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NEWS |
AMTRAK FLORIDA |
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NEWS Amtrak Florida gets mobile (06/28/04) Well there's been a big change in the life of the Webmaster of Amtrak Florida. He's become a father. You can see a picture of his baby below:
Well it's a different kind of baby, to say the least. He purchased the car this afternoon, it was the first he test drove, and the price was right. It's a 2003 Ford Focus SE with only 27,000 miles on it. He expects to be on the road on his own following his trip to Chicago on July 18. Look for more great pictures in some new places with this new addition to the family. CSX Computers Down (04/15/04 18:30 EDT) I've just been informed that CSX Computers nationwide are shut down. What does that mean, everything is stopped where it is, no train is moving on the CSX system. Aprroximate locations of equipment:
Silver Service becomes one for 9 weeks (03/26/04) Updated: 04/15/04 I return from the front
lines with mas informacion on the upcoming track curfew on the Nahunta
and its effect on Silver Service. As of right now here's how things
shake down: (keep in mind this is all subject to change, it is Amtrak
we're talking about here folks) Update: Looks like there
will only be one lounge, but two men manning it. As for times the
departure times are accurate, but arrival in Miami will be closer to
2:40 PM, NY at 3:00 PM. Effective dates, some say first train leaves NY
on 04/24 and MIA on 04/25, with P097-23 annulled. Others say that
nothing will change until 04/25 in either location. More updates as I
get more info. Amtrak Train stranded in Central Florida (03/03/04) Yesterday (03/02/04) according to sources 92-02 with the Amtrak 159 North had an oil pump failure between Avon Park, FL and West Frostproof, FL (about halfway between Sebring and Winter Haven). A CSX engine was sent from West Frostproof to the spot where 92 had stopped, it then proceeded to push 92 in siding at Avon Park. Meanwhile, up at Sanford the Amtrak 840 was readied to lead 92 for the remainder of the trip. The 840 was facing north, and was added to the rear of 97 and towed by 97 to Avon Park. The engine was cut off from the rear of 97 and placed in the lead of 92. As you can imagine 92's crew died on the law, in Orlando. A relief crew was sent from JAX to bring the train from Orlando to JAX. 92 departed Orlando at approximately 9:50 PM, making it about 6 hours late. One word, ouch. (For the record the train was without HEP due to the shutdown of the prime mover which generates the HEP for the train, and let me tell you it's a little warm down here right now.) More Double Track expected in March 2004 (02/17/04) Amtrak Florida has been told that sometime within the next month or so a new section of Double Track will be opening on the South Florida Corridor. The section of track extend from the NE Boynton Beach (SX982.8) to just South of the Lake Worth Station (approximately SX978.0). At the Boynton Beach station the old station has been demolished, while the new East Platform is currently the active platform for the mainline. The new track must still be constructed through the Boynton Beach Station before the track can be cut in, as the NE Boynton Beach is south of the Boynton Beach Station. The signals are up for the new CP's, and I must say the corridor is going to sound like a fruit basket. The Dual Crossovers just south of Lake Worth will be known as CP Orange Blossom, while the Dual Crossovers south of Boynton Beach will be known as Coconut. Before the track can be cut in another signal suspension will be needed. From what I can tell it looks as though the Suspension would be between NE West Palm (SX969.8) and the SE Boynton Beach (SX984.7), but this is a government operation we're talking about so who knows what they'll do. In an effort to expedite the construction, passengers for trains P610, P612, P613, P614, and P615, will be bussing their passngers north of Boynton Beach (trains terminate in Boynton) to Lake Worth, West Palm, and Mangonia Park stations. Only these 5 trains are affected, all other service is continuing as normally scheduled. As we get more information here at Amtrak Florida, we will pass it on. Amtrak to cut meals from Sleeping Car price? (02/17/04) Let's call it a lack of intelligence. Sources have told Amtrak Florida that effective April 1, Amtrak may be cutting meals from the price of a sleeping car ticket. These reports are preliminary, and are unconfirmed. The change is expected to occur after Amtrak cannot account for sleeping car passenger meal revnue in the Diner, with only coach meals showing as revenue. It seems that the easy fix would be to just deduct the cost of the meal from the sleeping car revenue, and add it to the Dining Car, but then again that would make sense, so Amtrak obviously can't do that. What will happen as a result is Sleeping car prices will be reduced, no meals will be included. Meanwhile in an effort to bring more coach passengers out of the lounge and into the Diner, Dining Car prices will be cut as well. It seems as though this could in the end bring more money into the Dining Car but only time will tell. AGAIN: These reports are preliminary, and are not set in stone, this is all subject to change, and may not happen all. I would urge you not to freak out if you have sleeper reservations, Amtrak will contact you if any changes are made in sleeper prices, I have sleeper reservations, and I'm just as anxious as you to know, but wait until official word comes down from Amtrak before you take any action on this report. THIS REPORT IS UNCONFIRMED! CSX/SFRTA cut in New DD (02/03/04) Corrected: 02/17/04 As part of the Double Track Construction project in South Florida CSX, Tri-Rail, SFRTA, and Herzog cut in a new defect detector in West Palm Beach today. The Detector retains the CSX name, but changes over to the milepost number (973.2) from the city name. The detector has the new voice, similar to the Delta DD (SX952.1), Ortega DD (A649.1), and Florence DD's (A295.1). The new detector has been installed as crews work to lay over 45 miles of new track by the middle of 2005. To this point only 3 miles of new track have been cut in. Amtrak Florida Website Design Changes (01/30/04) After encountering some technical difficulties while adding pictures to the site, I have decided to make a few changes in key sections on the website. To keep load times down I have decided to break up larger sections into smaller sections to make them easier to load up. These changes will occur through most of the weekend of 01/31/04-02/01/04, but may take a little longer. If you get broken links I probably just did the update and am in the process of updating so wait about 5 minutes and then try again. My goal is to get every page on the site to have a load time of about 2 minutes over a 28.8 connection, slower than what many of us have. This will hopefully make the site a little easier to browse, and help out those of you who access the site from a Dial-Up connection. I'm always listening for any suggestions you have, let me know at amtrakflorida@rrmail.com if you have any ideas or suggestions, remember this site is for you. Bad weather causes more major Amtrak delays (01/27/04) As Amtrak tried to recover from a derailment in Charleston this past weekend, a severe weather system moved into the Carolina's messing up on time performance for many trains. Train P097-25 was the first hit real hard, arrivng in Miami about 20 hours late on the the 27th. P089-25 was affected both by the weather, leaving JAX five hours late, but had to run the A-Line through Orlando due to track curfew on the S-Line. An extra Engineer and crew was used to run the train, they returned on P098-26. P091-25 was about 5 hours late on its run through Florida. And then it started to get bad. P089-26 is an estimated 21 hours late, with an estimated departure from JAX at 11 PM this evening. P091-26 left JAX, but the crew will out law as they were not set back far enough to give them enough time to get into Miami. P097-26 is an estimated 12 hours late, and may be running the S-Line through the Carolina's this is not confirmed though. If you have travel plans call Amtrak, and attempt to reschedule if possible. Amtrak can be reached at (800) 872-7245 or on line at www.amtrak.com. Stay tuned to Amtrak Florida for more inside info as it becomes available. Track curfew on the S-Lines and A-Lines may divert trains (01/27/04) CSX is currently operating two track curfews on the east coast, no trains are allowed through the curfew zone during certain hours. The two zones are the S-Line from Baldwin, FL to Lakeland, FL and the A-Line from Savannah, GA to Selma, NC. The curfews are in place for an unknown period of time, as I get more information I will update this article. So if you're out railfanning be on the lookout for trains in unfamiliar territory. CSX Derailment causes major Amtrak delays (01/24/04) Late in the evening of 01/22/04 a CSX Military train loaded with Class I Explosives derailed in CSX's Bennett Yard in Charleston, SC. The train was on or near one of the main tracks, and shut down the main track, no one was injured in the derailment. The Department of Defense got involved, and it got ugly from there. The main tracks were shut down for 18-24 hours, piling up Amtrak trains. Trains 98-22, 89-22, and 97-22 were all annulled. P052-22 was detoured via the S-Line inland route through Columbia and Raleigh to reach Lorton. Unfortunately P053-22 was already in Florence when they reached the end of the line. They sat in Florence until at least 2 PM while they waited for CSX Pilots to take them to Columbia via a freight only route extending from Lane, SC (A344) to Columbia. From there an Amtrak Pilot out of Jacksonville brought the train to Savannah and the route continued its normal route to Sanford. Because of the lateness to both Auto Trains Amtrak decided to annull P052-23 and P053-23. In addition the Northbound Palmetto P090-23 and the Southbound Silver Meteor P097-23 were annulled (97's equipment was on its way to Miami from Savannah since it would've turned over from P098-22). The equipment that was P097-22 and P089-22 was consolidated into one trainset for the trip to Miami. Engines 13, 24, and 96 were in charge of the train, the Meteor contributed 10 cars (1 bag, 1 dorm, 3 Viewliners, 1 Diner, 1 Lounge, and 3 coaches) while the Palmetto contributed 6 passenger cars (1 Business Class, 1 Lounge, 3 coaches, and 1 bag) along with 12 RoadRailers. The 12 RoadRailers were left in Jacksonville. The train was known as P089-22, and ran the A-Line from JAX-Auburndale, with the crew that would've staffed P097-23, since they were lined up to deadhead to Miami, Amtrak saved some money and just used that crew to bring the train in. The train arrived into Miami at about 1710 on the 24th. Pictures can be found in the Amtrak Motive section. Amtrak Florida gets back on track (01/15/04) After a two month hiatus I've begun updating the site again. I have a request confirmed for 40 MB to add additional pictures, but the space has yet to be allocated. The web design is done on the next picture update, but no space no update. Also I have decided to curve the growth of the Tri-Rail section as I would like to focus my energy and effort on Amtrak and CSX, rather than a second class operation like Tri-Rail. In the coming months I also plan on adding Scanner Frequencies for the state of Florida. If there are any other additions you'd like to see to the site feel free to drop me a line at amtrakflorida@rrmail.com. The School Boy Special Returns (01/15/04) Last Update: 02/17/04 The School Boy Special is
once again returning for another year in operation. Thanks to two
reliable sources within Amtrak I've attained the following information
regarding the special move. The train will carry 997 kids, 84
chaperones, 6 doctors/nurses, and 5 Amtrak supervisors. There will be
three trainmen, one Conductor, two ACs, switching in JAX and FLO. As far
as engine staff goes they will work identical to the Meteor, two
Engineers MIA-JAX, and then one guy from JAX-SAV, SAV-FLO, FLO-RVR,
RVR-WAS. Here is an anticipated schedule for the train: Consist Information: 2 P-42's elephant style 2 Horizon Coaches (Girls coaches) Amfleet II Coach 25069 (Girls coach) 6 Horizon Coaches (Girls coaches) Table Car 43362 Viewliner Sleeper 62001 (dignitaries and special guests) 8 Horizon Coaches (Boys coach) 1 Michigan Coach (Boys coach) Superliner II Transition Dorm 39028 (Amtrak Employees only)
P934-15: Engine 44 Lead, Engine 5 Trailer P935-18: Engine 6 Lead, Engine 25 Trailer P934-22: Engine 25 Lead, Engine 142 Trailer P935-25: Engine 25 Lead, Engine 142 Trailer P934-29: Engine 13 Lead, Engine 25 Trailer P935-01: Engine 13 Lead, Engine 25 Trailer With the end of the Special Amtrak has begun to redistribute the cars back into the general pool. Last week the Superliner Trans Dorm and Michigan coach were hauled out by P098-10. Th Superliner was left in Sanford where it will return to the pool on the Sunset Limited, the Michigan coach was taken most likely to New York. P092-16 hauled out 9 of the Horizon coacheson the rear (it had two ponies to handle the extra load), while P090-16 took two of the Horizons out up front next to the engine. CSX establishes temporary DTC blocks to cut in new section of Double Track (11/10/03) CSX (on behalf of the Florida Department of Transportation) established three DTC blocks on the South Florida rail corridor while signals are cut in for a new section of Double Track. The three blocks range from the South End Boynton Beach siding (SX984.7) , to the Dual Crossovers at Cypress (SX1005.5). The three blocks are Alpha (SE Boynton Beach to NEDT Rankin SX996.6), Beta #1 (Track 1 between Rankin SX996.6 and Cypress), and Beta #2 (Track 2 between Rankin and Cypress). Yamato siding (SX990.5-SX992.2) is not in use, but can be used in emergency, the train occupying the siding must give up Alpha block to occupy it. Power switches at CP Parker (SX999.1) are red tagged and spiked out of service. The signal suspension and Form D blocks will last from Wednsday November 5, 2003 to Wednesday 12, 2003. Following the suspension new Double Track will be in use from CP Pineapple (SX993) to Rankin (SX996.6). The Distant Signals to Pineapple will be at SX994.4 northbound (will be Distant to Rankin southbound) and SE Yamato southbound (SX992.2). A new crossover at Rankin has been installed making it a Dual Crossover point. Engine fails, with Amtrak President David Gunn on board (11/03/03) David Gunn travelled to Jacksonville last Wednesday to accept an award on behalf of Amtrak, he travelled to Jacksonville on P091-27, arriving in Jacksonville on the 28th. Mr. Gunn boarded P098-28 to return to Washington. When Mr. Gunn boarded he discovered a room prepared especially for him. The folks in Miami dolled up the room for him, installing new carpet, cushions, mattresses, blankets, etc. (Gee we can do this for the President of the company but not the paying customers, great philosophy guys!) Along about 1 A.M. on the 29th the engine on the Meteor shall we say, died. The train was stuck outside Rocky Mount, NC incapacitated, with no Head End Power in 45 degree weather. The FLO-WAS crew outlawed and had to recieve relief en route. The train finally arrived into Washington at 1:25 PM, nearly 8 hours late. Let's just say Mr. Gunn may want to review his engine policy for the winter. Silver Star kills woman north of Jacksonville station (10/13/03) The southbound Silver Star enroute from New York City to Miami hit a car, and killed a woman in the car just 2 crossings north of the Jacksonville Amtrak station. The Amtrak 153 was in the lead when the train struck the car, just as the crew was getting ready to go home after a long night's shift. The crew that was to take the train from JAX-MIA was sent to Miami in a van so they could be rested for the next day's 98, an extra board crew was called to cover the jobs on 91. The train left Jacksonville left over 4 1/2 hours late, and ended up in Miami 4 hours late. According to the Engineer of train 92, "the engine looked pretty banged up." No word on where the locomotive will be repaired. Sunset Limited has eastbound travel time reduced by two hours (10/13/03) With the fall schedule change coming up, Amtrak has decided to cut two hours from the eastbound travel time. The reduction in travel time can be attributed to a reduction in the "padding" Amtrak places in its schedule to allow for meets with other trains, mechanical failures, long station stops, etc. Here at Amtrak Florida we don't see any sense in this, as the train regularly runs 4-8 hours late as it is. If crew rest periods are the main reason for the schedule change, then the departure of Train 1 should be moved back to allow for a longer rest period, this would also produce better call time for arrival in Los Angeles. EDITORIAL:Amtrak needs to give employees a break (10/07/03) Since that terrible day in September of 2001 Amtrak's ridership system wide has climbed over 10% compared to pre 9/11 levels. Some companies have faced stricter security measures, as well as a decline in business, this is not the case for Amtrak. While Amtrak has faced financial hardships (thanks to a lack of funding from Congress), the company lacks focus as I see it. Amtrak President David Gunn has instituted cost cutting measures, such as eliminating Express service, to help cut expenditures, while at the same time dolling out millions to repaired it's damaged car fllet (I agree on the car repair measure). Meanwhile, due to lighter trains due to the loss of Express service, 30 P-40 Locomotives, at a cost of over $2 million each, have been stored in Wilmington, DE, being unproductive and vandalized. Now, if you have unused equipment, wouldn't it make sense to lease this equipment to power hungry freight railroads, or commuter agencies? Wait that's right, the word sense isn't in Amtrak's vocabulary, I forgot. Other "cost saving" measures have been introduced as well, such as requiring Dining Car stewards to return cooked revenue food (steaks, chicken, etc., not non rev items like mashed potatoes) to crew base, even though these foods will be thrown out anyway. Now, here's the twist to this subject. In June the UTU, the BLE, and Amtrak came to an agreement that Conductor and Engineer meals would no longer cost the Employee $3.50 (that's the amount of money they get for meal allowance), instead you will now pay full price for Dining Car meals, and be reimbursed $3.50 per meal on a $10-$20 tab. Give me a break, those guys are out there busting their butts, often times going above and beyond what they HAVE to do, and you stick them with the bill in return, "Gee thanks a lot guys for all you hard work, now pay full price like the rest of them." As for on board service employees, they continue to get free meals while on duty (for the time being), but they must do so in an odd fashion. A LSA (Lead Service Attendant) may no longer eat in his own car, and only has 2 30 minute breaks per day. So, the lounge attendant has 2 breaks per day, and is working from 6 AM-11 PM, or longer? Great plan guys, that'll really boost revenue. Meanwhile, Coach and Sleeping Car attendants must "eat when they get a chance." Now let's see, if you are working four coaches with 60 people in each car (as Silver Meteor attendants do for part of the trip), non functioning air conditioning units, station stops every 30 minutes, plus the accomodations that must be made for passengers, you will have a very hard time getting any food at all. Now here's a new policy that is reportedly being added to the Service Standards for Coach attendants, if there is a carry by (meaning a passenger got carried by his/her station) the emplyee will be debited the cost of transportation for that passenger back to their original destination. Now never mind the fact that many people who get carried by their stations aren't in their seat, aren't awake, or are somewhere else in the train. It seems like the only way a coach attendant will really be able to keep track of everyone is if all the passengers wear a little sign that has their destination on it, or you keep the lights on all night and don't allow anyone to sleep so that you can make announcemnets. Speaking of debits, here's something genius, on the Dining Car LSA's stock sheet the he/she turns in at the end of the trip, it lists that they are given 25 bottles of water, even though the case has 24 in it. So every trip you will get a debit of $1.75, even though you only ever recieved 24 waters, chalk another one up for management. Speaking of management, I really love those guys, I mean all 84 Vice Presidents due such a fine job, that we need more of them because they are underpaid and over worked. WOW, have I gone mad or what? Get some more employees out there guys, you really have failed to realize that you need at least two coach attendants on every train, and that abusing the hell out of your employees is a really bad idea. For example, I came in on Train 91 a few months ago, and happened to notice the coach attendant who was wiped out because he'd worked two trips back to back. Next day, there he is again working in the lounge because the Miami extra board was spent. Well guess what, you sent an employee to the hospita' because he was sick and needed to have time off, even though he couldn't take it, and as a result you left a train with out a lounge attendant for over four hours because it was going to be that long before the Conductor would allow the Coach attendant to move up to LSA because the coaches had to be worked until at least Orlando by two attendants. So, good job guys, you've done a phenominal job. Now, I'm not suggesting that ALL of the moves that Amtrak makes are bad, just the vast majority stink. So guys, spend $5, buy a clue, and take care of your employees, because I guarantee you, you'll have happier employees, happeir passengers, and therefore a happier bank account. Amtrak Florida now accepting user posted images (09/26/03) Amtrak Florida is now accepting images from users. All images must be at least 600x400 (800x600 preferred), digital (or high quality digital) is preferred, and be under 200kb. The Webmaster reserves the right to reject any photo or crop any photo (the Webmaster also prefers Amtrak photos, this site will not focus on freight or Commuter railroads unless they are in Florida). Please include a brief description of the photo in the e-mail, as well as your name so you can be properly credited. Please e-mail all photos to: amtrakflroida@rrmail.com. All contributions are welcome and will help to enrich the site as a whole. Tri-Rail Places backup equipment in West Palm Beach Station Yard (09/26/03) Sources at Tri-Rail have told Amtrak Florida that there is now backup equipment in the West Palm Beach Station in case of emergency. Should a mechanical failure occur, or trains become severely late, the trainset could be used to pinch hit for regular equipment. Right now Engine 808, a coach, and Cab Car 503 sit idle in the Yard. Every few weeks the equipment will be brought to Hialeah for preventitive maintenence and an new engine. All service back to normal (09/26/03) Amtrak has restored full service as of Tuesday (09/23/03) with a full slate of trains and making all station stops as scheduled. On Monday (09/22/03) Amtrak resumed some services including P092 from Miami and P097 from New York Hurrican Isabel disrupts service (09/19/03) With the landfall of Hurrican Isabel along the eastern seaboard Amtrak, VRE, MARC, Norfolk Southern, and CSX have cancelled or diverted trains around the Carolina's and Virginia. Amtrak has cancelled all service south of Washington including Silver Service, the Palmetto, the Crescent, Regional service, and the Pride and Joy (otherwise known as Auto Train). Amtrak is currently running short trains within the state of Florida representing trains 90 and 97. Train 90's equipment and on board crew lays over in Jacksonville and goes back out as the next day's 97. These short trains are running with a single P-42, Amfleet II Lounge, and two Amfleet II coaches, no baggage car is running on these trains. (It is safe to say this is just about the only time a Silver Service train would have been good for 125 MPH on the Northeast Corridor). As for crews, crews from 97 work the train to Miami on their regular schedule, and then Deadhead home in a PTI van back to JAX after their arrival in Miami. Sources from within Amtrak have told Amtrak Florida that service will resume on Monday, the crew for trains will be positioned appropriately in Miami, Lakeland, Savannah, Southern Pines, and Florence. Stay tuned to Amtrak Florida and Amtrak for more details as they become available. |
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