How Vehical or Auto Train Traffic today? I’ve seen more Tank Trains and very little Auto Trains. Also last week I went past the single track NS mainline Route 2 and 90 in Rocky River Ohio. Last week I saw an Auto train sitting there and yesterday I saw the same Auto Train sitting there. Anybody else see what Auto Train I’m talking about? It’s been sitting there for 8 to 9 days total now. It’s between the roads on route 2 and 90, Detroit Road and Clague Road.
Finished vehicle traffic is way down. Many autoracks are stored. You are probably seeing stored cars.
When I was out in Topeka, KS last month, I saw that there were several tracks of auto racks and intermodal cars stored…on the UP I think.
Be careful with your terms. Auto traffic and Auto Train are two different things entirely. Auto Train is an Amtrak service between Lorton, VA and Sanford, FL which carries passengers and thier automobiles. Auto traffic on rail refers to the movement of automotibles and thier parts in transit as part of the manufacturing and delivery processes. The cars you are referring to, therefore, are auto racks and not Auto Train cars (although Auto Train employees auto racks). So the empty auto racks you see parked are probably there for storage purposes due to the current decline in automobile manufacturing.
There seems to still be a lot of auto rack traffic on the Union Pacific Sunset Route through SE Arizona – with a lot of loaded cars heading west. I don’t know if the degree of traffic is more or less than what would be considered “normal”.
I’m sorry. I got the two trains mixed up. I forgot about the Auto Train refers to Amtrak. Now I remember about that now. I won’t get Auto traffic and Auto Train mixed up anymore. Now I remember to call it Auto Rack Traffic. Thanks for telling me.
It seems to be ok through this area on the UP (Parsons, Ks- formerly MKT). It runs once or twice weekly it is a solid train of autoracks. I think it originates in the Kansas City area.
Make no mistake; there are a tremendous number of auto racks being stored around the country right now. Most US assembly plants have been down since before Christmas, and some will be down two or more weeks before resuming production. Oh, BTW there’s only one cure for this mess; people gotta start buying cars and trucks again!
The westbound loaded auto racks seen on the UP Sunset route may well be imports coming out of the Port of Houston.
This was BNSF’s Emporia, KS yards on the day after christmas:
The’re was a string of empty trilevels that went from one end of the yard to the other, and a smaller string of Auto Maxes (took these photos from the Prairie St. overpass, the only place to get an overview of the yard). A week later when i was in Emporia again the’re was a string of AM’s the same length. And i got a photo of a nice long, loaded vehicle train (as BNSF calls them on the scanner) heading west.
I’m pretty sure the stored autoracks are making a certain group of people nervous (you know who i mean[xx(][#dots][D)]
They also ship used cars by rail. In 95 I worked at Minneapolis Auto Auction. They had a spur going right onto the property and would get about 6 rail cars a week. Most of the cars they got were from Arizona and California and were from rental car fleets. I got to drive one off the top level down the ramp. SCARRY!
I noticed that even though the autorack trains still run, they seem to be shorter. I don’t know if any have been eliminated but stored cars like that are a sad sight to see.