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  • Joe Biden political ad features Amtrak

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

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1551079  by justalurker66
 
rohr turbo wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 7:01 pm President Carter took the 8am Metroliner Washington to Baltimore once. Whether you consider it "regular" is up to interpretation... I seem to remember the train was preceded by a "feeler" train and had helicopters accompanying it.

Might be paywalled: https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/08/arch ... imore.html
"Mr. Carter forsook the services of Marine helicopter, which he had intended to use and which hovered overhead protectively as the silvery train hastened to its destination, arriving at Pennsylvania Station here at 8:37, one minute early. Mr. Carter and his party had one car of the train to themselves."

A regular run but a private car. Expected security for a sitting president. I expect "private car" is as close as we are going to get to taking a regular train. Thanks for finding that.
 #1551084  by NY&LB
 
From Classic Trains
A special Metroliner carries President Nixon and Mrs. Nixon out of Washington on the evening of Jan. 24, 1970. The President and First Lady were en route to Philadelphia for an orchestra concert. The Metroliners had entered service 12 months earlier, and Nixon wanted to ride one.

That was in PennCentral days andthere was a pilot train running ahead and they spiked every switch ahead of the train.
 #1551106  by STrRedWolf
 
David Benton wrote: I'm pretty sure he took one trip on the Acela as Vice President, I remember the photo in Trains magazine . Wether it was a regular run is the question. I'm thinking it was to honor an Amtrak worker that had served him in the past , so maybe a special run.
I think he had one other trip that disrupted travel for MARC passengers during his term.
 #1551122  by MACTRAXX
 
JoeG wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 9:15 pm If I remember correctly Magellan got damaged or destroyed in a fire at the museum it was at. I bet Mr Kim would be open to a deal for an armored train.
JG: The Ferdinand Magellan is displayed at the Gold Coast Railroad
Museum in Florida and is very much alive and well today.

https://www.goldcoastrailroadmuseum.org ... d-magellan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand ... _(railcar)

During one of the hurricanes in the recent past the building that housed
the Ferdinand Magellan on static display was destroyed. There was little
if any damage to the car itself. I remember pictures of the Ferdinand with
the wreckage of the building being posted someplace or by GCRM.

Maybe Amtrak Joe may be open to bringing back the Ferdinand Magellan
into the POTUS fleet...MACTRAXX
Last edited by MACTRAXX on Wed Aug 26, 2020 12:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
 #1551123  by JoeG
 
I'm glad to hear that. I wonder if it meets Amtrak's current rules (such as roller bearings) or if it could be modernized enough to run today. Would be neat if it could once again become a Presidential car.
 #1553572  by farecard
 
mtuandrew wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 5:24 am Biden regularly took Amtrak as a Senator. However, he stopped using Amtrak (excepting the inaugural special from Wilmington to Washington) when he became Vice President,
Likely because he moved from Wilmington to the Naval Observatory......
 #1553574  by STrRedWolf
 
farecard wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 8:46 am
mtuandrew wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 5:24 am Biden regularly took Amtrak as a Senator. However, he stopped using Amtrak (excepting the inaugural special from Wilmington to Washington) when he became Vice President,
Likely because he moved from Wilmington to the Naval Observatory......
That, and after you go Veep or Pres, you're kinda retired.
 #1553590  by mtuandrew
 
Funny you bring up this thread, Joe is planning a whistlestop tour through eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... story.html
Inside Joe Biden’s whistle-stop tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania

By Annie Linskey
September 29, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

WILMINGTON, Del. — Joe Biden plans to leave the Cleveland presidential debate via one of his favorite modes of locomotion: a train.

The Biden “Build Back Better Train Tour” departs from Cleveland on Wednesday and will make five stops, including in Alliance, Ohio; Pittsburgh; Greensburg, Pa.; and Latrobe, Pa., and ending in Johnstown, Pa., according to the campaign.
 #1553603  by mtuandrew
 
farecard wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:02 pm Was just trying to see if that is all on the Capital Limited's route.
The first part is, but I'm not sure on the post-Pittsburgh route.
Nope, Capitol Limited route CLE-PGH, Pennsylvanian route PGH-JST. I’m sure it isn’t a coincidence that this is entirely an Amtrak routing and would be very surprised if an operator other than Amtrak had its engines up front.
 #1553607  by farecard
 
mtuandrew wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:08 pm
Nope, Capitol Limited route CLE-PGH, Pennsylvanian route PGH-JST. I’m sure it isn’t a coincidence that this is entirely an Amtrak routing and would be very surprised if an operator other than Amtrak had its engines up front.
Was assuming it was all existing Amtrak; I can imagine a deviation from such would take all kinds of track inspections & approval, a unit train worth of paperwork, and more.
 #1553611  by ohioriverrailway
 
According to various media, the Bidens are Amtraking from Cleveland to Johnstown Wednesday afternoon.
Stops include Alliance, Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Latrobe and New Alexandria with a 7:30 rally in Johnstown.
Anyone have any details?