North Carolina's Piedmont: Amtrak's Most UNIQUE Service
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- Hello and welcome to Greensboro’s J. Douglas Galyon Depot! Today we are going to be riding east with North Carolina’s Piedmont Service, Amtrak’s most unique intercity rail service.
Trip Information
Train Number: Amtrak Piedmont 74
Locomotives: EMD F59PHI 1755 "City of Salisbury" (Leading) and EMD F59PH "Town of Cary" (Trailing)
Consist: 5 North Carolina Coaches (4 Coach, 1 Lounge/Baggage)
Departure Time: 12:03pm
Arrival Time: 1:41pm
Journey Time: 1 hr 38 min
Ticket Price: $11.00
Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed!
Note: I realized too late that the audio in the overlaid clip at 10:17 is not properly balanced. I apologize for missing this.
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Arthur Sievers
Stephen Keever
Sam Jennings
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- Chapters -
0:00 Hello and Welcome to Greensboro's J. Douglas Galyon Depot!
0:23 A Little History of the Depot
1:04 An Absolutely Gorgeous Station
1:36 Southern Railway History Around the Station
3:00 Picking Up Our Ticket
3:30 Heading Out to Platform 2
3:48 Westbound Train 75 Arrives
5:08 Southern's Disused Rail Yard
5:24 Our Train Pulls into Greensboro
6:02 Departing Greensboro and Picking Up Speed Immediately!
6:34 Our Route Over to Raleigh
7:17 Seating on the Piedmont
9:12 The Slightly Different Interiors
10:22 Why Are The Coaches so Loud?!
10:53 Wifi On Board
11:13 Burlington, NC
11:42 Exploring Our Train
12:30 The Piedmont's Lounge/Cafe Car
14:09 Stats for Nerds!
15:27 There are TWO Types of Coaches?
17:10 Bathrooms on the Piedmont
17:57 The INCREDIBLE History Behind These Coaches!
19:51 Arrival in Raleigh
20:16 A Look At Our F59PHI
21:06 Heading Inside Raleigh Union Station
21:25 Next Week: Metra's Electric Corridor!
21:37 Subscribe! And A HUGE Thank You to My Patrons and Members!
22:06 Thanks for Watching!
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#Amtrak #Piedmont #TripReport
The state developed the Piedmont as a regional follow-on to the Carolinian, which had entered service in early 1990. With the growing popularity of the Carolinian, state officials sought to add a second daily round-trip between Charlotte and Raleigh. However, Amtrak initially balked, claiming that it didn't have enough rolling stock to spare. Undaunted, the NCDOT said "Bet" and bought five used coaches and leased two locomotives. They hoped to start service in 1992, but there were delays thanks to Norfolk Southern (surprise surprise) because they wanted the NCDOT to build a wye in Charlotte for turning the trains around. It finally began operating in May 1995.
Thank you Kim Jong Un :)
And it's been so popular that in 2023 Amtrak and the NC DOT announced they were expanding the service to 4 round trips per day!
Another neat fact about the Piedmont is that each coach is named after either a NC state landmark or state symbol. As you've noted at 15:29, one of them is named Granite, after the State Rock! Your coach Dogwood is the State Flower, Gray Squirrel at 5:48 for the State Mammal, Currituck Sound at 4:11 is a lagoon in the northeastern region, Bogue Sound is a lagoon that's part of NC's Crystal Coast, Plott Hound at 18:17 for the State Dog, to name a few! So it's not just history as in the ages of the coaches, but also state history!
Although born in NY, both my parents are from NJ and my dad has taken me to all the NJ diners he went to during his childhood. So because I love the diner vibe so much, I'm glad that the Piedmont went this approach!
And engine are names of city with stations on the route. Tne engine numbers are the date the city was incorporated. The City of Greensboro has engine number 1810 and Greensboro was incorporated in 1810 as one example.
I wish you would have shown the former "Colored" waiting room since all of Southern Railway's stations and trains were racially segregated when I rode the "Royal Palm" in the 1950's.
I wasn't sure where to look to find it, or if it was still labeled at all. Seems like the kind of history that people would unfortunately want swept under the rug.
I’m from Greensboro. Facing the front the colored entrance was on the right. I rode many trains from Greensboro to DC. Only on the Southerner were the colored half of the cars were air conditioned and stainless steel. That train was extra fare only stopped in large cities. In segregation days I don’t know of regular Black people riding the Crescent. It was All Pullman in the fifties. Black celebrities that traveled in the South always rented entire section pullmans for their bands. When segregation ended in the late fifties it was not respected on some railroads and conductors were lords of the land. DC was paradise cause you could sit anywhere once you got on the B&O or the Pennsylvania. I was fortunate that my Grandfather had worked on the railroad during world war 1 in France and was traveled and learned and he would take me on train trips. I still remember the smell of steam trains on the N&W in Winston Salem. Yes Every Station in NC had colored waiting rooms and it was a state law as it was in every state in the South. Interesting note. At one time Greensboro had trains to DC,East to Goldsboro,southeast to Charlotte and Atlanta.
South to Sanford,west to Mt Airy and west to Winston Salem and later to Asheville. A lot of trains. I was sad when Southern changed from Green to Black.
@@jamesyourse6611Thanks for your personal and detailed history of segregated rail travel in the south.
Oh hell no…can’t have that because it will reflect on history and there are snowflakes that will cry about it and want it torn down and removed like everything else in the last 5 years …🤔
@@LonestarTrips It's currently being used as the Express DMV location you may have seen signs for at the depot
I took this train to and from college. A few years ago there were only three daily trips and three carriages per train... Seeing five daily trips and 5-6 car consists is a good indicator that this service is growing
2022 was a record year for ridership and 2023 is on pace to beat 2022 and we have another round trip starting July 2023 for 5 round trips -Charlotte-Greensboro-Raleigh.
I'm so glad you reviewed our State's train! I love the Piedmont and I'm glad you caught on to its uniqueness.
The Piedmont is an awesome service, so I just had to review it. I'm really glad I did too because it's so different from the normal Amtrak services.
Remember seeing 2 of these trains in Greensboro, while on the Greyhound bus, headed down to my training for Norfolk Southern in Georgia 2 years back.
Raleigh really nailed it with the new Union Station and the rapidly developing warehouse district that's its home.
I couldn’t agree more. The new union station is amazing, although I wish it connected with local transit a little easier. Regardless, seeing the warehouse district thrive around it is a clear indication that more facilities like this are needed throughout the US. Hopefully Charlotte’s new station will be just as good, if not better than Raleigh’s!
@@LonestarTrips That is actually happening. The Raleigh Union Station Bus Station project (RUSBUS) just broke ground next door last month. It's basically an extension of the the train station but will have bus ports for the new Bus Rapid Transit system that is under construction at the moment.
The locomotive numbers correspond with the year of incorporation of the cities they are named after.
Oh that's super cool, I did not know that!
I used this station a lot back in college to commute between UNC Charlotte and Greensboro (home); this video brings back memories
I live fairly close to a train line and I get to see these trains often. thank you for covering this standout train
2:53 the barber shop is interesting to me! When I was in italy about a month ago, I actually saw a barber shop within the platforms at Roma Termini (rome’s main train station) and I wondered why they had it. It’s interesting to see another barber shop at a train station on here.
It would be interesting to know more about how these 1960s cars were not only refurbished for safe service, but HEP was installed, along with 120V power at all outlets and modern overhead lighting. They are essentially Heritage Fleet cars, still operating 60 years after construction. The noise level reminds me of a ride on a Horizon Car, which are also c. 1970 designs, although built around 1990.
Always wanted to see a trip review of the Piedmont, it's such a unique train!
It is
It's a super unique train and it serves as a vital piece of infrastructure throughout North Carolina.
We took this train a year and a half ago as part of a long trip. The train was excellent, though not as comfortable as a normal Amtrak train except for some of the NE Corridor trains. The station in Greensboro was very interesting.
This isn't relevant to my post, but I talked quite awhile with an elderly gentleman who fought with Fidel Castro's forces, got disillusioned with the Communist activities, made it to Florida, and had a highly successful career with Disney.
Recently moved away from Raleigh where I lived and worked for the past twenty years. Great seeing all the route highlights.
Got wistful seeing you on the platform knowing exactly how to walk back to my old house from there.
Couldn’t tell from one of the last shots but were escalators now installed from the platform down into the tunnel? They had them covered up awaiting installation ever since the station opened.
Always happy to bring a little nostalgia back to local folks! There are escalators to/from the platforms in Raleigh. I say to/from because there's only one set, and they switch its direction depending on if a train is arriving or departing.
I live in Burlington and can take the Piedmont (currently $11 each way) to Raleigh for lunch, shopping, museums, etc. My car is parked safely at no charge, so I have no Raleigh traffic to deal with nor downtown parking fees.
Edit: We have a beautiful station that is a renovated company shops where locomotives were once serviced.
Truly outstanding. Thanks.
I'm so glad you enjoyed.
Now I know what I wanted to know about those trains! Thanx! I watch numerous train sites including Roman's Milwaukee Roads which covers Wisconsin and Southern railroad line. It's nice to hop around the country from my home.
This is my line!😊
And it's a great one!
Glad to see high platform at Raleigh✌😃
It's one of a number of improvements that came with the new station. Hopefully Greensboro is next for the high platform treatment.
@@LonestarTrips It makes stops a bit quicker but I am not sure how they add height without tearing it all down. It can be done but with elevators and escalators it would not be easy and therefore not cheap. Raleigh had to have work redone on it before being put in use due to the slope not being within code if I remember correctly. That should have been done in 2005 when the station was moved from the Greensboro freight yard.
I really like how you show the depots/stations.
The stations are such a key part of the travel experience that it just doesn’t make sense not to.
When I lived in Greensboro for about 7 years, I'd take the Crescent to D.C. frequently to visit friends in the area, and to hop on the Capitol to head back to my home of origin (I love those Superliners!). I'd also take the Piedmont regularly to Durham/Raleigh, Charlotte, Salisbury, and the special stop for the NC State Fair. I love the unique livery, the old Pullman rebuilds, and the individual names for each engine and each passenger carriage (like City of Greensboro, and Sweet Potato).
Greensboro's station is beautiful, and the entire central and southside of downtown is built around the railroad depot. The original depot is still there, located a little to the west of the current one, downtown itself. It's currently undergoing renovations for future development.
A side note--if you haven't, catch the Piedmont from Greensboro down to Salisbury. As a place to visit, Salisbury is a lot of fun. Great place to walk around, shop, tour historic places, eat, etc. But the train station there is a gorgeous example of Italianate revival, and its worth going just for that!
Leave it to Lone Star Trip Reports to find the important difference between the 2 types of coach cars!
That's my job! Well, my job is to make informative and entertaining videos, but finding those differences is part of it.
NCDOT bought the circus train cars, not Amtrak.
Ringling Bros circus heavily modified those cars, possibly making them difficult or impractical to rebuild for ordinary passenger service. NCDOT may get some of the new Siemens rolling stock to replace its classic heritage rolling stock.
The streamlined F59 units may have been first built for a cruise train, the Marlboro Unlimited, which never entered service. The boxy looking F59s were originally built for Toronto GO Transit commuter rail. NCDOT also bought units from Toronto to rebuild into cab control units for push pull operations.
I refer you to the note I added at the beginning of the history section wherein I stated I would be referring to NCDOT and Amtrak as the collective "Amtrak" entity.
This trip is gonna be awesome
It's a good one for sure!
Yup
On the loudness of the cars it is in all cars i rode back in 2013 and they were so loud that i asked the conductor how fast we were traveling and he said as they were as loud at 79 as amfleets at 100+
You missed something really important when you stopped in Burlington. The current Burlington train station used to be an old locomotive shop built back in the 1800’s for the NC Railroad, a predecessor to the Southern Railroad. In fact Burlington used to be called Company Shops in its early days because that’s where the railroad’s shops were. This explains the brick archways on both ends of the building - this is how the locomotives got in & out. The historic depot was moved to its location away from the tracks so Webb Avenue could be widened.
I read up on it, but it didn’t really fit into the video, plus I really didn’t have the footage to support it. I’ll likely mention something about it in my video(s) on the Carolinian in the future.
Great video you should review the Amtrak Maple Leaf next.
You can tell an Amtrak couch with the Amfleet-style seating.
ahh yess you included Cheel - Sunset Dream, the absolute champion of free-use music
Heck yeah! 😎
If you ever have a chance to stop in Burlington, they have a little museum dedicated to the history of the NC Railroad inside the station. Very worth checking it out.
Burlington was called Company Shops and was the maintenance facility for the NCRR. The diarama is very good in the station. I wish every station had a bit of history. Raleigh has a small display case at the bottom entrance. Greensboro is called the Gate City as in Gateway for Transportation. They should have a display in either the main hall or one of the side halls. A few blocks from the station is a nice history museum.
Also, Muh-CLAYNS-ville, and SAULS-ber-ry, but you can't be blamed if you're not from the region. I live near Lake James, in the WNC foothills, and 25 years ago living in Central NC (Durham), pronunciations like CALL-fax (Colfax) and CAR Drug (Kerr Drug store) seemed odd to me. Terrific video; I love the Piedmont, have traveled on it many times between Cary/Durham and Salisbury, and always recommend it over the Carolinian because of the unique equipment!
Haha I'm a Texan in a foreign land, so I was guaranteed to get something wrong from the start. 🤣 Glad you enjoyed the video!
@@LonestarTrips I live in the Greensboro part of McLeansville, I will give you a pass since you have been so wonderful in spotlighting the Greensboro station. Good job on this video.
The tunnel was really cool.
I toured the station at the beginning of the rebuild of the station. The tunnel had been filled in with dirt and it was not a guarantee the tunnel would been reopened, though I am not sure what would have been done to get to the platform from the station. So glad it was done right, as it does give the station a bigger feel due to the double platforms and tunnel.
North Carolina figured it would save money by replacing cafe attendants with vending machines but the result is a cold car with no soul. The machines on the "Piedmont" took passengers' money when they were first installed...igniting near riots because there was no one available to refund them. Thalys is regrettably installing vending machines and adding more coach seats in the former lounge area.
During the dying days of passenger rail in the U. S. in the 60's Southern Pacific cut dining car service and installed vending machines which pissed a lot off a lot of rail advocates - like me - and passengers who wanted something more than tired prepackaged food. I am overjoyed North Carolina is funding intercity trains but these oversized diesels and heritage cars look so dated after riding fast and sleek European trains.
The old freight yard in Greensboro is the A&Y Yard. Then A&Y was controlled by the Southern Railroad and ran north-south at Greensboro. This yard is used in the summer months for storing employee dorm cars that are working on maintenance of way. A few other MOW cars can be found here as well when a maintenance blitz is happening. Not a bad place to stay the night as it is within walking distance to downtown food and soon there should be a grocery store a few blocks away. The current freight yard is a few miles west of the current Amtrak station and was the location of Greensboro Amtrak from 1979 to the reopening of the current station in 2005.
I am a bit biased as this is my home station but Greensboro is the nicest station in North Carolina. High Point is nice but small and not staffed by Amtrak employees. Charlotte was one of the last stations built pre-Amtrak as it was built in 1962 and it looks the part. Durham and Raleigh are modern redevelopments of older buildings which are very nice but Greensboro has the elegant look of train travel in its heyday and it is the only city with all the other transportation connections (except air) which is very convenient. A short walk upstairs and regional bus, city bus, intercity bus is available. Also a model train club sits in between all of the bus. It may be the only station south of Richmond-Staples Mill that has a convenience store at the station, which is a nice addition for pre-ride food, though it is not open for every train arrival/departure.
This is actually the 3rd station to serve Raleigh. The Southern Railway station since replaced by Raleigh Union and the Seaboard Station just north of Raleigh Union unironically where the Piedmont is stored a long with a CSX yard.
It's the 4th that I'm aware of. Before and even a few years after WWII, the station was at the NW corner of Dawson & Martin Sts., only a couple of short blocks from the current Union Station. Trains had to back in. The old station building is still there, but has been extensively remodeled.
i rode on this train a few years ago.coaches were nice,but other than that,just your typical train
*Most* unique, eh? That's pretty unique!
Reminds me of Pennsylvania's Keystone service
The smoke is probably oil leaking somewhere burning off, we get it sometimes on british dmus
13:00 I heard rumored for when the Siemens Venture cars eventually make its way to the California routes that they’ll be eliminating the cafe cars for vending machines like this on as of I know currently The Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin
The old days both great and terrible. You could get a shave, hair cut, shoe shine and see discriminatory treatment all well waiting for the train.
Yup, certainly different times.
Love your vids, not sure if it’s just me but I get an ad about every 90 seconds watching your videos 😅
I pay for CZcams so no ads. It's really worth if you watch CZcams a lot.
@@montyb10009 I might, just not use to a creator who runs the max possible ads
@@thezombieslayer12100 I ran into that previously and I became frustrated and decided to pay. So much more enjoyable this way.
Please remember-the person you keep calling "The Driver" is called "The Engineer" in the US. They are called "The Driver" if you're in the UK. 🙂
thousandth like
I see you got a train with two locomotives instead of one with a locomotive and CCU. This is definitely a nice train, although rumor has it that they’re planning to replace the cars and locomotives in the future.
Adding a fourth service this summer, new equipment eventually but TBD. Likely it'll be Siemens, partly because of their new NC plant.
NC may have for a brief time the oldest and youngest cars in passenger revenue service at once.
I had the chance to ride the Piedmont from Raleigh to Salisbury and I was not impressed with the car that I was in. I am partially handicapped and the isle between the seats was too narrow to use my walker so I was forced to leave it at the end of the car and try to hold on to the seats getting to my seat. As far as the fold down seat tray, When I let mine down, I immediately put it back up before I got sick. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. I normally ride regular Amtrak and I have never had this type of experience with them.
4:00 train time!
👍
There wasn't exactly a large F59phi fleet to begin with on amtrak routes. 2/3 routes in california still use them along with Piedmont, thats 4/6 services left.
I swear, i be watching these like a movie
Great video as always!
Thanks man, really glad you enjoyed it!
I have quite a bit of business in downtown Raleigh and take the train at least once a month; station is downtown near the convention center. Gets there in about the same time as driving, but a heck of a lot more relaxing, and I can have a beer on the way back! Sweet...
I worked in the lounge car of that train over 20 years ago. The lounge car didn’t have vending machines back then. Instead hot food was offered for breakfast and dinner. I enjoyed that job.
Have you ever been out to San Diego California to ride the Amtrak Pacific surf liner from San Diego Santa Fe Depot to Los Angeles Union Station?
I have! I made videos on the Surfliner and Coaster a while back.
Is it on your CZcams channel? I will take a look.
@@chrisbarr6260 Yep! They should be in the “California” playlist.
OK, thank you when you get a second take a look at my channel I do a lot of San Diego metropolitan transit system, light rail. I also do get Amtrak Pacific surf liner, and coaster trains occasionally to.
Curious…
Did the Piedmont continue onto Rocky Mount, NC years ago?
Hello
Howdy!
Why can't we get this in Texas. ☹️
It's too bad that this train isn't a high-speed one.
Hi there Lonestar, I am wondering, did you find the fabric seats aboard the Piedmont North Carolina coaches more comfortable than the leather or PVC style seats as found on Amtrack's Amfleet and Horizon coaches?
Best wishes and tale care. Kind regards, Peter Skuce, St Albans. Hertfordshire. England.
I personally prefer the faux leather seats of the new interiors, as they give everything a more premium feel, however it can stick to bare skin, so the fabric seats can be advantageous in warmer weather.
Hello there. Leaving a comment here because I have a business inquiry for you. Let me know how I can share more details with you. Thanks!
Hi there! If you go to my instagram, you can DM me the details there.
@@LonestarTrips Thank you. Just DM the details.
@@sukichen3918 Great. I’ll take a look.
Us Americans call the driver of the train ....locomotive engineer.
Great video, but it's pronounced Gibson Ville.
Whoops, good catch!
@@LonestarTrips No worries! I'm a native North Carolinian.
I believe Amtrak California's San Joaquin service still runs a few of those dinosaur F59s. Old, slow, and worn out, I myself had to often times stand up and clear blended brake faults while making a station stop in one of those. If you're going to overshoot a platform, chances are, it will be with a 59. Still, they're old-school locomotives and allow you to do things with them that the new Chargers won't.
Isn't NCDOT planning to update those train set to Siemens Venture sets?🧐
Not at the moment
Enjoyed the trip! I live in Cary and have done the full length from Raleigh to Charlotte several times.
One note: you’ve hit upon one of my pet peeves. “Unique” never takes a qualifier. Things are either unique or they are not. “Very unique” or “most unique” is improper usage. I presume the word you are looking for is “distinct.” Apologies for grammar lesson, but the specific wording grates on the ear.
3 minutes for 0 to 79mph isn't really fast though! That less than 0,2m/s^2 - so quite sluggish. Electric regional trains and Metros accelerate at around 1m/s^2 and at least 0,5m/s^2 in the 50 to 80mph range. So we'd be looking at less than one minute in almost every circumstance. Shows how even two Diesels aren't really that impressive compared to EMU's in acceleration.
Nice video though
It's more a commentary on track speeds and a jab at the US's terrible rail infrastructure, and less a note about full tractive effort or acceleration.
Imagine how useless u have to be to call a ticket a “travel document”…
Damn that’s crazy…
what he doesnt tell you is that the coaches were originally built in the 50s.
Yes I do?
Full route much better.
I was tempted to take the full route, but Charlotte's current Amtrak station is quite awful. Once the new one is opened, I'll likely revisit it.
@@LonestarTrips That's a fair point, but even so the current station still has history to it. :)
@@Mrdoomdestroyer12 Very true.
The train isn't cheaper than driving.
Depending on your car's MPG and cost of fuel, it is. And if you factor in maintenance and depreciation costs, driving definitely becomes more expensive.
@@LonestarTrips and monthly insurance costs too. People factor none of that stuff into car pricing
@@theonlyraid8372you are paying registration, maintenance, and insurance costs even if you keep your car in the garage all year. Nobody counts those, there are just sunk costs. The marginal cost of taking a car trip - fuel, tolls, and a small amount of wear and tear - are far lower than anything on Amtrak.
@@LonestarTripsnot even remotely. Even more so if you load your car up with four or five people. MPG doesn't vary a huge amount due to additional passengers. The train would charge the same extra fare for additional passengers.
You would think that services like this would switch to a diesel multiple unit train like en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V/Line_VLocity
It’s NOT Amtrak’s, It is NC DOT’s equipment!
I know, which is why I said I would be referring to NCDOT and Amtrak as the collective "Amtrak" entity when discussing their rolling stock.