When I read that such-and-such station was “served by 20 passenger trains a day,” or just “20 trains a day,” does that generally mean, say, that the Lake Shore Limited counts as one train, or because it’s Nos. 48 & 49, does that mean it’s counted as two trains? In other words, 20 trains or 40 trains a day?
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This is the reason railroads ran trains by number, not by ‘name’.
20 trains per day means physical trains. Each of these has its particular number.
What I don’t know is whether multiple ‘sections’ qualify as individual “trains” when they are essentially operating as a long divided consist of a train like NYC 25 or 26. I have always considered ‘not’ when the discussion is about timetable service, but ‘yes’ if discussing engine utilization, rail wear, etc.
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Thanks for your answer.
The conversations that make reference to ‘trains per day’ are trying to gauge the relative busy nature of the point where the question is being asked. 18 and 22 would be included in the ‘easily referenced’ 20 trains per day.
As we know, each day is its own capsule and once it has been experienced, that particular day will never be experienced again. Some specific days may experience NO trains, other days may experience 40 for whatever combination of reasons.
In this day of PSR, the number of total trains passing a given point is reduced because of multiple freights combined into one monster train. Common along UP.i
Amtrak No. 21, southbound Texas Eagle, is scheduled to stop at Temple, TX at 4:34 pm daily. No. 22, the northbound Texas Eagle, is scheduled to stop at Temple at 11:18 am daily. I would count them as two trains.
Ah, but three three days a week, it is not so simple. Amtrak Nos. 421 and 422 are the through LAX coach and sleeper attached to Nos. 21 and 22. to or from San Antonio and No. 1 to Los Angeles or No. 2 from Los Angeles. If one just looked at the train numbers without consulting the schedules or was not in the know, he/she might assume that these are separate trains, but they are not. The same applies to Nos. 1 and 2, which are carrying Nos. 421 and 422.
The conversations where ‘trains per day’ are involved are about the relative frequency of operation at the location in question, unless we are talking about specific schedule passenger train movement.
The FRA data base for railroad highway crossings at grade mention ‘trains per day’ - at best this is an approximate number as each day develops its own script.
Now this has me started to think on a related topic. I wonder how many times Amtrak’s Engineers have accidently missed a station stop. I’m sure it happens but probably rare.
When I was trying to guage how busy Clayton, NY was in 1906 (I have a timetable of that time) it was a challenge sorting out trains that listed Clayton (end of the line) but showed up on several pages of the timetable. I ended up with something in the vicinity fo 18-19. That was just the passenger trains. Many met the river steamers to take passengers out to the various hotels in the 1000 Islands.
Extra sections did not count as their scheduling was generally not daily and they didn’t appear on the schedule as extra trains. They might have been scheduled for days with the heaviest travel, or just on an as needed bases. In the very early 1900s, when steam locomotives could only pull 4 cars, extra sections were the norm.