• Rockland Branch Discussion

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

  by NHV 669
 
The posts above are the latest information. These things take time, not just hours or a few days. Patience....
  by Emmett
 
Indeed.
  by artman
 
NHV 669 wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2024 6:33 am if they're serious about this proposal, and not BSRC 2.0, the last thing they would want to do is offer a 5+ hour ride on outdated buses.
I would prefer a train (of course), but millions of tourists nationwide take motor coaches (busses) annually and some of them are quite nice. These aren't Greyhound busses.
  by NHV 669
 
I would hope their offering is at that level, I see plenty of the high end ones living up here along 302, within 15-20 miles of Mt. Washington and Crawford Notch in foliage territory.
Last edited by NHV 669 on Fri Jan 26, 2024 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
  by MaineCoonCat
 
artman wrote: Fri Jan 26, 2024 1:09 pm These aren't Greyhound busses.
I dunno.. "Excursion Motorcoach" seems like just another way of saying "tour bus". They'd better be a few cuts above Concord Coach.

Looking at Ameristar Rail's website and frankly I'm not impressed. Lots of proposals but no "look what we did"s.
  by NHV 669
 
They ran Tuesday, 3 scrap cars west, one perlite east. No idea if there was ASA work in either direction, if any.
  by Emmett
 
nice. good to know theyre running still some stuff for now, hopefully whoever's looking at buying the dragon plant actually buys it.
  by CPF66
 
From what I understand its a few of the local cement companies that are looking to do a joint venture. The only other place to get cement locally is Northeast Paving in Bangor which gets car loads from Quebec. A lot of the cement operations also operate hot top plants, which compete with NEP so they normally refuse to sell them cement mix. Its my understanding that if the plant is purchased operations will be scaled down enough so that they can supply material for themselves. I imagine only the necessary repairs will be made, vs the plant getting an overhaul which is what it needs.
  by Emmett
 
i see.
  by NHV 669
 
Running light west out of Rockland this morning, just after 08:30
  by NHV 669
 
They grabbed two steel for ASA, returned them empty to Brunswick yesterday.
  by Emmett
 
since the 8th have they ran at all? just checking in.
  by NHV 669
 
It's only been a week... haven't seen any posts to the FB group since that run.
  by MaineCoonCat
 
Regarding Ameristar, I came across this interesting article from 2021..
On March 4, 2021 In an article entitled "Expanded train lines in 30 cities and towns? AmeriStarRail wants to privatize Amtrak service on Northeast Corridor", Zoë Read of the WHYY staff wrote:
Expanded train lines in 30 cities and towns? AmeriStarRail wants to privatize Amtrak service on Northeast Corridor
The plan from AmeriStarRail would privatize Amtrak service on the Northeast Corridor, adding new stops and faster, more frequent trains.

Updated March 5, 6:45 p.m.

AmeriStarRail wants to privatize the rail system on the Northeast Corridor. The group doesn’t want to replace Amtrak, but simply enhance it, they say.

Under its proposal, which was presented to the Delmarva Rail Passenger Association on Thursday, trains would operate on Amtrak’s lines and stations, and passengers would board Amtrak trains using Amtrak tickets.

What would change is the experience on board, AmeriStarRail claims.

The group would arrange private financing to convert the fleet to compartment-style trains and increase high-speed trains while making it more affordable for families.

There would also be more direct routes and increased service. AmeriStarRail says it can do this all while remaining unionized.

The proposal includes expanding the footprint of the Northeast Corridor by providing more than 30 new cities and towns with direct high-speed rail access.

AmeriStarRail would create a centralized maintenance center, likely in Delaware, which they say would create more than 150 jobs in the First State.

The project would cost $5 billion for the complete expansion of the Northeast Corridor, and the creation of the maintenance center. There would be an additional $200 million cost to convert the existing fleet to compartment-style seating.

AmeriStarRail would first have to get approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“We simply would be setting ourselves up as a company, much like in the airline industry, where you have various private companies operating routes for the major carriers, like American has American Eagle, or United has United Express,” said AmeriStarRail’s Scott Spencer. “The private entity has a different name, but they operate as an affiliated carrier under that marketing brand. So we’re simply using the airline model to improve Amtrak service.”

AmeriStarRail wants to develop a mutually beneficial agreement with Amtrak and would pay to use their tracks. Unlike other private sector entities, AmeriStarRail would not own the infrastructure. But Amtrak has not yet been receptive to the idea.
Read much more of this story at WHYY's web site
  by eustis22
 
...and also a pony
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