Amtrak-sponsored Excursions?

RSwinnerton · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:32 pm **Posts:** 198

RDGRAILFAN wrote:

AMTRAK did a nice job of advance advertising in the greater Philadelphia area with a target of families, leaf people and such. They did not target rail fan's. WE found out about the trip in a local community web site.
The CRHS trip planning in 2009 was good but had it's flaws ...if you were a CRHS member the seating was AMTRAK,, if not SEPTA bombers with the "overflow". AMTRAK is/was aware of the high level of satisfaction as well as the very vocal need for improvement in certain areas. Many persons were confused in 2009 if AMTRAK or CRHS ran the trip, confused consumers let AMTRAK know the trips good points as well as need for improvement.
It is my understanding they may in fact repeat the trip if planning etc can be accomplished in a timely manner.
Sorry but a AMTRAK sponsored trip is just as good as a CRHS event.

Not even close. Members were not given preference in Amtrak/Septa seating. Advertising was also not focused on rail fans. Our ads in the Philly Inquirer is what sold it out for us. We did advertise in Railpace and some other railfan places, but when it comes right down to it, railfans don't buy many tickets.

While an Amtrak trip may be just as good as a CRHS trip, one supports preservation, one gos to a big corporation where it's just a drop in the bucket.

We did run a trip subsequent to this out of Washington DC utilizing the Port Road and the Royalton Branch. It went much more smoothly, filled 11 Amfleets and 2 private cars, and garnered only 1 complaint. (As an aside, the complaint was that the veggie subs only had veggies in them....)

We had planned another trip for this fall on some rare Reading mileage, but Amtrak told us they couldn't supply the equipment we wanted in October (as they had before) and now we know why.

Perhaps we can make something work and do it better than Amtrak. We're discussing it now and we'll post the results when it's appropriate.

RSwinnerton · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:32 pm **Posts:** 198

JimBoylan wrote:

RSwinnerton wrote:

We are in no way happy about it. they not only copied our 2009 trip to the 'T'...

Well, they aren't using PRR Diesels, S.E.P.T.A. or Amfleet coaches, or private cars, nor marketing to railfans.
I don't know if some of your extra expenses were for deadheading the Juniata Terminal equipment, or if that was a freebie in return for not allowing you to sell tickets in the observation car.

The average rider isn't concerned with what's on the front or back of the train. That said, we have used the Juniata Terminal equipment on both trips we've run and we plan to keep using it in the future. We haven't ruled out trips without their equipment, but they've been very good to us which is all ill say on that topic.

I don't think they're much interested in working with private car owners either as 'First Class' isnt really something Amtrak has embraced. We love our first class cars (and their owners!) and we had planned on expanding our first class offerings because of it.

One thing I can say about Septa is we will NEVER EVER use their cars again. We got hosed in so many ways because of our use of the 'bombers'

Ed Kapuscinski · **Posted:** Wed Sep 04, 2013 11:25 am

Dennis Storzek wrote:

RSwinnerton wrote:

We are in no way happy about it. While Amtrak is totally within its rights to so as it pleases, it's undercutting our ticket prices by 40% which is do to them not having to pay extra insurance and already having the equipment. It puts in jeopardy the possibility of any future excursions on our part as we simply can't compete with their prices. Hell, they not only copied our 2009 trip to the 'T'...
Russ

Just out of curiosity, have you run other trips via Amtrak in the years since, or was 2009 the proverbial one trick pony? I could see, if the '09 trip looked like a good idea, and no one has done the same in the three years since, where they might be tempted to run their own.

We've done another since, and have been in talks with them for a while about doing it again (this very trip) before they decided to do it themselves.

And yes, we had our teething issues with the first trip, but the second went a lot better, even with the Amtrak equipment failure that we had to recover from.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Fri Sep 06, 2013 5:03 pm

Come to think of it, the joke is on Amtrak.

There won't be many "fall colors" left on the trees come November 2nd, if normal Pa. weather is any indication.

bbunge · **Posted:** Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:00 pm

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

Come to think of it, the joke is on Amtrak.

There won't be many "fall colors" left on the trees come November 2nd, if normal Pa. weather is any indication.

Good point. If it stays cool as it is now and dry, the leaves in this area will be gone by mid October if not sooner.

Bob

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:07 pm

Just in from my sources at Amtrak:

Quote:

Due to overwhelming ticket sales for the Autumn Express, a second run has been added on Sunday, November 3, allowing passengers an opportunity to travel across rare mileage and experience the splendor of fall in the Northeast. This special train departs from and returns to Philadelphia 30th Street Station and affords scenic views of historic railroad sites throughout Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

[same trip details from Nov. 2 trip truncated]

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, September 18 at 10:00 A.M. EST, and seats are limited.

Visit Amtrak.com/autumnexpress for more details.