Amtrak Heartland Flyer Discussion and Possible Extension

"Texas Chief" redux is just not in the cards.

Equipment, for starters.

John Perkowski

Jersey_Mike wrote:I was in OC recently and dropped by the station. It would be great if the line could be given a second round trip so that each end city could have a morning depart to the other end city.

More trains the better. Have one trip go up to Kansas City as well. I say keep the train.

(assuming London Member of Parliament voice)

I refer the honorable gentleman to the reply I gave some posts ago:

John_Perkowski wrote:From my observation post in Kansas City...

Don't count on the State of Kansas ponying up $$$$. It is not out of the woods from the recession, let alone 9/11 and homeland security add-ons to required funding.

No bucks, no Buck Rogers. The chances of HF extending to Newton are someplace between 1 x 10 to the -20th power and 1 x 10 to the -21st power.

John Perkowski

(/assuming London Member of Parliament voice)

Well, Due to lack of State Funding it looks like Sept 30th of 05 will be the end of the Heartland Flyer. A very well run train (reads Mostly ON TIME) and an important link for Oklahoma to the rest of the Amtrak System. I'm very disappointed in the political culture in OK where they'll spent Millions and Millions on Roads but will decide to kill a basic part of the transportation infrastructure. I would like anyone who is concerned about this dropping of Service to write **Governor Brad Henry** State Capitol Building**2300 N. Lincoln Blvd **Oklahoma City, OK 73105 ** Let him know we want the Heartland Flyer to stay in Oklahoma and even go all the way to Kansas! As always your help is always appreciated.

On the platform in OKC the Amtrak employee Let out a yell "You Pack it You Lug it" in relation to our luggage. Boarded a clean Superliner II and found a seat on a packed train. Left OKC on time bound for Fort Worth train 821. A very smooth ride on CWR with very little of the Clickety-Clack that I remembered as a kid. I didn't have a ticket so the I gave my $24.70 (Military Discount) to the conductor and enjoyed the View. Lots of Oil Pump Jacks and gently rolling cattle lands. In Ardmore, OK the Flyer stopped for a two minute smoke break. The snack bar attendant opened the door and off we hopped. In exactly two minutes the conductor yelled all aboard and zoom with out hesitation we all hopped back aboard. The Amtrak workers were friendly and did their jobs professionally. The snack bar attendant had a different type personality and made the trip even more enjoyable. The train consisted of a a P42DC s/n: 49612 #74, two High Level Coaches #39940 and 39957, one Superliner Coach #35008, and a F40 Cab/baggage #90229. Train arrived On time to Fort Worth. I took the same consist back to OKC that night and arrived on time. (train #822) Different Crew than the morning. Looks like the Crew stays in OKC overnight then does the return trip in the morning. Swaps out Fort Worth. In all this being my second Amtrak ride I enjoyed and was very happy with the service provided. Also Very impressed by the Fort Worth Intermodal station. A+ service!

What are the speeds like along the line? Does the train cruise at a steady 79 mph for long stretches? I wanted to take a ride on the Heartland Flyer when I was visiting relatives in Fort Worth last Christmas, but I never got the chance. I did, however, ride the Trinity Railway Express from Fort Worth to Dallas.

Well, the speed seemed to be a constant around 60mph. I don't believe the track is rated for 79mph for Amtrak. Lots of straight runs on level track. The Arbuckle mountain range between OK and TX seemed to be no problem for the Flyer. Also, the Trinity Railway Express had very Clean Modern Equipment. Amtrak, Trinity, Grayhound and The T metro bus system all met up in the same area for easy transfer between systems. Very Tourist and Worker Friendly!

I have here some links to photos of the Heartland Flyer for Dec 2004. Just shots I did while riding and boarding.
This is the morning passanger loading Amtrak Heartland Flyer at OKC F40 Cab baggage nbr 90229 will be the end unit http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mikeiamun ... pg&.src=ph Now here is the Single Superliner nbr 35008 with passangers boarding. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mikeiamun ... pg&.src=ph A Photo of the Lead unit a P42DC s/n: 49612 #74 http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mikeiamun ... pg&.src=ph Thi Is a Crazy photo I took of the Superliners Potty. Looked fairly clean. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mikeiamun ... pg&.src=ph I hope these photos are interesting for this Forum.

The National Corridors Initiative reports that the Heartland Flyer has funding to take it through most of 2006, although its long term future is not clear.

It seems odd to me that the political will was there for a Fort Worth - Oklahoma City passenger train, bare bones as the service may be, and yet the much more populous Dallas - Houston city pair remains without any passenger rail service connecting the two cities.

does Texas contribute to the cost of runing the flyer ?

hsr_fan wrote:The National Corridors Initiative reports that the Heartland Flyer has funding to take it through most of 2006, although its long term future is not clear.

It seems odd to me that the political will was there for a Fort Worth - Oklahoma City passenger train, bare bones as the service may be, and yet the much more populous Dallas - Houston city pair remains without any passenger rail service connecting the two cities.

Beg your pardon but there are a number of passenger trains connecting
Dallas and Fort Worth, commuter trains on an operation called Trinity
Railway Express, here is a link

www.trinityrailwayexpress.org

They run trains six days a week and make several trips a day. The line
is well worth riding if you get into the area. Runs out of the beautifully
restored Dallas Union Station and in Fort Worth it serves both the station
where Amtrak stops and the again partially restored T & P station.
Noel Weaver

he said Dallas - Houston , not dallas - Fort worth

Are those Budd RDC's I see on their site ? Do they still run these ? If so I had no idea someone was still using them in a regular commuter service.

Trinity Railway Express is probably one of the most unremarked rail passenger operations. Beyond what was reported in a recent TRAINS article, I know little or nothing of the operation. I was last in Dallas during 1986, or well before the service's inception.

To return this topic to Amtrak related material, I once learned from a private, yet reliable, source that Amtrak sought to use the TRE's Rock Island route between Dallas and Fort Worth. In short, Amtrak was reportedly told to "get lost; you have a contractual relationship with UP to use the T&P, and we really do not wish to have one with you".

Oh well, if there is any foundation to that report, so much for Amtrak's reputation for 'getting along' with the roads and other passenger agencies.

Indeed, I have ridden aboard TRE along the entire length of the route from Fort Worth's T&P station to Dallas' Union Station. My train consisted of 3 Bombardier bilevels being pushed by an F59PHI. The only RDC's I saw were sitting in storage somewhere near Irving.

But as for Amtrak, it's a shame that it offers no Dallas - Houston service. And it's truly a shame that Texas killed its high speed rail program. When I visited Texas A&M back in 1992, there was an Amtrak stop in College Station. I believe Amtrak split the Texas Eagle in Dallas and sent part of it to Houston. But this is a corridor that needs more than a single tri-weekly (as the Eagle was back then), perpetually late section of a long distance train. In the absence of the "Texas TGV", it would be nice if they could at least start with a Heartland Flyer-style state supported passenger train along the Dallas - Houston corridor!