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Once, a century ago, rail was THE mode to get people across the US. When each railroad ran 8 or so passenger trains each way each day, it mattered to keep the lines open. These days, passenger rail service is known by a vitamin brand: One A Day. I have no idea what the various contracts say, but I w...

Amtrak has a bastard child of a road locomotive. Go look at LA, Chicago, New York/New Jersey, New Orleans. What do you see on the Class 1s? Modern 6 motor locomotives. A mechanic or electrician on CSX can just as easily fix his roads equipment as he can NS, BNSF, or UP. The Genesis units are old now...

Beech Grove was Pennsylvania RR.
Wilmington Shops were Pennsylvania RR.
Bear Shops were built by DelPro in 1980, to build and service TOFC equipment. Amtrak bought the property in 1984

Seems to me lots of folks missed Tad’s most important point.

The Beech Grove workforce will likely not relocate if the facility is closed. Amtrak will lose man-centuries of institutional knowledge. That is a bad thing.

Mr RandallW,

Once upon a time, Major Amtrak stations (Kansas City was one example), had ground power available to keep cars in interchange (there was a 10-6 Pullman transferred daily from the NATIONAL LIMITED to the SUPER CHIEF for through service to Los Angeles) powered between drop off and pickup.

There’s plenty of equipment around the country available for winter lease. There are also plenty of high horsepower locomotives available for lease. Finally, there are more than a few HEP generator cars now.

Seasonal lease is the win-win idea.

To me, the big question is construction cost recovery. Brightline is building fresh rail. They’re going to need lots of passengers.

If you look at the rolling stock NdeM and FCP got from the US secondary market in the 60s and 70s, the answer likely is “less than ten years.”

They're baaaaaaaaaack... https://www.cbs58.com/news/amtrak-reinstates-monthly-pass-for-hiawatha-line-milwaukee-to-chicago MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) On Monday, Dec. 18, Amtrak announced it reinstated the monthly Hiawatha pass for $650, a $250 increase over the previous version. Last week, CBS 58 reported o...

AMTRAK LIES LA Metrolink closed the throat into LAUPT for construction. The Northbound Starlight originated 2 1/2 hours late at Van Nuys. The current Amtrak map says it’s just north of Paso Robles 17 minutes off the advertised. I went to Google maps. The rail time PR to Salinas is one hour 55 minute...

Mr RandallW,

I think Mr Halstead knows a thing or two about the Portland-Seattle run. He lives there.

Who has the money? To quote a friend, “No bucks, no Buck Rodgers.”

Erik, It’s your turn. We need the local guy in this. How far out from the centers of Portland, Olympia and Seattle are the commuting rings? 50 miles? 100? 20? The smaller the radius, the less the need for inter urban rail. What is the local attitude to cooperation between Oregon and Washington? Bad ...

Or axed with a replacement order canceled... I was about (sore-y, abOOt :P ) to say “Saying the quiet part out loud that we all know”. However, I got to thinking and I now firmly believe the train will not be going away at all as long as there are tracks for it to run on. 1) When the FRA determined...

True but there’s also laws and ethics. Should they be able to do anything or engage in any business practice regardless of ethics and morality so long as it benefits shareholders? The FRA NTSB SEC are the keepers of morality for the railroad business. Welcome to consequences of Justice Douglas’ 194...