All things Pennsylvanian AND Keystone West

BuddSilverliner269 wrote:a change that will stay permanent for the time being.

Ha!

That's a Yogi-ism if I ever heard one.

spacecadet wrote:

BuddSilverliner269 wrote:a change that will stay permanent for the time being.

Ha!

That's a Yogi-ism if I ever heard one.

LOL! My thoughts exactly!

I'm glad the 2 of you picked up on my sense of humor. Basically it will stay like this until they decide to change it. They made it 6 cars but never put an advisory out stating the change. Gotta love yogi . Ha-ha

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Mr.Johnson, as I noted over at the related Business Class topic, it appears The Pennsylvanian is simply a victim of its own success. There have been reports here that when a car with 2-1 seating was operated, sell-outs were frequent. Therefore Business Class became a 70 seat 2-2 "coach'. Unfortunately, the Business Class accommodation charge is not sufficient to allow too many 2-1 configured cars.

Beyond the complimentary Soda Pop, Business Class does not offer any amenities - and Amtrak wisely has not suggested that there are any. I for one, use it on trips where offered; while I certainly respect those here (safe to say all considerably younger than am I) that say "it's not worth it", to minimize the possibility of having to sit in the middle of the "moshing pit' environment represented by any full up passenger transportation vehicle/craft is simply "worth it' to me.

When traveling alone, I like to grab one of the singles in the 2-1 business class cars. (When I took the Pennsylvanian to Pittsburgh, I did exactly this on a very full train. On the return, business class was sold out when I made my reservation and I ended up sitting next to someone in coach. Perhaps I'm being anti-social, but it's hit or miss when it comes to who you get stuck with, so I prefer to have a seat by myself if I can!) If all the business class cars had the 2-1 leather seats, it'd be much more worthwhile to spend the money on it imo! I'm much less likely to do so on a train with 2-2 biz class seating.

Families seem to like the table seats, they can all sit around a table, draw, play cards, or whatever. It really helps on the longer trips but is also nice on shorter trips.

BuddSilverliner269 wrote:Bob, I work 42 on Thursdays only and the past 2 Thursday it did indeed have 6 cars. I font ever see this train the rest of the week so I don't I ow this for sure if this is a permanent change. Usually when there is a change in consist,there's a service bulletin on the change and I haven't seen this.

As a engineer, do you do the whole run? (New York - PGH)?

skm wrote:

BuddSilverliner269 wrote:Bob, I work 42 on Thursdays only and the past 2 Thursday it did indeed have 6 cars. I font ever see this train the rest of the week so I don't I ow this for sure if this is a permanent change. Usually when there is a change in consist,there's a service bulletin on the change and I haven't seen this.

As a engineer, do you do the whole run? (New York - PGH)?

No, just Phl-NYP.Im slowly qualifying the Harrisburg Line but even so, its a different crew base that handles the Harrisburg to Pitts run

Today the westbound Pennsylvanian had 7 cars behind P42DC 141.

A42 had 6 cars on Saturday, including regular business and cafe cars. The funny thing is that I was on A30 that day, and I got off at PGH to walk around and take some photos....and then 12 hours later I saw that exact same set (but in reverse order) sitting on Tk 10 at NYP, right in front of my A2216 (2216 is supposed to come in 3 minutes earlier, but 42 somehow beat us there). Guess I should have transferred in PGH instead of WAS!

FWIW, I rode the Pennsylvania in Business Class last week PHL to PGH, Every row had at least two passengers,but in only one instance did I see two people sitting next to each other. I had two seats to myself, great for working on the computer. The train crew, Harrisburg to Pittsburgh could not be better, professional and personable: They even announced the Horseshoe Curve on the PA ! The train was very crowded, all the more reason for the "upgrade" to business class if one needs or wants to workor just stretch out. Arrival in PGH was slghtly late,but the surprise there was the lack of personnel greeting the arrival. No redcap to help the elderly and disabled with the baggage and. surprisingly enough, no taxis at the station! Some 15 passsngers( myself included) had to wait almost 30 minutes for the sporadic cabs to arrive. Sadly. with only 4 trains/day PGH is not Penn Station NY or even 30th street and that is reflected in the station activity. Other than that, great trip, Railroading is certainly alive on the old PRR mailine.

at least the pittsburgh stop is in a decent location. I was able to walk only a few blocks to my hotel. it would be nice to move it back upstairs but that will have to wait until there are more trips per day.

Just a quick update. The Pennsylvanian is still running with 6 cars and I didnt want to post it until I could confirm this, but the Palmetto is runinng with the extra car as well. Im sure some are not aware, but the Pennsylvanian and Palmetto share equipment with the only difference is the bagagge car. Im sure the extra car was added because of the Palmetto more so then the Pennsylvanian from what crews have said regarding the 2 trains but in any case, its nice to see the extra car.

Will this be a semi-permanent addition, or will they be taken off in the forseeabel future? I always like to see expansion (even in little ways like this) so I hope they keep the 6th car.

Davis

Everyone: I noticed that the Pennsylvanian today runs with basically 5-6 cars...I am glad to see decent ridership also now that it is the only train HAR-PGH...

Remember back in the 80s when it only had two cars assigned and for a time the F40 and the same two cars turned for the Fort Pitt (PGH-ALT)?

The HAR-PGH line could use more trains if PennDot,Amtrak and NS can agree on things...

MACTRAXX

BuddSilverliner269 wrote: Im sure some are not aware, but the Pennsylvanian and Palmetto share equipment with the only difference is the bagagge car. Im sure the extra car was added because of the Palmetto more so then the Pennsylvanian from what crews have said regarding the 2 trains but in any case, its nice to see the extra car.

I know the Pennsylvanian uses an Amfleet I cafe, does the Palmetto use one as well or an Amfleet II cafe/lounge?