Given the success that Amtrak has with using spare equipment for fall excursions, why doesn't Norfolk Southern use its office car train for public fall excursions on fall weekends? NS could charge a premium price and I'd pay it, and it would definitely get publicity and help people connect with railroads, which are otherwise so invisible.
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NS office car train for public fall excursions
- Discussion relating to the NS operations. Official web site can be found here: NSCORP.COM.
Short answer is they can't. Part of the original agreement N&W (and probably Southern too) signed with NRPC to create Amtrak specifically prohibits them from running their own passenger service.
Plenty of Class Is that joined Amtrak, including Norfolk Southern, operate excursion trains for passengers. BNSF and CSX also do; NS's excursion program is focused on steam-powered passenger trains.
Why not also just offer up the office car equipment for one of these? I'd pay a premium price to ride in it.
Why not also just offer up the office car equipment for one of these? I'd pay a premium price to ride in it.
I don't think the NS higher-ups want the public messing up their cars.
With all the cutbacks on class 1's recently there's no way this is happening.
Just saw on another site that all the F units are up for sale.
Is that true and if so why ?
Is that true and if so why ?
Apparently they don't want to have dedicated locomotives just for office car specials. It's easy enough to use road locomotives and crews if you have a HEP car or individual generators on the office cars...
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Owner/operator of TrainSim.com (the internet's largest train simulation community)
Owner/operator of TrainSim.com (the internet's largest train simulation community)
I suspect that Wick Moorman wanted to preserve the traditional appearance of passenger trains and now that he's gone his successors (and the shareholders) have no such considerations.