CSLRA members and friends:
The following email text from LA Rail describes a major policy shift affecting movement of all privately owned passenger cars on Amtrak –
Dear fans, friends, and travelers of LARail.com,
Over the last several days, Amtrak has made some draconian announcements which could permanently end our ability to operate our vintage railroad cars. The folks in Washington DC have issued a moratorium on the drop-off and pick-up of private cars at all intermediate station stops on the system where trains have less than 30 minutes of scheduled “dwell time.” This means, with few limited exceptions nationwide, our railcars will only be able to operate between major endpoints on the Amtrak System (Los Angeles to Seattle, Los Angeles to Chicago, Los Angeles to New Orleans, etc.). This means no more trips to Lamy/Santa Fe, nor Whitefish, possibly no Portland, San Antonio, Denver, or St. Louis. At this point, all Amtrak long distance service hangs in the balance. We are also in imminent danger of losing the ability to travel on day trips to San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara.
We urge you all to PLEASE email or call your US representatives and senators and make some noise in support of Amtrak on our behalf. We also ask that you call for the removal of Executives Anderson and Gardner as the leaders of Amtrak. They are largely responsible for the theory that private cars aren’t worth bothering with if they could potentially delay a train. Trains are often delayed by mechanical problems, freight train interference, long stops for large crowds of passengers, signal problems, etc. It’s not often at all that Amtrak trains are delayed by private cars. Limiting our destinations means fewer choices, fewer trips and greater expenses. Political pressure is the only solution so please give us a hand.
Finally, LARail.com is operating what could be a last-chance opportunity to travel on a long-distance Amtrak train by private railcar. We depart this Friday evening at 10:00 PM from Los Angeles with stops in San Antonio, St. Louis, and Kansas City returning to Los Angeles on April 8th. This trip, which was not previously advertised to the public, still has 4 spaces remaining for sale in 2 roomettes for single travelers and one double bedroom which holds two travelers. Price per person is $4,400. We encourage you to join this mellow and friendly group on what could possibly be the end of an era for private railcar trips.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your time and your patronage over the years. We CANNOT do this without you – our loyal fans. This situation is still developing and we will try to keep you all updated in the coming days and weeks. If you have questions, comments, concerns, or would like to join us on the trip mentioned above, please call John Caestecker – owner of Silver Splendor – today (Thursday) at 949-366-0329 or tomorrow (Friday) at 714-292-9316.
Sincerely,
The LARail.com Family