November
2009
Amtrak
Unveils New Website
Heeerrrrrrrrre's
Jullius! That's what
we've nicknamed the Amtrak conductor
who now appears on Amtrak's new
website that made it's debut in late October. If you
haven't already done so, be sure to check out this great new easy to
use site.
Amtrak also issued their seasonal timetable updates in October. The
majority of the Amtrak
Schedules were updated to be
effective as of October 26, 2009. The
Northeast Corridor 1 timetables for the trains that travel between New
York and Washington DC were updated on November 9, 2009.
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Colorado Ski Train is Back!
Great news for skiers this season! It was thought by many that the Rio Grande Ski Train would not run again after
it was sold and discontinued in the Spring of 2009. However, Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC, a Chicago-based company
owned by a group of investors who like passenger trains, has announced that they will operate the
popular train between Denver and Winter Park for the 2009-2010 ski season. Opening day is December 27, 2009. Go to
Colorado Train Rio Grande Scenic Railroad for the details.
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City
of New Orleans
Our
feature train of the month is the City of New Orleans.
The train runs
daily between the "Windy City" of Chicago and New Orleans, the
"Crescent City". The southbound train travels through the small and
medium size towns in Illinois from Homewood to Carbondale then through
the states of Kentucky, Tennesee, Mississippi and Louisiana on its way
to New Orleans. The north and southbound trains pass each other in the
middle of the night somewhere between Carbondale, IL and Fulton, KY.
As Amtrak duly notes, "Your journey
on
the City of New Orleans takes you through the heart of our nation's
musical heritage - from Chicago with its world-class Chicago Symphony
Orchestra and still vibrant electric blues scene, to Beale Street in
Memphis. Then, travel the history-laden musical crossroads of
Mississippi to New Orleans - the birthplace of jazz. You'll be riding
in the shadows of giants of American music like Louis Armstrong, Robert
Johnson, Muddy Waters and Elvis Presley."
The train remains a magnet for
musicians traveling between these two music centers and you're likely
to see a few hopeful, young performers toting their guitars and other
musical instruments as they travel along with you on your journey.
|
Chicago
|
-- City
of New Orleans Route --
|
New Orleans
|
To
access our City of New Orleans Route Guide
click - City
of New Orleans
Home Page
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Train
Songs
Ridin' on the City of
New Orleans
reminded
us that way back in April of 2008 we asked our readers to let us know
what their favorite train songs were. Well, we got a few
responses back and decided it was finally time to publish a
list
of train songs that includes those favorites and a whole lot more. A
new feature called "Train
Travelin' Music" has been added.
Each song title
is linked to a
YouTube or other similar site for
your viewing and listening pleasure. Click on the image
below for a sample.
__________________________________
Website
News at Rail Passenger USA
Amtrak
Updates
The
new Amtrak website
and timetable changes kept us plenty busy in late October getting Rail
Passenger USA in synch with the extensive Amtrak changes. We think we
were surprisingly successful in completing this effort in record time
on October 29. However, just in case we missed something, let
us
know and we'll fix it pronto!
Northeast
Corridor 1 Regional Route Guide Added
The Northeast
Corridor 1 Route Guide
was added to the Rail Passenger USA Route Guide library on November 12,
2009. Check it out for local information on the NEC routes
and
station stops
between New York City and Washington DC.
Route
Map Enhancements
We're
in the process of
updating all of our route guides to add mileage scales to all maps and
city elevation information for all Amtrak station stops. Check out the California
Zephyr for example which has the
most dramatic elevation changes of
all major USA passenger routes.
Happy
Rails to You!
Ray York
Rail Passenger USA
__________________________________________________
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here to send us an email or subscribe to our newsletter
Rail
Passenger USA is a free website founded by Ramblin' Ray, an old train
travel addict who devotes most of his time to mapping USA passenger
railroad routes and preparing route guides to share with others via his
website.
www.railpassengerusa.com
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