Thinking more about adding to Amtrak’s revenue by Autotrain service north of Lorton, up the Corridor. What might make some sense would be to restore the Montrealer, a traqin still needed, once a Veiwliner sleeper is available, replacing the Vermonter. Then, with a special move from Lorton to tack autotrain equipment on the back of the Montrealer. getting the autotrain equipment up the Corridor and through New York congestion without still another “slot”, having the equipment dropped off somewhere along the Conncticut River Line, like Northhampton or Holyoke, Massachusetts, where highways are relatively free of congestion, all the way to the Berkshire Mountain and Maine Coast resort locations. If the drop-off location was combined with a Guilford or other intermodal terminal, the facilities might not cost the usual fortune. Dave
Often wondered why Auto-Train never tried a west coast version. Pick up passengers and their cars at both Seattle and Portland and deliver them to Orange County where Disneyland and the rest of the southern California attractions are located. Even Canadians from Vancouver would be able to take advantage of this type operation. It would even be possible to originate part of the train in Bellingham and another part in Spokane with these two sections and the Seattle section all coming together in Portland
for the trip to Orange county or even LA. Interstate 5 becomes quite impassible at times in the winter months. The Coast Starlight has been well patronized since its inception why not a west coast auto-train.
rrnut and modelcar
Yeah, they are long. Some car/trailer combos can go 50 ft. Most 5th wheels are less and motorhome only go 40 ft, so if you do it right, you can get 2 per flat.
50 Amps would be peak per unit. You wouldn’t have to power for that - maybe an avg peak load of 20 Amps or so which works out to 2.3 KW / unit. Locomotive HEP is typically 500 KW so you could power a couple hudred just using the HEP gen on a single locomotive.
You probably would have to modify the flat cars to coform to FRA passenger stds interms of buff loading, anticlimbers and safety appliances and you’d probably want to use some sort of tie down or wheel chock system, but other than that, I don’t know of any regs that would prevent people from riding in RVs on flat cars.
The reason Autotrain service ends at Lorton, VA is the clearance restrictions that apply to the tunnel that Amtrak uses to service the Southern routes out of Washington Union Station. The tunnel will not clear GE Dash-8 locomotives account height and width restrictions. While an alternative route could be negotiated over the CSX Alexandria extension, that line is already overly congested with freight traffic and CSX would want an exhorbitant charge to handle any traffic. The CSX route is not unrestricted for clearance as it has to negotiate the Virginia Avenue Tunnel going through the District.
The reason Auto Train stops in Lorton is it cannot go up the Northeast Corridor because of overhead wires, the Baltimore tunnels ,a dn the tunnels under the Hudson and the East Rivers in New York City. Another reason for ending the Auto Train in Lorton VA is stopping to switch out auto carriers and unload passengers in seveal cities just won’t work.
I like the idea of a auto train. Chicago to new york is a good route. HERE ARE SOME MORE I THINK ARE GOOD>
- Miami-Chicago
- New York-Dallas
- Chicago-New Orleans
- Seatle-Los Angeles