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FRIENDS OF AMTRAK PHOTO GALLERY PAGE THIRTY-NINE

FRIENDS OF AMTRAK PHOTO GALLERY - Page Thirty-nine

All photos by Ron Goodenow. Reproduction without Ron's permission is prohibited.

It is January 1, 2010, and here's the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited cruising through Westborough, MA, on its way to Chicago. The train has grown back to its full contingent of sleeper, coaches, and food service car. Amtrak itself had a good year thanks to increased interest in infrastructure and rail travel, but nobody knows what the future brings, now that the bean counters are sharing the saddle in Washington. But all that aside, we hope your holidays are restful, peaceful, prosperous and cheerful.

Camera: Olympus E-510 dslr.

 

Its a nice August, 2010, day in Emeryville, California. A San Joaquin from Bakersfield to Jack London Square in Oakland is pulling in right on time. One of four each day from Bakersfield (there are two to Sacramento), each train carries a cafe with a good variety of food served in a pleasant setting. This is an increasingly popular route, but, and this is a big BUT, in a few years there will be high speed rail competition on much of the route. Lots of progress in the land of the automobile.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix ZS1

 

Here's a New Jersey Transit Gladstone Branch Budd Arrow II train set approaching Bernardsville on its outward run from Hoboken to Gladstone on a pretty Sunday in October 2009. Built in 1978, these MU's replaced ones that would make the Toonerville Trolley look good. Service on this branch is pretty intense on weekdays, with approximately 26 trains a day (in each direction) serving Hoboken and Penn Station, New York. The service would have benefited enormously from the tunnel project cancelled by New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and one can only hope that commuters served in this 'horse country' part of the Garden State have raised their voices in protest.

For a commentary and additional NJT photos go to Ron Goodenow's Attic, where you can enjoy this and many services from around the world.

Camera: Olympus E-510 dslr with 40-150 Olympus telephoto zoom lens.

 

I just completed my annual trip to the UK. Eighteen different trains, mainly on a first-class rail pass, in England, Scotland and Wales. This shot was taken in Newcastle on the East Coast Main Line. On the left an East Coast intercity train from Edinburgh to London, in the center a First Trans-Pennie express to Manchester Airport, and on the right a Northern Rail local. The system I witnessed this year is exploding with growth. Trains were packed, even in first class, new routes are being added, and every train I rode, with one exception, was clean. All were on time within a minute or two. Everywhere there were signs of track work. The one downer is the utter expense of taking long-haul trains, particularly if one does not get on the web and order a ticket days in advance. A simple one-way walk up between London and Edinburgh would probably cost more than a trans-Atlantic flight. So if Aunt Tilly dies suddenly one is close to sack cloth and ashes. And, don't even dream of changing a ticket. Can cost hundreds of dollars -- reminding me of our sorry legacy airlines. There remains a diversity of services. Some -- fewer and fewer-- trains have restaurant cars, some first-class service is bad and modern trains just don't seem to have the comfort of ones built 25 years ago. But many now have wi-fi and guards (conductors) actually seem to have been trained to standards of decent customer service. The comparative sad sack state of American passenger railroading is ever so apparent....

Camera: Panasonic Lumix ZS1 with Leica lens.

 

 

 

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Changes last made on: June 8 , 2011.

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