Can Amtrak use the West Shore Branch to go around Rochester?

does anyone know if amtrak would use the west shore if there was no reason to stop at rochester ?

Amtrak stays on the Chicago Line. According to a couple of Amtrak employees I've spoken to, the crew is required to stop at all regularly scheduled station stops, because of the possibility of last minute arrivals. Indeed, I've seen passengers purchasing tickets in Rochester just minutes before the Maple Leaf arrived. The only reason for Amtrak to use the West Shore Bypass is if the Chicago Line is blocked by a derailment or similar issue that prevents both tracks of the mainline from being used.

I have seen Amtrak on the West Shore in Henrietta when the main line through Rochester was blocked, I'm guessing sometime in 2003.

Amtrak engineers are not qualified on the West Shore Sub. and would need CSX pilot engineers as they have done in the past when a derailment has blocked the mains in or around the city. Can't say it won't happen, but. If you see an Amtrak train on the West Shore Div., something bad happened between CP 382 and CP 359 on the Rochester Sub..

I saw amtrak went through shore when I was working on 490 bridge over shore in 92. I think it was special, not one of these regular amtraks, since it was only one going through that day.

dummy wrote:does anyone know if amtrak would use the west shore if there was no reason to stop at rochester ?

Remind me why there would be no reason to stop in Rochester?

-otto-

I think the poster is assuming that Amtrak wouldn't stop if there were no passengers scheduled to board or depart the train in Rochester. However, as I said before, Amtrak employees told me they must stop at each station, in case of a last minute arrival.

About the only thing that I have ever heard of is Amtrak stopping out side of Rochester and busing the passengers to and from Buffalo or Syracuse if there was ever a major derailment.

Amtrak Trains slow down with intent to stop in Rome, NY if they see people on the plat form and thats more like a flag stop.

Only the Empire Service Trains stop at Rome. They are required to stop, however briefly, if no one is getting off or on the platform when the conductor pears out, he high balls the engineer and away they go.

Otto Vondrak wrote:

dummy wrote:does anyone know if amtrak would use the west shore if there was no reason to stop at rochester ?

Remind me why there would be no reason to stop in Rochester?

-otto-

Unless there was a blockage between CP-359 and CP-382 there would be no reason not to stop at Rochester. Today the main purpose of passenger service on this route is to serve all of the major metro areas along the route and Rochester is certainally a major area in this respect.
Lets go back to the New York Central days when there were many overnight trains between various points in the midwest and New York. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis and many other points more or less had their own trains for New York. A fair number of these trains of bygone years did not stop at Rochester among other points, there was no real reason for them to because Rochester already had more than adequate service from other trains. Passenger service on this route is never going to return to the glory days of the past and it is very unlikely that today there would be any real reason for one or more trains to skip Rochester.
Noel Weaver

I actually have ridden Amtrak on the West Shore. Was in 79 I believe. A derailment in Rochester had fouled the main. I was on the Lake Shore headed West. We took the West Shore and stopped at a road crossing (Chili Ave?) and let folks off and on. Amtrak had a fleet of taxis waiting for us to take us home. (Worked out great for me because my departure had been by plane and my car was nearby at the airport.) Fun to ride through Pittsford on the LSL!

Otto Vondrak wrote:Remind me why there would be no reason to stop in Rochester?

Nobody of consequence lives in Rochester?

RussNelson wrote:

Otto Vondrak wrote:Remind me why there would be no reason to stop in Rochester?

Nobody of consequence lives in Rochester?

lol!

Besides our new Lt Gov (the former mayor of Roch), there are Amtrak patrons who board and depart in Rochester. I am one of them.

Yes, I know the numbers seem small... but all of the "small" stops in upstate NY (including Rochester) contribute to the overall ridership for the Maple Leaf. Empire Service and even the Lake Shore Limited.

The Rochester, NY Democrat & Chronicle newspaper of Wednesday, August 8, 1973 featured an article entitled "Rail Station In Suburbia"?

The article stated that Amtrak may build a new passenger station near Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Road and Jefferson Road in order to replace the existing station at 320 Central Avenue.

Further stated was that both Amtrak and the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority were considering building stations in the area at the intersection of the Penn Central railroad's West Shore line and the authority's proposed Charlotte-to-Henrietta rail commuter line. There was mention that there had been discussions concerning construction of a joint terminal.

The commuter line was, of course, never constructed nor was the new Amtrak station.

The case for a commuter line back in the day was compelling (at least on paper) and the infrastructure was largely still there.

Charlotte to Henrietta - major employers along that corridor: Kodak, General Motors, UofR/Strong, RIT

West Shore - Fairport to Chili as a feeder to a theoretical Henrietta multimodal station

Falls Road - Brockport to Rochester as a feeder via the now R&S to Henrietta

But there was also a lot more freight movement back then too which would have let to conflict/problems. Not to mention that passenger service was not profitable and the Rochester Subway was done by 1957 - and we're talking 1973 - Penn Central days where track and infrastructure was in poor shape all over the region. That and by then everyone was driving and unless you lived in the outer burbs - everything was a 20-minute drive.