urbanSTL

any chance they reconnect to carbondale and the city of new orleans line anytime soon?

So who has actually taken Amtrak between KC and St. Louis in recent years? I'll admit memories of major delays have kept me from trying again, but if true improvement has been made, I would give it another shot.

I went on a day trip to Jeff City last summer. We were a few minutes late each way. Scenic along the way. Nice way to check out the capitol. I had never been before, quite a building.

I took the River Runner to a conference in KC last winter, and it was pretty painless. In fact I think we actually arrived a little bit early.

My boss was actually glad to pay for my train ticket because it was cheaper than paying for my mileage to drive. I just registered for this year's conference this week and I plan on taking the train again.

I lived in KC (until earlier this year) and I rode the MoRR fairly often to get back and forth to STL. I'd usually ride KC(or LEE)->KWD on Friday night and return Sunday night - but occasionally would ride at other times or to/from other destinations (such as Hermann at Oktoberfest etc). The routes were always 75%+ full and usually within 20 minutes of being exactly on time. Definately an asset to the state - I was in a knee immobilizer for 4 months - I found it paticularly helpful during those months.

I noticed a LOT of CMSU students seemed to utilize the service coming home on the weekends. I can see why as it was actaully cheaper when compared to driving alone and only took slightly longer. Overall I have zero complaints.

Glad to hear all the on-time stories. The last time I took it was in 2004 and we arrived in Kansas City more than two hours late.

A recent report by the Jeff City News Tribune states that the Osage River Bridge is on schedule and possibly under budget. It is estimated to by open by the end of the year. This should make the improved on-time rating between STL & KC even better.

The new Osage River Bridge opens Monday. Here are a bunch of pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/modot/sets ... 846435854/

They could start increasing Missouri service by adding a Hannibal station to the Illinois Zephyr line

Would they have to use BNSF's Hannibal Sub line to do this ?

WLS-ABC7 - Amtrak offers free Wi-Fi on Midwest trains

Missouri River Runner: St. Louis-Jefferson City-Kansas City

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sectio ... id=9426047

In fairness, Union Station isn't really a train station any more. Which is super sad.

Actually, I guess it is again, sort of. But not an Amtrak station.

I went in the front door of St. Louis Union station Saturday to see the Great Hall. Looks like it is set up to enhance the hotel experience more than anything. Long bars on the South wall with tables and sofas where drinks are served. Hotel amenities look good with more modern furniture some places, but the historical plaques and union station photos and descriptions are still in place. A wedding party showed up for photos. The midway supports the ballrooms and meeting space, and new small strategic meeting rooms are set up with view of the midway or Market street in various places. Old Brookstone is now the workout room.

If you go out to the shops, you can't get back into the hotel with out a hotel key card. I saw the giant net for the trapeze school under the shed when I drove by. It should be open now, but I didn't want to walk down there because my car was parked out front at a meter, and it was raining. I would have had to walk back around to the front outside.

gary kreie wrote:I went in the front door of St. Louis Union station Saturday to see the Great Hall. Looks like it is set up to enhance the hotel experience more than anything. Long bars on the South wall with tables and sofas where drinks are served. Hotel amenities look good with more modern furniture some places, but the historical plaques and union station photos and descriptions are still in place. A wedding party showed up for photos. The midway supports the ballrooms and meeting space, and new small strategic meeting rooms are set up with view of the midway or Market street in various places. Old Brookstone is now the workout room.

If you go out to the shops, you can't get back into the hotel with out a hotel key card. I saw the giant net for the trapeze school under the shed when I drove by. It should be open now, but I didn't want to walk down there because my car was parked out front at a meter, and it was raining. I would have had to walk back around to the front outside.

I went there Monday night. I was incorrectly under the impression the Grand Hall had a new bar element and a new restaurant element, when in fact the Grand Hall is itself a bar and very small menu restaurant. This led to use dining in the existing Station Grille that serves the hotel (at expensive prices). Other than the prices, I'm not complaining though. It was good food and a nice restaurant.

After we finished eating, we went out to the Grand Hall for another drink. My impression is that it will serve the hotel but that their intent is for it to be more. And it really is a fantastic experience. This was a monday evening, so regardless of any other factors it wasn't going to be crowded, but my hope is that this place picks up some steam. I absolutely intend to add it to my list of places to hang out on any given weekend. The drinks were more expensive than your hole in the wall neighborhood bar, but that's too be expected.

The projection show on the ceiling is wonderful. I believe the set up is for their to be a "show" ever half hour on the half hour. The first one we saw on the top of the hour was maybe 5 minutes, and the 2nd one on the thirty was about a 2 or 3 minute narration of the history of Union Station by John Goodman. I know that I saw different videos online from the debut, and I believe I read Joe Buck is supposed to have given his voice to this as well, so I imagine there are a handful of different "shows" that cycle through.

Union Station may never be a natural fit as anything without consistent train service (which it may never have again), but if LHM puts the quality and attention to detail into future phases as they did the Grand Hall and other parts of phase 1, I'm confident that the future is bright for the building.

I recommend everyone check it out some evening. Make it one of your go to's for a couple of drinks. We played up the mid-century vibe by dressing up a bit (nothing crazy), and I'd love to see it become that type of place, but there were plenty of people in shorts and a t-shirt.

A friend said they were constructing some new track near the Metrolink tracks. Is this the third approach track for the Amtrak Station that was funded by the Federal HSR money and UP?

^ might be for the planned excursion trains.

quincunx wrote:A friend said they were constructing some new track near the Metrolink tracks. Is this the third approach track for the Amtrak Station that was funded by the Federal HSR money and UP?

I'm told indeed it is.

If Missouri adds a third train and has a naming contest, I've got dibs on the train name "Mwauk Twain."

Peoria going for it. Who knows, could shake out something good for southern Illinois.

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Jan 25, 2022

Peoria going for it. Who knows, could shake out something good for southern Illinois.

Instead of 120 miles of new passenger service they should connect to the Lincoln Service ROW 40 miles away in Bloomington via Norfolk Southern. It'd be cheaper, it'd probably be faster to Joliet and Chicago, and would be a much faster connection to Bloomington, Springfield, and St. Louis. Also, putting additional passenger trains on the Lincoln Service ROW would help justify the line's continued improvement (particularly between Bloomington and Chicago).

^ Yeah, that seems like a waste of money to start a new service via Lasalle/Peru when there's already a station in Mendota, 16 miles north of there on the Quincy-Chicago line. The stop in Morris also seems somewhat pointless, as I'm assuming people there just drive to Joliet to take the Metra into Chicago.

Though a route through there would be pretty scenic. It seems like it may be a slow/winding route along the river there, given the terrain.