Hotline #848 - October 21, 1994

The Amtrak board will meet October 25 and 26. On October 27, Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D.-Me.) and Amtrak President Tom Downs will address the NARP fall board meeting in Portland, Me.

The Talgo train finished up in Greenfield Village, Mich., today. Tomorrow it goes to Ann Arbor, Jackson, and back to Greenfield Village. On October 23 it runs to Toledo and is displayed there from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. On October 24 it leaves Toledo at 7:00 am, stops briefly at Fostoria at 8:20 am, Marion at 9:50 am, is displayed at Columbus 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm. Then it stops at Galion at 3:00 pm and is displayed at Cleveland from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. It will run overnight to Albany and arrive at Boston on October 25.

The Talgo leaves Boston October 27 at 10:30 am for Portland. Amtrak President Downs, Senator Mitchell, and other public officials will board at Biddeford, Me. At 3:15 pm it arrives at Portland, where there will be a welcoming ceremony. The train will be on display October 29 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, leaving Portland for Boston at 3:00 pm. It may make some official stops in Wisconsin on its way back to the Northwest for more revenue service.

New Superliner equipment is coming to the Capitol Limited, effective October 30. A special train will leave Chicago at 8:30 am on October 25, with display at Toledo from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm, then going to Cleveland, to be displayed on October 26 there from 9:30 am to 12:00 noon, and Pittsburgh after 4:00 pm. It leaves Pittsburgh at 8:00 am on October 27, with display at Cumberland 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm, Harpers Ferry 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm, and arrives Washington at 6:45 pm. Short stops will be made at every other Capitol Limited station except Rockville.

The first new Viewliner car shell, mounted on highway truck wheels, was in Washington this week, displayed to Amtrak employees at Ivy City. Only a few rooms were in place. The car should be delivered in February. The rest of the 50-car order should begin arriving in June. Amtrak's option to order more cars has been extended to December 31, but it is unclear whether the option will be exercised.

The first California car arrived at Los Angeles this morning on the Southwest Chief after completion at the Morrison Knudsen plant at Hornell, N.Y. On October 26, the car will be unveiled officially at the MK plant in Pittsburg, Cal. All 113 cars are due by mid-1996.

"How Greyhound Re-Engineered Itself Right Into a Deep Hole" is the lead story in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. It was read closely by some Amtrak staff who see similarities with what is happening at Amtrak.

The Presidential Emergency Board in the dispute between the Soo Line and the United Transportation Union has recommended bringing wages and crew sizes into line with those on neighboring railroads. Neither side can take unilateral action until late February.

Southern Pacific is double-tracking three segments of its main line between Tucson, Ariz., and Lordsburg, N.Mex., on the Sunset Limited route. An SP derailment at Willcox, Ariz., on that line disrupted Amtrak service last weekend. Some of the rail is from second track lifted from the California Zephyr line between Lovelock and Winnemucca, Nev.

Three children aged 11 and 12 are charged with placing a 55-gallon barrel filled with rocks on tracks at Rotterdam, N.Y., causing a westbound Amtrak train to hit is October 11. No one was injured, though the locomotive separated from the coaches.

The Eurotunnel company says more than 24,000 trucks have used the English Channel rail tunnel since it opened in May and that the tunnel has taken freight business from ferry boats and airlines. Regular through-passenger-train service now is scheduled to start November 14, but this has been postponed several times. London will be linked to Paris in three hours and Brussels in three-and-a-quarter.