Interesting discussion of short Amtrak trains, how about the longest (expect Auto-Train) that anyone has experienced?
Mine was a 1973 trip on the Coast Starlight from Seattle to LA. After 6 cars were added in Oakland we were an amazing 22 cars long, pulled by 2 of Espee’s SDP40’s. I believe there was at least 7 different paint schemes on the cars, mostly UP and Santa Fe, but some BN and pre-BN colors here and there.
We traveled on the CZ/Pioneer/Desert Wind in 1988 and 1991. Between Chicago and Salt Lake (or Denver) all three consists were together but I don’t remember how many cars total. The coaches and sleepers were dedicated for each train number and I remember two diners in operation at one point during the trip in 88.
This topic was well covered and answered in the following Passenger forum thread of last year, to wit: http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/174945/1919823.aspx#1919823
Actually, the thread referred to by travelingengineer is “Longest Passenger Train Route” (my emphasis). and has very little discussion of the length of trains per se.
A diner-lounge, which operated Denver-Los Angeles (summer season), was the second diner between Denver and Salt Lake City. The Pioneer’s diner-lounge was operated Salt Lake City-Seattle.
The longest is the Auto train, 44 to 46 car train.