Atlantic City's trains roll - restoration of train service from East Coast cities

Railway Age, July, 1989 by Robert G. Lewis

Atlantic City's trains roll

One weekend in August, 1904, 70,000 passengers rode on the trains of two competing railroads between Philadelphia/Camden and Atlantic City. It took 98 trains (758 cars) to handle the two-day traffic on what had become America's "speedway." A month earlier a train on the Atlantic City Railroad had made the 55-mile run from Camden to Atlantic City in 43 minutes, averaging 77 mph and reportedly attaining a speed of 115 mph on the tangent just south of Egg Harbor, N.J. (In June two years later the same run was made in just 41 minutes with a special train carrying railroaders to the Master Mechanics Association convention, predecessor of today's Railway Supply Association shows.)

On May 23 this year Amtrak inaugurated regular scheduled service between Philadelphia and Atlantic City, restoring an operation that, after 128 years, had ceased in 1982. A total of 12 trains weekdays and extra runs weekends includes through services daily from both New York and Washington and four Philadelphia-Atlantic City round trips.

All trains are push-pull, in the push mode eastbound with an F-40-PH diesel, Amfleet coaches, a dinette and club car, and a cab-control car rebuilt from the original Penn Central MU Metroliners. Maximum speed over the new line, rebuilt from FRA Class 1 to Class 5 track standards, is 79 mph, except for a 10-mile stretch at the east end of the line, without crossings, where 90 mph is tops.

The track has been completely rebuilt from the New Jersey connection at the east end of Conrail's Delaware River bridge to the new Atlantic City station, a distance of 58 miles. The Conrail connection across the bridge to Amtrak's Corridor line at Frankfort Junction is 2.3 miles. Rail is 132 pounds, welded, on wood ties. There are six long intermediate passing tracks (one is 1.5 miles). Signaling is ctc, controlled from Philadelphia. Locomotives and cab cars are equipped with automatic train control.

The ctc and long sidings will be much needed later, as New Jersey Transit, which participated in financing reconstruction of the line, plans to start commuter operations with 11 trains daily in each direction between Atlantic City and Lindenwold, N.J., connecting there with PATCO's high speed line to Philadelphia. Such service could begin as early as this September or as late as the summer of 1991, depending on when funding can be arranged. The NJ Transit trains will serve local communities and will be scheduled to favor hours of casino workers. Amtrak trains stop intermediately only at Lindenwold, and schedules favor casino visitors.

Local freight service is provided several days a week by the Shore Fast Line.

Diesels are used on the Washington-Atlantic City train to avoid an engine change at Philadelphia. The New York train changes from its AEM-7 electric locomotive to diesel at Frankfort Junction.

Under the law, amtrak has two years to make the service cover its cost. That would require around 3,800 riders a day. By early June, the trains were carrying around 2,000 passengers daily. Atlantic City's casinos continued to offer incentives to visitors arriving by auto or bus--free rolls of quarters, free parking, meal and gas vouchers--but showed no disposition to offer similar incentives to Amtrak riders, who had the added disadvantage of having to pay $5 (round trip) for a bus between the train station and the casinos. Amtrak said it was looking at new ways to promote the service and hoped that arrangements more favorable to its riders could be worked out with one or more casinos.