The Simply Railway reviews are by far the most informative and readable of their genre. As someone who remembers the golden age of rail, I appreciate the sights and sounds of trains even though we travel today mainly by air. My best memories as a child during the 1940's were of being entertained by indulgent soldiers and sailors, many of whom had to sit on suitcases in crowded coaches, which by night were converted to curtained Pullman sleepers (like in the movie Some Like It Hot). Missed connections were common, requiring occasional stopovers at small-town hotels and boarding houses. Every trip was an adventure. Nearly all the small towns in the U.S. had one sort or another of rail service, some narrow-gauge in the mountains. Most trains had coal-fired engines, belching steam and smoke in all directions, great giants using constant bells and whistles that today are reduced to poor imitations. Your reviews induce my nostalgia of that ancient past, even though we were actually living in perilous times.
Unfortunately this Frenchman does not know the history of the demise of American passenger railroads... While cars and airlines had much to do with its demise, the nail in the coffin was the day when the USPS, yes the government itself, chose to fly and truck the mail and terminated the railroads mail contracts... There is NO denying the fact that a letter can fly across the USA in hours instead of a similar number of days by train... And if that is the case with mail, well, the same applies to people... America is NOT a tiny nation like European nations one can drive across in a single day outside of Russia... th-cam.com/video/wj4k8qDAB8I/w-d-xo.html
If you thought the current station was bland, you should have seen what preceded it. For years Amtrak used a shabby, temporary building the locals dubbed "Amshack". It was an embarrassment to say the least. Union Station was and still is incredible, but unfortunately you can't really appreciate it like you could when it first reopened. Attendance dropped and the shops all closed, and now the St. Louis Aquarium operates in most of the atrium. It's fun--we managed to visit right before The Great COVID Shutdown--but it was kind of sad for me. I used to love just wandering around in there, drinking it all in.
Shabby, single waiting room prefabricated building that was crummy even when it was new. But the folks working there were great. By the way, parts of "Escape from New York" were filmed in the old Union Station before it was renovated.
St. Louis used to have a lot of trains terminating there like Chicago does now from the east and west... Amtrak moved all of the east west connections in the Midwest to Chicago...
Salt Lake is the same way, we had two really gorgeous stations and they're both malls now and amtrak runs out of a temporary building across the lightrail tracks.
i will say the transportation center is far better then the old little "AmShack" the used to use up to the mid 2000's. it was always cramped, hot and just beat up horribly bad. the building, last i was in St.Louis, is just off the end of the Amtrak platforms when you look toward Union Station.
I was about to post that the transportation center is a million times nicer than the old Amshack. I think it serves its purpose for the amount passenger service that passes through St. Louis
Appears to be large enough station for the Greyhound and Amtrak services presently. I didn't see anyone standing that wished to sit. Unlike this Amtrak train trip, standing for 250 miles from Cleburne to Austin... Shame on Amtrak! th-cam.com/video/ijZP_8TJQOI/w-d-xo.html
My wife and kids have taken the trains to and from St. Louis a few times, but we always use the Kirkwood station. I remember dropping my uncle off at the AmShack back in the early 2000s, though, and it was a sad. little building. The current setup seems nice enough, but it says something about how far St. Louis has fallen in stature over the last 100 years.
I’ve stayed at the St. Louis Union Station hotel before. Every floor is themed to a different railroad that called at the station when it was in service, and the rooms have decor to match, so it’s really cool
Here in America, most Americans own vehicles. Trains can be a very expensive way to travel, compared to driving your vehicle. My grandfather worked for the railroad. When I was a child, my parents would drive from Michigan to Chicago. In Chicago my dad,younger brother & I would ride the train south to Milford, I'll. Where our mother would pick us up ( she drove from where she dropped us off in Chicago) Very fond memories, we looked forward to every summer vaca until my grandfather retired. This was back in the 50's & 60's. More trains & small town stops, which majority have disappeared. Thanks for the bringing back some old memories ❤️🤗
The airline beat the automobile which beat the trains... Dinah Shore sold a lot of Chevys with tv ads like this one singing this jingle... th-cam.com/video/boertpylK0M/w-d-xo.html
Forgive me Thibault, but I have one small correction to make. It is something probably not many people know as it is not an "advertised" perk on Amtrak's web page, but I DID learn this from an Amtrak staff member on a NE Corridor train. If you are traveling aboard a regular train, (Non-Acela), say from WAS to BOS, in Business class, and if you take your ticket with you to the Cafe car; and show the Cafe staff member; they will give you a Non-alcoholic drink for free; whether it is coffee, tea, soda or water.
You probably moved backwards because some of the older sidings, especially in the midwest and south only have a single entry/exit point. When the train moves to the siding for a meet, it must back out of it to continue.
Back in 2001 I was scheduled to teach a 3-day class to AT&T programmers in St. Louis starting on Monday September 10. The first day went fine but when I arrived at the client site on day 2, the TV in the classroom was showing images of the terrorist attack on New York City. At the first opportunity I contacted Amtrak to get me home to California. My airline tickets weren’t going to get me home any time soon. I was able to secure a coach seat on Friday’s train to Kansas City and another coach seat on the Southwest Chief to get me to Los Angeles on Sunday morning. A Hertz rental car helped me complete my trip back to the San Francisco Bay area by 5pm Sunday.
I may have told you this story upon seeing your first review of this train. I traveled this route when it first started as the Missouri Mule service. If the axle count is too short now, it was way too short back then. The well known animosity towards passenger services on UP probably did not apply back then, though signaling also was not the same as it is today with PTC. The consist was one passenger car and the engine, similar to the first Amtrak train I saw on the first day of Amtrak in Hartford,CT back in 1971. I have followed Amtrak since that time, riding many services that no longer exist, but still not some of the ones you have covered, thanks. That Missouri Mule coach was a single dome car from the early 1950s 'Name' Trains in the west. Like the division of that Horizon cafe car, it used to the maximum what the car could provide Amtrak customers. Forward seating at standard level was for regular coach passengers who might embark or detrain at a mid-route stop, and the same level after the dome would be the "quiet car", though not sold as a premium service back then. Of course the dome level was the popular part for active sightseeing. The age of that luxury car meant that it had been built with both a Gentlemens and a Ladies toilet lounge below the dome. Amtrak converted one of those two spacious compartments into the snack bar section of that minimalist train, leaving the other to be unisex as all trains are today. One just had to ignore the built-in sign above the entrance door to the cafe announcing "Men":)
When the railroads ran the passenger trains before the USPS terminated their mail contracts, passenger trains had several to a dozen or more MAIL cars... The road crossings and signals are and were designed to work with axles of several cars, not one or two cars...
@@ronclark9724 As I said, this "train" consisted of just the one car plus engine. This was the Amtrak era in which I rode that train.No USPS sorting car or even baggage car with mail in it. I did ride passenger trains with mail cars before Amtrak service began and USPS ended. I also saw the River runner stop without the extra baggage cars back in 2000 when I was in Jefferson MO going across the USA by bicycle. Just the few passenger cars as I recall and maybe one baggage car, not three or four.
The new intermodal facility in Fort Worth is about the same. Sufficient for present Amtrak, Greyhound, and local trains. Both St. Louis and Fort Worth have metros larger than 2 million... Americans fly and drive... A daily or twice daily train service is what folks living in rural Europe expect, not urban Europe... European won't believe there is NOT a daily train between Dallas and Houston, both metros with over 7 million... Amtrak only offers a daily service with the Texas Eagle for Dallas, a trice weekly service with the Sunset Limited for Houston... Both cities almost as large as London or Paris... How many Eurostars run daily between London and Paris? Huge difference.
@@dukctape, somebody else said it best before me (and I agree with them)-you _don't_ always need big ornate train stations; sometimes, a simple transportation center's all that needed. I wish that we'd have this exact transit hub (just the bus part, we've already got a train station) here in Toronto, instead of the broken-down and past its prime bus station we've got that's now been shut down (www.blogto.com/city/2021/06/toronto-historic-coach-terminal-shutting-down-after-90-years/) We don't need opulent transit stations (or airports/seaports) _all_ of the time.
@@ronclark9724 the Fort Worth station isn’t terrible and honestly isn’t bad for the city my problem is that the station closes ridiculously early (there’s still busses running I can understand not wanting to stay open till the last TRE and Texrail but closing while the busses are running is ridiculous) and the fact that there’s a parking lot desert in front of the station making it feel unsafe at night they really should put some development there instead of constantly encroaching on rural land and leaving downtown a sea of parking lots
I saw a video on how the new Siemens engines are built at their facility. I can't wait for your review. Thank you for sharing this video. Your videos are always great and I enjoy seeing you and hearing you talk! Fantastic job!!!! ❤️
Great video...i love the River Runner. Its the best way to get from KC to St. Louis. I wish you would have gotten a shot of Kansas City's Union Station, we are pretty proud of it.
The new Coaster livery bothers me because they completely ignored the design of the coaches and you end up with colour borders cutting across the windows
I had to look up Saint Louis station ... glad to see the transportation center still being close to the former station, unlike some other places in the US where the old station was put out of service, a highway layed down instead of the tracks and a new station being located somewhere far off
The St. Louis train station although modern is small and generic but serves the rail and bus traffic there fine. There is just not the need for a larger station. If visiting St. Louis by rail I recommend the very short walk to the grand Union Station nearby and its hotel that has recently received extensive renovation and the addition of an entertainment complex including aquarirm, giant ferris wheel, ice cream shoppe, and other restaurants. You will really enjoy the architecture of Union Station inside and out that I believe was built in the late 1890s and was a great station in its past. Today it only supports special rail events like at Christmas, as when used for rail traffic required trains to slowly back in and out of the station. Union Station continues the old rail experience well and has a great indoor light show in its grand hall. I live in ST. Louis and if visiting would pick it to stay since I am a rail fan and have ridden all AMTRAK trail west of St. Louis including Canada. I have also ridden rail in Europe and have enjoyed seeing some of the grand train stations there as well. I never took business class on this trip and agree with the comment below about the better California rail experience. I have ridden this trip numerous times making connection in Kansas City.
@@larryloveless2967 although I'd like to it's rather unlikely that I'll be visiting that area in the near future, simply because I'm from across the pond. Sad to hear that there's not such a great demand as there once was, but at least they adapted to the situation and still provide rail services. In my city the great Central Station serves 258 long distance trains, 597 regional trains and 1,018 commuter trains every day, you can imagine how busy the tracks leading towards that station are.
@@EnjoyFirefighting Yes, it is only the short walk of a sidewalk alongside a parking lot and across the street from Union Station that is worth seeing for its recent renovation of outstanding architecture back to the 1890s. The current ownership is a real rail fan. Train stations in Europe I enjoyed the most seeing are St. Pancras, Amsterdam Centraal, Gare du Nord, Gare de Lyon, and one in Munich. Things really changed for me being older with the COVID threat sill around so nothing planned anymore far away for my wife and the daughter who I travellled with on her trips to Europe. Sticking closer to home. I was amazed by the high speed trains of Europe and rode the Bermina. I enjoyed doing rail watching there and planned some rail experience with her on trips.
@@larryloveless2967 the one I was refering to in the number of trains per day was Munich Central Station ... not impressive in style, but in terms of size and numbers it is; It's undergoing large scale renovation right now. Some stations I really do like are Hamburg Central Station, Berlin Central Station and Stockholm Central Station
This train is a joint venture between the State of Missouri and Amtrak as part of the Amtrak Midwest Consortium. So you get what Missouri and Amtrak are willing to pay for. Missouri could step up more and pay for track improvements to speed up the schedule but that has not happened much. At least your getting new equipment soon because this route is part of the Midwest HSR Consortium and falls under Amtrak Midwest services. So look soon for Siemens Locomotives and coaches both 125 mph capable but limited to probably 70 mph on all that bad track across Missouri that needs to be upgraded.
Merci pour la vidéo. Cette ancienne gare de St Louis était vraiment monumentale. La position centrale de la ville devait en faire un véritable hub ferroviaire. Ce devait être magnifique.
Been to the St Louis Union Terminal back when the AmShack was out there. We were parked on one of the remaining tracks for a week while the sister of the private car owner attended a medical convention at the station. This was back in the late 1990s. We came up from NOLA and then went on to Chicago before heading to DC and back to Miami. The Business Class is the way to go if you don't get a sleeper. The two and one seating gives you better seats. On the Cardinal, the sodas were also free and if you got a meal in the cafe car, you got one there also. It was nice when they first introduced it as the only people who were in the car normally were crew or those in the sleepers. Coach passengers were not allowed past the Cafe Car. That meant that you could use one of the tables if you needed to do some work or use the seat if you wanted to relax. It was well worth the extra $50 at the time as another feature was it was a " Quiet Car " as kids were not allowed and no music unless thru earphones.
First, whatever the reason for the backup move, no way did the train run through a stop signal. The crew doesn't just get an "Oops, our bad" and get a do-over. They stay where they stop and get taken out of service pending an investigation, hearing and probable dismissal, certainly at least suspension. I was an Amtrak OBS employee for 14 years and later a CSX freight conductor and engineer. The term you're looking for for the person running the cafe is Lead Service Attendant (LSA), which is what I was. I was out of Washington, DC, so I never worked Horizon fleet equipment, but it's very much like Amfleet I cars. The "Business Class" service was called "Custom Class" 25 years ago, and was added to regional trains that did not have full "Club Service" with those half-club cars. What one gets for "Business Class" is a larger seat (2+1) with more leg room, more privacy and complimentary non-alcoholic beverages. Fairly basic, but on par with what I have seen on this channel from similar services in Europe during the pandemic, and maybe a little better, given much food service was suspended in the last year. Also, I believe the heritage baggage cars started life mostly as sleeping cars, since those were the last heritage cars kept by Amtrak before the arrival of the newest Viewliners. The thing about Budd stainless car bodies is that they are so tough they could still be rebuilt into just about anything else you might want to use them for, although the frames were just about shot from about 70 years of wear and tear.
So true that train wouldn't have gone anywhere for hours. Waiting for supervisors to arrive and a patch crew, if any are available lets say 5 hours best case.
The baggage cars are former coaches. SimplyRailway is correct. Also, the last heritage cars removed from revenue service were the dining cars, only a couple of years ago. The last heritage sleepers were retired in 2002. The converted 10-6 crew dorm cars lasted until 2006.
Thanks for the post/review. Those coaches look pretty worn out. Nice they’re getting some new ones. Wish they would upgrade ours here on the west coast. I was surprised to see you only got free water/coffee in business class. Here on the west coast, on AM trips, they provide coffee and juices plus free pastries. On the afternoon trips you’ll get a decent snack box and free sodas or wine if you prefer. Stay safe! ✌🏻🙂✌🏻
Back in the 90's(?), Amtrak had a few Horizon cars outfitted for long haul routes. They were basically just like the Amfleet II's inside. I was really surprised how comfortable a "commuter" car could be - they even rode well on the tracks. (Different trucks than the Comets, which I've ridden on with NJ Transit.)
It’s sad that train travel is such an afterthought in the US. It makes sense in the northeast with so many large cities relatively close but it takes half the day just to cross many states out west (a full day to cross Texas by train). I have done business class on the Carolinean from NYC all the way to Charlotte, not bad for a 14 hour trip!
Take this train for example it's the same exact time if not more to go to those two cities than if you drove by car. Slow trains just don't make sense for America
@@TheLostfoundation People complain more should be invested into Amtrak, but only 2 percent of Americans have ever rode a intercity train (not commuter). 80 percent have flown at least once, and 100 percent use the highways one way or another. No wonder government investments go to highways and airports more. There is NO demand for the feds to build a high speed rail network throughout America. The freight railroads have no intentions of building high speed rail either, they are pleased with their slow trains as they are. While some rail lines around Chicago have been upgraded, by no means are they being upgraded to high speed rail of 150+ MPH... And with that the state of Illinois is forking out matching funds with the feds...
In Business Class - it used to be unlimited non-alcoholic beverages. Years ago on the Groton, CT to DC runs - we had a full car with a little nook for our attendant to make fresh coffee and have a refrigerator of drinks! Had that on the Carolinian for years, too. Larger separate restrooms from normal coach passengers. Now most regional trains with Business seating take half the Cafe Car.
I am impressed by the 20th century artist sculpture fountain in front of the old terminal in St. Louis on Market Street of Karl Mills, representing a wedding.... It is a gem....
If only I had known you were in town! Also come on, Kansas City is great, but... not the best in the midwest. 😜 As long as I've lived here in the Lou I've never actually rode this train. That will change in the next month or two! Fantastic as always, and thanks for visiting my humble corner of the globe.
Thanks for the insight of how the Missouri River Run line runs. Me and my uncle will be going across country via Amtrak this September and one of the lines we will be riding is this one from St. Louis to Kansas City. I can't wait to be able to ride on the new Siemens Venture coaches.
Cars like this run in the Northeast as well, the vermonter,, 66/67 and all Downeaster trains have a combined Business class/cafe car like this. Also the empire trains and the lakeshore limited
@@Cal90208 So does this service on occasion which can be seen in the video. The headline makes it seem like this configuration can’t be seen anywhere else which isn’t true
On the late night NE Regional train, Business Class is similarly paired with the cafe car. IIRC, the seats also have the ottoman coming out from under. It’s honestly the only time to use business class on the northeast regional!
Union Pacific being kind enough to not delay the crap out of your train? Amtrak staff not giving you the stinkeye for being a railfan? Truly a good day.
I actually prefer this older equipment. As you observe, the seats are comfortable and the ride smooth. I have no doubt the "new improved" equipment will be shiny, modern, and have less comfortable seats closer together with a noisier and rougher ride. Case in point is the Acela versus Northeast Regional. The Regional is MUCH more comfortable, even if slightly slower.
If you ever get the chance, you should try out the Amtrak Wolverine or Blue Water lines. They run from Chicago into Michigan through Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. The rail between Portage, Indiana and K-Zoo is owned by Amtrak (the only tracks they own outside of the NE Corridor) with max speeds of 110 mph! The line from Kalamazoo to Dearborn, owned by MDOT(so less freight traffic), is slowly being upgraded to 110 mph as well for the Wolverine. Since it's part of Amtrak Midwest, it has the same setup as this train.
I travelled several times on Amtrak between Toronto and Chicago before I cannot remember what they called was cut out in 2002 it took 12 hours with 2 hours at Port Huron/Sarnia.The double decker coaches went right thru.The Blue Water was reinstated after 2002 on that route. It was not worth the hassle of taking the Maple Leaf from Toronto wait 12 hours for the Broadway Ltd to arrive at Depew to arrive in Chicago the next day at 11.30 AM.You used to be able to take a CN passenger train from Toronto to Windsor On and a shuttle over to the Amtrak station to catch the train to Chicago mid 70s.Terrible train service since 2002. Peter Iveson Toronto
I've ridden the Missouri River Runner many times. I remember there were some times shortly after the Bombardier Horizons were bought, Amtrak soon felt short changed due to some of the plumbing mishaps with the Horizon coaches. There were times when the Superliner coaches were borrowed for the line while the Horizon coaches were in the shop. Amtrak doesn't trust Bombardier anymore for what they did to the Missouri River Runner. When I wrote them about some good and sound ideas for improvements to the route, they took them seriously. They seemed to liked the idea of having at least one Superliner coach attached to the train. I came up with that is because since the Superliners are double-decker coaches, which allows Amtrak to haul customers in wheelchairs, they liked my suggestion. The transition coaches they have for the crew on long distance western trains would be good for ADA coaches for Midwest trains. That is because there are a set of stairs that would allow them to be tacked onto the rear of a single-deck train.
Those seats are on a par with premium economy at least on long haul flights snd many US domestic first class seats. Very comfortable not not much extra in fare usually and benefits included too.
If you ever come east again, take the NJ transit from NY to Trenton, then the River line light rail from Trenton to the Walter rand transportation center (camden, NJ) and then hit up the patco. Love these vids and it would definitely hit locally
I've travelling on Amtrak train even before Amtrak merged private Railroad Company for over 53 years. I hopped once or twice a year acrossing in any part of USA as I love it and no matter if the train is delays or on time because trains travel is a blast with a wonderful socially different people from all over the places and a beauty by looking views passing different areas too. And I'm using mostly sleeper car is the best! I used take Southern Pacific (SP) Peninsula Commuter trains for years. SP ran between San Francisco and San Jose and now it's called Caltrain extended to Gilroy (south of San Jose). For now covid and I will resume traveling again. For you guys taking a short trip on Amtrak to see if like the trains before taking long trip. Enjoy!
Nice Video :) A baggage car referred to as a luggage car is something different and not often heard or read here in North America, even here in Canada we call them baggage cars.
Back in the days of passenger trains of the major freight railroads, passenger train consists had a dozen or more mail cars to meet the signals axle requirements. Today Amtrak uses baggage cars...
I'm sorry you did not show Union Station in Kansas City. Amtrak has service there and has for some time. It also has a touristy side to it along with Science City which is for kids.
My little story about this train. I live in St. Louis, but I purchased a Toyota Corolla in KC, a 2003 new. I put off buying a train ticket until the last minute, and it was discounted all the way down to $17 for the round trip from Kirkwood. I got lucky, I didn't even know that was a thing.
Great review! I didn't know the 2x1 BC/split café was on some Horizons too. August 2021 for the Siemens Venture cars, you say? 👀👀 that would be amazing
I would say that even before the Covid outbreak there is already a Corona in Amtrak hahaha. Well at least we got some time to travel nicely before the pandemic. Keep safe always!
Baggage Car. They actually transport more than luggage and the newer ones have bicycle racks and a location for carrying firearms. All of the Viewliner Baggage Cars came thru the Hialeah, FL shops before being sent out for use. With as many as 4 leaving on one train. And an addendum to my comment below, Business Class was in an Amfleet car that ran just for Business Class. Food service was in another Amfleet Cafe Car.
go ahead and try out the sunset limited it is literally advertised in that café car of the river runner also to note it doesn't go to orlando right now since the hurricane of hurricane katrina but u can still enjoy it
Man that Horizon looked dreadful! The seats looked worn and brown isn‘t exactly the most pleasant colour to start with, the lighting looked uncomfortably bright, there was a literal cardboard box used as a bin, an ugly utilitarian cabinet at the entrance to business class, and that flimsy curtain. It overall looked more like some industrial office than a passenger coach, especially one of a premier class. The Venture cars should be a huge improvement. I can understand why so many people disregard Amtrak in favour of driving, if this is the „business class“ on Midwest service.
Indeed. It's a symbol of the state of rail travel in the US. I saw Dylan's travels reports on one of the last rides on the HST (East Midlands Railway) train after 40 years of service and it looked great as it was refurbished a few times during those years.
The St. Louis train station although modern is small and generic but serves the rail and bus traffic there fine. There is just not the need for a larger station. If visiting St. Louis by rail I recommend the very short walk to the grand Union Station nearby and its hotel that has recently received extensive renovation and the addition of an entertainment complex including aquarirm, giant ferris wheel, ice cream shoppe, and other restaurants. You will really enjoy the architecture of Union Station inside and out that I believe was built in the late 1890s and was a great station in its past. Today it only supports special rail events like at Christmas, as when used for rail traffic required trains to slowly back in and out of the station. Union Station continues the old rail experience well and has a great indoor light show in its grand hall. I live in ST. Louis and if visiting would pick it to stay since I am a rail fan and have ridden all AMTRAK trail west of St. Louis including Canada. I have also ridden rail in Europe and have enjoyed seeing some of the grand train stations there as well. I never took business class on this trip and agree with the comment below about the better California rail experience. I have ridden this trip numerous times making connection in Kansas City. Thanks for the video.
Just wanted to add Kansas City also has a grand Union Station renovated to look really good from its historical past as well, and has straight track going through that serves AMTRAK directly. It also connects by walkway to a hotel and entertainment area. I also recommend the World War One museum across from the Kansas City Union Station. Although no comparsion to an AMTRAK trip through the mountains of the West, you can do much worse for scenery than that offered by this Missouri run. I enjoyed seeing the business class seating although outdated in appearance and the background information you provided for this video.
OMG... That old Amshack double wide trailer they used to use was horrendous. And I never actually went in... Just picking people up was bad enough. The new one is boring, but since the light rail also goes there, it's very convenient.
You should try the new sleeper service from Stockholm to Berlin 🤔, the service just started operating here the 7. Of June after a number of years, so it would make a fun trip report, especially because it has a stop at “Højtaastrup st.” Which makes it the first real sleeper service in Denmark since 2014 👌
I think it's time you returned to Europe to travel on some real trains and use wonderful stations Thibault. Everything regarding public transport in the USA is so mediocre compared to Europe. What a crazy situation it is that Amtrak has to attach empty baggage cars so that the signals of the freight company which owns the permanent way, is able to recognise a legitimate train length. This sounds like something from the early decades of the 20th Century.
To be fair, the US transports a large part of their freight by rail while Europe transports most freight by truck which is very bad for the environment
@@Eurobazz I agree with you that passenger rail in the US is a nightmare. However to give a full picture and to be fair, it should be mentioned that American freight rail traffic is far more successful than European freight rail traffic.
There is a very small legroom increase in business class. We generally travel in it because 99% of the time, there's no kids in it, making it quiet and relaxing.
Any suggestions for hotels near the Amtrak station in Kansas City? I understand there's a free streetcar service in Kansas City, with the Amtrak station as one of its stops, so hotels adjacent to one of the streetcar stops would also be convenient.
Maybe USA could rely on having extra trains including old British built diesel trains especially for cities and states that need refurbished rolling stocks.
Almost all American locomotives and rolling stock (at least for passenger/ Amtrak) have a built in America requirement, especially so when government supported
The Capital wasn't damaged from the tornado in 2018. The tornado was many blocks away from the building. The scaffolding you saw was a large refurbishment project of the Capital and surrounding grounds in anticipation of the Bicentennial celebration of Missouri. The work has now been completed (aside from the current construction of the Bicentennial Bridge going over the tracks to Adrian's Island). Oh, and for a short period of time in the 1930s, this route had its own Zephyr trains. It was originally called the "Ozark State Zephyr", which operated from 1936 to 1939. In 1938, the "Mark Twain Zephyr" was added to the route. In 1939 the "Ozark Zephyr" name was retired and a new Zephyr was added, called the "General Pershing Zephyr." The Pershing continued the route until WWII. The Silver Charger (the power car)is on display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, MO.
Back in the days of railroad passenger trains there were several mail cars on the passenger train consists... Baggage cars are just substitutes, the signals and road crossing signals are the same...
The station is actually named Peachtree, after the street, but yeah if they ever get even one more ATL-bound train they're gonna have to build something new.
I suspect that the dispatcher simply put your train in the siding and had your train back out on to the main track after the other train passed which is fairly normal in the US
That is why I personally do not like the fact that, at least for now, (I am hoping we can change their minds), that they are not putting traditional dining back on the Eastern long haul trains. They are doing it on the western ones like Chicago to L.A. but they should also do it on trains like The Capitol Limited, which takes 25 hours. I of course am a "snob" so I would prefer NOT to eat those microwave meals.
@@teresavandal4973 Capital Limited takes 18.... But you’re right, and Amtrak is most likely implementing a small menu of traditional dining on eastern trains within the next year. But they need to re-train staff, who haven’t done it for several years
I'd love to see you review the empire corridor or the wolverine I beleove that as of right now they are amtraks only non N.E.C routes that can top 100mph in operational speeds
The Missouri State Capitol was NOT damaged by a tornado in 2019, as you incorrectly indicated in this video and your earlier review. A tornado did do damage in Jefferson City that year, but it did NOT hit the Capitol, rather it struck approximately five blocks to the east. The scaffolding and coverings you saw during your earlier review were part of extensive preservation work being done to the Capitol at the time, totally unrelated to the tornado.
The Simply Railway reviews are by far the most informative and readable of their genre. As someone who remembers the golden age of rail, I appreciate the sights and sounds of trains even though we travel today mainly by air. My best memories as a child during the 1940's were of being entertained by indulgent soldiers and sailors, many of whom had to sit on suitcases in crowded coaches, which by night were converted to curtained Pullman sleepers (like in the movie Some Like It Hot). Missed connections were common, requiring occasional stopovers at small-town hotels and boarding houses. Every trip was an adventure. Nearly all the small towns in the U.S. had one sort or another of rail service, some narrow-gauge in the mountains. Most trains had coal-fired engines, belching steam and smoke in all directions, great giants using constant bells and whistles that today are reduced to poor imitations. Your reviews induce my nostalgia of that ancient past, even though we were actually living in perilous times.
Unfortunately this Frenchman does not know the history of the demise of American passenger railroads... While cars and airlines had much to do with its demise, the nail in the coffin was the day when the USPS, yes the government itself, chose to fly and truck the mail and terminated the railroads mail contracts... There is NO denying the fact that a letter can fly across the USA in hours instead of a similar number of days by train... And if that is the case with mail, well, the same applies to people... America is NOT a tiny nation like European nations one can drive across in a single day outside of Russia... th-cam.com/video/wj4k8qDAB8I/w-d-xo.html
@@ronclark9724 you are right about the Mail, but the rest of your post is not very polite.
@@cjb8010 haha
@@quanbrooklynkid7776 Whats funny about that?
@@ronclark9724 "This frenchman" has a name, you know?
If you thought the current station was bland, you should have seen what preceded it. For years Amtrak used a shabby, temporary building the locals dubbed "Amshack". It was an embarrassment to say the least.
Union Station was and still is incredible, but unfortunately you can't really appreciate it like you could when it first reopened. Attendance dropped and the shops all closed, and now the St. Louis Aquarium operates in most of the atrium. It's fun--we managed to visit right before The Great COVID Shutdown--but it was kind of sad for me. I used to love just wandering around in there, drinking it all in.
Shabby, single waiting room prefabricated building that was crummy even when it was new. But the folks working there were great. By the way, parts of "Escape from New York" were filmed in the old Union Station before it was renovated.
St. Louis used to have a lot of trains terminating there like Chicago does now from the east and west... Amtrak moved all of the east west connections in the Midwest to Chicago...
That's too bad about Union Station. My cousin had his reception there about 25 years ago, and it was an amazing venue.
Salt Lake is the same way, we had two really gorgeous stations and they're both malls now and amtrak runs out of a temporary building across the lightrail tracks.
i will say the transportation center is far better then the old little "AmShack" the used to use up to the mid 2000's. it was always cramped, hot and just beat up horribly bad. the building, last i was in St.Louis, is just off the end of the Amtrak platforms when you look toward Union Station.
I remember that dinky little "AmShack" from a trip between St. Louis and Kansas City in September 2001.
The "AmShacks" were horrible, glad to see some of the stops are now back in the old stations along the line...
I was about to post that the transportation center is a million times nicer than the old Amshack. I think it serves its purpose for the amount passenger service that passes through St. Louis
Appears to be large enough station for the Greyhound and Amtrak services presently. I didn't see anyone standing that wished to sit. Unlike this Amtrak train trip, standing for 250 miles from Cleburne to Austin... Shame on Amtrak! th-cam.com/video/ijZP_8TJQOI/w-d-xo.html
My wife and kids have taken the trains to and from St. Louis a few times, but we always use the Kirkwood station. I remember dropping my uncle off at the AmShack back in the early 2000s, though, and it was a sad. little building. The current setup seems nice enough, but it says something about how far St. Louis has fallen in stature over the last 100 years.
I’ve stayed at the St. Louis Union Station hotel before. Every floor is themed to a different railroad that called at the station when it was in service, and the rooms have decor to match, so it’s really cool
That Western Auto sign at the end, I did the first restoration on it back in the 1990s.
Can I tell you that for some weird reason, that sign terrified the hell out of me as a kid (c. 1969)? I have no idea why!
@@mrfairplay Did you have some kind of unnerving feeling everytime you saw it?
@@JadenGGvam probably
Here in America, most Americans own vehicles. Trains can be a very expensive way to travel, compared to driving your vehicle.
My grandfather worked for the railroad. When I was a child, my parents would drive from Michigan to Chicago. In Chicago my dad,younger brother & I would ride the train south to Milford, I'll. Where our mother would pick us up ( she drove from where she dropped us off in Chicago) Very fond memories, we looked forward to every summer vaca until my grandfather retired.
This was back in the 50's & 60's. More trains & small town stops, which majority have disappeared.
Thanks for the bringing back some old memories ❤️🤗
Not really when one considers the costs associated with the upkeep and wear and tear of a car.
The airline beat the automobile which beat the trains... Dinah Shore sold a lot of Chevys with tv ads like this one singing this jingle... th-cam.com/video/boertpylK0M/w-d-xo.html
Forgive me Thibault, but I have one small correction to make. It is something probably not many people know as it is not an "advertised" perk on Amtrak's web page, but I DID learn this from an Amtrak staff member on a NE Corridor train. If you are traveling aboard a regular train, (Non-Acela), say from WAS to BOS, in Business class, and if you take your ticket with you to the Cafe car; and show the Cafe staff member; they will give you a Non-alcoholic drink for free; whether it is coffee, tea, soda or water.
I was in Business Class on the Coast Starlight. Our full-time car attendant would give us a bottle of water if we asked for one.
You probably moved backwards because some of the older sidings, especially in the midwest and south only have a single entry/exit point. When the train moves to the siding for a meet, it must back out of it to continue.
Back in 2001 I was scheduled to teach a 3-day class to AT&T programmers in St. Louis starting on Monday September 10. The first day went fine but when I arrived at the client site on day 2, the TV in the classroom was showing images of the terrorist attack on New York City. At the first opportunity I contacted Amtrak to get me home to California. My airline tickets weren’t going to get me home any time soon. I was able to secure a coach seat on Friday’s train to Kansas City and another coach seat on the Southwest Chief to get me to Los Angeles on Sunday morning. A Hertz rental car helped me complete my trip back to the San Francisco Bay area by 5pm Sunday.
I may have told you this story upon seeing your first review of this train. I traveled this route when it first started as the Missouri Mule service. If the axle count is too short now, it was way too short back then. The well known animosity towards passenger services on UP probably did not apply back then, though signaling also was not the same as it is today with PTC. The consist was one passenger car and the engine, similar to the first Amtrak train I saw on the first day of Amtrak in Hartford,CT back in 1971. I have followed Amtrak since that time, riding many services that no longer exist, but still not some of the ones you have covered, thanks.
That Missouri Mule coach was a single dome car from the early 1950s 'Name' Trains in the west. Like the division of that Horizon cafe car, it used to the maximum what the car could provide Amtrak customers. Forward seating at standard level was for regular coach passengers who might embark or detrain at a mid-route stop, and the same level after the dome would be the "quiet car", though not sold as a premium service back then. Of course the dome level was the popular part for active sightseeing. The age of that luxury car meant that it had been built with both a Gentlemens and a Ladies toilet lounge below the dome. Amtrak converted one of those two spacious compartments into the snack bar section of that minimalist train, leaving the other to be unisex as all trains are today. One just had to ignore the built-in sign above the entrance door to the cafe announcing "Men":)
When the railroads ran the passenger trains before the USPS terminated their mail contracts, passenger trains had several to a dozen or more MAIL cars... The road crossings and signals are and were designed to work with axles of several cars, not one or two cars...
@@ronclark9724 As I said, this "train" consisted of just the one car plus engine. This was the Amtrak era in which I rode that train.No USPS sorting car or even baggage car with mail in it. I did ride passenger trains with mail cars before Amtrak service began and USPS ended. I also saw the River runner stop without the extra baggage cars back in 2000 when I was in Jefferson MO going across the USA by bicycle. Just the few passenger cars as I recall and maybe one baggage car, not three or four.
The gateway transportation center is the sort of thing that would serve a small town in Europe.
The new intermodal facility in Fort Worth is about the same. Sufficient for present Amtrak, Greyhound, and local trains. Both St. Louis and Fort Worth have metros larger than 2 million... Americans fly and drive... A daily or twice daily train service is what folks living in rural Europe expect, not urban Europe... European won't believe there is NOT a daily train between Dallas and Houston, both metros with over 7 million... Amtrak only offers a daily service with the Texas Eagle for Dallas, a trice weekly service with the Sunset Limited for Houston... Both cities almost as large as London or Paris... How many Eurostars run daily between London and Paris? Huge difference.
Not all train stations have to look or be like Grand Central, JScot92.
@@Neville60001 looks be damned a city the size of St Louis should have a larger station and more frequent train service. don't move goalposts here
@@dukctape, somebody else said it best before me (and I agree with them)-you _don't_ always need big ornate train stations; sometimes, a simple transportation center's all that needed. I wish that we'd have this exact transit hub (just the bus part, we've already got a train station) here in Toronto, instead of the broken-down and past its prime bus station we've got that's now been shut down (www.blogto.com/city/2021/06/toronto-historic-coach-terminal-shutting-down-after-90-years/) We don't need opulent transit stations (or airports/seaports) _all_ of the time.
@@ronclark9724 the Fort Worth station isn’t terrible and honestly isn’t bad for the city my problem is that the station closes ridiculously early (there’s still busses running I can understand not wanting to stay open till the last TRE and Texrail but closing while the busses are running is ridiculous) and the fact that there’s a parking lot desert in front of the station making it feel unsafe at night they really should put some development there instead of constantly encroaching on rural land and leaving downtown a sea of parking lots
"St Louis train station is not really much to see."
Understatement of the year!
@moishglukovsky, not all train stations have to be ornate classical buildings.
@@insertchannelnamehere8685 You clearly misunderstood my comment.
I saw a video on how the new Siemens engines are built at their facility. I can't wait for your review. Thank you for sharing this video. Your videos are always great and I enjoy seeing you and hearing you talk! Fantastic job!!!! ❤️
Great video...i love the River Runner. Its the best way to get from KC to St. Louis. I wish you would have gotten a shot of Kansas City's Union Station, we are pretty proud of it.
Come on bro ride the coaster in San Diego come on it will be a blast they even have upgraded train cars and engines.
Dude that rocks that coaster trains are totally in with San Diego surfers jk
The new Coaster livery bothers me because they completely ignored the design of the coaches and you end up with colour borders cutting across the windows
@@OntarioTrafficMan yeah ikr
Great review, my grandson and i are planning a trip on this train. Thanks!
Watched all ads without skipping to support your good work 👌👌Thanks.
Thanks for reviewing the Amtrak trains. I too am a huge fan of the rails. Looking forward to more videos!
I had to look up Saint Louis station ... glad to see the transportation center still being close to the former station, unlike some other places in the US where the old station was put out of service, a highway layed down instead of the tracks and a new station being located somewhere far off
The St. Louis train station although modern is small and generic but serves the rail and bus traffic there fine. There is just not the need for a larger station. If visiting St. Louis by rail I recommend the very short walk to the grand Union Station nearby and its hotel that has recently received extensive renovation and the addition of an entertainment complex including aquarirm, giant ferris wheel, ice cream shoppe, and other restaurants. You will really enjoy the architecture of Union Station inside and out that I believe was built in the late 1890s and was a great station in its past. Today it only supports special rail events like at Christmas, as when used for rail traffic required trains to slowly back in and out of the station. Union Station continues the old rail experience well and has a great indoor light show in its grand hall. I live in ST. Louis and if visiting would pick it to stay since I am a rail fan and have ridden all AMTRAK trail west of St. Louis including Canada. I have also ridden rail in Europe and have enjoyed seeing some of the grand train stations there as well. I never took business class on this trip and agree with the comment below about the better California rail experience. I have ridden this trip numerous times making connection in Kansas City.
@@larryloveless2967 although I'd like to it's rather unlikely that I'll be visiting that area in the near future, simply because I'm from across the pond. Sad to hear that there's not such a great demand as there once was, but at least they adapted to the situation and still provide rail services.
In my city the great Central Station serves 258 long distance trains, 597 regional trains and 1,018 commuter trains every day, you can imagine how busy the tracks leading towards that station are.
@@EnjoyFirefighting Yes, it is only the short walk of a sidewalk alongside a parking lot and across the street from Union Station that is worth seeing for its recent renovation of outstanding architecture back to the 1890s. The current ownership is a real rail fan. Train stations in Europe I enjoyed the most seeing are St. Pancras, Amsterdam Centraal, Gare du Nord, Gare de Lyon, and one in Munich. Things really changed for me being older with the COVID threat sill around so nothing planned anymore far away for my wife and the daughter who I travellled with on her trips to Europe. Sticking closer to home. I was amazed by the high speed trains of Europe and rode the Bermina. I enjoyed doing rail watching there and planned some rail experience with her on trips.
@@larryloveless2967 Your description of the surrounding area is spot on. Well done.
@@larryloveless2967 the one I was refering to in the number of trains per day was Munich Central Station ... not impressive in style, but in terms of size and numbers it is; It's undergoing large scale renovation right now. Some stations I really do like are Hamburg Central Station, Berlin Central Station and Stockholm Central Station
The two greatest American inventions. Cupholders, and turning right on a red light. ;)
Things you missed:
The Kansas City Union Station review
Loved the video, keep them coming.
This train is a joint venture between the State of Missouri and Amtrak as part of the Amtrak Midwest Consortium. So you get what Missouri and Amtrak are willing to pay for. Missouri could step up more and pay for track improvements to speed up the schedule but that has not happened much. At least your getting new equipment soon because this route is part of the Midwest HSR Consortium and falls under Amtrak Midwest services. So look soon for Siemens Locomotives and coaches both 125 mph capable but limited to probably 70 mph on all that bad track across Missouri that needs to be upgraded.
BEST city in the midwest! Those are fighting words!
Merci pour la vidéo. Cette ancienne gare de St Louis était vraiment monumentale. La position centrale de la ville devait en faire un véritable hub ferroviaire. Ce devait être magnifique.
Been to the St Louis Union Terminal back when the AmShack was out there. We were parked on one of the remaining tracks for a week while the sister of the private car owner attended a medical convention at the station. This was back in the late 1990s. We came up from NOLA and then went on to Chicago before heading to DC and back to Miami.
The Business Class is the way to go if you don't get a sleeper. The two and one seating gives you better seats. On the Cardinal, the sodas were also free and if you got a meal in the cafe car, you got one there also. It was nice when they first introduced it as the only people who were in the car normally were crew or those in the sleepers. Coach passengers were not allowed past the Cafe Car. That meant that you could use one of the tables if you needed to do some work or use the seat if you wanted to relax. It was well worth the extra $50 at the time as another feature was it was a " Quiet Car " as kids were not allowed and no music unless thru earphones.
First, whatever the reason for the backup move, no way did the train run through a stop signal. The crew doesn't just get an "Oops, our bad" and get a do-over. They stay where they stop and get taken out of service pending an investigation, hearing and probable dismissal, certainly at least suspension. I was an Amtrak OBS employee for 14 years and later a CSX freight conductor and engineer. The term you're looking for for the person running the cafe is Lead Service Attendant (LSA), which is what I was. I was out of Washington, DC, so I never worked Horizon fleet equipment, but it's very much like Amfleet I cars. The "Business Class" service was called "Custom Class" 25 years ago, and was added to regional trains that did not have full "Club Service" with those half-club cars. What one gets for "Business Class" is a larger seat (2+1) with more leg room, more privacy and complimentary non-alcoholic beverages. Fairly basic, but on par with what I have seen on this channel from similar services in Europe during the pandemic, and maybe a little better, given much food service was suspended in the last year. Also, I believe the heritage baggage cars started life mostly as sleeping cars, since those were the last heritage cars kept by Amtrak before the arrival of the newest Viewliners. The thing about Budd stainless car bodies is that they are so tough they could still be rebuilt into just about anything else you might want to use them for, although the frames were just about shot from about 70 years of wear and tear.
Great information. I’m quite young, but I’d like to become an OBS for Amtrak later on. Most people only want to be operating crew.
So true that train wouldn't have gone anywhere for hours. Waiting for supervisors to arrive and a patch crew, if any are available lets say 5 hours best case.
The baggage cars are former coaches. SimplyRailway is correct. Also, the last heritage cars removed from revenue service were the dining cars, only a couple of years ago. The last heritage sleepers were retired in 2002. The converted 10-6 crew dorm cars lasted until 2006.
Thanks for the post/review. Those coaches look pretty worn out. Nice they’re getting some new ones. Wish they would upgrade ours here on the west coast. I was surprised to see you only got free water/coffee in business class. Here on the west coast, on AM trips, they provide coffee and juices plus free pastries. On the afternoon trips you’ll get a decent snack box and free sodas or wine if you prefer. Stay safe!
✌🏻🙂✌🏻
Folks, nothing is "free". You pay for the water/coffee with the price of your ticket. Amtrak cannot afford to give anything away for "free".
Back in the 90's(?), Amtrak had a few Horizon cars outfitted for long haul routes. They were basically just like the Amfleet II's inside. I was really surprised how comfortable a "commuter" car could be - they even rode well on the tracks. (Different trucks than the Comets, which I've ridden on with NJ Transit.)
I remember when this train was like 3 to 4 cars long waaayyy back in 2011, I got on at Kirkwood Missouri and either got off at KC or Independence :D
It’s sad that train travel is such an afterthought in the US. It makes sense in the northeast with so many large cities relatively close but it takes half the day just to cross many states out west (a full day to cross Texas by train). I have done business class on the Carolinean from NYC all the way to Charlotte, not bad for a 14 hour trip!
Take this train for example it's the same exact time if not more to go to those two cities than if you drove by car. Slow trains just don't make sense for America
@@TheLostfoundation People complain more should be invested into Amtrak, but only 2 percent of Americans have ever rode a intercity train (not commuter). 80 percent have flown at least once, and 100 percent use the highways one way or another. No wonder government investments go to highways and airports more. There is NO demand for the feds to build a high speed rail network throughout America. The freight railroads have no intentions of building high speed rail either, they are pleased with their slow trains as they are. While some rail lines around Chicago have been upgraded, by no means are they being upgraded to high speed rail of 150+ MPH... And with that the state of Illinois is forking out matching funds with the feds...
How was business class on the carolinian? I'm taking that route in 2 weeks; any tips?
@@akgupta94 pre-pandemic, it was fine. Comfortable for the long ride but a limited food selection.
In Business Class - it used to be unlimited non-alcoholic beverages. Years ago on the Groton, CT to DC runs - we had a full car with a little nook for our attendant to make fresh coffee and have a refrigerator of drinks! Had that on the Carolinian for years, too. Larger separate restrooms from normal coach passengers. Now most regional trains with Business seating take half the Cafe Car.
I am impressed by the 20th century artist sculpture fountain in front of the old terminal in St. Louis on Market Street of Karl Mills, representing a wedding.... It is a gem....
Although not up to date, the seats in the business car did look comfy - and how nice to never be far from a cup of coffee☕.
If only I had known you were in town! Also come on, Kansas City is great, but... not the best in the midwest. 😜 As long as I've lived here in the Lou I've never actually rode this train. That will change in the next month or two! Fantastic as always, and thanks for visiting my humble corner of the globe.
Thanks for the insight of how the Missouri River Run line runs. Me and my uncle will be going across country via Amtrak this September and one of the lines we will be riding is this one from St. Louis to Kansas City. I can't wait to be able to ride on the new Siemens Venture coaches.
How was the trip?
@@youraveragejoe2 The Amtrak trip starts this Thursday. I'll let you know after it is done. The Amtrak trip ends Oct 1st.
Cars like this run in the Northeast as well, the vermonter,, 66/67 and all Downeaster trains have a combined Business class/cafe car like this. Also the empire trains and the lakeshore limited
Lake shore uses amfleets
@@Cal90208 So does this service on occasion which can be seen in the video. The headline makes it seem like this configuration can’t be seen anywhere else which isn’t true
@@BobNewbie Alright I get your point
Rode the river runner many times in college, love this route
At least now Amtrak is refurbishing it’s old equipment. And the Siemens Venture coaches are on the way.
Yea …waiting for the Venture coaches …derivative of the OBB Railjet and Brightline…been on both…great ride!
Missouri, also known as the Misery State. (It is a police state in KCMO) Nice people, very interesting state. Lots to see.
There is Missouri, and then there is "Mizzoura"... Big difference!
Great video !!
On the late night NE Regional train, Business Class is similarly paired with the cafe car. IIRC, the seats also have the ottoman coming out from under. It’s honestly the only time to use business class on the northeast regional!
Great trip. Also surprising me when freight train operator prioritizing the passenger train passing its track.
Union Pacific being kind enough to not delay the crap out of your train? Amtrak staff not giving you the stinkeye for being a railfan? Truly a good day.
Thank you for this video. Want to see your reviews of the new carriages.
I actually prefer this older equipment. As you observe, the seats are comfortable and the ride smooth. I have no doubt the "new improved" equipment will be shiny, modern, and have less comfortable seats closer together with a noisier and rougher ride. Case in point is the Acela versus Northeast Regional. The Regional is MUCH more comfortable, even if slightly slower.
If you ever get the chance, you should try out the Amtrak Wolverine or Blue Water lines. They run from Chicago into Michigan through Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. The rail between Portage, Indiana and K-Zoo is owned by Amtrak (the only tracks they own outside of the NE Corridor) with max speeds of 110 mph! The line from Kalamazoo to Dearborn, owned by MDOT(so less freight traffic), is slowly being upgraded to 110 mph as well for the Wolverine. Since it's part of Amtrak Midwest, it has the same setup as this train.
I travelled several times on Amtrak between Toronto and Chicago before I cannot remember what they called was cut out in 2002 it took 12 hours with 2 hours at Port Huron/Sarnia.The double decker coaches went right thru.The Blue Water was reinstated after 2002 on that route. It was not worth the hassle of taking the Maple Leaf from Toronto wait 12 hours for the Broadway Ltd to arrive at Depew to arrive in Chicago the next day at 11.30 AM.You used to be able to take a CN passenger train from Toronto to Windsor On and a shuttle over to the Amtrak station to catch the train to Chicago mid 70s.Terrible train service since 2002. Peter Iveson Toronto
I've ridden the Missouri River Runner many times. I remember there were some times shortly after the Bombardier Horizons were bought, Amtrak soon felt short changed due to some of the plumbing mishaps with the Horizon coaches. There were times when the Superliner coaches were borrowed for the line while the Horizon coaches were in the shop. Amtrak doesn't trust Bombardier anymore for what they did to the Missouri River Runner. When I wrote them about some good and sound ideas for improvements to the route, they took them seriously. They seemed to liked the idea of having at least one Superliner coach attached to the train. I came up with that is because since the Superliners are double-decker coaches, which allows Amtrak to haul customers in wheelchairs, they liked my suggestion. The transition coaches they have for the crew on long distance western trains would be good for ADA coaches for Midwest trains. That is because there are a set of stairs that would allow them to be tacked onto the rear of a single-deck train.
Thanks Thibault. Nice review👍👍
Those seats are on a par with premium economy at least on long haul flights snd many US domestic first class seats. Very comfortable not not much extra in fare usually and benefits included too.
You should take the NJT Port Jervis line from Hoboken to Port Jervis the scenery after Suffern is amazing
If you ever come east again, take the NJ transit from NY to Trenton, then the River line light rail from Trenton to the Walter rand transportation center (camden, NJ) and then hit up the patco. Love these vids and it would definitely hit locally
That's a great trip.
I've travelling on Amtrak train even before Amtrak merged private Railroad Company for over 53 years. I hopped once or twice a year acrossing in any part of USA as I love it and no matter if the train is delays or on time because trains travel is a blast with a wonderful socially different people from all over the places and a beauty by looking views passing different areas too. And I'm using mostly sleeper car is the best!
I used take Southern Pacific (SP) Peninsula Commuter trains for years. SP ran between San Francisco and San Jose and now it's called Caltrain extended to Gilroy (south of San Jose).
For now covid and I will resume traveling again. For you guys taking a short trip on Amtrak to see if like the trains before taking long trip. Enjoy!
Nice Video :)
A baggage car referred to as a luggage car is something different and not often heard or read here in North America, even here in Canada we call them baggage cars.
Back in the days of passenger trains of the major freight railroads, passenger train consists had a dozen or more mail cars to meet the signals axle requirements. Today Amtrak uses baggage cars...
I'm sorry you did not show Union Station in Kansas City. Amtrak has service there and has for some time. It also has a touristy side to it along with Science City which is for kids.
My little story about this train. I live in St. Louis, but I purchased a Toyota Corolla in KC, a 2003 new. I put off buying a train ticket until the last minute, and it was discounted all the way down to $17 for the round trip from Kirkwood. I got lucky, I didn't even know that was a thing.
The second temporary station was still an improvement over S.L.U.T. (St Louis union Trailer) which was in use FAR too long!
I remember the SLUT from more than 15 years ago. It was like a double-wide trailer next to Union Station in St. Louis. 😁
Great review! I didn't know the 2x1 BC/split café was on some Horizons too. August 2021 for the Siemens Venture cars, you say? 👀👀 that would be amazing
I would say that even before the Covid outbreak there is already a Corona in Amtrak hahaha. Well at least we got some time to travel nicely before the pandemic. Keep safe always!
Enjoyed a lot this video
Great video.
Baggage Car. They actually transport more than luggage and the newer ones have bicycle racks and a location for carrying firearms. All of the Viewliner Baggage Cars came thru the Hialeah, FL shops before being sent out for use. With as many as 4 leaving on one train.
And an addendum to my comment below, Business Class was in an Amfleet car that ran just for Business Class. Food service was in another Amfleet Cafe Car.
I stayed at union station in 2019 when I was there it’s cool
go ahead and try out the sunset limited it is literally advertised in that café car of the river runner also to note it doesn't go to orlando right now since the hurricane of hurricane katrina but u can still enjoy it
So many Comet cars! It’s like metro north or the MBTA commuter rail
Railway stations looks like an airport terminal..so neat and clean
Do not visit Texarkana presently... That depot is a dilapidated mess today...
Man that Horizon looked dreadful! The seats looked worn and brown isn‘t exactly the most pleasant colour to start with, the lighting looked uncomfortably bright, there was a literal cardboard box used as a bin, an ugly utilitarian cabinet at the entrance to business class, and that flimsy curtain. It overall looked more like some industrial office than a passenger coach, especially one of a premier class. The Venture cars should be a huge improvement. I can understand why so many people disregard Amtrak in favour of driving, if this is the „business class“ on Midwest service.
Indeed.
It's a symbol of the state of rail travel in the US.
I saw Dylan's travels reports on one of the last rides on the HST (East Midlands Railway) train after 40 years of service and it looked great as it was refurbished a few times during those years.
The St. Louis train station although modern is small and generic but serves the rail and bus traffic there fine. There is just not the need for a larger station. If visiting St. Louis by rail I recommend the very short walk to the grand Union Station nearby and its hotel that has recently received extensive renovation and the addition of an entertainment complex including aquarirm, giant ferris wheel, ice cream shoppe, and other restaurants. You will really enjoy the architecture of Union Station inside and out that I believe was built in the late 1890s and was a great station in its past. Today it only supports special rail events like at Christmas, as when used for rail traffic required trains to slowly back in and out of the station. Union Station continues the old rail experience well and has a great indoor light show in its grand hall. I live in ST. Louis and if visiting would pick it to stay since I am a rail fan and have ridden all AMTRAK trail west of St. Louis including Canada. I have also ridden rail in Europe and have enjoyed seeing some of the grand train stations there as well. I never took business class on this trip and agree with the comment below about the better California rail experience. I have ridden this trip numerous times making connection in Kansas City. Thanks for the video.
Just wanted to add Kansas City also has a grand Union Station renovated to look really good from its historical past as well, and has straight track going through that serves AMTRAK directly. It also connects by walkway to a hotel and entertainment area. I also recommend the World War One museum across from the Kansas City Union Station. Although no comparsion to an AMTRAK trip through the mountains of the West, you can do much worse for scenery than that offered by this Missouri run. I enjoyed seeing the business class seating although outdated in appearance and the background information you provided for this video.
OMG... That old Amshack double wide trailer they used to use was horrendous. And I never actually went in... Just picking people up was bad enough. The new one is boring, but since the light rail also goes there, it's very convenient.
Hati hati di jalan..
Semoga selamat sampai tujuan
Sukses selalu
You should try the new sleeper service from Stockholm to Berlin 🤔, the service just started operating here the 7. Of June after a number of years, so it would make a fun trip report, especially because it has a stop at “Højtaastrup st.” Which makes it the first real sleeper service in Denmark since 2014 👌
As far as I know there are no sleepers on that train, only couchettes ("Liggvagn/Liegewagen")
I think it's time you returned to Europe to travel on some real trains and use wonderful stations Thibault. Everything regarding public transport in the USA is so mediocre compared to Europe. What a crazy situation it is that Amtrak has to attach empty baggage cars so that the signals of the freight company which owns the permanent way, is able to recognise a legitimate train length. This sounds like something from the early decades of the 20th Century.
To be fair, the US transports a large part of their freight by rail while Europe transports most freight by truck which is very bad for the environment
@@flopunkt3665 I think you'd be surprised how much European freight is moved by rail. I notice you didn't support US rail passenger traffic :)
@@Eurobazz look at the statistics, freight rail in Europe is a joke compared to North America
@@flopunkt3665 You've gone of on a tangent old chap. It's passenger traffic we're focussing on.
@@Eurobazz I agree with you that passenger rail in the US is a nightmare. However to give a full picture and to be fair, it should be mentioned that American freight rail traffic is far more successful than European freight rail traffic.
Hi!! You should come to Mexico and ride the "Chepe" train, I can assure you that the views are astonishing!!
Good video
Awesome ❤️❤️❤️
There is a very small legroom increase in business class. We generally travel in it because 99% of the time, there's no kids in it, making it quiet and relaxing.
A little info as to why there were all those baggage cars. Amtrak discovered the more cars a train has the less likely it is to derail.
Any suggestions for hotels near the Amtrak station in Kansas City? I understand there's a free streetcar service in Kansas City, with the Amtrak station as one of its stops, so hotels adjacent to one of the streetcar stops would also be convenient.
You didn't show the Kansas City station!
Hey simply railway when you were in st Louis did you see the old union station
Maybe USA could rely on having extra trains including old British built diesel trains especially for cities and states that need refurbished rolling stocks.
Almost all American locomotives and rolling stock (at least for passenger/ Amtrak) have a built in America requirement, especially so when government supported
@@jst7714 Suppose that is true.
Do a trip report of the Amtrak Blue Water that is bound from Port Huron, MI to Chicago, IL
AmtrakGuy365 alr covered the Blue Water multiple times.
@@YaoboyProd2K15 yea i know i wanted him to do a trip report using that Amtrak train
I wish the River Runner paid homage to the Missouri Pacific. The Eagles were classy trains.
I use to live in Kansas City area so I would see them time to time
Illinois "high speed" rail from st Louis to Chicago. And Hiawatha. Some other short Midwestern lines
KCMO!!!!my home town.
I was thinking. Why don't they have automatic doors on station doors? They have them on the train with foot openers as well as hand openers. At 1:40.
The Capital wasn't damaged from the tornado in 2018. The tornado was many blocks away from the building. The scaffolding you saw was a large refurbishment project of the Capital and surrounding grounds in anticipation of the Bicentennial celebration of Missouri. The work has now been completed (aside from the current construction of the Bicentennial Bridge going over the tracks to Adrian's Island).
Oh, and for a short period of time in the 1930s, this route had its own Zephyr trains. It was originally called the "Ozark State Zephyr", which operated from 1936 to 1939. In 1938, the "Mark Twain Zephyr" was added to the route. In 1939 the "Ozark Zephyr" name was retired and a new Zephyr was added, called the "General Pershing Zephyr." The Pershing continued the route until WWII. The Silver Charger (the power car)is on display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, MO.
The reason you backed up was because you where on a siding and there was a freight train sharing the siding with you.
Isn't the St. Louis transport center roughly where the Missouri Pacific or St. Louis Union Station coach yard located?
This is the same car that is used on the Amtrak Downeaster in Maine. Really good value but those knobs are so weird.
Traveling to the best city in the Midwest: Kansas City. Yeah, get back with when you've lived in Kansas City for 40+ years lol.
Could you ride the capitol limited I loved it and like watching it.
I honestly believe Union Station could be used as the Amtrak station again, and Gateway could be solely used by MetroLink and Greyhound.
Amtrak has NO desire to maintain any of these old large stations and depots nationwide... Amtrak leases these stations...
@@ronclark9724 Amtrak owns Union Station in Chicago.
The train has more baggege coaches than passenger coaches
Back in the days of railroad passenger trains there were several mail cars on the passenger train consists... Baggage cars are just substitutes, the signals and road crossing signals are the same...
At least the station is decent and adequate as opposed to Brookwood in the ATL.
The station is actually named Peachtree, after the street, but yeah if they ever get even one more ATL-bound train they're gonna have to build something new.
12:32 Sunset Limited with service from Orlando...Yikes
I suspect that the dispatcher simply put your train in the siding and had your train back out on to the main track after the other train passed which is fairly normal in the US
The effect of living in the US: 5 hours is considered a "quick trip" lol
I’m in Canada and drive 5 hours to my cottage most summer weekends. 5 hours isn’t that long
India too
That is why I personally do not like the fact that, at least for now, (I am hoping we can change their minds), that they are not putting traditional dining back on the Eastern long haul trains. They are doing it on the western ones like Chicago to L.A. but they should also do it on trains like The Capitol Limited, which takes 25 hours. I of course am a "snob" so I would prefer NOT to eat those microwave meals.
@@teresavandal4973 Capital Limited takes 18....
But you’re right, and Amtrak is most likely implementing a small menu of traditional dining on eastern trains within the next year. But they need to re-train staff, who haven’t done it for several years
@@Cal90208 Yes, you are right about the math; chalk it up to a "skipped groove" LOL!
I'd love to see you review the empire corridor or the wolverine I beleove that as of right now they are amtraks only non N.E.C routes that can top 100mph in operational speeds
The Missouri State Capitol was NOT damaged by a tornado in 2019, as you incorrectly indicated in this video and your earlier review. A tornado did do damage in Jefferson City that year, but it did NOT hit the Capitol, rather it struck approximately five blocks to the east. The scaffolding and coverings you saw during your earlier review were part of extensive preservation work being done to the Capitol at the time, totally unrelated to the tornado.
Silightly mean
@@TrumanKelley Just meant it to be a correction.