Switching Private Cars at Ann Arbor

[Ypsi]

Here is my footage of B92 switching the Charter cars to Amtrak 355 at Ann Arbor from last Thursday.



On Thursday April 9th, Norfolk Southern Local B92 is in Ann Arbor to switch a pair of private cars onto Amtrak train 355. The skies are gray, and we are under a tornado warning, but we stuck around to see and film the move.

B92 has positioned themselves to make the move onto the private cars which are positioned at the West Ann Arbor siding. These two cars are owned by the Charter Steel and Wire Company. They are both Pullman cars and are in a fleet of four used by the company to entertain its clients and managers. They wear a New York Central themed livery as the owner of the company has a personal connection to the NYC. These two cars are configured into a combination sleeper/ diner/ observation, and a combination sleeper/ bar/ lounge. Both look right at home on the former New York Central mainline.

After B92 makes the couple they go an position themselves at the end of the siding switchback so they can make the move quicker when 355 is ready.

As they wait, Amtrak 352 running almost a full hour late clears 37 west and arrives at Ann Arbor. Lots of horn was given as a group of railroad employees were on scene to dictate the move. This included NS and Amtrak road foremen, maintenance of way workers, mechanical department employees, and of course the crew of B92.

After 352 cleared the skies opened up and swirled a little as the bad thunder storm passed by. This was a little scary but it cleared out the fog and opened up for 355 who was also running about an hour late into Ann Arbor.

355 pulled up as the light was fading, but still just in time to get some footage of hem making the move. As soon as they could B92 started the shove onto the main, pushing the two private cars in position behind Amtrak 355. After dropping the cars B92 got in the clear, and 355 was able to start their reverse onto the cars. The engineer took it easy as she backed onto the multi-million dollar cars, and finally made a good joint. After the air was tied in 355 was given the ok to Highball and departed on the clear signal. The light was almost gone, but the NYC colored cars bring up the rear and markers as 355 cleared into the night past B92.

Thanks for watching and reading

[SousaKerry]

And we wonder why Amtrash can't turn a profit, it takes 10 people on the ground to pick up 2 cars...

...Just sayin

[hoborich]

I wuz kinda thinkin the same thing. Some really nice cars though. Where they goin?

[ConrailMan5]

I wuz kinda thinkin the same thing. Some really nice cars though. Where they goin?

They are based in Milwaukee Wis. headed back that way, then to Pittsburg via new York. Part of the reason so many people were down there was they had an incident last year during the switch. But the conductor on B92 said that about 6 of them were needed rr employees. 3 were actually the staff of the private cars.

[Ypsi]

3 conductors on the ground (1 from NS, 2 from Amtrak), NS road foreman, Amtrak road Forman, 2 Amtrak maintainers (to clear the switch and incase something goes wrong), an Amtrak mechnical department guy, and one more NS employee I can't think of the position for. Plus three staffers. Considering what the car owner pays for a switch and per mile, and that most of those people would be working anyway it's not really a waste IMO.

[msurailfan]

One thing I've always wondered....and probably won't get an honest or correct answer...how much for these people with the private cars have to pay Amtrak to latch on? I imagine it has to be something quite ridiculous.

[Ypsi]

Those cars are close to $5 a mile plus a flat rate, and a price per switch.


From a 2011 Washington post article:

Amtrak charges $2.10 a mile to pull a private car — each additional car on the same train is another $1.60 a mile — plus about $100 for overnight parking at most stations. A one-way trip between New York and Washington adds up to about $470 in Amtrak fees, and Washington to Chicago costs about $1,600. That doesn’t include crew costs or the $500 to $1,800 that car owners typically pay each way for railroads to pull their car from a storage yard to an Amtrak facility.

Amtrak collected about $2.5 million in revenue from private rail cars in fiscal 2010, and the service operates at a profit, said Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm. Revenue exceeded costs by about $660,000 in fiscal 2010, he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pri ... story.html

It's out there and depends. On the line, time, and if the host railroad would even allow it. Aperently NS won't let them into Pittsburg coming east so they have to do it coming west from DC rather than taking a direct route.

[msurailfan]

Thanks for the info. I know the people with the private cars have so much money that it probably isn't a blip on their radar, but that's a lot of time and energy to get what I perceive as an inferior travel experience. Sure, there's nostalgia and variation with train travel, but $1600 (plus probably at least 2 days) Washington to Chicago? That's round-trip first-class and 5-star hotel territory.

Thanks for answering my question, regardless.

[ConrailMan5]

Thanks for the info. I know the people with the private cars have so much money that it probably isn't a blip on their radar, but that's a lot of time and energy to get what I perceive as an inferior travel experience. Sure, there's nostalgia and variation with train travel, but $1600 (plus probably at least 2 days) Washington to Chicago? That's round-trip first-class and 5-star hotel territory.

Thanks for answering my question, regardless.

No one actually travels on the cars except the staff. They use them as private dining venues to entertain customers. They are owned by charter steel based in Wisconsin. So no one actually rents them for travel other than the 70 year old owner of the steel company. They were in the area to entertain Detroit area motor company customers.

[GreatLakesRailfan]

Thanks for the info. I know the people with the private cars have so much money that it probably isn't a blip on their radar, but that's a lot of time and energy to get what I perceive as an inferior travel experience. Sure, there's nostalgia and variation with train travel, but $1600 (plus probably at least 2 days) Washington to Chicago? That's round-trip first-class and 5-star hotel territory.

Have you ever had the opportunity to see what these cars look like on the inside? From everything I've seen and read, the private railroad car experience is right in the 5-star hotel range. Riding in one of those cars is a much different experience than riding on the Amtrak-owned portion of the train.

If you have the money to do so, you can rent a private car and travel on the car to/from your destination. One group that comes to mind is LA Rail. They have a couple interior car shots and trip pricing on their website.

[Raildudes dad]

I was the conductor on a couple segments of the Northern Arrow's in 2007 and 2008. If you need to ask how much it costs,you can't afford it. Money is no object for most of the private car owners. There were 12 private cars on the 2007 excursion. Little known fact is in a train like that, you only go to an adjacent car if invited in by the occupants. You cannot walk from end to end. Myself as the conductor and the excursion mechanical supervisor were the only individuals with complete access to all cars. I spent part of one afternoon as the only occupant of the Northern Dreams. The passengers were spending the afternoon enjoying the scenery from dome in the adjoining Northern Sky. (2 matching gray and red cars based in WI)

My train in 2007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh5ZIhMZycU

[Ypsi]

Heres a question, as I was well aware that money isn't a problem with these folks, but do they charge more to have your particular car on the rear of the train, if for example, you had a porch or observation car? My assumption is its whatever order the cars get there in, but I can also see paying a couple (:lol:) extra dollars to be in the position you wanted.

[railohio]

Have you ever had the opportunity to see what these cars look like on the inside? From everything I've seen and read, the private railroad car experience is right in the 5-star hotel range.

Not the Charter cars, but others:

CN3034WideSussexWI2-18-15 by railohio, on Flickr

[ConrailMan5]

Have you ever had the opportunity to see what these cars look like on the inside? From everything I've seen and read, the private railroad car experience is right in the 5-star hotel range. Riding in one of those cars is a much different experience than riding on the Amtrak-owned portion of the train.
.

here you go, they are very nice inside. Bedrooms are more or less original. The interiors have been reworked extensively with custom woodwork. Railroad China Adorns the walls. And they serve utilizing genuine railroad silverware.
http://www.trainweb.org/jays_crp/Charter/charter.htm
Follow the link, picture really dont do it justice

[Raildudes dad]

Heres a question, as I was well aware that money isn't a problem with these folks, but do they charge more to have your particular car on the rear of the train, if for example, you had a porch or observation car? My assumption is its whatever order the cars get there in, but I can also see paying a couple (:lol:) extra dollars to be in the position you wanted.

On Amtrak the orivate cars go on the rear. On an excursion like the Northern Arrow, they go on the end because it makes sense because the owners and guests like to ride the rear . If they have 2, one on each end

[Ypsi]

I'm specifically talking out being the last car on an excursion, like the northern arrow. Is it first in first on, or do they sort? (Like I want to be the last car put me there $$ )