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Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

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Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by MWmetalhead » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:40 am




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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by TC Talks » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:50 am

MWmetalhead wrote:
Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:40 am
I will NEVER take Amtrak...ever!!!

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/02/26/us/ore ... cnn.com%2F
Driving would be much better...
Hundreds of cars got stranded in blizzard conditions on a Washington state highway as the area struggled to deal with near-record snowfall totals.

Multiple wrecks snarled Interstate 82 in Benton County, including one involving a semitruck that jackknifed, CNN affiliate KEPR-TV reported. As many as 300 vehicles were stranded Saturday night as state troopers worked to turn around others headed in that direction.
If you're a fan statistics, Flying and Trains are the safest and nothing escapes bad weather.


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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by HD74 » Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:33 am

Well, I'd surely rather be stuck on a train in the mountains over a plane in the mountains anyday.
There would be no card games or anything else going on in that case.


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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by HD74 » Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:23 pm

Far better a kumbaya party over a Donner party.


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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by Lester The Nightfly » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:10 pm

Back in 2001, shortly after I moved out here I took a train out to Seattle from Detroit to watch the Mariners baseball team in the playoffs. (I still had my season tickets and I'll be damned if I was going to miss the exceedingly rare event of an Mariners post-season appearance). On the return trip, which is about a two and a half day journey, the train got stuck somewhere in North Dakota for I guess it was about 18 hours due to snow. When we got into Chicago they put us up for the night in order to catch the CHI>DET leg the next day.

Other than the rest rooms getting a little ripe, it wasn't all that bad. They kept the lights, heat and electricity running, passed out chips and folks were quite generous about sharing the booze they had smuggled onboard. Piece of cake compared to getting stuck overnight (which felt like a week) at LaGuardia airport due to weather.

Life is what you make it.



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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by Deleted User 8570 » Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:26 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:40 am
I will NEVER take Amtrak...ever!!!

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/02/26/us/ore ... cnn.com%2F
It’s called weather.. it happens. It's likely the weather conditions were not known to be impassable or did not become impassable until the train was well on it's way. To say that this is Amtrak's doing strains credulity to it's breaking point. You might as well say it's dangerous to go outside while you are at it...

You remember those reactionary posts I alluded to a week ago?

Ahem...

Millions take trains every day with no problem. Focusing on a few isolated events (they never actually seem to be the trains fault, more like the problems find the train) as a reason to never get on one is silly...



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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by craig11152 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:43 am

I don't mind the train and will continue to ride Ann Arbor to Chicago occasionally.
One thing I never considered is the logistics of rescue in a serious emergency if the tracks are a long way from roads.


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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by FET-500 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:50 am

MWmetalhead wrote:
Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:40 am
I will NEVER take Amtrak...ever!!!

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/02/26/us/ore ... cnn.com%2F
I have friends there...They call us "Flat-Landers" and very much want us to stay out. This storm report may help but the Cali' people in their Subaru wagons will still be trapped every year on Mt. Hood.



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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by FET-500 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:59 am

craig11152 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:43 am
I don't mind the train and will continue to ride Ann Arbor to Chicago occasionally.
One thing I never considered is the logistics of rescue in a serious emergency if the tracks are a long way from roads.
The only real issue here is that AMTRAK doesn't own the track and you end up on a siding whenever CN comes through with freight. Pontiac to Kalamazoo is about twice the time it takes to drive. When the kid was attending WMU, we only used the train once because it was just too damn slow.

As we can see by the number of train-car collisions on that stretch, ingress/egress for emergency vehicles should be pretty good :)



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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by craig11152 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:44 am

FET-500 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:59 am
craig11152 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:43 am
I don't mind the train and will continue to ride Ann Arbor to Chicago occasionally.
One thing I never considered is the logistics of rescue in a serious emergency if the tracks are a long way from roads.
The only real issue here is that AMTRAK doesn't own the track and you end up on a siding whenever CN comes through with freight. Pontiac to Kalamazoo is about twice the time it takes to drive. When the kid was attending WMU, we only used the train once because it was just too damn slow.

As we can see by the number of train-car collisions on that stretch, ingress/egress for emergency vehicles should be pretty good :)
Most of the track is now owned by MDOT and Amtrak. Most delays are outside of Chicago due to the massive amount of rail in and out of the city.
My thoughts on logistics in an emergency were more along the lines of trains in rather remote areas where the tracks may be several miles from roads.


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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by Deleted User 8570 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 11:04 am

craig11152 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:44 am
FET-500 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:59 am
craig11152 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:43 am
I don't mind the train and will continue to ride Ann Arbor to Chicago occasionally.
One thing I never considered is the logistics of rescue in a serious emergency if the tracks are a long way from roads.
The only real issue here is that AMTRAK doesn't own the track and you end up on a siding whenever CN comes through with freight. Pontiac to Kalamazoo is about twice the time it takes to drive. When the kid was attending WMU, we only used the train once because it was just too damn slow.

As we can see by the number of train-car collisions on that stretch, ingress/egress for emergency vehicles should be pretty good :)
Most of the track is now owned by MDOT and Amtrak. Most delays are outside of Chicago due to the massive amount of rail in and out of the city.
My thoughts on logistics in an emergency were more along the lines of trains in rather remote areas where the tracks may be several miles from roads.
Right... Union Station to Porter, IN is Norfolk Southern with lots of traffic to deal with and they don’t always give Amtrak priority over their own trains. Porter Indiana to Kzoo is Amtrak owned. Kzoo to Battle Creek is MDOT owned. They hop on Canadian National through Battle Creek and then hop off just east of it back onto MDOT trackage all the way to Dearborn. That was the result of a strategic abandonment by Conrail in the mid 80’s. The line from Detroit to Porter went all the way through originally. From Dearborn to West Detroit is owned by Norfolk Southern and has freight on it (Amtrak ALWAYS has priority there) then it turns north on Canadian National to Pontiac (this one is fairly busy but they don’t seem to interfere with Amtrak).

The reason it takes longer to go by train then by car from Pontiac to Kzoo is largely because you have to go all that way south before you even start going west... a car has little limitation in that way... and you have to stop in Birmingham, Royal Oak and Detroit before you even make the turn at West Detroit to head to Dearborn.



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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by audiophile » Thu Feb 28, 2019 5:00 pm

Amtrak needs a few chainsaws on board, so they could get her rolling again.


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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by FET-500 » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:04 pm

craig11152 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:44 am
FET-500 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:59 am
craig11152 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:43 am
I don't mind the train and will continue to ride Ann Arbor to Chicago occasionally.
One thing I never considered is the logistics of rescue in a serious emergency if the tracks are a long way from roads.
The only real issue here is that AMTRAK doesn't own the track and you end up on a siding whenever CN comes through with freight. Pontiac to Kalamazoo is about twice the time it takes to drive. When the kid was attending WMU, we only used the train once because it was just too damn slow.

As we can see by the number of train-car collisions on that stretch, ingress/egress for emergency vehicles should be pretty good :)
Most of the track is now owned by MDOT and Amtrak. Most delays are outside of Chicago due to the massive amount of rail in and out of the city.
My thoughts on logistics in an emergency were more along the lines of trains in rather remote areas where the tracks may be several miles from roads.
I follow your point but I also know senior citizens who live in mobile homes just a couple of miles from there, who would have loved to have been in a warm train. (The train had heat and power - they did not) While I'm here, let me go out on a limb and say that the train probably hit a Douglas Fir :)



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Re: Amtrak is dangerous (I've said it before, now I'm saying it again)

Post by TC Talks » Sun Mar 03, 2019 7:41 pm



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