Looks like the inaugural run is a little delayed (~25mins), perhaps due to a very late northbound Silver Star that it met around Aberdeen. But I’m extremely impressed with the ridership this thing got and I hope that it shows lots of new people how great train travel can be. I think they should keep doing “special” trains like this.
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You all obviously misunderstood the question. Clearly the inquiry is focused on the sea foam green accents on the apartment complex behind the train.
To answer the inquiry, this is weather protection material that has yet to be covered by the final material. Right? No way they’d leave this sea foam green color exposed, right?
Sorry guys, I had to. Back to train talk.
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Do you, or anyone, have an idea of actual ticket sales?
I was down on the course (visiting and drinking, not playing) in the spring and was super impressed with where the train is dropping off passengers. I love SoPines and Pinehurst, but thinking about the traffic for this event gives me hives, lol. I would so be on this train.
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He had plenty of company. Amtrak sold all 300 seats on both of the morning and evening trains Thursday and Friday and also filled another 60-seat car on Saturday and Sunday. “We had to add cars because of ticket sales, and we’re still sold out,” said Joey Hopkins, the N.C. Secretary of Transportation. “I mean, that’s a good problem to have.”
Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article289221919.html#storylink=cpy
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Really good to hear. I knew that it did sell out or was otherwise close to doing so. It’s a long consist, much longer than normal Piedmont trains – seems like they had to borrow some Amfleet coaches, too.
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Only media I have seen about the US Open service, anyone have more?:
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For the open they are expecting well over 200k throughout the weekend. No idea on the train numbers.
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That is the dome car (ACWR 9373) which was purchased by the Aberdeen Carolina & Western at a bankruptcy auction of Iowa Pacific Holdings in 2022. It was restored at their shop in Candor and is in use for ‘business development.’
It was originally the Southern Pacific #3604 running on the Sunset Limited in the 1950’s.
Currently being used on the Open Express to take guests to Pinehurst for the US Open.
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I was on the Piedmont yesterday. All of the cars were so hot! Makes for a pretty miserable ride.
I’ve noticed that the AC can get pretty weak.
New cars can’t come soon enough.
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FYI: The NCDOT dome car ‘Mount Mitchell’ was removed from service due to new federal fire safety regulations. The cost for rebuilding and upgrading the car to the new federal standards exceeded the amount justified for this car.
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Looks like a new station is coming…
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A BRT station and bus terminal, to be clear. It’s still far from clear if we’ll even get a new Amtrak station there, let alone regional rail (for obvious reasons).
We also talked about this in the RTP thread, if you want more details:
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