Gents,I don't know if this is too far in left field an idea or not..But I keep thinkin--There are a good number of finely restored steamers around the country now;4449,3751 come to mind..Could not Amtrak begin a promotional program by featuring,say,once a month a long distance run with a steamer up front?It could have the usual diesel back-up runnin dead-head(but coupled far back for visual separation).I've often felt that the drama of the side rods and smoke of these beauts is what's missing for the public..I know it's an old story for we rails.I'm thinking more in the sense of bringing new ridership in through it's attraction to children and their parents..Imagine knowing that you could book a trip from say,LA to SF or Chi. to Mi. pulled by a 4-8-4 or Hudson on a regular basis..or to just go trackside to see it go by..having found it in a timetable at your train station..AND the engine crew might not even need be paid as they've been doing it as a labor of love in the first place!!..Call it all advertising for Amtrak.yes, expensive and complex.But I believe it'd boost ridership which would balance that out.....Who's game?...Mark
I'm sure the novelty would attract people trackside. To watch that train passing. But, would it be the reason they'd board? For a few, probably yes. My thought is that would be a one time deal for most. After a while, public interest might wane. The trains need to be available on routes the public require. On schedules to fit the public's daily lives. Look at my State. The planning consideration by Amtrak is transit time. So they run the old Northern Route. Which bypasses a whole bunch of major population centers. That train only comes into one heavily populated area in the whole region. The rest of our people are lost to rail travel, as they are not going to spend their hours, making drives of hundreds of miles, merely to catch a train. Much better planning, short and long term. That's what is needed. Boxcab E50
I think it’d be a great idea, but it’ll never happen, because of the two reasons you’ve already given. The cost to operate would be very high, let alone, getting the manpower and equipment where it’s needed at the right time an place. Water would be that hard to set up, just park a tank trucks along the way. Fuel is another story, not to many coaling tower around anymore. I do wish Amtrak had more routes where we live though. The closest train for us is a 45-minute drive to Effingham, IL. There we can go to Chicago or Carbondale, not much help if you want St Louis or Indy
I have a hard time believing Amtrak is smart enough to promote anything like you suggest. When they bypass the 6th largest city in America, Phoenix, and stick an un-airconditioned station(?) 45 miles out in the desert for the Sunset, surely they would never consider a good idea.
Inch53,these engines are/would be all oil burners,not coal.Though goodness knows there's ALOT of coal available!!..Anyhoo,I just feel it is something that would grow into a larger affair.It's not like eleven people would care.It'd be hundreds in every town it runs through..This would not taper off.I believe it would grow and create justification to re-open some defunct lines,to boot..I bet it would at least pay for itself AND reintroduce a younger population to an old romance..You may say I'm a dreamer.But I'm not the only one.I hope someday you'll join us,and the...blah,blah.....Mark
I think a steam excursion would only increase viewership, not ridership. There's far more wrong with Amtrak than that. A couple of for-instances: I was involved in a long distance romance and went back and forth between San Jose, CA and Los Angeles at least once a month for 18 months. Roughly 350 miles each way. I could drive it in 5½ hours or fly it in 2½ (allowing for drive to airport, security lines, and flight) or Amtrak it in 9, assuming it was on-time, which some quick online research showed me is a rare event. Half the Amtrak trip is by bus, as well. If I wanted to ride a bus, I'd take Greyhound!! The wife and I (LDR ended well) took Metrolink to San Juan Capistrano from LA one Saturday. Amtrak runs that same section of track, so I also checked the Amtrak schedule and fares. Double the price of Metrolink. Amtrak needs to go places people might actually want to go in a speedy economical fashion. Otherwise they'll take the car or fly. Another angle they could try is to allow smoking. Have a smoking car like in the glamour days of riding the train. Supposedly 1 in 6 adults smoke. That's a lot of potential passengers, especially if the train was competitive with driving time. Now, an excursion trip that would fill up would be for the Class I's to run railfan trips over Cajon Pass, or through the Tehachapi Loop, or through some of the famous tunnels and across famous trestles. No fancy passenger cars. Make 'em sign away their lives the way ski resorts, paragliders, jetski rentals etc do then load 'em all into empty gondolas. Bring your own cameras, ice chest, and lawn chair. Maybe stick a portapotty in each car.
I think another problem is the gawd-awful high liability insurance that has to be carried with those steam loco operations. I think that is what has squelched a lot of steam excursion trips in recent years. The part about operating the locos as a "labor of love" is not quite an accurate picture, there will still have to be a qualified Amtrak engineer or qualified engineer on the particular railroad being operated on,to act as a pilot. Those people must be paid scale wages. CT
Fellas(assuming there's no gals here),all responces are taken as a compliment as you're all well informed bretheren of this greatest of hobbies and presenting it in this great forum,the TrainBoard...I suppose you are right in that it just won't sail(or roll).I just can't help thinkin that Amtrak,if approached with the idea fully,logically,and correctly could/would eventually see a place for this..Maybe,say,once every 6 mos. as an experiment..If it only broke even it couldn't hurt..there'd be press coverage,too,which would naturally advertise it along with their own Ads on TV,radio...But I DO know there's red tape and bureaucratic/political hurtles,but.... IMAGINE :asl:
Yup. Big factors. In which UP is way ahead of most everyone. Being their power, their crews, their tracks, and their money. :sad: Boxcab E50
To be sure, it sounds like a capital promotion gimmick, and possibly provide a reason for folks to "try the rails" again. Until the forces friendly to not only Amtrak but railroads in general are able to get rail-favorable legislation passed and signed by a rail-friendly administration, this idea is a real longshot. Not only does UP have an active steam program, but the BNSF has some Santa Fe power in mothballs and so does the NS. There are enough large steam locomotives out there capable of handling passenger trains, but a great many "cosmic" forces have to come into alignment before they run regular revenue mileage. CT
