So, one of the more unique passenger trains on the east coast is the Auto Train, running from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, Florida, with a short lived service between Louisville Kentucky and Sanford. However the Auto-Train Corporation went bankrupt and the service was cut in April 1981. However, Amtrak has since restored the service in October 1983, and is still in service to this day. The route for this unique train could be situated around either station, and could involved scenarios arriving/departing either station, as well as assembling the train for departure. The Sanford Station would be a little different than the Lorton Station, as its platforms are too short to fit the full Amtrak consist, and the passenger cars are split to 2 platforms. A railroad crossing also complicates Sanford's operations. Google Satellite image of Lorton Station Sanford Station Rolling Stock Auto Train rolling stock GE U36B Baldwin's S-12, VO-1000 or ALCO's S-2 Autorack Steam Generator cars Various Passenger Equipment (Baggage,Food Service,Sleeper,Dome) Amtrak Rolling Stock GE P40s or P42s & Superliner's Auto rack GE B32-8WH, or SW1000R
This would be a nice addition to Train Sim! Would give us a route to run the various Northeast Regionals that run in Virginia if the route were to be set around Lorton.
Yeah. After Watching Coasterfan2105's Video of The Auto Train, This will be prefect addon for Train Simulator.
This would be excellent to see. I'd much rather have the route based out of Lorton instead of Sanford since Florida is very flat and boring, and I wouldn't want this to be boring like Miami-WPB.
I think that there was a repaint of Amtrak Autoracks at Facebook but now can't find and am sure there was one there before. Found one at Railworks America to download. I do have mine through RWA. John
I would love this, Amtrak or original AutoTrain Corp. I think AutoTrain Corp would be cooler though, as we would get a use out of the SCL U36B in the game, as ATC owned some (as you stated). Also a new Florida or Virginia route would be nice.
I say both could work if one was included in the route, and the other was added as a loco pack, or make 2 routes around each station with one dedicated to the Auto Train and one to Amtrak.
So did a little more research and figured out potential extensions for the route. The Lorton Part of the route could extend north to Washington DC, and include the southern end of the NEC. South of Lorton, the route could run at least as far as Richmond, Va, which is just under 100 miles. And would include the city of Ashland, where the mainline runs right down the middle of town splitting Center Street, and the CSX yards of Richmond. Sanford Station on the southern end of the route would most likely be the southern end of the route, with the northern part of the route extending to at least Jacksonville, FL. Which is Appx 125 track miles. And can include the CSX yards located there as well.
So TIL that the Workshop route CSX RF&P Subdivision covers the Lorton Station south towards Richmond, so that would cover the Lorton part of the proposal: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=501249075&searchtext=
I say do the whole entire thing. I know it would be a huge undertaking, probably impossible for the whole 18 hour trek. But I would pay over a 100 for that kinda ultimate route for TSW.