The super short Capital Limited and others

Most of us have become aware of the very short 29/30 due to (a) lapsed inspections during covid; (b) lack of staff to reactivate the cars with lapsed certs. Basically these are one service car and 2-3 superliners.

It baffles me why the Cardinal and Capitol haven't been, out of necessity, rescheduled into a scheme similar to the Skeena where there is a overnight pause at Pitt for the foreseeable future. Then the need for a formal diner and baggage are eliminated, and you can have a string of 6-8 coach cars as a daytime train that actually has the ability to serve the market.

The same could be said for the City of NO. Right now this is an overnight train but Illinois Central ran it as a coach day train 6am-midnight.

The Cardinal does not serve Pittsburgh

I know. Neither does CofNO.

Are you suggesting that the ~12 hours between first dinner service and last breakfast service should be split between a service that leaves DC (west) or Chicago (east) ~6 hours earlier and arrives in Chicago (west) or Washington (east) ~6 hours later? That would totally screw passengers making connections through DC to/from the Southeast and/or Chicago to/from the West or Midwest. The Capitol is scheduled the way it is to be a bridge between those markets.

Tadman wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 6:12 pm Most of us have become aware of the very short 29/30 due to (a) lapsed inspections during covid; (b) lack of staff to reactivate the cars with lapsed certs. Basically these are one service car and 2-3 superliners.

It baffles me why the Cardinal and Capitol haven't been, out of necessity, rescheduled into a scheme similar to the Skeena where there is a overnight pause at Pitt for the foreseeable future. Then the need for a formal diner and baggage are eliminated, and you can have a string of 6-8 coach cars as a daytime train that actually has the ability to serve the market.

The same could be said for the City of NO. Right now this is an overnight train but Illinois Central ran it as a coach day train 6am-midnight.

So you're saying I needed to wake up, get out of bed, get dressed, haul my butt out at o-dark-thiry in the morning to the platform and Pittsburgh's crowbar'ed station where all you have is terrible vending machines and the Starbucks across the street isn't open most of the time, and then wait until the Pennsy boards and stumble into a seat, only to wait until after 9-*REDACTED*-am for a cup of actually-decent-because-it-was-brewed-on-Amtrak-equipment Starbucks coffee? Only to have to switch trains six *REDACTED* hours later to get to DC?

*REDACTED* no. I paid to get to DC directly and to finally see what the hub-bub was about on the MARC Brunswick line and by golly I got my money's worth.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 12:21 am
So you're saying I needed to wake up, get out of bed, get dressed, haul my butt out at o-dark-thiry in the morning to the platform and Pittsburgh's crowbar'ed station where all you have is terrible vending machines and the Starbucks across the street isn't open most of the time, and then wait until the Pennsy boards .... I paid to get to DC directly and to finally see what the hub-bub was about on the MARC Brunswick line and by golly I got my money's worth.

What I'm saying is that the current Capitol Limited is hardly viable, especially in light of the argument that long distance trains provide necessary transportation for those with little other options. 1-2 coaches and 1 sleeper are not essential transportation.

If you split it up into a two day ride with 8 coach cars and two lounges, you now are back to achieving the essential transportation goal here. This isn't necessarily a train about endpoints, as the folks in the hubs have options. It's supposedly essential transportation for Cumberland and other places that don't have airports and such.

OK; forgetting about "lattys" and how all too many addicts they have made out there (the TCO Board Member I noted is not the only addict I know), Mr. Dunville has a solid point regarding the "Daylight Speedliner/Shenandoah".

First, establishing two day trains would free up four Sleepers to reassign to the transcontinental trains where they can apparently command $700 a night for at least their Bedrooms. That in itself represents a "maximizing revenue" situation.

A-I's are plentiful from the existing WAS pool for the "Speedliner" segment. Now obviously the Local agency owned Ventures are off limits, but if, when the noted are all finally accepted, Amtrak continues to maintain a pool of Horizons in CHI, they will have a job for the rest of their service life.

<SNIP>

Tad, dining stations are a good solution!

All,

As late as 1953, FRED Harvey operated dining stations for the Santa Fe. Witness the consist list from an ATSF 1953 public timetable.

Witness also the WWII menu for the Los Angeles Harvey House.

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 1:25 pm Keep it to the "Cap" please. While the discussion on Starbucks and other matters furry-related (no disrespect intended) may be informative, it's not about TRAINS and is distracting. May I suggest PM's? Thanks.

Copy that. That would of been more of a trip report than anything else... but the whole experience, well... this is Railroad.net after all.

If the Capitol is broken up, could the western segment (CHI-PGH) qualify for Midwest corridor service at a later date?

John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 2:17 pm Tad, dining stations are a good solution!

All,

As late as 1953, FRED Harvey operated dining stations for the Santa Fe. Witness the consist list from an ATSF 1953 public timetable.

Witness also the WWII menu for the Los Angeles Harvey House. IMG_4684.jpeg
IMG_4685.jpeg

I take it the train would take a mandatory 30-45 min stop at Harvey House for folks to get food and eat?

That said, some overnight trains in Japan do come with food... but it's an "order ahead" style where your food is delivered hot to the train at a station stop, with you picking it up inside the train with your ticket (an attendant checks it and gives you your meal). This is required as said trains are at most 9' 5" wide and do not contain diner facilities (maybe a vending machine and a microwave). I can definitely see (in this day and age) having an attendant offer such a service, having it tap into a cellular tablet, and be delivered.

But still, shortie Cap Limited? Actually, I think it is more that we're in the lull of major travel, and it's to save wear and tear on equipment.

Tadman wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 6:12 pm It baffles me why the Cardinal and Capitol haven't been, out of necessity, rescheduled into a scheme similar to the Skeena where there is a overnight pause at Pitt for the foreseeable future. Then the need for a formal diner and baggage are eliminated, and you can have a string of 6-8 coach cars as a daytime train that actually has the ability to serve the market.

The same could be said for the City of NO. Right now this is an overnight train but Illinois Central ran it as a coach day train 6am-midnight.

The Capitol Limited and Cardinal are scheduled to depart in the afternoon in Chicago so all the west coast trains van feed them with passengers going to the east coast. That's the same reason why most long distance trains, no matter which direction they are going, arrives in Chicago in the morning and all of them depart in the afternoon or evening.

And what you state about the CoNO is true, you forgot IC also ran the Panama Unlimited sleeper train. CoNO name is used today for this service because of a very popular song.

R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 6:03 pm If the Capitol is broken up, could the western segment (CHI-PGH) qualify for Midwest corridor service at a later date?

Lets not break up existing service. Instead, lets add service. But can we get from CHI to PGH in time?

Well, lets set a benchmark. The Pennsylvanian does NYP to PGH in under 10 hours. Lets set the bar for 10 and see if... it... goes...

It's over by 35 minutes. No. That's a stretch, and in fact, that's two meals.

But there's hope: CHI to CLE is about 8 hours. CLE to PGH is 2h10m. PGH to HAR is 4h30m. Make a CHI to CLE corridor, then a CLE to HAR corridor. The only problem you have to worry about (outside of freight) is... Cleveland.

Something like this?