Gentlemen and gentlewomen, did you know that there's such a thing as passenger rail between San Antonio and Cleburne, Texas? I didn't until yesterday, but there is, seriously. The train leaves San Antonio at 06.48 and rolls into spiffy little Cleburne at around 13:00, and all for what? The stupidly low price of 20-40$.
This saves me a 6 hour highway slog, there and back, to pick up a member of the team, result. And result for the passenger, 6 hours of blissful train journey through the rolling plains and sylvan mesquite groves of Olde Texas. Nice, I'm jealous.
That in mind, you can take the Texas Eagle to Chicago, which might be interesting, see recip clubs, then take it back to California, behold the desolation, and then back to the safety of Free State Texas. This appeals to me, and it'd appeal a whole lot more if there was an equivalent with an open carriage and opening windows. Perhaps you know what I mean.
As it is, Amtrak has an interesting rail solution, the Texas Eagle. Let's check it out, and while we're at it, why can't America provide us with a convenient, workable, affordable rail solution? It's not as though we're not the richest, most powerful country on the planet, for goodness sake.
So let's see fewer billions sent to transsexual theater groups in Uganda and more money spent on passenger rail. It'd benefit us all, don't you think?
LSP
12 comments:
Profit/loss. Without pointing finders, if hauling passengers were profitable, the railroads would be doing it. Amtrak is a government creation to operates with huge subsidies.
What you need to do with rail service is look what Brightlines did with the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC.)
They helped fund double-tracking and improving the roadbed from Miami to Cocoa, and then built their own double-track ready/single track actual from Cocoa to Orlando International Airport and built a modern service and maintenance facility.
The passenger service on the BL/FEC line can go up to 80mph, while the dedicated line can reach up to 130mph.
Not a drop of federal or state money. Totally private funding. Done right and even early.
The FEC portion of the line gives the passengers a chance to see the Indian River basin and lots of little suburbs and cities. The Brightlines-only gives a good view of the St. Johns River and lots of wild Florida.
Again, done on or before time and not on government money.
Good mornin' America, how are ya,,,,,"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMS_ykiLiQ
When I was about 7, my mother and I rode the Shasta Daylight from Klamath Falls to Sacramento.
I'm cautiously supportive of the proposition. Mrs & I went to Spain a few years ago and after a hilarious fail of the rental car company to provide an actual car, ended up getting around by their high speed rail system and it was fantastic. 300 KPH, clean, smooth, comfortable seating, especially compared to airline seating, relatively quiet, lunch included and the included beverage cart had some pretty good wine. Highly civilized.
Then I lookit what air travel in the United States has turned into, and I have to wonder......Anyway, I'm aware Amtrack has private cabins or whatever they call them. Perhaps that would be the way to go.
Dammit, WSF, you have a point.
Interesting, Beans, I'll look it up.
Haven't heard that in years, RHT! Good call.
Wild, well said.
Air trav is HORRIBLE. Worse, I think, than bus travel in the UK in the early '80s. and that was nasty.
Maybe trains could provide a better alternative? You pay a bit more and it's slower but... so much more pleasant.
I'm down with that.
On Youtube, TheRoamingRailfan did a weekly and sometimes more than weekly update on the construction of the FEC/Brightline double track and on the Brightline roadbed and track, and construction of Brightline's maintenance building at Orlando International Airport. Plus other goodies. Guy does an excellent job just reporting on what's been done.
The thing is, to get good passenger rail, you have to go non-government. AMTRAK has always been a lodestone, especially since it's a passenger only option and only really deals with running passenger equipment over existing freight rail. Previously the US Mail paid well for train passage and that subsidized the passenger rail for a long time, then lost the mail to airlines. Very complex issue.
But it all comes down to it should be a commercial venture between the passenger provider and the rail provider. Both should work hand-in-hand to upgrade and improve the rail lines, the sensors (things like position sensors and hot bearing box sensors, the command block equipment, crossing equipment, bridges and tunnels.
To use the Brightlines/FEC example, it was interesting watching bridges I grew up looking at being replaced with newer more modern but as well built bridges, often rising up to 10' higher than the previous low bridge to allow more boat traffic. They also worked on noise abatement, improving the curves of all the curves by making them more gentle, installed a ton of various sensors and signals, built new passenger terminals, worked on new freight turnoffs and switches and all that sort of thing. They also worked with all the communities that they went through to mitigate any issues.
Contrast that to the Cali High Speed boondoggle where land was seized or condemned by the government and nothing's been done since.
Heck, Brightlines and the FEC even worked with US Sugar, who has their own railroad in the canefields of the Everglades, to make for smooth transitions between all the various companies.
Okay, a bit of a fanboi over the FEC. They're working with Gold Coast Railway Museum to refurbish 4 FEC steam engines.
US Sugar has 1 refurbished steam engine that they use on holiday trains and are working on getting another up and running.
Even CSX is busy expanding and improving their lines in Florida, including working on a commuter rail project in the Orlando area.
Florida's a happening place for rail. Just wish the NASA railroad would get up and running again, and, yes, NASA had it's own railroad that serviced both Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral AF Station. Even had their own locomotives. Sigh, not going to happen unless Musk gets involved and figures out rail is cheaper for transporting huge rolls of metal to the new Starfactory they're building at Kennedy/the Cape. Said rail line could even shuttle passengers from Brightlines over to the Cruise Ship Terminal at Port Canaveral but that's really wishing for fishing...
Private air trav is the way to go. Semiprivate, buying space on business jets, works very well from what I hear. Tickets run from Business Class prices on up, and the food's better, the people are better and fewer in number and you don't have to go through the main terminals, instead using the business or private plane terminals (which means not flying out of mega-glut international airspot along with everyone else, but flying out of well-run regional airfield instead.)
The TSA has been working to infiltrate the passenger train system. Hopefully that doesn't happen.
For rail travel, did you know you can buy or rent a private railcar and then pay to have it added onto an existing passenger or freight train? A nice Pullman with a dedicated chef and steward/stewardess would be wonderful. Especially if you have a private freight car carrying your personal vehicle.
Me? My choice is not to be crammed in with other people no matter how I travel. If I was single, I'd put a futon in the back of the van and drive until I want to stop. Bonus if futon is jacked up enough that there's storage underneath it for cooking equipment and coolers so I don't have to digest someone else's slop. (Wife and I did that for years in our Ford Econoline Murder Van, it fit a queen-sized bed frame jacked up to slide coolers and totes underneath it. Mosquito screening and magnetic strips kept out ze bugs. Either fuel powered or electric powered depending on campsite amenities. Was wonderful way to travel. If you go in winter, get and use real wool blankets as they hold the heat in best.)
the biggest problem for amtrak is when they were taken over by the government the rail companies agreed to the use of their rails for amtrak and guaranteed them right of way over freight. The freight companies have totally reneged on that and now are running freights so long that they won't even fit on their sidings, forcing huge delays for amtrak. Government tried to enforce it once ended up in court, suit lasted years, ended up a draw. without the freight delays amtrak could operate pretty close to scheduled times
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