Maybe. Never count Americans out of the game if either a) there's profit to be made or b) we decide that it needs to be done. And, never look to California as an example of how any of the other 49 states might, or might not, do things. Many of the difficulties causing problems for HSR in California are utterly unique to California. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk
I agree. I can't think of any other state that puts people in charge of things who are loony enough to think Los Angeles to San Diego via San Bernardino is a fast route. Fortunately, you can stick a fork in that boondoggle. It's dead.
Not according to the Biden administration, they just gave California close to a billion dollars of tax payer money for that boondoggle. And yes, I can't wait to see them try and drive an ROW for HSR through the Tehachapi MTs.
That's just for Bakersfield to Palmdale. You know. Two cities with less than 550,000 population between them. That's the full extent of it now. Of course, they'll have plenty of time to grow before the Techachpis are crossed. Doesn't it make you feel good to help pay for these improvements to one for the richest, if not the richest, states in the union? Meanwhile, Oklahoma, one of the least wealthy, got told, yeah, you can have Amtrak service--if you buy the equipment yourselves (and if I remember right, cover the losses). Steal from the poor, give to the rich, tell everyone you're Robin Hood.
Here's an option for you: Spirit airlines will fly you round-trip from Cleveland to Kansas City for only $190. Then you can transfer to/from Amtrak for the rest of the trip. The catch is that the "flight" takes about 20 hours, with a 15 hour layover in Orlando.
Here's the derailment near Marceline MO, between La Plata and Kansas City. https://ktvo.com/news/local/3-dozen-train-cars-derail-just-outside-marceline On the La Plata railcam, an eastbound stack train just went through, so either it took a detour or maybe at least one track has been reopened.
Yikes. Kinda glad we chose the bus. Amtrak put some people up in a hotel overnight so they can try again tomorrow. What are the chances that they can get that cleaned up, and the track repaired, by tomorrow? Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk
Doesn't look like any tank cars were involved and nothing is burning, so that's a plus. Typically, the clean up seems to consist of clearing the derailed cars off to the sides of the right-of-way and then fixing the track. The derailed cars will be removed when convenient. It wouldn't be a total surprise if at least one of the two tracks might be back in operation by sometime tomorrow. If a day's worth of trains is backed up, that's going to have some impact on schedules.
When I rode the Sunset Limited back in June of 2000, there was a derailment on the old SP line at Beaumont Hill before dropping down into the Los Angeles basin. They had built a temporary "shoe fly" around the wreck site to keep the line open. Amtrak went real slow on the temporary track and you could see the mess real well. I seem to have lost all those photos unfortunately.
In November 1947 I was standing at the back vestibule of the Golden State somewhere in a southwest desert wondering why we were going so slowly. Suddenly we were on fresh new ballast and track, then passed a lone box car on its back upside down about 20' off the track. I wondered why there were no people around, just this poor boxcar. This was my first experience seeing remnants of a train accident and I've never forgotten it.
After being crammed on a bus all night (including an attempted passenger rebellion, and other adventures) we finally made it to Kansas City, boarded the Southwest Chief, and are on our way. Currently about ten hours behind, I think. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk
Glad you're on your way onboard....Finally. Those Siemens Chargers have a great profile, far better than GE's P40s and P42s.
Eastbound #4 is operating, but is shown as expected to lose about 4 hours between Kansas City and La Plata, so there must be lots of congestion and/or slow running. https://www.amtrak.com/services/maps.trainlocation.html The upside of all this is that your westbound ride west of Kansas City will be in daylight, rather than darkness.
I'm not surprised. We've passed a whole bunch of parked NS and BNSF (some mixed) freight trains on sidings waiting for their turn to restart. As to traveling in daylight, we thought the same thing. Especially since last night was full of torrential rains, lightning, and tornado watches. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk
That Siemens Charger was the head end of the River Runner on the adjacent track. Since we're way in the back in coach class, I didn't get to see what's up front of ours. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk