Cannonball 2014

Already sold out for this weekend and several other weekends this summer. Has the LIRR thought about expanding reserve service to other trains like the previous parlor car service?

It was reported at yesterday's MTA Board LIRR Committee meeting that 87% of the Hamptons Reserve seats on the Cannonball have already been sold for the summer.

I'm not sure how easy it would be to expand service onto other trains, especially other Friday night trains. There is no real additional C3 bar car equipment for them to use (since I think they use all four in the Cannonball's consist with the remaining two serving as bars for the unreserved passengers positioned in the fourth and eighth cars), and there is a severe limit on C3 equipment in general. When you make a car reserved-only, you are limited to the number of seats in that car, while unreserved cars can have a full seated load, plus a couple dozen standees. There would be no possible way to get 100% of the people to the Hamptons in seats, so for every car that you make reserved, you are making the standee situation in the remaining unreserved cars considerably worse. It works on the Cannonball because it's a 12 car train and it's only one of many trains that go to the Hamptons, but if the program is expanded too aggressively, at least under the current constraints of the C3 fleet, then it can backfire severely.

But it could be something they could keep in mind when they are going to order whatever is going to replace the C3's.

LRail wrote:Already sold out for this weekend and several other weekends this summer. Has the LIRR thought about expanding reserve service to other trains like the previous parlor car service?

The problem being that there are barely enough C-3's to go around, let alone modified ones.

The last summer of the old cars (1999) featured (5) Montauk bound trains with Palor car service on Fridays, and (2) on Thursdays.
Since then that number has fallen to (1) on Fridays.

Speaking of C-3's for the past few weeks the Greenport Scoot has been running with a single C-3, that is fine for now, but it won't be fine for service this Friday, let alone that the extra Friday train to Greenport starts this week.

Ken

This is what happens when you have government bureaucrats making purchasing decisions, instead of railroad executives running a business and trying to accomodate customers.
A few years ago someone suggested that the railroad should get more C-3s. The respons from "on high" was, "that's all we've got, and that's all we're gonna get."
The railroad should have done with the old fleet what the old PRR did with its fully depreciated fleet of P-70s. They were stored serviceable, and were pulled into service for peak times. They were comfortable enough for moderate long-distance service (I rode in them several times from NYP on my way to grad school in Baltimore) and they were used in commuter trains as well.
The LIRR should have kept a good quantity of the PP72 and PP75 fleet, coaches as well as parlors. They could have been put into service in the summer for additional trains to the Hamptons, and any other high peak periods when needed. They were long since paid for and fully depreciated. All they needed was some track space to store them and a trainshed to cover them, and have the air pumped up and tested periodically. Any locomotive could have been used to haul them (including the DE-30s, although the DE-30s couldn't supply the 600v DC HEP). A couple of generator cars, like the modified ex-MLW F-7s and a few of the Alco FA power cars (preferrably the ones with newer power plants), and we would have been all set. But the MTA wouldn't maintain them and wanted to realize the small amount of cash they would bring in by selling them. I know the older power cars couldn't MU with the DE-30s because of the 32-point jumper cables, but that could have been solved with adaptive jumper cables.
Another lost opportunity.

As of today, there are only (3) Fridays (5/30, 6/6, and 6/13) when reserve seats are available,

The same thing happens with the Jitney's "Ambassador" class trips on Thursdays and Fridays.

"Cannonball Hamptons Reserve Eastbound Service
from Penn Station (Friday's at 4:06 PM) is sold out
for this Friday, May 23.

Cannonball Hamptons Reserve Eastbound Service
(Friday's at 4:06 PM) from Penn Station is sold out for the
following dates 5/23, 6/20, 6/27, 7/3, 7/11, 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8,
8/15 and 8/22."

Ken

Labor Day weekend, 8/29, is also available still (surprisingly).

lirr42 wrote:...There is no real additional C3 bar car equipment for them to use (since I think they use all four in the Cannonball's consist with the remaining two serving as bars for the unreserved passengers positioned in the fourth and eighth cars), and there is a severe limit on C3 equipment in general...

With bar cars in the news recently, is the Cannonball Train 2798 the last LIRR train to offer drinks on board? My impression is they use bar carts on the Friday train in four cars that have space available for the carts. When these cars go back into regular service during the week the bar carts come out.

8717 on Sundays has the Hamptons Reserve cars too.

I guess Metro-North had the last trains with bar cars and the LIRR has the last trains with bar carts.

Btw there was an article (link) in the New York Post this past March about well-to-do Hamptonites who snap up the Hampton Reserve tickets in advance just to be sure of having them. Up to 30% of the tickets are never used. These well-off folks are more than happy to pay the ten dollar a ticket refund fee when they cash them in after the season.

That's pretty selfish but I don't know what the LIRR can do about that.

They have done something about that; in March the MTA Board approved a measure that changed the refund policy for the Hamptons Reserve tickets. Now you must call by noon on Thursday to cancel your reservation otherwise the entire ticket ($20/$39.75/$47) becomes non-refundable. You don't have to turn in your tickets when you cancel the reservation, just phone or e-mail to tell them you're not coming so they can resell the seat. The tickets are still subject to the 60 day refund period. [More info in this post]

This way the LIRR gets their $20 out of that seat weather someone's riding in it or not.

Does anybody know if Cannonball deadheads back to Jamaica on Friday nights? If so what time does the deadhead Cannonball leave Montauk on Friday night and where does it meet LIRR train 8700? Any info would be helpful. Thanks

Believe the equipment stays at Montauk,untill their return trip on sunday,unless 1 set deadheads to Speonk
if needed for space reasons

Cannonballs equipment goes back as train 5783 back to Jamaica. Leaves Montauk at around 130 am meets train 8700 at JJD(Mastic Shirley)..

Chris, remember with the old equipment, they used to run that 130 train with like 5 or 6 engines and 20 something coaches? I used to call it Mega Train lol.

Doc I also remember that train going back west during the late 70s with 4 Bangor and Aroostook and 2 Precision engines pulling 30 cars plus on a late night fri early sat morning all engines were mu together what a wonderful sound they made going west threw Southampton heading west.