as long as two hours and thirty minutes to reach Boston from Springfield, according to the MassDOT report.

Amtrak said customers can once again expect a one-seat ride as far west as Chicago as tickets are now available for customers between both cities, as well as the following interim stations across Massachusetts: Back Bay, Framingham, Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield. Customers can remained updated with real-time info via Amtrak.com/delayalerts and @AmtrakAlerts on Twitter.
...
 #1515040  by jonnhrr
 
Amtrak said customers can once again expect a one-seat ride as far west as Chicago as tickets are now available for customers between both cities, as well as the following interim stations across Massachusetts: Back Bay, Framingham, Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield.
Seems to me that a Palmer stop would be useful to tap into that area between Worcester and Springfield. Has that ever been explored?
 #1515053  by J.D. Lang
 
Looks like they took the sleeper off of 448/449. 449 has only had two coaches and the cafe car the last 2 days through W. Springfield. Saw a picture somewhere (maybe here) that half of the seats have been taken out of the cafe car and bicycle racks put in. Nice downgrade! Maybe they ought to just get an RDC and run that or do away with the train compelety.
 #1515061  by Hudson2640
 
I was just on the Lake Shore the other day. None of the seats were removed from the cafe. Supposedly the sleeper car will return in the next week or two they they rotate the equipment around. There are only two sets of equipment for Lake Shore and they have a relatively short turn around time.

I wonder if they will consider moving the cafe car to New York? People on the New York section are always complaining about lack of food service on the New York Section and I hardly saw anybody go into the cafe car on the Boston section. It was empty most of the trip.
 #1515111  by BandA
 
jonnhrr wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:47 pm
Amtrak said customers can once again expect a one-seat ride as far west as Chicago as tickets are now available for customers between both cities, as well as the following interim stations across Massachusetts: Back Bay, Framingham, Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield.
Seems to me that a Palmer stop would be useful to tap into that area between Worcester and Springfield. Has that ever been explored?
It's been talked about a lot...probably more in reference to potential Amtrak Inland Regionals or potential MBTA Boston-Worcester Commuter Rail extension to Springfield. Palmer Union Station looks to be more convenient to I-90 (Mass Turnpike) than Springfield or Worcester. According to wikipedia, Amtrak has never stopped there, even when performing backup move on the Vermonter old routing. I don't think it would be a good stop for Amtrak unless you needed more/cheaper parking. It would definitely be a good stop for any MBTA CR.
 #1515168  by Greg Moore
 
Ayup. I think NYS should seriously be looking at working with MA on that, and if they did, Chatham is a perfect stop along the way. Picks up a good area in between the two.
 #1515432  by jonnhrr
 
BandA wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:42 am
jonnhrr wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:47 pm
Amtrak said customers can once again expect a one-seat ride as far west as Chicago as tickets are now available for customers between both cities, as well as the following interim stations across Massachusetts: Back Bay, Framingham, Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield.
Seems to me that a Palmer stop would be useful to tap into that area between Worcester and Springfield. Has that ever been explored?
It's been talked about a lot...probably more in reference to potential Amtrak Inland Regionals or potential MBTA Boston-Worcester Commuter Rail extension to Springfield. Palmer Union Station looks to be more convenient to I-90 (Mass Turnpike) than Springfield or Worcester. According to wikipedia, Amtrak has never stopped there, even when performing backup move on the Vermonter old routing. I don't think it would be a good stop for Amtrak unless you needed more/cheaper parking. It would definitely be a good stop for any MBTA CR.
The Union station there is now a very popular railroad themed restaurant so it would not be available to reverting to being a station again. Ditto for the parking area. That may be another factor that mitigates against a stop since there may not be another location with adequate parking that is convenient to downtown or access to the Turnpike.
 #1515450  by Rockingham Racer
 
East of downtown, there's a hand-throw switch that leads onto a rather lenthgy siding, that appears to be idle [on Google Maps]. Rip that up, and there's room for a platform.. There also seems to be some land that could be used for parking, after purchasing it.
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