USA - railways, public transport, services and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Surrey 455]

I confess - I'm sad to see the Solari / flipping boards go; I remember seeing them as a new wonder in Euston in - what - the 1960s, with the magic appearance of train as all the leaf sections in a column started to flip and in a handful of seconds most of them had stopped ... others carrying on till the column was complete leaving, magically, a complete train.   And then, as trains departed, the left most column cleared and each of the others moves / flipped up in turn.    I believe they replaced even older punched card / technical systems - vague recollections of those at Victoria, with a wooden walkway along the front, fenced off almost like a church pew in which the team operating the board scurried up and down pulling levels and placing cards to rotate slats showing station names high above to passenger looking for their trains.

My memories as a youngster were mainly at Heathrow T1 & T2 departures and a vague memory (possibly imagined) at Paddington station.

[Surrey 455]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-47066018/polar-vortex-fire-used-to-melt-ice-on-chicago-train-tracks

Hope they haven't got creosoted wooden sleepers !

Not sure about the US but creosote is now a banned product in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). An EU^» (European Union - about) directive I seem to recall. When used to protect sheds and fences the toxic chemicals seep into the soil, into your vegetables, then onto your dinner plate. Lovely.

[JayMac]

Creosote was banned for sale to the general public for amateur DIY use, across the EU^» (European Union - about), in 2003. Legislation that the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) government was a signatory to. It remains legal to use by professionals and industry. It is primary UK legislation that now controls its use.

[Reginald25]

I still think the Solari indicators allowed the hurrying commuter a faster appreciation of when the next train to the required destination was running and which platform. I specially remember the board at Paddington when commuting from Reading in the 70s.
That said, the mechanical innards must have been a nightmare (and costly) to maintain, whereas the modern ones are throwaway modules.
Perhaps the NRM^» (National Railway Museum, at York and Shildon - about) should have a section of a display, now they are 'history'.
Incidentally I'm old enough to remember the slot in destination boards at the ticket barrier at Welling, Kent, in the 60s.

[Bmblbzzz]

It's a shame the linked article didn't say in what way they fail to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act and how the new display will comply. I imagine it might be by providing some sort of audio link for the blind via Bluetooth or wifi, but it might be something else completely. It would also be informative to know if similar facilities are required under UK^▸ (United Kingdom) legislation and how they are provided.

[martyjon]

....  Incidentally I'm old enough to remember the slot in destination boards at the ticket barrier at Welling, Kent, in the 60s.

Yea, I remember them too but they were on the platforms at Bristol Temple Meads INCLUDING the blank one where the platform staff would chalk up with the destinations where they didn't have a specific one. I also remember the boards above the carriage windows showing the destinations including the named express title on titled trains.

There was a wooden destinations board at Bath Green Park which sadly was already out of service during my visits to that station and I was surprised at the number of destinations that were served from there besides Bournemouth West.  Broadstone, Templecombe, Evercreech Junction, Bristol Temple Meads, Gloucester Eastgate, Cheltenham Lansdown Road, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Mayfield, Sheffield Midland, Leeds City, Mangotsfield, Clifton Down,  Avonmouth Docks to name a few I remember. I have never found a photograph of the board so if any forum member has one or can point me to a link to one I'd be more than grateful.

[JayMac]

Destination/calling point finger boards were in use well into the 1980s at Taunton, and if my memory serves me correctly, in use at Weston-super-Mare into the 21st century.

[Surrey 455]

Destination/calling point finger boards were in use well into the 1980s at Taunton, and if my memory serves me correctly, in use at Weston-super-Mare into the 21st century.

Also still being used in the early 90s at Ealing Broadway

[grahame]

From The Guardian

'That's not a bag': man with dog bends New York subway rule and gets denied

MTA rules state dogs must be ‘enclosed in a container’ but one conductor seems to think a dog in a sack pushes that definition

In 2016, the Metro Transit Authority (MTA) in New York banned people from bringing their pets on the subway. The only exception was for animals “enclosed in a container and carried in a manner which would not annoy other passengers”.

But New Yorkers love a loophole, and so while the MTA probably meant dogs carried in purpose-built crates, subway riders quickly got inventive with tote bags and rucksacks – pushing the law to its high-fashion limits.

On Friday, however, a man found that he couldn’t quite squeeze his dog through the loophole. He was filmed by journalist Will Sabel Courtney on the subway platform at Carroll Street in Brooklyn, arguing with a train conductor about whether he was allowed to bring his dog onboard. The dog was in a burlap sack, which the man was able to hoist over his shoulder as if it was just another New Yorker tote, but the driver felt there wasn’t enough material to call it a bag.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Cue Finn. 

[JayMac]

I've asked him.

Finn has no plans to ride the New York subway anytime soon.

[grahame]

From Business Traveller

Amtrak to launch nonstop Acela service between New York and Washington DC^▸ (Direct Current)

Rail travellers will soon be able to get from midtown Manhattan to the heart of Washington DC in just over two and a half hours.

Amtrak announced this week the launch of Acela Nonstop, using its high-speed, business-travel oriented trains to provide direct service between Penn Station in New York City and Washington Union Station, just a few block from the US Capitol.

The new service will begin on September 23, with weekday-only trains operating once daily from each of the nation’s two busiest rail terminals.

The southbound train will depart New York’s Penn Station at 0635 and is scheduled to arrive in Washington a 0910. The northbound train will depart Union Station at 1630, and arrive at Penn at 1905.

Reminds me of "three hours to Plymouth" ... the one crack train of the day. Historically, we had this with the "Cheltenham Spa Express" but such trains have now faded into the clock face for the most part, with a need to make best use of paths rather than clear out the line for the headliner.  Are we headed back for the one super-fast train in December? 

[JontyMort]

From Business Traveller

Amtrak to launch nonstop Acela service between New York and Washington DC^▸ (Direct Current)

Rail travellers will soon be able to get from midtown Manhattan to the heart of Washington DC in just over two and a half hours.

Amtrak announced this week the launch of Acela Nonstop, using its high-speed, business-travel oriented trains to provide direct service between Penn Station in New York City and Washington Union Station, just a few block from the US Capitol.

The new service will begin on September 23, with weekday-only trains operating once daily from each of the nation’s two busiest rail terminals.

The southbound train will depart New York’s Penn Station at 0635 and is scheduled to arrive in Washington a 0910. The northbound train will depart Union Station at 1630, and arrive at Penn at 1905.

Reminds me of "three hours to Plymouth" ... the one crack train of the day. Historically, we had this with the "Cheltenham Spa Express" but such trains have now faded into the clock face for the most part, with a need to make best use of paths rather than clear out the line for the headliner.  Are we headed back for the one super-fast train in December? 

To be fair to Amtrak, this service is at least new, as opposed to an accelerated existing train. At present - amazingly, to our eyes - the first usable train from NY to DC is at 0903, and the last Acela back from Washington is at 1550 (admittedly there are later Regional Expresses). The distance is equivalent to London to Darlington or Lancaster.

[grahame]

To be fair to Amtrak, this service is at least new, as opposed to an accelerated existing train. At present - amazingly, to our eyes - the first usable train from NY to DC^▸ (Direct Current) is at 0903, and the last Acela back from Washington is at 1550 (admittedly there are later Regional Expresses). The distance is equivalent to London to Darlington or Lancaster.

Passenger trains between cities any sort of distance apart in the USA are few and far between - with this "North West Corridor" from Washington DC up to New York with service on to Boston being one of the few where there's anything like a service offering any choice of trains.   Albany to New York offers about a dozen trains a day as does San Diego to Los Angeles, but much more typical are cities far further apart and minimal service; the daily train (or eve trains on alternate days) is not uncommon, and certain lines such as Los Angeles to San Francisco have squeezed out the passenger trains completely from part(s) of the route - Thruway coaches take you from LA's Union Station to Bakersfield, then a train to near San Francisco and another road transfer in.  There is one train a day via the slower coast line which reduces you to one bus transfer but the direct line is at capacity with long fright trains and a path at speeds that would be required by passengers is not to be had.

Not amazing to my eyes ... but then I have been there and (at first) I was amazed.  Cars and flying have rendered the trains very much a minority way of getting between cities across most of the USA.

[JontyMort]

To be fair to Amtrak, this service is at least new, as opposed to an accelerated existing train. At present - amazingly, to our eyes - the first usable train from NY to DC^▸ (Direct Current) is at 0903, and the last Acela back from Washington is at 1550 (admittedly there are later Regional Expresses). The distance is equivalent to London to Darlington or Lancaster.

Passenger trains between cities any sort of distance apart in the USA are few and far between - with this "North West Corridor" from Washington DC up to New York with service on to Boston being one of the few where there's anything like a service offering any choice of trains.   Albany to New York offers about a dozen trains a day as does San Diego to Los Angeles, but much more typical are cities far further apart and minimal service; the daily train (or eve trains on alternate days) is not uncommon, and certain lines such as Los Angeles to San Francisco have squeezed out the passenger trains completely from part(s) of the route - Thruway coaches take you from LA's Union Station to Bakersfield, then a train to near San Francisco and another road transfer in.  There is one train a day via the slower coast line which reduces you to one bus transfer but the direct line is at capacity with long fright trains and a path at speeds that would be required by passengers is not to be had.

Not amazing to my eyes ... but then I have been there and (at first) I was amazed.  Cars and flying have rendered the trains very much a minority way of getting between cities across most of the USA.

Indeed so. I'm currently having a lot of fun planning a trip next year - including the Lake Shore Limited and California Zephyr.