Forgot a few more regional services:

Dairylander: Runs from the Twin Cities to Chicago via Rochester, La Crosse, Madison, and Janesville. This was the original route from Chicago to the Twin Cities before the decision was made to run them via Eau Claire. This route was later created at the insistence of the state of Wisconsin, which saw massive outcry from the communities from the lack of passenger rail. As a natural way to keep costs down, this service uses DMUs, and are also scheduled to link with HSR trains.

Illini: A regional service meant to serve as a supplement for the City of New Orleans. While the streamliner was recouted by the Amtrak Midwest HSR to St. Louis in 1988, this service was create to continue service for communities along the original Illinois Central route. Naturally meaning these services are scheduled to connect with the City of New Orleans in both directions.

Blue Water: This train runs over the Amtrak line from Chicago to Kalamazoo via Niles, then on GTW rails to Port Huron via Lansing. Thanks to the change, electrics run trains between Chicago and Kalamazoo. Then, electrics handle it the rest of the way to Port Huron. Trains go three times a day in each direction usually, though that number can grow to five in special seasons like holidays.

Wolverine: A regional counterpart to the Chicago - Detroit HSR trains. Much like those services, these run via Nies, Kalamazoo, and Jackson. These trains run using electric locomotives and trainsets built by Talgo.
 
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Now for another look at the long-distance Amtrak trains of my TL. Naturally, many are twists on ideas from @TheMann, but I had several of my own up my sleeve.

American President: Washington DC - Baltimore - Harrisburg - Pittsburgh - Columbus - Indianapolis - St. Louis - Kansas City - Omaha - Denver - Salt Lake City - Reno - Sacramento - Oakland - San Jose - San Francisco

Broadway Limited: New York - Philadelphia - Harrisburg - Pittsburgh - Canton - Lima - Ft. Wayne - Chicago

California Zephyr: Chicago - Quad Cities - Des Moines - Omaha - Denver - Salt Lake City - Ogden - Reno -Sacramento - Oakland - San Jose - San Francisco

Capitol Limited: Washington DC - Baltimore - Cumberland - Pittsburgh - Youngstown - Akron - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago

Carolinan: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Chattanooga - Knoxville - Asheville - Charlotte - Winston-Salem - Greensboro - Durham - Raleigh - Greenville - Kitty Hawk

Cascades: Eugene - Salem - Portland - Olympia - Tacoma - Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver

City of Los Angeles: New York/Boston - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City - Denver - Trinidad - Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Belen - Flagstaff - Phoenix - Yuma - Los Angeles

City of New Orleans: Chicago - St. Louis - Carbondale - Paducah - Fulton - Memphis - Jackson - Baton Rouge - New Orleans

City of San Francisco: New York - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City - Denver - Salt Lake City - Ogden - Reno -Sacramento - Oakland - San Jose - San Francisco

City of Seattle: New York/Boston - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City - Denver - Salt Lake City - Ogden - Pocatello - Boise - Spokane - Seattle

Coast Daylight: San Diego - Oceanside - Los Angeles - San Luis Obispo - Salinas - San Jose - San Francisco

Coast Starlight: San Diego - Oceanside - Los Angeles - San Luis Obispo - Salinas - San Jose - Oakland - Sacramento - Eugene - Portland - Olympia - Tacoma - Seattle - Vancouver

Colonial: Bangor - Portland - Boston - Providence - New Haven - New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC - Richmond - Newport News- Norfolk

Desert Wind: Chicago - Rockford - Cedar Rapids - Omaha - Cheyenne - Denver - Salt Lake City - Las Vegas - San Bernardino - Los Angeles

Empire Builder: Chicago - Milwaukee - Madison - Eau Claire - Twin Cities - Fargo - Grand Forks - Minot - Havre - Shelby - Kalispell - Spokane - Seattle

Floridian: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Chattanooga - Atlanta - Macon - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Miami

Internationalist (with VIA Rail): Twin Cities - Madison - Milwaukee - Chicago - Grand Rapids - Detroit - London - Kitchener - Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal - Quebec City - Moncton - Halifax

Lake Shore Limited: New York - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago

Lone Star Rocket: Twin Cities - Des Moines - Kansas City - Wichita - Oklahoma City - Ft. Worth - College Station - Houston - Galveston

Mount Rainier Limited: Denver - Salt Lake City - Boise - Spokane - Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver

National Limited: Washington DC - Baltimore - Cumberland - Pittsburgh - Columbus - Cincinnati - Indianapolis - St. Louis - Kansas City

New England States: Boston - Springfield - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago

Ohio State Limited: New York - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Columbus - Dayton - Cincinnati

Palmetto: Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC - Richmond - Raleigh - Fayetteville - Myrtle Beach - Charleston - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Tampa

Pan-American: Detroit - Toledo - Columbus - Cincinnati - Louisville - Nashville - Birmingham - Jackson - New Orleans - Houston - San Antonio

Performer: New York - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - Detroit

Pioneer: Chicago - Rockford - Cedar Rapids - Omaha - Cheyenne - Denver - Salt Lake City - Boise - Pocatello - Portland - Tacoma - Seattle

Rocky Mountaineer: New Orleans - Houston - Ft. Worth - Amarillo - Pueblo - Denver - Salt Lake City - Denver - Salt Lake City - Pocatello - Boise - Spokane - Cranbrook - Lethbridge - Calgary

Silver Star: Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC - Richmond - Raleigh - Durham - Greensboro - Winston-Salem - Charlotte - Columbia - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Miami

South Wind: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Montgomery - Pensacola - Tallahassee - Jacksonville - Orlando - Tampa

Southern Crescent: New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC - Lynchburg - Greensboro - Winston-Salem - Charlotte - Spartanburg - Atlanta - Birmingham - Jackson - New Orleans - Houston - San Antonio

Spirit of St. Louis: New York - Philadelphia - Harrisburg - Altoona - Pittsburgh - Columbus - Dayton - Indianapolis - Terre Hautte - St. Louis

Sunset Limited: Miami - Orlando - Jacksonville - Tallahassee - Pensacola - Mobile - New Orleans - Houston - San Antonio - Del Rio - El Paso - Deming - Tucson - Phoenix - Yuma - Palm Springs - San Bernardino - Los Angeles

Super Chief: Chicago - Ft. Madison - Kansas City - Wichita - Trinidad - Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Belen - Flagstaff - San Bernardino - Los Angeles

Tennesseean: Washington DC - Richmond - Roanoke - Bristol - Knoxville - Chattanooga - Huntsville - Memphis - Little Rock - Texarkana - Longview - Dallas/Ft. Worth - Austin - San Antonio

Texas Eagle: Chicago - St. Louis - Poplar Bluff - Memphis - Little Rock - Texarkana - Longview - Dallas/Ft. Worth - Austin - San Antonio

Twin Capitols (with VIA Rail): Ottawa - Montreal - Burlington - Albany - New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC

Western Star: Chicago - Milwaukee - Madison - Eau Claire - Twin Cities - Bismarck - Billings - Helena - Missoula - Spokane - Seattle

Windy City: Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City - Denver - Salt Lake City - Reno - Oakland - San Jose - San Francisco
 
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I would have the Coast Daylight stay as a San Francisco/Sacramento - San Diego train and then have the Coast Starlight as the big overnight San Diego - Vancouver route.
 
I would have the Coast Daylight stay as a San Francisco/Sacramento - San Diego train and then have the Coast Starlight as the big overnight San Diego - Vancouver route.
I'll have more regional services for TTL soon, and they'll be more of the ones meant to run over HSR routes in addition to the bullet trains.
 
Regional Routes: Part 5?

Hoosier State: The regional services run by Amtrak on the Midwest Region's mainline from Chicago to Indianapolis via Rensselaer and Lafayette. Usually, four trains a day in each direction can be seen, all of which are powered by EMUs. The service is especially popular with students of Purdue University in Lafayette, as many students use the train to get out to Indianapolis or Chicago for a day. Recent talk has proposed sending the services further southeast to Cincinnati via Greensburg and Louisville via Frankfort, though nothing has come of it yet.

Winnipegian: Twice-daily in each direction services that run from the Twin Cities to Winnipeg via Fargo behind the JetTrain DMUs. Despite sharing much of the same route, this train is scheduled to meet with the Empire Builder and Western Star services.

3C Express: The state of Ohio's official service on the Amtrak line. Operated by EMUs, the service runs from Cleveland to Cincinnati via Columbus, Springfield, and Dayton with three trains in each direction a day. Recent talk has included expanding the service's scope to Louisville, in which case it'd be renamed Buckeye, but nothing has come of it so far beyond some tenative planning with the state of Kentucky, and ways to schedule it to meet the Detroit - San Antonio Pan-American and the Chicago - Miami Floridian.

Hopefully, that's all the regional services I have. Unless you guys had other ideas.
 
Recently, I thought of some ideas for preservation of Amtrak trainsets created by @TheMann in my TL.

So far, I can already see various ACXT trainsets that Amtrak once ran to be bought up for use on various state-run networks. Most notably the state of Louisiana's Big Easy, and Tennessee's Volunteer services; in general being acquired in states where spending is a concern. This leads to many ACXTs being repainted from various regional liveries into the Emerald Green of the Southeast region. Conversely, the LRC trains of TTL eventually find themselves increasingly outdated and retired. However, the C1 Class of trainsets, based on the LRC-3s, are among the first to be retired, and one of them; C1-03, eventually survives at the IRM in Union, and even finds itself in use on frequent excursion service in the Chicago area, even becoming among the members of Amtrak's Heritage Fleet to help after 9/11, specifically with the Dairylander regional services..
 
Now for another look at the long-distance Amtrak trains of my TL. Naturally, many are twists on ideas from @TheMann, but I had several of my own up my sleeve.

American President: Washington DC - Baltimore - Harrisburg - Pittsburgh - Columbus - Indianapolis - St. Louis - Kansas City - Omaha - Denver - Salt Lake City - Reno - Sacramento - Oakland - San Jose - San Fransisco

FYI: It's San Francisco. 🙂

On the idea, does this world still have the Western Maryland in service? If so, you may wish to ditch the Harrisburg stop and run on the Western Maryland main line to Connellsville and then up the former P&LE to Pittsburgh, to avoid the backups on the PRR Pennsylvania Main Line and take advantage of the incredible scenery along the Western Maryland's route. As I envision the American President being more of a train to use as an experience rather than just a way of getting from Point A to Point B (and I envisioned it being all-room, no coaches, with it being the absolute aristocracy of Amtrak's services) this may have a lot of benefit, and the B&O main over Sand Patch is probably a busy route in this world too.


Broadway Limited: New York - Philadelphia - Harrisburg - Pittsburgh - Canton - Lima - Ft. Wayne - Chicago

PRR main line, I'm guessing? If so, you may wish to have this one leave a good distance apart from the Lake Shore Limited and give travelers heading to Chicago from New York (and vice versa) a choice of departure and arrival times.

California Zephyr: Chicago - Quad Cities - Des Moines - Omaha - Denver - Salt Lake City - Ogden - Reno -Sacramento - Oakland - San Jose - San Fransisco

Interesting that you'd re-route this one off of the Burlington Route's main between Chicago and Omaha, but if you want to serve the markets of the Quad Cities and Des Moines this makes sense. (Perhaps Amtrak ITTL has a solid agreement for trackage on this route that's better than the ex-CB&Q main? Also bear in mind that the Reno stop means using the SP main over Donner Pass and not the Western Pacific's route through the Feather River Canyon. Might be worth it, up to you.

Capitol Limited: Washington DC - Baltimore - Cumberland - Pittsburgh - Youngstown - Akron - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago

B&O main line over Sand Patch again, it looks like by the route, which makes sense considering this train was the B&O's flagship.

Carolinan: Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Chattanooga - Knoxville - Asheville - Charlotte - Winston-Salem - Greensboro - Durham - Raleigh - Greenville - Kitty Hawk

I'd take Chattanooga off of this one, because you're backtracking a considerable distance to do so - Nashville to Knoxville is pretty much a straight shot east and you'll have to go around or through the Cumberland Plateau either way. Chattanooga might be better served by having trains on a Atlanta-Chattanooga-Nashville route connect with the train at Nashville.

Cascades: Eugene - Salem - Portland - Olympia - Tacoma - Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver

Surprised this isn't a high-speed route (maybe it will be in the future?), but if you're going this way I might suggest that you have some winter trains use the British Columbia Railway, bypass Vancouver Central Station in favor of a stop in a suburb and then climb the BCR to the ski resort of Whistler-Blackcomb. Make the trains fast enough, allow customs pre-clearance in Seattle or Tacoma or Portland and you might be able to make a lucrative business delivering people from the Pacific NW to weekends at Whistler.

City of Los Angeles: New York/Boston - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City - Denver - Trinidad - Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Belen - Flagstaff - Phoenix - Yuma - Los Angeles

You're taking a UP-name train and putting it onto the Santa Fe, which I'd pass on. If you want to make this work, I'd use the name El Capitan (Santa Fe's famed coach streamliner) instead for this route. Or, alternately, run this one on the Overland route and then down the UP to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

City of New Orleans: Chicago - St. Louis - Carbondale - Paducah - Fulton - Memphis - Jackson - Baton Rouge - New Orleans

You could also name this one the Panama Limited - both are Illinois Central trains that ran the same route. (Or perhaps one starts from St. Louis and the other from Chicago.)

City of San Fransisco: New York - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City - Denver - Salt Lake City - Ogden - Reno -Sacramento - Oakland - San Jose - San Fransisco

City of Seattle: New York/Boston - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City - Denver - Salt Lake City - Ogden - Pocatello - Boise - Spokane - Seattle

Interesting that both of these trains are running on the DRGW main instead of the Overland Route. It's the more scenic of the two for sure, and with the number of trains running this route the DRGW and Amtrak must have good agreements. Idea on that front - if you can, set up these so that they arrive as close together as possible in the morning going westbound, with the Chicago trains in the lead, the American President behind that and then the New York trains, running as close together as possible so everyone gets to see the Rockies in daylight, and get across as much of them as you can before night falls. This means a very late stop at Salt Lake City and a sunrise in Nevada, but then another day driving though the Sierra Nevadas and an evening arrival in San Francisco, hopefully one that comes after the commuter rush down the Peninsula. Having the passenger trains all arrive and run together gets them out of the way of DRGW freight traffic, too.

Coast Daylight: San Diego - Oceanside - Los Angeles - San Luis Obispo - Salinas - San Jose - San Fransisco

Coast Starlight: San Diego - Oceanside - Los Angeles - San Luis Obispo - Salinas - San Jose - Oakland - Sacramento - Eugene - Portland - Olympia - Tacoma - Seattle - Vancouver

Not sure why you'd do both of these on the same route, as you'll surely want them both to run in daytime hours to get the most from the scenery, and avoid the backups caused by commuter trains in Los Angeles. I can only see this working if the Daylight is a morning train along the route and the Starlight runs along the coast in the evening, and uses the morning going through the Oregon Cascades, but this would mean a very early departure from Portland headed southbound and a very late departure from Vancouver and Seattle, which is not ideal.

Colonial: Bangor - Portland - Boston - Providence - New Haven - New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC - Richmond - Newport News- Norfolk

Am I guessing this is an evening run along the NEC, or an overnight train? You could make this an all-parlour train for the evenings, launching from both ends at about 530 pm and arriving at the other end about 11 pm, serving dinner and drinks along the way, or an overnight train that departs each end about midnight and arrives at the other about 630 am, with sleepers cut off and picked up at stations along the way to allow riders to get more sleep. I would do the former, but the latter would work too.

Internationalist (with VIA Rail): Twin Cities - Madison - Milwaukee - Chicago - Grand Rapids - Detroit - London - Kitchener - Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal - Quebec City - Moncton - Halifax

This route could make a lot of sense, but I'm not sure why you'd bother with the Twin Cities - Chicago section here. Better to make this a parlour train as far as Toronto, picking up sleepers along the way. Depart Chicago about 10 am, arrive Detroit about 230 pm, Toronto about 6 pm and Montreal about 930 pm (you could go faster out of Toronto but you'll be threading through a LOT of commuter trains there), gathering sleeper passengers along the way, then after the 1130 pm stop at Quebec City go overnight through New Brunswick, arriving at Halifax about 830 am. Going the other way is an evening departure from Halifax, early morning in Quebec City, mid-morning in Montreal, early afternoon in Toronto and early evening in Detroit, allowing arrival in Chicago in the mid-evening. The early arrival and late departure would allow Via Rail's Ocean to operate as a second set of arrival and departure times from Halifax to Montreal.

In addition, the Grand Trunk (and CN and Via Rail) all called the Toronto-Chicago route the International Limited, and I'd do the same here. Alternately, you could use the name Cavalier, which was a sleeper car train from the CN and early Via era on this route.

Lake Shore Limited: New York - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago

Water Level Route routing, by the look of it, and what I said above about the Broadway Limited applies here too. Passengers will appreciate it if you can give plenty of different arrival and departure times.

Mount Rainier Limited: Denver - Salt Lake City - Boise - Spokane - Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver

Good route, though I'm not sure adding Limited to the name after a mountain works here. Just Mount Rainier or another descriptive name works better IMO, but its your call.

National Limited: Washington DC - Baltimore - Cumberland - Pittsburgh - Columbus - Cincinnati - Indianapolis - St. Louis - Kansas City

Whether this one works with the Spirit of St. Louis would depend on the timing and routes. It looks to me like these run on differing routes (ex-PRR for the Spirit of St. Louis and ex-B&O for the National Limited) which works fine for serving many intermediate stops, but you'll want to have differing departure times for the stretch west of Columbus. In addition, going south to Cincinnati from Columbus only to go back up to Indianapolis is a wide swing.

New England States: Boston - Springfield - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - South Bend - Chicago

Idea on this front: Have this depart just a bit earlier than the Lake Shore Limited, so that the Lake Shore Limited arrives in Albany just ahead of the New England States, and the two race together to Buffalo, then have the New England States run through Canada, using the Via Rail high-speed lines to serve Hamilton, London, Chatham and Detroit, then skip south to Toledo and back onto the Water Level Route. This puts Detroit on a cross-country route, allows passengers in southern Ontario (and conceivably Toronto too) to use the train to go to Chicago or New York and reduces congestion on the Water Level Route, whose HSRs will surely be very busy. This is IOTL what the NYC did in any case, and the task of adding international clearances to the stations in Canada isn't a difficult one.

Ohio State Limited: New York - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Columbus - Dayton - Cincinnati

Good idea, and I'd recommend this be an overnighter with a section departing from Boston, meeting up with the main train at Albany. Late-evening departure from Boston and New York, late-night stop at Albany and very early morning at Buffalo, resulting in arrival at Cleveland about 730 am, Columbus about 10 am and Cincinnati about noon, with the same being true in the other direction, allowing the passengers to arrive in New York about 8 am and Boston about 9 am.

Palmetto: Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC - Richmond - Raleigh - Fayetteville - Myrtle Beach - Charleston - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Tampa

Both the Palmetto and Silver Star will want to leave the cities of the Northeast fairly early, so you'll probably want to run them fairly close together as far as Richmond. The differing routes south of there is good (more intermediate stops serviced), but you may wish to make the northbound trains timed to run onto the NEC fairly close together too. As these routes are overwhelmingly used by vacationers, you'll want the arrivals in Florida to be as early as possible and the departures to be late, so the trains will run through the south mostly at night - but you can use the Southern Crescent (and perhaps another ex-SCL train, revive the Champion perhaps?) as daytime runs along these routes to get daytime passengers in the South, racing up the NEC at night and allowing early-morning arrivals at New York and Boston.

Pan-American: Detroit - Toledo - Columbus - Cincinnati - Louisville - Nashville - Birmingham - Jackson - New Orleans - Houston - San Antonio

This one is a bit tricky unless you make the business between these centers better, as the OTL L&N train was never a particularly successful one. Detroit-Texas services here might well be supported by the states involved to help make them profitable, and you'd be wise to really stock up on amenities on this one to make it a ride to remember for its passengers and grow its reputation.

Performer: New York - Albany - Buffalo - Cleveland - Toledo - Detroit

Match this one with the Washington-Detroit Red Arrow, running a Washington - Baltimore - Harrisburg - Pittsburgh - Columbus - Toledo - Detroit route, them joining the Internationalist train from above as your Detroit services set. You may wish to consider a train from Detroit to Florida as well, on the same route as the Floridian south of Louisville.

Pioneer: Chicago - Rockford - Cedar Rapids - Omaha - Cheyenne - Denver - Salt Lake City - Boise - Pocatello - Portland - Tacoma - Seattle

A good route, and the City of Seattle would be wise to use the Portland-Tacoma-Seattle line instead of going via Spokane, particularly when Spokane is served by the Empire Builder, Mount Rainier and Western Star.

Rocky Mountaineer: New Orleans - Houston - Ft. Worth - Amarillo - Pueblo - Denver - Salt Lake City - Pocatello - Boise - Spokane - Cranbrook - Lethbridge - Calgary

I'm not sure I'd take this one all the way to Houston and New Orleans, seems a waste of time. Dallas would be a good place to start for the HSR connection, though if possible I'd this train hook up with the Super Chief at La Junta (which if you follow the ATSF schedule gets there about 915 am), American President at Denver (scheduled to arrive about 1030 am) and the Empire Builder at Spokane, and run the train from Calgary over the Rockies on the Canadian Pacific's main line to Vancouver. The whole train would be like the OTL train, made for sightseeing, tourists, and people riding a train in luxury to have a good time. To make sure of this, this train would be all-room, with lots of lounge and open-roof cars, top-drawer food service as on-board services the equal of the American President.

Silver Star: Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC - Richmond - Raleigh - Durham - Greensboro - Winston-Salem - Charlotte - Columbia - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Miami

See above about this train's relationship with its twin on the route.

Southern Crescent: New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC - Lynchburg - Greensboro - Winston-Salem - Charlotte - Spartanburg - Atlanta - Birmingham - Jackson - New Orleans - Houston - San Antonio

With HSRs undoubtedly racing around Texas I'm not sure the San Antonio extension of this route makes any sense, but the Houston run does, particularly once the Southern cities have enough economic clout that a train to the big, rich city of Houston makes sense. Good idea here: Make sure passengers (and perhaps cars) can come off of the Sunset Limited right onto the Southern Crescent at either Houston or New Orleans, giving a rider a Los Angeles-Houston-New York through ride.

Sunset Limited: Miami - Orlando - Jacksonville - Tallahassee - Pensacola - Mobile - New Orleans - Houston - San Antonio - Del Rio - El Paso - Deming - Tucson - Phoenix - Yuma - Palm Springs - San Bernardino - Los Angeles

I'm guessing this is the OTL route pre-Hurricane Katrina. It makes a lot of sense, particularly if you can grow the business along the coast.

Tennesseean: Washington DC - Richmond - Roanoke - Bristol - Knoxville - Chattanooga - Huntsville - Memphis - Little Rock - Texarkana - Longview - Dallas/Ft. Worth - Austin - San Antonio

This is an interesting one and has potential if you can make it into a new Washington-to-Texas corridor, though I'm not entirely sure the Richmond-Knoxville section is going to be a viable route a lot of the time and the routes aren't the easiest. Could be a good one, and I'd advise making this and the Carolinan connect with each other at Knoxville.

Texas Eagle: Chicago - St. Louis - Poplar Bluff - Memphis - Little Rock - Texarkana - Longview - Dallas/Ft. Worth - Austin - San Antonio

Another good setup, but with the relatively small population (and lower-than-average income) along the route, you'd be well advised to make this as much a Chicago/St. Louis to Texas service as possible and operate it accordingly, with relatively few stops between Little Rock, Memphis and St. Louis.

Twin Capitols (with VIA Rail): Ottowa - Montreal - Burlington - Albany - New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington DC

FYI: It's Ottawa. 🙂

This route would also work best as a fast-paced parlour train. If you can make a direct connection between Penn Station and Grand Central Station this would work best, with mid-morning departure from Washington and Ottawa, arriving in the other capital about ten hours later, using the NEC to New York, the Empire Corridor to Albany, running along the former D&H, skipping Burlington (but operating a ferry across Lake Champlain and having direct service to New York from there on Vermonter regional services) but stopping at Schenectady, Satatoga Springs and Plattsburgh. Once at Montreal the train takes the Via HSR route from Montreal to Ottawa.

Windy City: Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City - Denver - Salt Lake City - Reno - Oakland - San Jose - San Fransisco

Am I to guess that this train is the more-prosaic brother of the California Zephyr? If so, it may make sense to make the Zephyr part of Amtrak's flagship fleet and have the Windy City be a less-expensive, coach-carrying train.
 
I am assuming that all of the long-distance and parlour trains here @Andrew Boyd: Duke of Dank are daily or more frequent than that, so you'll need a LOT of equipment for this, and you'd also be highly advised if you are wanting to grow this service to make these trains the best they can possibly be to ride on.

All coach seats and sleeping car compartments would have AVOD systems and available headphones, on-board wi-fi for passengers' mobile devices, good seats with plenty of room (all coach seats have leg-rests) and power ports at every seat. All cars are cleaned at the end of each run and more often if necessary. Roomettes include good toilets and separate water coolers for passengers as well as quality seats and locking compartments for clothes and valuables, as well as all compartments having completely independent temperature controls. Larger sleeping car accomodations have convertible seats that grow into larger beds, and ensuite bathrooms on all compartments bigger than roomettes, with all cars having heated floors in the ensuites and quality toiletries. The next step up from a roomette is the single bedroom, the double bedroom and the drawing room available, with the "Flagship Fleet" trains - American President, California Zephyr, Empire Builder, Rocky Mountaineer, Silver Star, Southern Crescent and Super Chief - having the master bedroom option available.

For the parlour trains (Colonial, Twin Capitals, Cascades) the best way to make this desire for a quality experience work is to make them as comfortable as possible, with parlour cars with comfy chairs, couches, places to set up laptops and bars for drinks as well as good coaches, with seats spread further apart and equipped with power ports, tables and reading lights, and with business class seats in coaches set up like business class seats on good airliners, with leather seats with lots of reclining, extra pillows and at-seat meal service for business class passengers. (Everyone having access to the dining car(s) but only business-class passengers have at-seat meals.) The business-class cars also have soundproofed compartments for people to make private phone calls (OTL Metroliners used to have this, not sure if they still do). Business-class coaches would also be available on Amtrak long-distance trains that carry coaches.

Roomettes are similar in function to existing Amtrak roomettes, though with some better appointments. Single bedrooms also have two bunk beds but include an ensuite bathroom with shower and have nicely-padded walls so that one can sit in them as well as sleep, and include a washbasin next to the beds. Double bedrooms are larger and have a double bed as well as an upper bunk. Drawing rooms include a loveseat across from the beds and additional room, and master bedrooms add a complete ensuite bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. All bedrooms include a turndown service which includes a mattress topper, bedsheets and (if desired) duvets and all rooms with larger beds include portable tables for breakfasts in bed. Room service is available for all sleeping car passengers, but this is not included in the price except for drawing room and master bedroom passengers. All sleeping car passengers have their meals included in their fares. Roomette cars include communal showers that are open to all passengers. All trains include at least three accessible sleeping rooms, which have accessible bathrooms to go with it, and any accessible cars have ramps and lifts that fold out of the cars to allow wheelchair-bound passengers to easily get onto and off of the train, and accessible passengers do have the option of having food delivered to them if they desire. Trains that primarily serve a vacationing clientele also have the option of family bedrooms, which include four beds for one family fare, which can be with or without the meals depending on the preferences of those involved.

All Amtrak dining cars are three-unit bi-level units, with the center car including a complete kitchen on the lower level and service bars on the ends of the cars closest to the main kitchen, with pass-throughs for food to be passed to the serving stations in the cars. The ends of the cars on the lower levels include private dining rooms, with the entire upper deck of the three cars all being used for tables for passengers. Both ends of the cars include complete dishwashing stations, and all Amtrak dining cars serve food with fine china and glassware and proper silverware - nothing plastic here. All trains include a compartment in one of the head-end cars that serves as a refridgerator for food and drink, with supplies able to be topped-up en-route as needed or desired. All trains serve both a smaller common menu and a wide selection of local specialities depending on the regions the train serves. All Amtrak trains have proper chefs as well as cooks, and trains that need specific equipment have it - most Southern trains, for example, are equipped with smokers and wood-fired grills for the barbeque for which the region is famous. The choices of drinks available also varies in some cases, though all trains have first-rate selections of beer, wine and spirits. All dining cars include bartenders, waiters and a steward, the latter of whose job is exclusively to assist patrons. Most trains are also equipped with coffee shop cars, which Amtrak refers to as tavern cars. These cars do have food options and include a kitchen to make food, as well as drinks, and have snacks available for purchase as well for customers who don't wish to take on a full meal.
 
On the idea, does this world still have the Western Maryland in service? If so, you may wish to ditch the Harrisburg stop and run on the Western Maryland main line to Connellsville and then up the former P&LE to Pittsburgh, to avoid the backups on the PRR Pennsylvania Main Line and take advantage of the incredible scenery along the Western Maryland's route. As I envision the American President being more of a train to use as an experience rather than just a way of getting from Point A to Point B (and I envisioned it being all-room, no coaches, with it being the absolute aristocracy of Amtrak's services) this may have a lot of benefit, and the B&O main over Sand Patch is probably a busy route in this world too.
I had thought of the B&O at first, but since my TL's Wild Mary became part of the Erie Lackawanna in 1974 (alongside the Monon), that may actually be a better idea - though the issue does rise of how Amtrak would handle stations in Cumberland; something I think could be answered with buses between the WM and B&O stations, plus the revenue provided by my TL's take on the WM Scenic: Year-round excursions behind I-2 Decapod #1120.
PRR main line, I'm guessing? If so, you may wish to have this one leave a good distance apart from the Lake Shore Limited and give travelers heading to Chicago from New York (and vice versa) a choice of departure and arrival times.
Correct.
Interesting that you'd re-route this one off of the Burlington Route's main between Chicago and Omaha, but if you want to serve the markets of the Quad Cities and Des Moines this makes sense. (Perhaps Amtrak ITTL has a solid agreement for trackage on this route that's better than the ex-CB&Q main? Also bear in mind that the Reno stop means using the SP main over Donner Pass and not the Western Pacific's route through the Feather River Canyon. Might be worth it, up to you.
Thing is my Amtrak Midwest main runs via the Quads and Des Moines, then links with the St. Louis services at Peoria via Galesburg (in 1984, a new station was built where it crosses over the ATSF in Galesburg to serve both companies). My idea was that host railroads can expect hefty financial rewards, and subsidies in the case of profit losses, the latter scenario having become more important in the age of PSR.
I'd take Chattanooga off of this one, because you're backtracking a considerable distance to do so - Nashville to Knoxville is pretty much a straight shot east and you'll have to go around or through the Cumberland Plateau either way. Chattanooga might be better served by having trains on a Atlanta-Chattanooga-Nashville route connect with the train at Nashville.
I thought of the Volunteer state services doing that in such a case. My TL also has the Southern run the former Tennessee Central east of Nashville, so that'd help.
Surprised this isn't a high-speed route (maybe it will be in the future?), but if you're going this way I might suggest that you have some winter trains use the British Columbia Railway, bypass Vancouver Central Station in favor of a stop in a suburb and then climb the BCR to the ski resort of Whistler-Blackcomb. Make the trains fast enough, allow customs pre-clearance in Seattle or Tacoma or Portland and you might be able to make a lucrative business delivering people from the Pacific NW to weekends at Whistler.
I was thinking it'd evolve into a high speed route for sure. Though said HSR would just be Salem - Vancouver at least at first. The Cascades ITTL would be sort of like the Metroliners like what you proposed.
You're taking a UP-name train and putting it onto the Santa Fe, which I'd pass on. If you want to make this work, I'd use the name El Capitan (Santa Fe's famed coach streamliner) instead for this route. Or, alternately, run this one on the Overland route and then down the UP to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
As is, I was thinking of borrowing your idea where Amtrak trains all run during the day, then the Rio Grande only runs a few freights until late in the evening, with most of their freights running in between 9 PM and 7 AM.
Interesting that both of these trains are running on the DRGW main instead of the Overland Route. It's the more scenic of the two for sure, and with the number of trains running this route the DRGW and Amtrak must have good agreements. Idea on that front - if you can, set up these so that they arrive as close together as possible in the morning going westbound, with the Chicago trains in the lead, the American President behind that and then the New York trains, running as close together as possible so everyone gets to see the Rockies in daylight, and get across as much of them as you can before night falls. This means a very late stop at Salt Lake City and a sunrise in Nevada, but then another day driving though the Sierra Nevadas and an evening arrival in San Francisco, hopefully one that comes after the commuter rush down the Peninsula. Having the passenger trains all arrive and run together gets them out of the way of DRGW freight traffic, too.


Not sure why you'd do both of these on the same route, as you'll surely want them both to run in daytime hours to get the most from the scenery, and avoid the backups caused by commuter trains in Los Angeles. I can only see this working if the Daylight is a morning train along the route and the Starlight runs along the coast in the evening, and uses the morning going through the Oregon Cascades, but this would mean a very early departure from Portland headed southbound and a very late departure from Vancouver and Seattle, which is not ideal.
As is, I was thinking of borrowing your idea where Amtrak trains all run during the day, then the Rio Grande only runs a few freights until late in the evening, with most of their freights running in between 9 PM and 7 AM.
Idea on this front: Have this depart just a bit earlier than the Lake Shore Limited, so that the Lake Shore Limited arrives in Albany just ahead of the New England States, and the two race together to Buffalo, then have the New England States run through Canada, using the Via Rail high-speed lines to serve Hamilton, London, Chatham and Detroit, then skip south to Toledo and back onto the Water Level Route. This puts Detroit on a cross-country route, allows passengers in southern Ontario (and conceivably Toronto too) to use the train to go to Chicago or New York and reduces congestion on the Water Level Route, whose HSRs will surely be very busy. This is IOTL what the NYC did in any case, and the task of adding international clearances to the stations in Canada isn't a difficult one.
That's a good idea, and I could even see the relationship functioning like Empire Builder and Western Star. For something of a similarity.
Both the Palmetto and Silver Star will want to leave the cities of the Northeast fairly early, so you'll probably want to run them fairly close together as far as Richmond. The differing routes south of there is good (more intermediate stops serviced), but you may wish to make the northbound trains timed to run onto the NEC fairly close together too. As these routes are overwhelmingly used by vacationers, you'll want the arrivals in Florida to be as early as possible and the departures to be late, so the trains will run through the south mostly at night - but you can use the Southern Crescent (and perhaps another ex-SCL train, revive the Champion perhaps?) as daytime runs along these routes to get daytime passengers in the South, racing up the NEC at night and allowing early-morning arrivals at New York and Boston.
That's another possibility, though what I might do is have different consists of these trains for that purpose.
This one is a bit tricky unless you make the business between these centers better, as the OTL L&N train was never a particularly successful one. Detroit-Texas services here might well be supported by the states involved to help make them profitable, and you'd be wise to really stock up on amenities on this one to make it a ride to remember for its passengers and grow its reputation.
That is something you're probably right one, especially since it's not like it starts in Chicago. Though I feel the senic portions in Kentucky and Tennessee would help, especially if we had trains be on their way out of Cincy early in the morning.
Match this one with the Washington-Detroit Red Arrow, running a Washington - Baltimore - Harrisburg - Pittsburgh - Columbus - Toledo - Detroit route, them joining the Internationalist train from above as your Detroit services set. You may wish to consider a train from Detroit to Florida as well, on the same route as the Floridian south of Louisville.
I think a Red Arrow revival would also be good in such a case. As for a Detroit - Florida service, I could maybe schedule the Pan-American and Floridian in such a way that they can swap passengers in Louisville or Nashville.
I'm not sure I'd take this one all the way to Houston and New Orleans, seems a waste of time. Dallas would be a good place to start for the HSR connection, though if possible I'd this train hook up with the Super Chief at La Junta (which if you follow the ATSF schedule gets there about 915 am), American President at Denver (scheduled to arrive about 1030 am) and the Empire Builder at Spokane, and run the train from Calgary over the Rockies on the Canadian Pacific's main line to Vancouver. The whole train would be like the OTL train, made for sightseeing, tourists, and people riding a train in luxury to have a good time. To make sure of this, this train would be all-room, with lots of lounge and open-roof cars, top-drawer food service as on-board services the equal of the American President.
As is, I generally had long-distance trains mostly with the tourists in mind. So this is a good setup.
This is an interesting one and has potential if you can make it into a new Washington-to-Texas corridor, though I'm not entirely sure the Richmond-Knoxville section is going to be a viable route a lot of the time and the routes aren't the easiest. Could be a good one, and I'd advise making this and the Carolinan connect with each other at Knoxville.
I was thinking that would be the case, especially since such a change could connect Chicago and Roanoke better. Though I believe if Amtrak were to bill this one as a scenic train, with the Lynchburg - Memphis portions going during the day, it'd be possible.
Another good setup, but with the relatively small population (and lower-than-average income) along the route, you'd be well advised to make this as much a Chicago/St. Louis to Texas service as possible and operate it accordingly, with relatively few stops between Little Rock, Memphis and St. Louis.
Yeah, I had though of just having it stop at San Antonio like you did, then have it link with the Sunset Limited.
Am I to guess that this train is the more-prosaic brother of the California Zephyr? If so, it may make sense to make the Zephyr part of Amtrak's flagship fleet and have the Windy City be a less-expensive, coach-carrying train.
Another good point. Especially when the main route also has the City of San Fransisco.
 
@TheMann

I thought about your idea for the New England States running via Ontario, and decided to take it up to 11 so that it also runs via the NYC line in Michigan through Kalamazoo and Niles instead of the Water Level via Toledo and South Bend.
 
@TheMann

Should I still have my TL's City of New Orleans run via Baton Rogue between New Orleans and Jackson? I was thinking because my TL has the Big Easy regional service to link both that city and Shreveport with New Orleans already.
 
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