The temporary Transportation Center in the heart of downtown Indio, witnessed more people then anyone could have imagined on this special day. Two temporary modular buildings now house the Greyhound bus station and the future passenger train facility which will be built.

UP 844 arriving at site of Indio Transportation facility

UP 1996 in historic SP colors was on the train

It was a crowd pleaser! I thought maybe 60 to 70 people would be there to watch the train come in, was I ever wrong. More then 500 people were on hand to witness this great event. The parking lot and surrounding dirt lots were jammed packed with cars.

Part of the huge crowd that greeted 844

The long string of "armor yellow" cars

There were several comments from others like “why don’t we have a train everyday to LA”. One dad with two little girls stated to his wife “let’s look into taking the train to Chicago right after Christmas!”

Thanks to the Union Pacific for running this spectacular train and encouraging passenger train travel.

As relief from the heavy rail news, all the local and national budget crises, and the summer Amtrak train-delaying floods and heat, there was good rail news: the June 18 startup of the “A Train” (to the appropriate tune) commuter rail line operated by the line owner Denton County Transit Authority here in Texas.

A Denton bound A Train is at the Downtown Lewisville station.

Before: The MKT line at the Garden Ridge exit to Interstate 35E before construction began on the A Train.

After: The same location in summer, 2011, with the A Train main line (left) and the Highland Village-Lewisville Lake station track (right).

Denton is located 40 miles northwest of Dallas. This 21 mile project’s problems are very similar to the truncated SMART line to be built in the North Bay in California, except here it runs its full route while SMART, if built, is unfortunately going to run only between Santa Rosa and San Rafael.

The route goes from Denton southeast to Carrollton on a restored MKT line. The A Train is now open for revenue business for passengers to ride within Denton County or wanting to transfer to DART’s Green Line in Carrollton to go to Dallas, which is the biggest commuter attraction to the service.

A Train passengers transfer to the DART Green Line at the Trinity Mills station in Carrollton.

I had not ridden it until Saturday, July 30, (yeah, my railfan credentials will be revoked) but have spent some weekday time on the platform at the Highland Village-Lake Lewisville station, one of four intermediate stations and the one nearest my home. A staff member there came up with plenty of time to chat, as it was 10:30 AM and no trains would be running again until 3:00. Yes, here is a true commuter line that runs only during commuter hours due to “financial shortfalls.” Oh, they do have service on the hour from 11:00 to 2:00, but it is by “motorcoaches,” which make all stops and take longer than the 37 minutes by train between end points.

Two bicycle riders have ridden the A Train bus from Denton to go to Lake Lewisville on a summer weekday.

Initially the last two southbound trips in the morning went only half way, as the operations people wanted the two trainsets back in the maintenance base just south of the Lewisville station. That decision boomeranged on the DCTA when people on those last two trains found they could not connect with DART at Carrollton and were stuck on the platform at the station in downtown Lewisville.

Yes, the timetable showed that schedule, but when people have not had service like this before how do they know to look at the nuances of a timetable? As a result, DCTA has restored one of the “shorts” to full length service. The last morning train to depart Denton going south is at 8:25 AM. There is Saturday service. It doesn’t start until noon, but is available until midnight!

On Friday nights there is A Train service until midnight. A family, like the one in the photo below did, can ride to the Downtown Denton Transit Center and walk from the station to the shops and restaurants at the downtown Courthouse Square. They found that the ticket machines will not issue family tickets, though, as only one person’s ticket at a time can be processed. That is a “commuter” design, of course. When I rode I found the ticket machine rejected my cash, so I had to pay with a credit card for a “Regional Reduced” (Senior) $2 all-day pass! 4,000 riders per day rode the trains in the introductory first week, and now we know that when revenue service started they are averaging 1,100 with Saturdays their biggest day! When I rode it on Saturday, July 30, a very large number of riders boarded at the Downtown Denton station and almost all of them rode south to the transfer station to the DART Green Line.

The A Train is now using leased former TRE-owned Budd RDC cars until their delivery of eleven new Swiss-built cars arrive starting this Fall. Those cars are GTW 2-6 DMUs, which seat 96 passengers, from Stadler Bussnag AG and reportedly cost $7 million each. These new 70 percent low floor vehicles also run on the New Jersey Riverline and the Austin, Texas Capitol Metro.

This couple had trouble reading the ticket machine screen with sunlight shining directly on it.

Downtown Denton Transit Center, across the street from City Hall.

The RDC seats are very comfortable, but the new Stadler cars will have hard commuter type seats.

On January 26 we boarded Texas Eagle train #21 at Ft. Worth and set out for a ten day winter round trip vacation back in California. This report is divided into specific train items, rather than day-to-day train operating reports.

Amtrak. A trip report always considers the food service, facilities, and on board service. On this trip the food was quite good. The Diner-Lounge on the Texas Eagle has been improved by having the car open for meal service all the way to San Antonio rather than having the crew turn around at Austin, allowing dinner to be served at normal hours. That was the big improvement over our trip from last year. We did note, and the crew agreed, that the “lounge” area of that car is no longer used for its purpose, and is a waste of space since a Sightseer Lounge is always in the consist. Our first sleeping car was a rebuilt Superliner II, originally having the name “Vermont.” It was very comfortable in bedroom D. In West Texas, however, that car developed a “vacuum loss” which afflicts some sleepers but not all, and shuts down the toilet system in the higher elevations between Del Rio and El Paso. Amtrak management has tried to find the solution to that problem, but so far without luck.

Attendant Anthony (right) with passengers on a cold morning in Del Rio, Texas

On our return trip in a non-rebuilt Superliner II originally named “Pennsylvania,” no such problem arose, but there was clean water in the floor carpet in bedroom A which did not dry up until past San Antonio despite the work of our attendant and a mechanic. We were fortunate to have the same attendant, Anthony, on the Sunset Limited from San Antonio to Los Angeles and on the return trip, who was excellent. There’s just something about Los Angeles crews that stand out, and he is one.

Weather. We couldn’t have picked a better week weather-wise, as California was its usual beautiful self. However, on the return trip we began to encounter the freezing weather that had caused problems across the country while we were gone.

Conductors always mention the Pecos River high bridge crossing, but some say little else.

When train #2 reached Alpine, Texas, which is a crew change point, we noticed a pickup truck loaded with boxes waiting for the train. Crew members quickly loaded the boxes into the dining car. According to the crew, the train had been unable to replenish the water supply in the diner at either Tucson or El Paso as the hoses there had frozen during the night and the next location was San Antonio. They feared there would not be enough water to keep the diner going, so they had called ahead and the boxes were full of Subway Sandwiches to serve “in case.” Well, they were handed out free to all coach passengers along with a free drink and bag of chips, while sleeping car passengers were able to be served from the regular menu.

Alpine, Texas station

That reminded us of the times similar problems arose with the Coast Starlight years ago, and station agent Ken Miller had to order meals from the local Kentucky Fried Chicken store in San Luis Obispo. There isn’t a KFC in Alpine. On #2 the diner was TIGER fund re-built car 38068, and we met TIGER fund re-built P-40 locomotive 823 leading stopped #1 at the siding south of Alpine allowing dining car crews to exchange needed items.

Union Pacific. The UP treated Amtrak quite well on this trip, and the timekeeping was almost perfect. From westbound train #1 we observed almost every siding between Del Rio and El Paso to have a waiting freight train or stored cars in it as we went by. Train #2 was a slightly different story, as it is obvious that if Amtrak gets out of its slot even slightly the UP gives its freights preference, so we were “in the hole” several times in the same area. The biggest delay came on #21 at Taylor, Texas, the point where the train leaves the BNSF for the UP tracks. We were on time when we arrived at the junction, but the UP held us there until a slow moving northbound double-stack lumbered across in front of us. That junction point is within sight of the Taylor Amtrak station, so a conductor walked over and talked to the passengers who were waiting there until the UP released us, one hour and 14 minutes later. Very frustrating.

Daytime view of the Tucson Amtrak station, still "served" only tri-weekly.

By the time we reached the busy Tucson station the next night we were quite early and the train had to sit on the main line for an hour and a half; on the return trip we arrived there over an hour late. We were on time or early at each endpoint.

San Antonio. A look at the timetable shows Amtrak still treats Texas Eagle passengers going to/from Los Angeles to an overnight stay in their car, and while that 8 hours in a “stationary” train in each direction usually guarantees an on time situation, it is really unnecessary and is expected to be changed when or if the Sunset Limited goes daily. What isn’t a treat, however, is Amtrak’s movement of the cars during the night to align them for departure the next morning. On the return trip the usual bang-slam was accomplished, including two shudder-bang-slams, then supplemented by a 5-mile trip to a wye as the UP had decided the Texas Eagle should depart San Antonio by going around the town on the west side, rather than go straight out and up the east side as we had been aligned. Sleep is hard to come by there. RailPAC contributor, Ralph James, remembers when the west side movement was done every day and the “750 foot Tower of the Americas down by the Riverwalk stayed in view for a full 45 minutes as we stopped and started through manual switches and interlockings making the circuitous loop around town to finally access the ex-MoPac line.” Thankfully those hand-thrown switches have been replaced by automatic switching on both sides of the route.

Fellow Passengers.

Writer Russ Jackson with Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp statues at the Tucson Amtrak station.

Traveling on the long distance national network trains always means meeting interesting people, particularly in the dining car. For us the highlight was the dinner meal on #2 out of Palm Springs. We were seated across from Jeff Morey from Escondido, a researcher specializing in the life and times of Wyatt Earp and the infamous “Battle of the OK Corral” in Tombstone, Arizona back in 1881. Jeff was the historic advisor on the 1993 Kurt Russell movie, “Tombstone,” and for the BBC’s OK Corral TV show in which he appears on camera explaining what was going on while actors portray the events. Jeff was kind enough to give us a copy of that outstanding program, which has added much to our understanding of what went on in those wild days. Appropriately enough, Mr. Morey was enroute to Tucson. The Tucson train station is the place where Wyatt Earp found one of the murderers of his brother Morgan, Frank Stillwell, and enacted severe revenge. Statues of Earp and his companion Doc Holiday along with information about the Stillwell event are displayed in the garden area of the Tucson station today. There were many other passengers on the Sunset Limited bound for Tucson to attend the “world’s largest gem and mineral show” that was on-going throughout the city. They told us when they returned home they would be carrying large sacks of rocks. Now that’s a real rock show.

Now let’s look at what is there.

Sees Candies has opened at the east end of the Waiting Room. RailPAC VP South James Smith took us on the tour of the new places. That candy sure looks good!

The Traxx restaurant and the nearby bar have served upscale meals for some time, located just inside the main entrance, across from longstanding newsstand and Union Bagels.

The arrival-departure board was working for departures, but out of order for arrivals.

Famima!! is a convenience store with many fresh food items, located behind the arrival-departure board.

Wetzels Pretzels has opened next to the Red Line entrance. Their giant size hotdogs wrapped in pretzel dough look great!

Subway Sandwiches has opened next to the baggage room entrance with their full menu of sandwiches, chips and drinks.

Sadly, the classic Fred Harvey restaurant which closed in 1967 has yet to be reopened, but is available for lease!

My work sent me on an assignment to Yuma, Arizona for two days, May 19-20. As luck would have it I was able to work my visit around train times – it also helped that there is limited LA – Yuma air service. (Side note: the locals said they usually drive to San Diego or Phoenix for flights. Either drive is 3 hours for them).

I had checked the Sunset’s recent on-time stats and they had been excellent. And so… I got to LAUS well before the 2:40 scheduled departure; the departure would be “on time” per the large lighted schedule board. Out on the platform, some luggage and express packages were staged for loading. (photo above) The crew showed up about 2:20, and then everyone waited. And waited. The trainset finally backed into the station at 3:00pm; (photo left) we did not depart until 3:45. Finally, somewhere near Fontana, we got up to speed. By then I was enjoying dinner – New York steak – amazingly good. At my table was a person traveling to Maricopa, and a couple from Canada doing a large circle tour on Amtrak (Empire Builder, Coast Starlight, Sunset, Crescent, Capitol Limited, Empire Builder – starting and ending in Grand Forks, ND, and including a 2-week break in Charlotte for Nascar). The food was good – the service ok – but settling the check took forever…

After the Palm Springs smoking break we got up to speed but then stopped in Indio. The lounge attendant had placed an urgent call for the conductor. It turns out an underage person had become intoxicated in the lounge car, and fell and hit his head. He was out cold (I did not see him), and the ambulance was called. We sat there over an hour - the EMT’s (photo below) could not get a stretcher up the stairs in the lounge, so they had to remove a window and get the man out that way. It was dark by the time we left Indio, and we arrived in Yuma about two hours late.

Here’s the return trip: Yuma – the “station” is long gone – burned down in the 1990s (it had been converted to an art exhibit center anyway). The current platform is between the two main tracks opposite the Union Pacific’s crew office for the freight trains; Yuma marks the western edge of UP’s Tucson Division. Amtrak passengers access the platform through a tunnel next to the crew building. (photo below) All freight trains stop at the office to change crews; Amtrak passengers wait on outside benches and catch all the “action”. It’s a fascinating place for railfans, but most of the general public would likely prefer a waiting room. There is no canopy – maybe it’s a good thing Amtrak comes through at night when it is cooler. Per Amtrak’s “Julie” the train was about 90 minutes late when I called; that eventually extended to 2 hours late. Good enough. There were about a dozen passengers waiting, waiting…and about a dozen UP crew members! Turns out UP crews “hitch a ride” on the Sunset to get back to Colton yard, where they are based. A UP freight (photo left) entered the Yuma station, coming off the bridge. One mentioned that UP is exploring how to get a second track across the Colorado River. The current single track passes through Quechan Indian Tribal lands, and the tribe is not open to granting a wider easement to allow a second track [it is double track either side of the bridge].

There isn’t much open in Yuma at that time of night, but anyway, the train arrived at about 4:40am (about 2 hours late). Once we got going, the speed was much more impressive this time, and the track through Imperial County is still rough! There was a slight delay in leaving Palm Springs – waiting for a freight – but other than that the pace was much more in line with what I expected. We got into LA at 9:35am – enough time for people to make their Coast Starlight connection at 10:15am. (on the track at the right in the photo) Those with baggage likely missed the 9:40am departure of the Surfliner, but at least they had later options. Would I do it again? Maybe – depends on my work schedule. The lack of announcements on the eastbound was frustrating – it doesn’t get us there any faster but at least lets us know what is happening. NOTE: This report was first published in the June issue of the Western Rail Passenger Review as part of the Tracking Rail News column.

. . . On Time Performance. April was again a good month for the Amtrak western long distance trains. There were more “on time” than late, but when it was late was it late! The big exceptions were #6, the California Zephyr, was almost 11 hours late into Denver on April 23, but on other days in April it was close to OT every day; #7 the Empire Builder was late 168 minutes into Spokane on April 14, and its counterpart #8 was late almost 20 hours into Minneapolis on April 10. For the rest of the system, “close to OT” is the operative word and the medal for this month goes to Texas Eagle #22, which was OT or early into St. Louis every day but one, and that was on 4/2 when it was only 45 minutes late. For the FY, since October 1, 2009, the Sunset Limited has been OT close to 90%, and the Coast Starlight (photo) is now 88%. It’s almost getting to be non-news to comment on this topic. On the other hand, we looked at the Acela Express performance on April 6 and found since the FY began Acelas had been delayed 71,700 minutes. Nothing is perfect, even on the Northeast Corridor, but perfection is closer for the long distance trains in the west!

. . . Riders and Revenue. Last month this column reported on the ridership and revenue of the three small stations on the Sunset route, which brought up the question of how were the small stations in California doing in the same period, FY 2009? These are stations served only by long distance trains and the stats do not reflect any bus or connecting riders at those stations. This month we will highlight the Coast Starlight route: Dunsmuir (photo) had 3,950 riders and brought in $225,187. Paso Robles had 9,513 and $468,258. Salinas had 27,316 riders and $978,130. Chico had 8,526 and $479,748, and Redding had 8,985 and $547,259. This data was found on greatamericanstations.com. These small stations cannot be compared to large stations, like Martinez which has both the Starlight and the Zephyr, etc., where they had 394,814 riders and $8,157,255, but those small stations were positive contributors to the revenue of the long distance trains and served the traveling public in a way that other public travel modes did not.

. . . RailPAC-NARP meeting comments. This writer was unable to attend the April 17 Los Angeles meeting in person, but thanks to Editor Noel Braymer I was able to see the presentations on the DVDs that he sent me. I’ll only comment on two presentations here, as much has been written about the meeting in this publication and on Carl Morrison’s excellent report on Trainweb.com. Bill Bronte, the Chief of the Caltrans Rail Program (photo), is always good for some pithy remarks and this year both at the Sacramento meeting, which I was able to attend, and in Los Angeles he spoke of the future of California’s rail program. It’s important that all California rail enthusiasts pay attention to what Bill has to say, so here is my summary of his remarks: “Positive signs!” Mr. Bronte is starting to see growth, particularly on the San Joaquins (Note: ridership there is up 6.6% in this FY). But, there is no money for expansion, so when will that get better? He sees 3 to 5 years to recovery. “Our dollars come from truck drivers and their diesel fuel purchases. We came close to losing the rail program in March,” when support funds were destined to be erased from the state budget and would have been dumped into the general fund to compete for funding along with many other programs. But, advocacy groups got together and walked the halls of the State Capitol. CRCC, LOSSAN, Capitol Corridor, and the San Joaquin Committee, along with other advocates like Orange County’s Art Brown, worked successfully to get the program included in the new gas tax bill. But, Mr. Bronte explained that operating fund expansions in the future will have to be self-financed through increases earned by the program, as will capital expenditures, as the state level of funding will remain static. As for matching grants for federal funds, the state will be short on new funds to match. Bond sales will be very limited as repayments begin quickly and there is no funding for them. The main point of his presentation was, “A dedicated fund source is needed, as rail is a critical part of the state’s transportation system.” Will the next administration make positive changes? Not a lot, regardless of who is elected, as budget problems will continue. “Get out there and advocate,” he said. The other presentation to be mentioned here was from Stephen Gardner, Amtrak’s VP for Policy and Development. While nothing new, which attendees were hoping to hear, was forthcoming from him, he did say Amtrak’s farebox recovery is 80% for its operating costs. An astounding figure. As for California, needless to say Amtrak considers the state its #1 “partner,” as well they should with all the dollars that flow into Amtrak’s coffers. Amtrak has 2,800 employees in California. As for the long distance trains, he only said they are working on getting the Sunset Limited daily but had no details. When RailPAC’s Mike Barnbaum asked about that train’s new schedule Mr. Gardner chose not to reply, but said a daily Sunset “can add value to the present system.” No additional routes can be added under current law, only improvements to current routes.

Our map attempts to portray the statewide system that we want to see over the next two decades.  What it cannot show, but is equally important, is the electronic ticketing and information system that is needed to make passenger rail easy to use for 40 million Californians.

Help us at RailPAC to make this a reality. Join us today!

As promised, we are providing the files presented on April 17, 2010 at Steel Wheels in California, our annual RailPAC/NARP Joint Annual Meeting.  Some files are large, so please be patient.

Program with speaker biographies

Welcome
Tom LaBonge, Los Angeles City Council Member

Opening Address
Ara Najarian, Chairman, Metro Board and Council Member, City of Glendale

High Speed Rail:  The Builders
Joshua Coran, Talgo Inc.
Armin Kick, Siemens (new High Speed Rail website announced)
Thomas Stone, DesertXpress Enterprises

High Speed Rail:  How to Spend the First Billion Dollars
Mike McGinley, TRAC Board and RailPAC member
Darrell Clarke, Sierra Club Los Angeles Transportation Committee
Daniel Krause, Co-founder and Vice President, Californians for High Speed Rail
Jerard Wright, Vice President, The Transit Coalition
Paul Dyson, President, RailPAC

The National System
Stephen Gardner, Vice President of Policy and Development, Amtrak

California State Rail Program
Bill Bronte, Chief, Caltrans Division of Rail

LOSSAN and Southern California Commuter Service
Art Brown, Mayor of Buena Park
Keith Millhouse, Chairman, SCRRA
Alex Clifford, Executive Officer, High Speed Rail, Metro

Passenger Rail Advocacy:  Where do we go from here?
George Chilson, retiring NARP Chairman

The Coast Starlight:  Improving America’s Premier Long-Distance Train
Coast Starlight Communities Network

The files above are being hosted by the Coast Starlight Communities Network.

Meeting Reports and News Articles:

Meeting Photos and Report by Carl Morrison of TrainWeb

Five Challenges for High Speed Rail by Paresh Dave, B.A. Candidate, Print Journalism, USC

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS FOR MAKING THIS EVENT POSSIBLE!

. . . On Time Performance. As usual, we start with some current facts, and then take an historical look at the Amtrak Western long distance trains. The Sunset Limited fell back slightly in March, but is still above 90% since October 1. Its companion, the Texas Eagle, also fell back to an acceptable 77%. The Southwest Chief is at 86%, the Empire Builder is 77%, the Coast Starlight is 88%, and the California Zephyr still struggles at 58% for end-point OTP. RailPAC correspondent, Ralph James, reports from Blue Canyon in the Sierra Nevada overlooking the UP main line that Zephyr #5 can be as much as 2 to 5 hours late while #6 is normally only several minutes down. Also, recent consists are back to three coaches after a few weeks running with only two. Now for history: According to the Fall, 1979, “CRC News”, the predecessor publication to this one, in “July, 1979 the OTP for the Starlight was 37.1% compared to 69.4% in July 1978; the Sunset is down from 50% to goose eggs; the Zephyr goes from a fatal 12.9 to an atrocious 33.9%.” What else is new?

. . . More RailPAC History and the Sunset Limited from the 1979 newsletter. With the April 17, 2010 meeting in Los Angeles upon us, the Fall, 1979, newsletter reported on the October 12-14 “CRC Conference” held in San Luis Obispo. One of the speakers was a familiar name: “Art Lloyd from Amtrak” spoke on “Amtrak after October 1,” and “he was frank about Amtrak’s problems but he saw promise in several positive developments like multi-year funding, staff improvements, etc.” Art also presented a “tentative Superliner inauguration timetable for western trains,” as the previous day was the official Superliner rollout in Chicago. CRC called for a seventh San Diegan and a second San Joaquin! The new 1979 Superliner dining-car menus were unveiled, “with a somewhat wider and more enticing selection than at present, with stuffed Breast of Chicken, Continental Rice, Garden Vegetable; Prime Rib, baker or Whipped Potato; Fresh Rainbow Trout, Crabmeat Stuffing; and Ham Steak, Pineapple Ring.” Sounds mighty good! CRC would be “forming a coalition with TexARP to improve on-time performance and upgrade to a daily frequency the Sunset Limited.” See how long we have been working on this? That work continues to this day, and even though Amtrak officials in 2010 say “when” it goes daily instead of “if,” it hasn’t happened yet and won’t happen for 180 days after the deal is final so they can “train crews.” Earliest date of startup of the daily train is the October timetable change. As RailPAC-ARPA’s Bill Lindley said, “We are all awaiting official word; it will be a big story once it breaks.” The current best guess is that New Orleans will be the crew base for the new train from San Antonio. Howard Bingham in Houston says, “The (NOL) hotel Amtrak is using must be rolling in money, as the Sunset crew (now) sits there 3 days with the equipment collecting dust.” In an official statement from Amtrak, the daily train to the West Coast “would trim transit time by seven hours, increase ridership by more than 100,000 and improve financial performance.” Haven’t we been saying that since 1979?

. . . The Arizona Report.

This writer traveled through Arizona in mid-March, this time by car, which would be needed at our destination, and we had no inclination to put up with the isolated Maricopa Amtrak station in the middle of the night in order to get into Phoenix to watch Spring Training baseball!
San Francisco Giants Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum pitching against the Cleveland Indians at Goodyear Stadium. Notice the ball half way to the plate.

We noted, in addition to the information about the small stations along the Sunset Route (see separate photo story), that UP freight traffic has decreased considerably so the Sunset Limited’s great OTP is certainly justified.

In Phoenix we were impressed with their “Metro” light rail line that runs from west of Phoenix to Mesa on the east side, passing the baseball park of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The UP freight trains move on tracks on the opposite side of the ballpark, so when that state finally gets its commuter train system that will be a big destination. New ridership figures are very positive for the one-year-old light rail system, according to Bill Lindley. January and February saw double-digit increases in total monthly boardings: 43,509 weekday riders in February 2010, a 23% increase.

Although we saw it from the train in January, we also were impressed when we visited the Tucson train station, with its rebuilt interior and waiting room,

the new market-deli-bar in the east end where SP’s offices were, the landscaped outdoor patio eating area, the SP steam locomotive display, (photos at the top of this column)

and statues of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday from the old west!

A steel fence separates the patio from the tracks, with the gates open only at Sunset Limited train times. One of the historic passenger tunnels to the tracks can be seen through the fence. RailPAC-ARPA member Richard Strandberg in Tucson, says there is room for a “pocket track” to accommodate both the Sunset Limited and future Arizona commuter line. It will be interesting to see how Amtrak changes the arrival-departure times in Arizona when the Sunset Limited goes daily. The next goal will be to return it to Phoenix.

. . . What’s New and two trip reports. RailPAC Associate Director, Anthony Lee, found the following which presents an intriguing look at passenger rail equipment of the future: “The Swiss have decided to go with Tilting Double-Deck EMU for their next generation of Intercity passenger trains. They will be ordered in two different lengths to allow different capacity depending on time of day. These will be the first tilting Double-deck stock to be built for any railway. Fifty-nine EMUs are to be in the initial order. The RFP has been issued with responses due this summer. The order is to be placed this Fall. This Swiss expect to need time to work out bugs in the totally new trains, so the first EMU is to be delivered early to allow 9-12 months of testing.” … Minnesota ARP’s Andrew C. Selden “back from a trip to Essex, MT on 7 and 8. My observations are: 1. If Amtrak were entertaining starting service today over the BNSF track between Fargo-Grand Forks-Minot, it would reject the idea out of hand. This track is dreadful. It keeps everyone awake most of the night, and leaves a most unfavorable impression of overnight train travel. (Note: to say nothing of spring flooding). 2. Amtrak’s Seattle crews were the best I have yet encountered. Car attendants, dining car staff and lounge attendants were uniformly exceptional. This proves it CAN be done. 3. Amtrak’s rolling stock on what is supposed to be its premier train (and one of its highest-priced) is no better than mediocre; the lounge cars (33022 and 33012) are rolling junk–blistered paint and tattered finishes inside, plus gouged and unclean windows. The sleepers rattle like 30-year-old 10&6s, and could be steam-cleaned, inside and out. The non-fan traveler takes a lesson from this. I fly a lot, and commercial airliners are nothing to write home about, but they do get cleaned periodically. 4. BNSF dispatching once again was near-perfect. In 2000 miles of running, I saw only one slightly-blown meet (a freight was plugging a down-line siding that otherwise could have been used to save one Amtrak train a 25-minute wait; at the same time, Ft. Worth (dispatchers) held that freight there for what could have approached 90 minutes to get the two Amtrak trains past each other expeditiously). Other meets/overtakes saw BNSF stack trains and merchandise trains in the hole to keep the Builder moving. … And, from Dana Hawkes, Lake San Marcos, (sent from his Blackberry) “At this moment I’m on the Southwest Chief going 88 mph somewhere in Arizona. Very smooth. Food and service great. Fun! Am on my way to Chicago then on the Texas Eagle to Houston. The route to Houston drops me in Longview, Texas, then by bus to Houston. If I went to San Antonio and took the Sunset Limited to Houston it would add 17 hours to the trip.” See, if a rider studies the routes all kinds of possibilities arise. Too bad there isn’t a section of the Eagle from Longview (or Dallas) to Houston.

. . . Last words. In last month’s column we wrote of a Surfliner train being delayed for a rocket launch on Vandenburg AFP, where the tracks cross the base. RailPAC Director, Bruce Jenkins, writes that he worked on the base in the 60′s and 70s, and while a train delay today is an unusual happenstance, back then “we used to launch very frequently, and SP owned the right-of-way. We had to put ‘a hold’ on the countdown to let trains clear!” … Good news from Washington state, where the “pilot program for the Amtrak Cascades 513-516 extension to Vancouver, BC has been extended six months, presumably to see if the trains are worth running without the draw of the Olympics. … Wasn’t it interesting that in his letter to Berkshire Hathaway’s stockholders about their annual meeting that Warren Buffett ended with a P.S. “Come by rail.” Enjoy the RailPAC Los Angeles annual meeting! It will be a great one with interesting information for all rail advocates. Come by RAIL!