Ridgefielder wrote: ↑Tue Aug 20, 2019 11:42 am
Backshophoss wrote: ↑Sun Aug 18, 2019 6:22 pm
There's room at Montauk yard for Amtrak to lay over,may need to build a ground power supply,and possibly truck in fuel.
Only stops would be Jamaica or Hicksville(Divide tower) for the Greenport connection,Babylon,Speonk,Bridgehampton and Montauk .
Consist would be 4 coaches,1 Cafe,and 2 Biz class cars,1 baggage at beginning and end of season,
power is 1 P-32DM.
Season is end of April to end of Sept.
Not sure if LIRR will allow Pvt cars,or send a switcher to Montauk to to switch them on/off Amtrak,Cost could be $$$$$
3rd track Mainline when online to Divide,and with the CTC now reaching Montauk,should not be a dealbreaker to run
as most sidings are within control points.
If this is a summer-only service, your stops should be Jamaica (connection to everywhere), Bay Shore (for the Fire Island boats), Westhampton, Southampton, East Hampton, Montauk.
I know that sounds like a lot of stops on the East End but the traffic on the South Fork in summer is something else. Bridgehampton might look centrally located on a map but the station's just a parking lot and platform off on the edge of the village, and it could take 45+ minutes to get there from Southampton or Amagansett.
BSH, RF and Everyone:
I want to reply about proposed Amtrak service to Long Island on the Montauk Branch to the East End:
A new Amtrak train either connecting with Empire Service from Albany or further west or off the NEC
from Washington could be a possibility. This could be run on an experimental basis during the Summer
season to see if there would be sufficient ridership to make this new service option permanent.
This train should make a minimum of stops which would be Jamaica, Babylon or Patchogue and then
the "big four" Montauk Branch LIRR East End stations - Westhampton, Southampton, East Hampton
and Montauk. There is sufficient LIRR service and/or connections for all other LIRR stations.
The Babylon or Patchogue stop would be to serve western Suffolk County. A Jamaica stop would offer
LIRR connections to multiple lines but would not be absolutely necessary.
This train could supplement the LIRR's highest-ridership East End trains such as the Friday afternoon
"Cannonball" to offer this new higher fare Amtrak service option.
From a LIRR ETT - mileages from Long Island City (2.3 miles more for NYP)
Jamaica 9.0
Babylon 36.6
Patchogue 53.9
Westhampton 74.3
Southampton 89.3
East Hampton 100.9
Montauk 115.8
MACTRAXX
EXPRESS TRAIN TO NEW YORK PENN STATION-NO JAMAICA ON THIS TRAIN-PLEASE STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING TRAIN DOORS