Amtrak Autumn Express Thread

Seems to be a little late if they were going to have one.

I asked them on Twitter and a few times and have been told nothing is scheduled yet.

From me and anyone else who is not on Twitter, in other words for those of us who are not a 'Twit', thanks for following up on this. I was hoping Amtrak would have an encore of last year's rare mileage trip, but I'm resigned to believing it's not gonna happen. C'est la vie.

I would love to see Amtrak do this: Boston North Station-Lowell-Ayer-Miller's Falls-Palmer-Worcester-Ayer-North Station. Now that would be an excursion.

That would be awesome. Wonder if you could work in North Adams.

I'd love a trip through the Hoosac tunnel!

(hmm, continue to Hoosic Falls and drop off leaf peepers with shuttles to nearby hotels. Hmm.

The Delmarva Secondary is not a bad idea. Since rail lines are sparse in Southern Delaware, the excursion would use it in both directions. On the other hand, it might be nice to have it stop in one of the resort towns so that way, passengers can spend time in one of them.

i hread they want run south on CSX but nixed it

Where should it go?

My ideas:

1.) NS Delmarva Secondary through MD's historic eastern shore.

2.) NS H-Line through scenic western Maryland and Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. VA has other good options.

3.) Boston-North Adams MA via Pan Am Line which Norfolk Southern should have trackage rights on.

4.) New York to Vermont via NECR from New London

5.) Routes out of Harrisburg like NS Buffalo Line

7.) Washington to Philly via all CSX including historic Howard Street Tunnel.

It seems like Amtrak is going to stick with the "round trip" type of operation and also understand the appeal of rare mileage. If the trip stays based in Philly I would look to a Trenton Line, Lehigh Line, Reading Line, Harrisburg Line circuit.

The High Line was clearly the highlight of the trip and allowed Amtrak to get back in darkness and still provide value. Next year they could do a similar move, heading up the High Line then making a right turn at Falls Jct to use the Trenton Line to CP-WOOD (or if SEPTA can move that Blueliner they could use the Royal Blue connection and head out SEPTA). Using the West Trenton line would allow for some real Passenger Train Speeds as well as go through authentic fall foliage territory.

At Bound Brook they get onto the Lehigh Line and follow that back through Easton and Allentown and Reading to Philly.

how about a hudson river trip to Albnay out NYC or Newark. Using the river line

Is CSX going to allow anything, or must we stick with NS - CR - shortline routes?

They allowed Amtrak on the High Line and Philly Sub this time around.

I think they 'barely' allowed them on the high line. From what I understand from some of the employee volunteers I was talking to, CSX was nowhere near as cooperative as NS. The work window on the high line on Sunday really through a wrench into the works from what I was told. I think when it comes to future itineraries, look to more NS routings.

My suggestion on the survey was as follows:

Harrisburg, PA to Hagerstown, MD via NS Lurgan Branch.
Harrisburg, PA to Williamsport, PA via NS Buffalo Line.
Philadelphia, PA to Allentown, PA. Return through NJ on NS Lehigh Line and Northeast Corridor.

A good idea would be Boston North Station-Ayer-Worcester-Groton-New Haven-East Deerfield-Boston North Station. Plenty of rare mileage and quite a bit of it having NS trackage rights.