Amtrak Downeaster Discussion Thread

I take the 685 regularly. At Exeter a whole pile of people get off and go to cars in that lot - on weekdays. Obviously commuters. EXR is about as far as is reasonable for getting to work in Boston.

swist wrote:I take the 685 regularly. At Exeter a whole pile of people get off and go to cars in that lot - on weekdays. Obviously commuters. EXR is about as far as is reasonable for getting to work in Boston.

That's exactly my fear, and if we're going down on 686, then we'll be getting there before the commuters leave. The only constellation may be that there are less commuters due to the approaching holiday. Stuff to think about, Thanks.

MaineCoonCat wrote:

Dick H wrote:One other item would be what level of track maintenance
will be required of CMQ? It seems unlikely that they will maintain it to Class #3 standards, unless their
new contract with the State of Maine requires it.

Can anybody get their hands on (or find a link to) a copy of the Performance of Work Statement? "Enquiring minds want to know!"

This might or might not answer the question, but I think the maximum track speed has been 45 MPH passenger/25 MPH freight for a number of years. (Since the upgrade to CWR.) If I remember correctly, the upgrade was done when Safe Handling Rail was the operator, and they were strictly a freight railroad, too.
Not long ago, I think I heard that the Rockland Branch was good for 59 MPH, but I know there are a number of stretches limited to 40. Places like downtown Bath (6 MPH, I think) further reduce the average speed.

It's a pretty curvy line, which is a limiting factor in passenger speed potential. The rails and ties are almost certainly good enough for 59 MPH (or higher, if the line was signaled), being the same specs as those used on Pan Am's Downeaster lines, but the Branch is a lot curvier than the Western Route.

Another possible factor is that Maine Eastern was operating a scenic excursion service, not a commuter train, and therefore they really had no reason to go faster than 45. To do so would increase operating costs (fuel especially) and make it more difficult for passengers to enjoy the scenery.

Running at speeds slower than what the line can technically handle also reduces maintenance costs, which is an important factor for a line that doesn't have much traffic.

I have taken the Maine Eastern excursion train a few times from BRK to Rockland, and I would have said that once it gets North/East of Wiscasset, it is going closer to 60 than 45. Before that, it's no more than 45, probably less.

However, my experience with a GPS on the DE tells me it's hard to judge train speed where the path is through woods and meadows at varying distances from the ROW.

MEC407 wrote:It's a pretty curvy line, which is a limiting factor in passenger speed potential. The rails and ties are almost certainly good enough for 59 MPH (or higher, if the line was signaled), being the same specs as those used on Pan Am's Downeaster lines, but the Branch is a lot curvier than the Western Route.

Good point. I think the Rockland station is "east by north" (a little over 74°) from the Brunswick station There are a number of places where the (timetable) east-west travel is really north-south. A straight line between the two is about 44½ miles, but the branch is about 56 miles.

Another possible factor is that Maine Eastern was operating a scenic excursion service, not a commuter train, and therefore they really had no reason to go faster than 45. To do so would increase operating costs (fuel especially) and make it more difficult for passengers to enjoy the scenery.

Running at speeds slower than what the line can technically handle also reduces maintenance costs, which is an important factor for a line that doesn't have much traffic.

More good points. And I'm sure any higher speeds would require the upgrading of crossings, too. I think the majority of public crossings on the branch still have lights only, and a few have only crossbucks.

Yup, and a few of them are real doozies! Green Street in Thomaston comes to mind. And that lady's house nearby, the one who can reach out her kitchen window and touch the train...

MEC407 wrote:Yup, and a few of them are real doozies! Green Street in Thomaston comes to mind. And that lady's house nearby, the one who can reach out her kitchen window and touch the train...

Yeah, do the "Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?" thing as the locomotive goes by the kitchen window.

But one good thing was that Green St. and Elliot St. got lights and gates a few years ago, and Mechanic St. crossing was closed. I think that was 2010. Meadow Rd. in Woolwich also got gates. That's a severely angled crossing, and I think the road speed is 35 MPH or higher.
I think there are around 72 public at-grade crossings on the branch, 21 of which have gates. Three of the five crossings on the passenger route in Rockland have gates, and one of the two with only flashers is in the city's "no horn zone."
From what I've seen, having active warnings in place just makes motorists more careless. "No lights and bells? Okay, warp speed."

If Amtrak went up to Rockland, Maine OL would have to do another education blitz.

Construction begins for controversial train facility -- WCSH

More than three years after Amtrak Downeaster trains started serving Brunswick, the agency that manages the service has started work on a huge train service building for Brunswick. But some neighbors in the town are still fighting it.

The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority started construction a week ago, after receiving its final permit from the Maine DEP. The project will build a 650 foot by 70 foot building, big enough to hold three full trains. The Rail Authority says the Layover Facility will service trains overnight, and make room on the tracks for a third round trip each day.

One of the better examples of brownfield reuse in Maine this decade. I'm thrilled to see this project moving forward. There's also a very nice Diner just around the corner from the site access that I would imagine the maintenance and train crews will find to be more than satisfactory. They're 24/7 on weekends.

Downeaster platform in Kennebunk chugging along -- Journal Tribune

The plan to bring a seasonal Downeaster stop to Kennebunk advanced on Tuesday as the Board of Selectmen authorized the town manager to sign a grant agreement for most of the nearly $1.1 million project, though questions about the remaining funding were raised. The platform project is estimated to be complete by 2017 or 2018; a temporary platform could be in place considerably sooner.

As Town Manager Barry Tibbetts explained, the agreement is a complex one, with around $800,000 of the project coming from the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality, or CMAQ program, which contains certain provisions. The remaining funding, and the subsequent year-to-year maintenance (estimated by Town Engineer Christopher Osterrieder to be around $45,000) would be covered by Tax Increment Financing, or TIF district funds.

A friend of mine took the Downeaster to Boston the other day - 682 out of Wells - but did not/could not avail himself of the 50% discount for seniors, he only was able to get about $3 off the tix price for a discount. I tried to see how the senior discount (which applies to 682) works and i could not get the discount to apply. The current Downeaster website still states that using V543 gets you a 50% discount except on 685 and 695. What am I doing wrong?

Interesting. I just went to the Amtrak site and played around with booking a senior trip from WEM to BON for November 2. I was able to apply the 50% senior discount to 680, 682, 684, 686, and 688. For BON-WEM I was able to apply the discount to 681, 683, 687, and 689. The only train it wouldn't apply the discount to was 685.

When booking online, make sure you do the following:

Change the number of "Adults 13-61" passengers to 0.
Change the number of "Seniors 62+" passengers to 1.
Enter V543 in the Promo Code box.
Below "Passenger #1" choose "Senior" from the pull-down menu.

If you do all of those things, it should work.

The 685 is a special case. It's more of a commuter train than anything - allowing people who live in Exeter or even Dover to work in Boston. It is frequently sold out and always very full. They don't want to kill that income.

They used to allow that discount on all trains but they removed it from 685 and 695 three or four years ago, I think.