by dgvrengineer
Tadman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:12 am As hikes and walks are acceptable part of "social distancing" (why we had to come up with a new term for "keep your distance" or "stay away" is beyond me) I've been out in the state park system north of New Orleans and noticed both 58 and 59 are running full consist. Further review of instagram (where I posted pics of 59 under @railroad_dot_net as well as a few of the alligators I crossed paths with while chasing trains) have revealed that most long distance trains are running at/close to full consist.As for the City of NO, I think the current consist is needed to meet the CN minimum axle count. I noticed that in addition to the reduced frequency of the Chicago-Quincy train, it has gone from 5 cars in January to 3 cars currently. The SW Chief has also dropped one coach.
Given that Amtrak's revenues have cratered and people are under hard instructions not to travel, why are they still running daily full-consist LD's? I think Via has just canceled the Canadian for now. Acela is off the table as well. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to do a 3-car M/W/F version of the long distance trains? Sleeper-coach-cafe?