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  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

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Re:

 #1567170  by electricron
 
villager wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2007 2:08 pm We in NC wish we could get this type of performance between Raleigh and DC. Then intercity train travel around here would REALLY take off.

I'm not as diligent with the stats for the Carolinian, because it takes so much more work (so many more stations). However, the amount of data I do have points to a scheduled run of 12:59 from NYP to CLT, and an average run of 13:50, a median of 13:37, and a 90th percentile of 14:59, two hours late. Ugh.

There's no magic, of course. Well-maintained and attended to rights of way with capital programs aimed at reducing bottlenecks produce mostly on-time and relatively speedy services. Places where this doesn't exist leads to crummy train service.
The reason the Piedmont trains run mostly on time is because the trains run over tracks owned by the NCRR which in turn is owned by the State of North Carolina. The Carolinian train only runs on NCRR tracks west of Raleigh, north of Raleigh it runs on CSX owned tracks to DC and Amtrak owned tracks to NYC.

Ownership is the key to dispatching and the key for funding improvements or maintenance of the tracks.
Ownership is the magic!
 #1567177  by kitchin
 
When do you expect the Carolinian to run on all state-owned tracks between Petersburg, Virginia, and Raleigh? It will save more than an hour. I hope they don't wait for Richmond Main Street station. That's a big project with a new bridge over the James River and slow tracks in Richmond. Using RVM now would cost almost an hour, it seems. I don't know how perfect they will want the corridor PTB-RGH, since it has to be ready for Southeast High Speed.
 #1567182  by WhartonAndNorthern
 
kitchin wrote: Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:22 am When do you expect the Carolinian to run on all state-owned tracks between Petersburg, Virginia, and Raleigh? It will save more than an hour. I hope they don't wait for Richmond Main Street station. That's a big project with a new bridge over the James River and slow tracks in Richmond. Using RVM now would cost almost an hour, it seems. I don't know how perfect they will want the corridor PTB-RGH, since it has to be ready for Southeast High Speed.
After they lay the track and restore the bridges from Petersburg to Norlina and refurbish whatever is left south of Norlina. It's a multi year project (2030s maybe). In addition to the work on the abandoned stretch and the work on the S line from Richmond to Centralia (where the S Line [Bellwood Subdivision] connects to the A Line [North End Subdivision]), there's supposed to be an additional bridge built on the A Line near Petersburg to augment the single track bridge over the Appomattox River.

The one thing that bothers me is that Virginia has spent megabucks to streamline passenger trains passing through Acca Yard. Right now, tracks 3, 4, and PM (passenger main) can all run around the west side of Acca Yard directly to AY (south end yard interlocking) and West AY (beginning of the A Line) to connect to the A Line. This assists Norfolk regionals and long distance trains. Newport News trains don't necessarily benefit from this. And now more work will need to be done to speed things up since future trains would have to cross over to the east side of the yard to use the South AY exit to access the S Line.
 #1567187  by kitchin
 
The scheduled time RVR-RVM through Acca did not change after the megabucks project. Maybe on-time performance did? The real benefit was CSX allowing more passenger trains on the NEC from Washington to Richmond and Hampton Roads.

From Acca to RVM is slooow.
 #1567188  by kitchin
 
Brain fog, of course it wouldn't improve, because it's crossing east through Acca yard. But on the train to Newport News, going through Acca seems faster than Acca to RVM. After that it's good rail. In a year or so the schedule will improve to Newport News because the station there will move 6 or 7 miles west.
Last edited by kitchin on Mon Mar 29, 2021 10:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #1567190  by dha10001
 
I'd expect this project, and the SEHSR corridor in general, to feature in Biden's big infrastructure plan. Expanding "high-speed rail" to NC and VA is a good look. But it remains to be seen if a project like this is ambitious or modest in the context of what he proposes.
 #1567220  by kitchin
 
WhartonAndNorthern wrote: Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:53 am The one thing that bothers me is that Virginia has spent megabucks to streamline passenger trains passing through Acca Yard. Right now, tracks 3, 4, and PM (passenger main) can all run around the west side of Acca Yard directly to AY (south end yard interlocking) and West AY (beginning of the A Line) to connect to the A Line. This assists Norfolk regionals and long distance trains. Newport News trains don't necessarily benefit from this. And now more work will need to be done to speed things up since future trains would have to cross over to the east side of the yard to use the South AY exit to access the S Line.
Don't they just cross east at the south end of Acca (Saunders Avenue overpass) leading into the wye?
 #1567311  by WhartonAndNorthern
 
kitchin wrote: Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:28 pm
WhartonAndNorthern wrote: Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:53 am The one thing that bothers me is that Virginia has spent megabucks to streamline passenger trains passing through Acca Yard. Right now, tracks 3, 4, and PM (passenger main) can all run around the west side of Acca Yard directly to AY (south end yard interlocking) and West AY (beginning of the A Line) to connect to the A Line. This assists Norfolk regionals and long distance trains. Newport News trains don't necessarily benefit from this. And now more work will need to be done to speed things up since future trains would have to cross over to the east side of the yard to use the South AY exit to access the S Line.
Don't they just cross east at the south end of Acca (Saunders Avenue overpass) leading into the wye?

Hard to tell from the satellite maps as it looks like significant construction/reconstruction was underway when the last Google Maps satellite view was taken. There may be a 3-2 crossover down there.
 #1567368  by David Benton
 
kitchin wrote: Tue Mar 30, 2021 9:38 pm
David Benton wrote: Tue Mar 30, 2021 8:57 pm Someone posted a long time ago , (3rdrail7?), that CSX tends to use the new "passenger"tracks for storing cars anyway .
The link in your sig no longer works, by the way.
Oh , they are about twenty years old , must have worn them out . :wink:
 #1568903  by Bob Roberts
 
Two disclaimers here: First, this is probably only interesting because it is the first time I had seen this. Second, this has info that would be appropriate in several different threads, it just happened that this one was the first I found.

I saw the northbound Star pull into Raleigh Union this morning (only about 30 minutes late). It was a huge consist: 2 P42s + 7 A2 coaches + AmCafe+ V2 Diner + 2 V2 sleepers + 1 V1 sleeper + Baggage + 1 V2 sleeper appended after the baggage (Savannah River). This was my first sighting of the V2 sleepers, they look much better built that the V2 bags which have that 'wrinkly' appearance to the outer skin due to weld location and metal guage.

Only one of the sleepers fit on the platform on the first stop. A second stop had to be made for the remainder of the sleepers as well as baggage. I know there are some space constraints with the brand new Raleigh platform (a grade crossing at one end and a wye at the other) but it looks huge, so I was surprised that the Star (even with a more normal consist) can't fit.

This was my first post-vaccine outing and I was eager to do some railfaning. RGH was great this morning (for this part of the world), I got to see a random NS freight (I believe headed to Morehead City), the Star, Piedmont #75 (my train) and also the Carolinian (80 -- which was running without a bag) all within about 45 minutes this morning. The Observation deck at RGH is excellent!

My mid-day Piedmont train (NCDOT has now returned to pre-pandemic frequencies) is surprisingly crowded with basically one person per seat pair and a couple of four person parties per car as we left Raleigh. It is a four coach + combi push-pull consist, one of those coaches is locked but it may be needed on the return trip.
 #1568917  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Who here might know the status of the Roanoke River bridge?

It's of course out of service, but is it standing?

It would seem that some interest group ought to dig into the Army Corps of Engineers pocket to rebuild it withdouble track - or start anew; after all they "dammed up" the River (not questioning the public benefit) - and their budget is simply a line item in the Defense Department's - and who'd miss a "couple of hundred" M out of that? :P :P
 #1569075  by jthomas
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:24 am Who here might know the status of the Roanoke River bridge?

It's of course out of service, but is it standing?

It would seem that some interest group ought to dig into the Army Corps of Engineers pocket to rebuild it withdouble track - or start anew; after all they "dammed up" the River (not questioning the public benefit) - and their budget is simply a line item in the Defense Department's - and who'd miss a "couple of hundred" M out of that? :P :P
The bridge is still standing - I just drove past it this weekend. The piers and girders are clearly visible from the I-85 crossing of Lake Gaston.
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