-
Trip Report: To “Sacramento Rails” on the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited
Report and PHOTOS by Russ Jackson Yes, I know those trains don’t go to Sacramento, but on January 13 we boarded Texas Eagle # 21 at Ft. Worth and headed for San Antonio, then on to Los Angeles and drove up the Valley to Sacramento, combining a winter vacation with attending the very successful RailPAC-NARP…
-
TRACKING RAIL NEWS . . . for December, 2009
. . . Commentary and PHOTOS by Russ Jackson . . . On Time Performance. How’s this for an OTP for the first 20 days of November: Zephyr 85%, Starlight 85%, Builder 87.5%, CHIEF 97.5%, Sunset 88.9%, Eagle 92.5%. Then you add in the Corridors, Capitols 92.5%, Heartland Flyer 97.5%, Surfliner 80.3%, San Joaquin 91.3%,…
-
Tracking Rail News . . .
PHOTOS . . . and Commentary by Russ Jackson . . . November, 2009. . . . An important observation by RailPAC Sacramento Director, Marcia Johnston: On October 16 I stopped at the Davis Amtrak station to check out the southbound Coast Starlight, which was on time. It sat for some time, and I saw…
-
TRACKING RAIL NEWS
. . . PHOTOS . . . and Commentary by Russ Jackson . . . October 1, 2009. (Photo right) California Zephyr waiting to depart Sacramento station. . . . On Time Performance and other Amtrak news: . . . Good news for travelers! . . . Amtrak Guest Rewards is offering double points on…
-
TRACKING RAIL NEWS . . .
. . . PHOTOS and Commentary by Russ Jackson . . . California. . . . The Solano County city of Vallejo had some good economic news this month when Caltrans announced that Althom will open a Mare Island facility in October to overhaul all 66 California cars on a $13.1 million contract. Door replacement,…
-
TRACKING RAIL NEWS . . .
. . . Commentary by Russ Jackson, and PHOTOS by Trainweb’s Carl Morrison and Russ Jackson August, 2009. . . . California. . . . Santa Barbara’s RailPAC co-sponsored Train Day, delayed because of the May fires, was successfully held on July 18. (left) The “Santa Barbara” was on the private car track west of…
-
TRACKING RAIL NEWS for July. . .
and PHOTOS from everywhere! . . . Commentary by Russ Jackson July, 2009. Summertime and the living is easy, right? It is for people who go on vacations, and for some that means riding Amtrak. California. . . .Half-price train tickets? YES, Seniors 62 and older can ride at 50% off this summer on the…
-
Tracking Rail News for June
TRACKING RAIL NEWS . . . . . . and Commentary by Russ Jackson June, 2009. On Time and other performances. Yes, it’s the economy that can be charged with the recent on time performance improvements of Amtrak’s western long distance trains. Freight traffic has dropped over the past months which coincides with the increase…
-
TRACKING RAIL NEWS for April
TRACKING RAIL NEWS . . . . . . PHOTOS and Commentary by Russ Jackson Let’s start with good news. On Time Performance of some Western long distance trains. For the two weeks, March 8 to 20: California Zephyr #6 into Denver. Early 4 days, On Time or within 10 minutes of scheduled arrival 5…
-
TRACKING RAIL NEWS . . .and PHOTOS
. . . and Commentary by Russ Jackson . . . March, 2009. February will go down as an important month for rail funding in the U.S. and California. As you saw in the Kerby-Jackson report, the California Rail Program received an increase, not a decrease, in operating funding for 2009! That does reflect the…