Thanksgiving Week Extras

Amtrak will borrow two MARC sets and two NJT Arrow sets.

Looking at the timetable I would guess that trains 3078, 3167, 3154 and 3045 will be handled by the two MARC trainsets and trains 3143, 3096, 3095 and 3082 will be handled by the 2 NJT Arrow trainsets.

Man, paying Amtrak fares to sit in an Arrow III would suck! I wonder how much they have to lengthen the schedule for the Arrow III extras, given their 80 mph speed restriction.

As of Tuesday it looks like standard equiptment out of Boston. We'll see if this holds true. It seems the last couple of years there's been no "surprises" in consist out of Boston.

i'm sure you'll see some VRE loco's out there... maybe even some of the mafersa cabs that VRE still runs...


i know that AMTRAK still owns at least one of the VRE F40's so they will probably take use of that for the weekend as VRE doesnt run at all until monday 28th.

Keep an eye out for the red white and blue F40 with V30 on the numberboard

Not sure, Mr. Colt, but I'm willing to wager that the 1973 'gas crisis" and subsequent rationing (folks, I was there; it WAS rationed) resulted in a holiday peak that has yet to be eclipsed.

Lest we note, it was not until 1999 that ridership exceeded that realized during the "gas crisis' years.

Hopefully Amtrak will put to use the 20+ coach cars that were being stored in the 30th St. Station Coach Yard that I spotted on Monday 11/21/2005, as well as some Amfleet coaches and cafes on side tracks at Bear and Ivy City.

Interestingly, I saw 3 Viewliners heading North on both the Silver Meteor and Silver Star (the Star may have been the Crescent) on 11/20/2005. Both trainsets had Dorms, so I don't think the Viewliner was subbing for a Dorm. And not sure if thall three were in revenue service. May have been an equipment move, but the Viewliners were all together and not right sandwiched between then Dorm and Baggage Car, as deadhead cars usually are. Amtrak's Viewliner utilization has always baffled me, so nothing new here.

jp1822 wrote:Hopefully Amtrak will put to use the 20+ coach cars that were being stored in the 30th St. Station Coach Yard that I spotted on Monday 11/21/2005, as well as some Amfleet coaches and cafes on side tracks at Bear and Ivy City.

One would hope that Amtrak would schedule planned maintenance such that every piece of equipment could be placed in service for the peak.

I would think Amtrak would be smart about this. Using Transit Arrow equipment wouldnt be a good choice. Why dont they borrow the push pull set from Transit. Aleast they go faster

Yet another busy travel season with sold out trains, standing room only, and inadequate capacity while newly rebuilt Turboliners and other equipment waste away in storage.

hsr_fan wrote:Man, paying Amtrak fares to sit in an Arrow III would suck! I wonder how much they have to lengthen the schedule for the Arrow III extras, given their 80 mph speed restriction.

Somehow, I cant picture Amtrak adhering to the 80mph limit on the AIIIs.

cause NJT can sub Push pull sets for the MU sets loaned, but can't sub MU sets for Push Pull sets loaned out.

Man, paying Amtrak fares to sit in an Arrow III would suck! I wonder how much they have to lengthen the schedule for the Arrow III extras, given their 80 mph speed restriction.

The price for a 3xxx series train is perhaps %10 to %20 off the regular fare ($10 differance NYP to PHL when checked). This is much better than back in the day when commuter equipment could show up in Lieu of normal Amtrak equipment w/o warning (hense the Timetable note of "we appologize if you find urself in commuter equipment"). I once got an SPV on my inland shittle train. Back then Amtrak gave everyone stuck on a commuter train a %20 off coupon for their next trip. The fact that they now have the special 3000 series (and only need them on Sunday) is a testimate to Amtrak's improved planning and car rebuildin efforts.

Incidently, the AIII 80 limit was imposed by Amtrak so Amtrak is free to wave it. They are designed for 100mph.

Well no extra cars on 3,4,5, or 6 today expect for a deadhead Diner on 4.

As of 11/21/2005, Monday, Amtrak had 20+ Amfleet cars sitting in the 30th St. Philly coach yard (former Clocker trainsets) plus random Amfleets on sidings in Bear and Ivy City. Ivy City had a bunch of cafe cars stored on a track. Hopefully Amtrak has pressed these cars into service since Monday....

Well there weren't any extra's on 3,4,5 or 6 today wouldn't you think they would use an Extra Superliner Coach for revenue seating or use Dorm Space?