Amtrak Southwest Chief

[EMDGP30]

While at the morning job briefing Amtrak's westbound Southwest Chief blasted by Sutton's Siding (MP 437.5) at 75 mph on BNSF's LaJunta Sub around 7:30 this morning with this on the end; I was able to get a grab shot of it with my IPhone.

 

[tootnkumin]

Tidying up the stragglers?

 

[EMDGP30]

Tidying up the stragglers?

Last week the Southwest Chief had 2 private cars; I wasn't able to get a pic of them.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Last week I saw a private car on the end of an eastbound Empire Builder out of Seattle. Is that national association of private railcar owners having its annual get together?

 

[tootnkumin]

Last week I saw a private car on the end of an eastbound Empire Builder out of Seattle. Is that national association of private railcar owners having its annual get together?

Thought AMTRAK weren't going to do that anymore.

 

[NM_RailNut]

You might want to reread some of Amtrak's announcements (or perhaps I should say "pronouncements") on the matter.

Individual movement of private cars between major terminals (i.e., Los Angeles to Kansas City and/or Chicago) is still permitted on Amtrak trains (for now, at least). It's the switching on or off of said cars at other locations en route (Winslow, AZ for example) that is prohibited along with providing locomotives and other equipment and support for charter trains (such as the AAPRCO convention trains). Not that such distinctions matter as it's rather obvious that Amtrak's current management intends to kill off all long-distance trains anyway, which would also kill off any private varnish trips on Amtrak (as well as killing off the main reason for Amtrak's existence in the first place, which is the continued operation of those same long-distance trains). So yes, individual movements like this one are still allowed, but with limitations that are clearly meant to discourage such movements. I wouldn't bet on even those movements being allowed for much longer, though.

 

[Bob]

Patron Tequila Express

While private jets may be the plush way to scoot around these days, for past generations luxury travel occurred solely in one place: on the rails. Private train cars were the modes of transportation for presidents, business titans, and celebrities alike. And while very few of these elegant train cars still exist today, the tradition lives on aboard The Patrón Tequila Express. Here are seven facts about Gulf Mobile & Ohio Railroad Car #50, plus an exclusive peek inside.

https://www.patrontequila.com/stories/2016-07/patron-tequila-express.html

 

[Bob]