Missouri Amtrak Service

Transportation topics in KC
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DaveKCMO
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by DaveKCMO »

beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 12:47 pm I still don’t know why there isn’t a KC to Denver route. It would do great in the summer and winter with people going skiing.
Because there's nothing between here and there. Pretty simple. Colorado is focused on their I-25 corridor and I-70 within the state.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

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DaveKCMO wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:19 pm
beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 12:47 pm I still don’t know why there isn’t a KC to Denver route. It would do great in the summer and winter with people going skiing.
Because there's nothing between here and there. Pretty simple. Colorado is focused on their I-25 corridor and I-70 within the state.
Doesn’t SW Chief go through KS to south CO? Why doesn’t it just go to Denver. Would at least double that routes traffic immediately.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by normalthings »

beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 10:02 pm
DaveKCMO wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:19 pm
beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 12:47 pm I still don’t know why there isn’t a KC to Denver route. It would do great in the summer and winter with people going skiing.
Because there's nothing between here and there. Pretty simple. Colorado is focused on their I-25 corridor and I-70 within the state.
Doesn’t SW Chief go through KS to south CO? Why doesn’t it just go to Denver. Would at least double that routes traffic immediately.
You would loose the Boy Scouts traveling to camp in New Mexico. More importantly, you loose Senate/House votes from Arizona and New Mexico if you end the SW Chief in Denver.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by DaveKCMO »

beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 10:02 pm
DaveKCMO wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:19 pm
beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 12:47 pm I still don’t know why there isn’t a KC to Denver route. It would do great in the summer and winter with people going skiing.
Because there's nothing between here and there. Pretty simple. Colorado is focused on their I-25 corridor and I-70 within the state.
Doesn’t SW Chief go through KS to south CO? Why doesn’t it just go to Denver. Would at least double that routes traffic immediately.

The Chief train skirts the SE corner of Colorado -- La Junta and Trinidad. Three hour drive from Denver.

A different long distance train -- the Zephyr -- serves Denver via Omaha and SLC.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

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DaveKCMO wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:49 am
beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 10:02 pm
DaveKCMO wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:19 pm
Because there's nothing between here and there. Pretty simple. Colorado is focused on their I-25 corridor and I-70 within the state.
Doesn’t SW Chief go through KS to south CO? Why doesn’t it just go to Denver. Would at least double that routes traffic immediately.

The Chief train skirts the SE corner of Colorado -- La Junta and Trinidad. Three hour drive from Denver.

A different long distance train -- the Zephyr -- serves Denver via Omaha and SLC.
Does anyone know if there is any Amtrack-run bus service between Omaha and KC to connect the routes? I read a fiction book that took place on the Chief, and one of the characters took a bus from Union Station in KC to connect with the Zephyr in Omaha, but as far as I can tell, that was a complete fabrication. It would be nice if that existed.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by beautyfromashes »

DaveKCMO wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:49 am The Chief train skirts the SE corner of Colorado -- La Junta and Trinidad. Three hour drive from Denver.

A different long distance train -- the Zephyr -- serves Denver via Omaha and SLC.
Image

Yes, it just seems about 30 minutes from the 25 line running N/S. It just seems they could make a short junction on existing lines there to add another major destination by train for KC instead of having to travel 4 hours north to Omaha. Having fairly direct routing to Denver could help SW Chief traffic. I guess you could also add a train from KC to Omaha if there are lines to use.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by brewcrew1000 »

normalthings wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 11:38 pm
beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 10:02 pm
DaveKCMO wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:19 pm
Because there's nothing between here and there. Pretty simple. Colorado is focused on their I-25 corridor and I-70 within the state.
Doesn’t SW Chief go through KS to south CO? Why doesn’t it just go to Denver. Would at least double that routes traffic immediately.
You would loose the Boy Scouts traveling to camp in New Mexico. More importantly, you loose Senate/House votes from Arizona and New Mexico if you end the SW Chief in Denver.
The Boy Scouts were on our train this weekend from the start in Chicago and more were getting picked up in KC when we got off. We were wondering were they were going, we assumed they were just getting off in KC for some boy scout convention
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by normalthings »

brewcrew1000 wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:03 pm
normalthings wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 11:38 pm
beautyfromashes wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 10:02 pm
Doesn’t SW Chief go through KS to south CO? Why doesn’t it just go to Denver. Would at least double that routes traffic immediately.
You would loose the Boy Scouts traveling to camp in New Mexico. More importantly, you loose Senate/House votes from Arizona and New Mexico if you end the SW Chief in Denver.
The Boy Scouts were on our train this weekend from the start in Chicago and more were getting picked up in KC when we got off. We were wondering were they were going, we assumed they were just getting off in KC for some boy scout convention
Traffic to/from Philmont is enough for Amtrak to add extra car(s) during summer.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by shinatoo »

Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico. 10 days backpacking out in the woods. Lots of fun.

Southwest Chief should go straight on to Denver after Topeka, then south to Trinidad from there. That section between Wichita and Trinidad is what almost got the line shut down a few years back, and the train has to slow to 35mph through several sections because the track is so bad. Diverting to Denver loses Wichita (really Newton then a bus) but would connect Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo. Good trade for any extra time in my opinion. You would also be able to connect to the California Zephyr out to San Francisco in Denver. I would think you would see a passenger increase with Denver connected to KC, St. Louis, and LA.

Then take the Heartland flyer up to Topeka and you have a connection to Texas (and Wichita.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by flyingember »

brewcrew1000 wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:03 pm The Boy Scouts were on our train this weekend from the start in Chicago and more were getting picked up in KC when we got off. We were wondering were they were going, we assumed they were just getting off in KC for some boy scout convention
They haven't held the roundups since the 1960s or 70s, and that was just a local event.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by shinatoo »

flyingember wrote: Tue Jul 09, 2019 8:20 am
brewcrew1000 wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:03 pm The Boy Scouts were on our train this weekend from the start in Chicago and more were getting picked up in KC when we got off. We were wondering were they were going, we assumed they were just getting off in KC for some boy scout convention
They haven't held the roundups since the 1960s or 70s, and that was just a local event.
We were still doing roundups at Bartle Hall in the late '80s.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by gfisch95 »

Some friends and I took the Southwest Chief to Chicago a few weeks ago for a conference.

We are all semi-frequent users of the River Runner, but had never used the Chicago service yet.

I have to say, we all agreed afterwards that it was by far the most enjoyable way to get to Chicago. None of the stress/issues of driving and eventually parking around Chicago, or the troubles of the airports. Super comfortable and tons of space. Both directions the train was pretty much full and, in our experience, on time.

It will certainly be my mode in the future. Really would love to see a shorter KC-Chicago route doubling up so there was more than one departure time per day.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by brewcrew1000 »

Yes. 2 trains a day would be great but I dont think it would look like SW chief. It would be more like the River Runner
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by gfisch95 »

brewcrew1000 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:27 pm Yes. 2 trains a day would be great but I dont think it would look like SW chief. It would be more like the River Runner
I still think that's definitely preferable over driving or plane.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by herrfrank »

shinatoo wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:19 pm Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico. 10 days backpacking out in the woods. Lots of fun.

Southwest Chief should go straight on to Denver after Topeka, then south to Trinidad from there. That section between Wichita and Trinidad is what almost got the line shut down a few years back, and the train has to slow to 35mph through several sections because the track is so bad. Diverting to Denver loses Wichita (really Newton then a bus) but would connect Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo. Good trade for any extra time in my opinion. You would also be able to connect to the California Zephyr out to San Francisco in Denver. I would think you would see a passenger increase with Denver connected to KC, St. Louis, and LA.

Then take the Heartland flyer up to Topeka and you have a connection to Texas (and Wichita.
The idea is nice, but I don't think the "good" track is there from Topeka to Denver. If the line that follows I-70 is in fact grade IV, then it would be an interesting concept.

BTW, the "problem" areas of the current-route track are not the Kansas portions (neither from KC nor from Newton westward to the state line just west of Coolidge, Kans.), but rather the portion between La Junta, Colo. and Santa Fe (really Lamy, NM). The owner (Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad) doesn't use that portion any longer, so it doesn't maintain the track with any diligence.

There was a time where the track from La Junta to Newton was limited to 60 MPH, but I believe it is back to the Amtrak standard of 79 MPH now. It felt like 80 through Kansas when I came back from Albuquerque on the Chief last year. We were doing nowhere near 80 from Lamy to at least Trinidad. Maybe 60 but it felt more like 40 MPH. From La Junta, we sped up and made good time until I awoke near Osage City.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by DaveKCMO »

Service reduced to one round-trip daily on March 23 due to COVID-19.
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by DaveKCMO »

New trains are arriving and should be in service soon! I believe these are semi-fixed trainsets, so you won't have one crappy coach and a brand new one in the same consist.

Image

Image
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by shinatoo »

DaveKCMO wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2020 3:54 pm New trains are arriving and should be in service soon! I believe these are semi-fixed trainsets, so you won't have one crappy coach and a brand new one in the same consist.

Image

Image
Sexy! Any sites where we can see interiors?
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by Chris Stritzel »

shinatoo wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2020 4:10 pm
DaveKCMO wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2020 3:54 pm New trains are arriving and should be in service soon! I believe these are semi-fixed trainsets, so you won't have one crappy coach and a brand new one in the same consist.

Image

Image
Sexy! Any sites where we can see interiors?
This is a rendering of the interior. Definitely a step up from what we currently have. The interior design will be the same, or almost completely similar to, the Caltrans rail cars. Both Caltrans and IDOT purchased the new rail cars around the same time. These are the same rail cars used on the Brightline system in Southeast Florida.

Image
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Re: Missouri Amtrak Service

Post by shinatoo »

Thanks.
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