All Things Cascades incl Vancouver

i'm wondering if they should purchase the additonal units , and use them to replace the coast starlight time slot . either tack them on the back of the starlight ( or run as a second section ) , or terminate the starlight at Kalmath falls ( for a same day turn ) , and have a talgo set connect .
It should be an hour quicker , but i would allow another hour or 2 cushioning at the falls , to ensure ontime running on the corridor .
The northbound starlight is blacked out north of albany due to bad timekeeping further south , effectively wasting a slot .

dowlingm wrote: From what I understand there are Superliners running on some Cascades services at present, presumably to cover for a maintenance window on some of the Talgos..

Superliner cars are being used for train 510 and train 517 until the middle of Novemeber due to Talgo maintenance as you indicated.

I suppose Oregon & Washington states could lease the Wisconsin Talgos, but why should they?
First, the Wisconsin Talgos don't have business (first class) coaches and they don't have dinners (food service) cars either. So the train sets don't have the same functions or services with the rest of the Cascades fleet.

David Benton wrote:i'm wondering if they should purchase the additonal units , and use them to replace the coast starlight time slot . either tack them on the back of the starlight ( or run as a second section ) , or terminate the starlight at Kalmath falls ( for a same day turn ) , and have a talgo set connect .
It should be an hour quicker , but i would allow another hour or 2 cushioning at the falls , to ensure ontime running on the corridor .
The northbound starlight is blacked out north of albany due to bad timekeeping further south , effectively wasting a slot .

Upon reviewing the timetable , it appears the northbound Starlight is no longer "blacked out" north of Eugene .

David Benton wrote:

David Benton wrote:i'm wondering if they should purchase the additonal units , and use them to replace the coast starlight time slot . either tack them on the back of the starlight ( or run as a second section ) , or terminate the starlight at Kalmath falls ( for a same day turn ) , and have a talgo set connect .
It should be an hour quicker , but i would allow another hour or 2 cushioning at the falls , to ensure ontime running on the corridor .
The northbound starlight is blacked out north of albany due to bad timekeeping further south , effectively wasting a slot .

Upon reviewing the timetable , it appears the northbound Starlight is no longer "blacked out" north of Eugene .

Yeah, it hasn't been blacked out like that in a while. Most of the Amtrak traffic north at K Falls if I remember right is connecting traffic in Portland and Seattle for the Empire Builder and others.

electricron wrote:the Wisconsin Talgos don't have business (first class) coaches and they don't have dinners (food service) cars either. So the train sets don't have the same functions or services with the rest of the Cascades fleet.

Ah, didn't know that. Oh well.

jstolberg wrote:The chart is a bit dated, being from December, but the progress of all Washington's planned improvements to the Cascades route can be found at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/EE ... ec2011.pdf .

The tracks in Tacoma from D to M Street should be complete by summer with Sounder trains to Lakewood before the end of the year. http://projects.soundtransit.org/Projec ... l-Work.xml

The design of the Everett storage track is complete.

WSDOT is currently seeking approval on the project's scope, schedule and budget from the Federal Railroad Administration before BNSF can start construction.

Construction is tentatively scheduled to be complete in the summer of 2012, pending release of funds by the Federal Railroad Administration.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/rail/everettstorage/

An update: http://www.exit133.com/7193/amtrak-bypass-moves-forward

Tacoma is one step closer seeing passenger trains re-routed from the Point Defiance tunnel/Ruston Way route to a new route that will run through south Tacoma. Earlier this week WSDOT announced that engineers had completed an environmental assessment of the proposed bypass route.

The current route is scenic, offering passengers some of Tacoma’s best views of the Sound as it passes along the waterfront from Steilacoom, past Salmon Beach, under Point Defiance, and along Ruston Way. It is however, slow, and prone to delays, as trains must slow for curves and single-track tunnels owned by BNSF.

The proposed bypass would re-route only passenger trains, leaving freight trains on the current route. The bypass is planned for an existing rail line that runs along the west side of Interstate 5 (I-5), from south Tacoma through Lakewood and DuPont. It reconnects back to the BNSF Railway main line near Nisqually, on the east side of I-5.

The bypass project will mean more frequent, more reliable, and faster Amtrak service. According to WSDOT, the completed bypass project will ultimately bring seven daily round trip passenger trains through Tacoma, with an average crossing speed of 79 mph (about 45 seconds per intersection).

The D to M Streets connection is now done, and Sounder service now extends from Tacoma to South Tacoma and Lakewood. That means that part of the bypass of Point Defiance is now done.

In response to David Benton and Agent Skelly - The northbound Starlight stopped at Albany OR 58 minutes late today and left 7 minutes later still 58 minutes late. they are predicting arriving at PDX 36 minutes late which still leaves about 30 minutes to transfer to the Empire Builder. I'm guessing that they can delay the Empire Builder a few minutes when the Coast Starlight is more than an hour late. I was in the Spokane station to catch the EB in May and the PDX section got to SPK right at midnight. It was scheduled at 12:13. The joined sections don't leave until 1:30.
Last year, The Starlight was late often enough that Amtrak ran a connector bus from K-Falls all the way to Pasco WA to make the connection to the Empire Builder.
The southbound Starlight is usually early into Sacramento when I ride it from Chemult.

New video of the Talgo trains released by HighIronofWisconsin on Youtube: http://youtu.be/QfzqSc4L5Q0. It appears 510 was used for initial testing.

Environmental study for Point Defiance Bypass has been approved.
http://www.theolympian.com/2013/03/05/2 ... ourts.html

State transportation officials announced Monday that the so-called Point Defiance Bypass would move forward. The Federal Railroad Administration approved the project at the end of a three-year review that determined the bypass would not adversely affect the environment.

Officials with the Washington Department of Transportation say rerouting passenger trains away from the Puget Sound waterfront would decrease travel times through the Nisqually-Tacoma corridor by up to 10 minutes, improve rail safety and allow two more trains to run between Portland and Seattle each day.

Well, I thought that I'd grow old and die before the new Talgos
go into service, but the Oregon DOT says it's happening this summer!

Not sure how the e-mail got that futuristic date, but I'll take it.


"April 21, 2013

"For more information: Shelley Snow, ODOT Public Affairs, (503) 881-5362

"The new Talgo trains are on their way to the Pacific Northwest

"SALEM – The Oregon Department of Transportation invites the public to help name its two new trains, scheduled to arrive in the Pacific Northwest this month. As components of the Amtrak Cascades fleet – and owned by Oregon – the trains will be named after Oregon peaks, but choosing which two peaks is up to the public. The list of potential names has been narrowed to: Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. McLoughlin, Mt. Scott and Mt. Thielsen. Information about the trains and a link to the survey are available on ODOT’s website. The naming survey will continue through National Train Day, May 11; celebrations are planned that day in Klamath Falls, Eugene, Salem and Portland.

"Oregon’s two new 13-car trainsets will join five other trains on the Amtrak Cascades corridor, providing service from Eugene to Vancouver, B.C. Two of the trains currently in service are owned by Amtrak (Mt. Hood and Mt. Olympus) and three are owned by Washington (Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier). Oregon purchased its own trains, using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to help ensure continued service in the Willamette Valley in coming years. The cost of the trainsets is $38.4 million, with an additional $6 million in expenses for consultants, spare parts, testing and the addition of WiFi.

"Each of the new trains offers seating for 275 passengers, a bistro car, a dining car, bicycle storage, business class seating and other amenities. After route and employee familiarization testing, the trains will be rotated into revenue service, sometime this summer. ODOT has photos and more details about the trainsets online at http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT.

Woody wrote:Well, I thought that I'd grow old and die before the new Talgos
go into service, but the Oregon DOT says it's happening this summer!

Not sure how the e-mail got that futuristic date, but I'll take it.

They got the futuristic date upon the very next sentence:

Woody wrote:
"The new Talgo trains are on their way to the Pacific Northwest

1 set has been released from Pueblo and is literally on its way to SEA and that is the due date for both trains.

Trainsets named after Pacific-Northwest mountains? Will one ever be named after Mt. St. Helens? :D

Following the link to the ODOT website, I think the '21' on the e-mail
was just a typo. The release date was actually yesterday, April 12.

From the site:
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Oregon's new trains need your input on names!
April 12, 2013

For more information: Shelley M. Snow, ODOT Public Affairs, ..."
---------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, huge good news, this past week or the next.

Hope they can get in at least one full month from the two new
trainsets before the current fiscal year ends Sept. 30, to help
their passenger totals -- and percentage increases -- look good.
That will help keep Amtrak's run of positive news to keep going.

You noticed that Amtrak's ridership was up 0.9% for the first half.
Maybe, without Sandy, the second half will be up 2%. But still,
no way we'll see another added million passengers this year.
To get another million a year on top of 31 million, the pax totals
need to rise by 3%, not a lousy 0.9%, or a mere 2%.

Simply not enuff capacity. But next fiscal year, the two added
Talgos could get you 200,000 or 250,000 more riders by themselves.

(Figure 850,000 now with five trains = 170,000 per train, then
seven trains X 170,000 = potentially almost 1,200,000. Then adjust
down a bit, because cannibalization will offset a chunk of the
new passengers attracted by the added frequencies and better
departure times.)

And when the revamped Comets start work in California, that's
what, another 50,000 or 100,000 in a good year?

Deliveries next year of the 130 single-level car order from CAF,
the Viewliner 2s, will be good for revenue (etc) but a drop in
the bucket of pax totals.

We won't see more big increases until the Midwestern and
California bi-levels, with 30% more seats per car and 130 more
cars, begin to enter the fleet in 2015, about the time the nice
trip-time improvements Detroit-Chicago and St Louis-Chicago
kick in.