To wit: https://news.stlpublicradio.org/other/2 ... e-problemsshadrach wrote: ↑Mar 04, 2022MoDOT took a hard, serious look at a STL-Springfield train back in 2009/2010. They nixed the idea because the existing BNSF track is windy, twisting and significant elevation changes from Rolla to Lebanon that made travel time over 5 hrs., hence noncompetitive and a money loser. Personally, I'd still take a 5 hr train trip to SPG over driving, but that's me...
It is quite pretty, save for a few spots where it closely parallels 44. (And even there it's not necessarily terrible on the other side of the train.) I rode the route back when I was with SLSTA. Mind you, I spent more time looking at the locomotive than the trees and rocks, but there were most assuredly trees and rocks. (And some significant hills that made for great railroading. Assuming you define "great railroading" as a locomotive working hard.) A lot of it really is pretty slow, but I have to believe upgrades would be at least possible. It's been a while, but there was quite a lot of jointed rail on the route. And none of the curves are superelevated. And it's largely single track, which always slows you down. There's a lot that could be done to upgrade it and get better timings, but it would cost money. That said, five hours doesn't seem completely horrid to me. Not quick, but not unacceptable so long as you make it comfortable and give people a way to get things done and entertain themselves. On the other hand . . . I find locomotives entertaining. So I'm not a good example.RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑Mar 04, 2022I would happily ride a windy, twisting train if the views were nice. And yeah, five hours doesn't sound too bad.
A good portion of the train ride down to Springfield would be through the Ozarks. Could be sneaky beautiful.
The highwaymen are on top of it. Extending I-57 to Little Rock. Awkward as i_57 would then be west of I-55. No matter, as long as the highway industry gets paid._nomad_ wrote: ↑Mar 04, 2022Des Moines or Little Rock maybe, but not sure what the demand is for those.
The drive to Minneapolis is terrible right now as a result.shadrach wrote: ↑Mar 06, 2022No interstate connecting STL to Des Moines is mind boggling.
How long did your trips take?quincunx wrote:I rode the train to Chicago and back last week. Despite riding three trains, I didn't get to ride in one of the new cars, though I saw a bunch of them in Chicago. The horizon I was in Fri night CHI-SPI shook like mad when we were hauling ass. We didn't get delayed at the crossings with other railroads between Summit and Union Station on both my inbound and outbound trips. We were delayed by a NS train just south of Springfield crossing over, something the move to 10th street won't resolve. Other delays were caused by lack of double tracking. I hope they're applying for fed funds to add more.
Wouldn’t count on it. Even on the same routes it varies by trip. Not nearly as fast or consistent as airplane wifidredger wrote:Put my son on the Coast Starlight train in Oakland yesterday for a spring break trip down to LA area w friends of our family. Little envious and wish I had included myself for a work from train trip instead of being in the office the past two days. Biz class offers free wifi service and refundable tickets. Got me thinking of my family maybe doing a long weekend or get away via train but don't want to give up the vacation days with the extra time needed to travel via Amtrak.
So curious if anyone has had good experience with Amtrak's wifi, so so and or outright not that good? Some of my work requires me to access cloud based software so decent wifi is a must. Same for my wife. I also assume that geography will matter and like cell phone service you simply won't have good wifi depending where your at.
