by Rockingham Racer
So, did you get the pass, and if so, where? I checked the website. I couldn't find a mention of it there.
Railroad Forums
Amtrak Downeaster Discussion Thread
- Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman
by Arborwayfan
As I understand it, CWR means many fewer possible types of failure -- no bolts to work loose, no fishplates to wear, no rail ends to get battered and to batter the wheels -- but it bunches up a lot of the risk into very hot or very cold periods. Because it also means less maintenance -- no section hands out there tightening bolts and changing out individual sticks of rail -- it also means fewer small delays or at least simplifies the trackwork. Having the maintenance and the risk more bunched up makes the delays more predictable. If the end result is that in places with a wide range between maximum high temps and minimum low temps there are a few days of slow running for fear of sunkinks and pull-aparts, it could still be that most passengers and most freight get a faster, more reliable ride than with stick rail, and that the delays are less surprising and therefore easier to deal with. Or it could just mean that it's cheaper than working with stick rail -- it can be laid by machine and have a lot of the maintenance done by machine. I assume that it is often both cheaper and, on most days, better. Stick rail was prone to crack in very cold weather, too, especially before it was possible to check it for fatigue and tiny cracks.
by jonnhrr
Rockingham Racer wrote:So, did you get the pass, and if so, where? I checked the website. I couldn't find a mention of it there.Only place I've seen it mentioned is under station information for Portland where it says under Bus "Get your free one-way metro bus ticket in the Downeaster café."
Ditto for the fact that they sell Charlie Cards for the MBTA in the cafe also - only mentioned under Boston station information.
The first time I took the DE a few years ago the crew made a point of announcing the availability of Charlie Cards but I never heard it done on subsequent trips.
Jon
Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the determination that some things are more important than fear.
by swist
It looks like weekend service to Woburn has been restored, but without issuing a new schedule. The Nov 15 schedule is still there and is still the latest, but has been edited to put the Woburn stops back in.
I use Woburn and am glad to have it back on weekends but it seems like an odd way to do it - if I hadn't looked closely I would have assumed it was still being skipped on weekends since the schedule issue date never changed.
Or did I get something wrong here? Amtrak.com is allowing weekend bookings to/from WOB but it wouldn't be the first time the Amtrak site and the DE were out of sync.
JS
I use Woburn and am glad to have it back on weekends but it seems like an odd way to do it - if I hadn't looked closely I would have assumed it was still being skipped on weekends since the schedule issue date never changed.
Or did I get something wrong here? Amtrak.com is allowing weekend bookings to/from WOB but it wouldn't be the first time the Amtrak site and the DE were out of sync.
JS
by jonnhrr
Several Downeasters today were affected by what appears to be emergency track repairs. My son is on 694 which just arrived at Haverhill 2 hours late. 693 and 691 were late also, 691 arrived in Brunswick 2 hours late. Don't know where this was but my son said they were running very slow and stopping a lot between Exeter and Haverhill.
Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the determination that some things are more important than fear.
by jonnhrr
694 delayed an additional 20 min due to a passenger getting injured moving to get off the train at Woburn.
Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the determination that some things are more important than fear.
by arthur d.
696 arrived BON @ 2050 hrs, almost 3 hrs late, departed as 697 at 2112 or so. Prominent screech coming from under one car all the way to Haverhill.
by swist
The Monday (this morning) 682 conductors had no idea what had happened on the weekend. We had a brief slowdown between Exeter & Plaistow and another one in the vicinity of the Wilmington Wildcat junction. Total 5 min late into BON.
by jonnhrr
From a PanAm Facebook group I frequent, there was a broken rail at MP 267 around (New Boston Rd) in Newton plus one later near Wells, accounting for yesterday's delays.
Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the determination that some things are more important than fear.
by gokeefe
At least they didn't lose too much time on the Monday morning commute into Boston.
gokeefe
by Dick H
#680 was sold out today (Monday) to Boston. It was ten minutes late into Boston.
Another major temperature dip coming Wednesday night into Thursday,
Another major temperature dip coming Wednesday night into Thursday,
by TRNE
NNEPRA released Downeaster performance data today at their board meeting. Full details at http://www.trainridersne.org.
by Dick H
Except for business class, #685 was sold out tonight leaving Boston.
Except for #689 late tonight, all DE's were within five minutes of
timetable time for arrival in Boston and Brunswick today, Several
were even early. The DE crews, PAR and MBTA on the top of their
game today.
A bit back on this thread, there was a discussion of CWR and broken rails.
There were some broken rails on the NEC south of Baltimore today.
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=160547&start=945" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Except for #689 late tonight, all DE's were within five minutes of
timetable time for arrival in Boston and Brunswick today, Several
were even early. The DE crews, PAR and MBTA on the top of their
game today.
A bit back on this thread, there was a discussion of CWR and broken rails.
There were some broken rails on the NEC south of Baltimore today.
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=160547&start=945" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
by Dick H
Patriots Parade day this morning in Boston starting at 11:00AM
#680, #682, #685 and #687 all sold out. I think one trainset,
#680/#687 has an extra coach.
#680, #682, #685 and #687 all sold out. I think one trainset,
#680/#687 has an extra coach.
by Rockingham Racer
How hard would it have been for the Downeaster folks to rent some MBTA coaches? Would that even be allowable? Are there even any extra MBTA coaches? Just wondering here. And congrats to the Pats!