Amtrak Autumn Express Thread

Philly NRHS said it will be 145 & 822. Not sure how much truth there is to that.

Also, when will the Horizons begin their migration east?

The Horizon migration will likely begin when Chicago originated #3, #5, and #7 blank one Coach line as they do during the slow travel season. The Superliners released will then move to the Midwest Corridor sets until the Horizons return - definitely by Thanksgiving.

I read there were 11 Horizon coaches used on the New River Train last weekend and will be again this weekend, so I would imagine these cars would be used on the Philadelphia trains.

There's also a rumor that the Horizons from the New River train will be used on other excursions like these 2.
Now, what will next year's version be? Will CSXT want part of the revenue in the future? They do own a full dome car that fits in the Lower Level of 30th St. Station!

The Horizons migrated out here a long time ago. They came three at a time. The Superliners that reduced their consists doesn't have anything to do with these horizons. Amfleets were sent out west to take their place. As a matter of fact, when Metro-North had their major disruption, some of the Horizons were pressed into regional service.

CHTT1 wrote:I read there were 11 Horizon coaches used on the New River Train last weekend and will be again this weekend, so I would imagine these cars would be used on the Philadelphia trains.

JimBoylan wrote:There's also a rumor that the Horizons from the New River train will be used on other excursions like these 2.
Now, what will next year's version be? Will CSXT want part of the revenue in the future? They do own a full dome car that fits in the Lower Level of 30th St. Station!

They horizons were sent east to participate in a special in NC earlier this month, the New River special and this forthcoming special. AS soon as this one is finished, the Amfleets will return east and the horizons will head west in preparation for the Thanksgiving rush.

As of a minute ago, there was 1 seat left on Sat. and none on Sun. Autumn Express.

I checked just now and Amtrak had 3 seats available for the Sunday morning trip. There might be more as the date of the trip approaches and some people cancel.

Will the engineers on this trip be AMTK engineers the entire trip?

I'm pretty sure he'll be an Amtrak engineer for the entire trip. I'll assume he'll still be an Amtrak engineer two days after the trip....unless he resigns mid trip.

Mr. Third Rail, amongst the 'cast of thousands' in the cab for these excursions, may I presume there will be room for a Rules Qualified Agreement Norfolk Southern 'Pilot'?

Yes indeed. They'll board at Perryville and hop off at Lancaster. I thought it was be a better idea to have the pilots on hand at the initial terminal. It would be a great big joke if the trains pulls into PVL only to find out the pilots were stuck in traffic! When you say cast of thousands, you hit the nail head. I was looking at the "support guest list" and wondered if there will be room for the passengers!

In any event, it'll will be interesting to see how this turns out. The demand was so great, this "nine" car train has blossomed into a sixteen car behemoth that includes Am1s, Am2s,Horizons and the 9800.

Enjoy your lunches and I hope the weather cooperates.

PS: Hey Acelaphillies! The NS employees will be NS employees for the entire trip!

ThirdRail7 wrote:

acelaphillies wrote:Will the engineers on this trip be AMTK engineers the entire trip?

I'm pretty sure he'll be an Amtrak engineer for the entire trip. I'll assume he'll still be an Amtrak engineer two days after the trip....unless he resigns mid trip.

Ha-ha-ha...ve-ry fun-ny. I see that one of the many hats that you wear is a comedian.

I think that you know what I meant, but I will reword it to clarify. Will the AMTK engineers be operating the train between PVL and HAR? I assume so, but I also assume that these days only NS engineers are qualified on this segment of trackage.

ThirdRail7 wrote:The demand was so great, this "nine" car train has blossomed into a sixteen car behemoth that includes Am1s, Am2s,Horizons and the 9800.

WHAT?!?! If I had known that the 9800 would be in the consist I may have scraped up the money for the trip!!! You know that I am a sucker for those special cars.

Any word on the locomotives? Is the Philly NRHS rumor that someone posted earlier about the 145 and 822 true?

I look forward to hearing about the trip from those of you that are going on the trip this weekend.

acelaphillies wrote:
Any word on the locomotives? Is the Philly NRHS rumor that someone posted earlier about the 145 and 822 true?

145 over 822 back to back.

I went to HARRIS tower two weeks ago and the Harrisburg Chapter NRHS folks were all pissed off that Amtrak had broken their hold on the eastern fall foliage racket. I think the greatest indignity for them was having to drive to Philly to catch the train! Personally I had zero sympathy for them.

Will the trip have a café or is it boxed lunch only? Apologies if this was asked already.