Official "Maple Leaf" Thread

[dowlingm]

Presumably because of this idiot and those who think like him: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e15678897/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Greg Moore]

Presumably because of this idiot and those who think like him: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e15678897/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see the connection.

I suspect it's simply to aid in making the cross-border crossing easier.

[dowlingm]

Presumably because of this idiot and those who think like him: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e15678897/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see the connection.

I suspect it's simply to aid in making the cross-border crossing easier.

did you miss that it applies to those going no further than Niagara Falls ON?

[Greg Moore]

Presumably because of this idiot and those who think like him: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e15678897/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see the connection.

I suspect it's simply to aid in making the cross-border crossing easier.

did you miss that it applies to those going no further than Niagara Falls ON?

Nope, not at all.

Did you notice it doesn't apply to any other VIA trains. If terrorism was an issue, I suspect you'd see it on all VIA trains.

[AgentSkelly]

It could be that VIA looked at security issues and determined that the Canadian portion of the Maple Leaf was the only one that was of concern and didn't need to implement it system wide?

[Patrick Boylan]

I think what makes some of us feel it's security theater instead of a real security measure is that even if the terrorists were interested only in getting on in Toronto with a Niagara Falls Ont ticket and blowing up the train at Aldershot, this action will only cause them to get a London Ont ticket, or a commuter train, instead. They'll still be able to blow up a different train in the same place.

[Tom]

I'm planning an early summer northeast trip to catch some lines I've never ridden. Part of the trip will include a connection at Schenectady from the eastbound Maple Leaf to the northbound Ethan Allen (on a Friday). The connection allows for 2 hours and 13 minutes which (in a reasonable world) should be enough. Does anyone have enough familiarity with the Maple Leaf route to advise whether this connection is predictably solid? Thanks!
Tom

[Dick H]

This is not the best time of year to check train status, with storms, etc.,
and only five days can be checked on the Amtrak status board. Out of
the last five days, #64 was on time on 2/1, 2/2 and 2/4. 29 minutes
late on 2/3 and one hour, 59 minutes late today 2/5. Just a sample.

[ThirdRail7]

A good rule of thumb is if the connection is not advertised and/or guaranteed, it probably isn't a good connection. 64 gets hammered, especially in the summer. Even with recovery time, the historical 12month OTP record is 58% at the final terminal.

It seems risky, but I'll defer to the route experts, like Railjunkie.

[Railjunkie]

The 849pm departure out of SDY should be ok. Especially with the new schedule. CSX generally runs there gangs on a Sunday through Thursday work week unless there is a major problem. This past summer I was generally 45min to an hour late on average, but that was on the old schedule. One other thing that may work in your favor is Amtrak should/may be starting its own track work from just south of Albany to Schenectady, not sure on the exact schedule whether it will be during the day or at night.

[ThirdRail7]

The 849pm departure out of SDY should be ok. Especially with the new schedule. CSX generally runs there gangs on a Sunday through Thursday work week unless there is a major problem. This past summer I was generally 45min to an hour late on average, but that was on the old schedule. One other thing that may work in your favor is Amtrak should/may be starting its own track work from just south of Albany to Schenectady, not sure on the exact schedule whether it will be during the day or at night.

I know the OP mentioned the early summer, but I was thinking more of the dreaded CSX heat orders. If they are in effect from 1300 to 1900 and assuming there are no other issues( border patrol, bad signals etc) will 64 make it to SDY with enough time to intercept?

[Tom]

This past summer I was generally 45min to an hour late on average

Do you mean the Maple Leaf was 45 minutes late or were you referring to the Ethan Allen? Are you also suggesting that Amtrak track work will slow down the Ethan Allen making my connection more likely?
Tom

[Railjunkie]

CSX heat restrictions are famous, it basically reduces your MAS to that of a van train in some places and a coal train in others. On the old schedule with heat, work areas, and poor dispatching were into SDY by 830 to 845pm(on a bad day) unless of course stuff really hit the fan and I have had a few of those out there but that's for another time and place. With the earlier times there shouldn't be a problem. I cant predict what CSX has in store for this summer. I haven't heard of any major projects as of yet.

As for my tardiness I was referring to AMT64. As of now according to the chief engineer of the project track work will begin in the spring from just south of Albany to SDY this should make getting into and out of Albany on time sketchy at best. However I do not know if they will be doing the work during the day or the overnight hours. You should be able to make it but...

A quick question though why take the Maple Leaf to SDY and then the Ethan Allen to Rutland VT? It will be dark, not much to see railroad wise, and its a pretty quick turn. The most scenic part of the D&H is above Whitehall along Lake Champlain on AMT 69 to Montreal QC.

[ctclark1]

I cant predict what CSX has in store for this summer. I haven't heard of any major projects as of yet.

I would only modify this statement with one observation - CSX is full swing installing their new signals around and west of Rochester right now, I would presume this project will continue full-swing into the summer.

Based on information in the thread and previous cutovers, these aren't typically announced until a week or two before hand, as I believe it is more or less a "sliding scale" based on system testing after the signals in an area are installed - once testing has indicated that the signals are ready for "prime time", then they will schedule the cutover, so predicting that would be near impossible.(Again, this is based on an outside observer to the process, so this may or may not be the exact case, but it is what it seems to be.)

So I would only say that if your travel schedule ends up coinciding with a signal cutover (either during one or immediately following it), you could be royally screwed over on the connection. Trains get stacked up on either end of the changeover section and allowed through essentially one at a time (on what I believe are EC-1s), so you could end up waiting a long time in line to be allowed through, and then for a day or two following that changeover you'd probably have some delays due to CSX playing "catch up" from the days prior.

[Railjunkie]

CSX has that part of there operation down to a science. Planned signal outages are usually done on Sundays, less traffic. The few Ive dealt with on the Mohawk Sub went smoothly, maybe a couple of extra minutes delay waiting for a train to clear up. The OP wants to do this trip on a Friday and connect with Amt 293 at Schenectady I don't foresee a problem, but my crystal ball is OOS.