Capitol Limited & Lake Shore Limited Delays Summer/Fall 2014

[jis]

That they will. You will get a voucher for possibly a hundred dollars or two. This is how you convert AGR points back into spendable cash, spendable of course only on Amtrak tickets.

I was bustituted once between Albany and Buffalo on LSL around a huge CSX cockup which later came out to be a collision between two freight trains. I did get a satisfactory voucher for that inconvenience.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

If I do get bused, I'll have to start thinking of things to do in Chicago to kill time. :help:

I had put that on the back burner because I figured I wouldn't have time to do anything. And actually, that idea doesn't bother me because I won't have to worry about getting back to the station in time.

Que Sera, Sera...

 

[Bob Dylan]

According to the Status Maps #29 made it into CHI today @ 1242pm, 3+ Hours Late but made the Western Connections!

#49 us still shown between SOB and CHI?????? The Drama continues!!

Looking forward to Amtrak's Announcement of the Plan to rectify this Mess!!! Isn't Joe Boardman in Illinois and Indiana on a Junket, er PR trip????

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Jim, 49 was right behind 29 and should be there now. It's easier to follow this drama using Amtrak's Track-a-Train.

But if they bused the connecting passengers from Toledo, then they are probably not happy that the trains made the connections, especially if they had rooms.

Personally, for that "short" trip, I'd be more happy knowing I'm in Chicago to catch my connecting train then sitting in a room(ette) worrying about making the connection.

Also, it helped that both 29 and 49 made it to OH in good time (less than an hour down).

 

[Barciur]

So we can expect 30 to depart closer to actual time today than in days past since it didn't cross the magical 4 hour late line?

 

[tommylicious]

what's involved in "turning around" 29 to become 30?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

what's involved in "turning around" 29 to become 30?

Cleaning, restocking, any maintenance that might be needed, etc. And a rested crew.

 

[afigg]

So we can expect 30 to depart closer to actual time today than in days past since it didn't cross the magical 4 hour late line?

One would hope. However, the CZ #6 (9/28) is currently over 4 hours late which could hold up a #30 departure a bit. The EB #8 is having a "good" day at 2:41 late departing Columbus, WI. The glitch is SWC #4, currently 9 hours late. But at that late, they won't hold #30 for it. LSL #48 might get held for a very late SWC.
The bad news is just how late the current eastbound LSL #48 (7+ hours at BUF) and CL #30 (>7 hours at COV) are.

I wonder how much Amtrak has spent on buses, hotels, rebates, and extra crew hours over the 3 months?

 

[montana mike]

As our local stationmaster said, somewhat in jest, several weeks ago, when we were talking about all of the summer SNAFUs: It seems sometimes like taking the train from point A to Point B, on schedule is a rarity these days (this just after the Empire Builders had a string of 8-12 hour delayed arrivals)!!

 

[richm49]

When these trains run into huge delays as they currently are and the delays run 6-7+ hours or more does Amtrak provide additional meal service?If your train was due in at 8:45 A.M. and got in at 4 P.M. do they serve you lunch in the dining car? Or dinner if it runs that late? Or do you just sit there not only late but hungry too? Anybody know?

 

[montana mike]

I can only speak from experience on very late Empire Builders. They do make an effort to serve the passengers a meal when a train is very late (for example arriving at 10 PM at night instead of 4 PM). It may not be fancy, but is usually something decent.

 

[tommylicious]

You mean the irradiated WWII surplus stew?

 

[neroden]

I wonder how much Amtrak has spent on buses, hotels, rebates, and extra crew hours over the 3 months?

I don't know, but honestly Norfolk Southern ought to be reimbursing Amtrak for the sum total. Probably isn't.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

You mean the irradiated WWII surplus stew?

The Dinty Moore Beef Stew is actually pretty good, provided you do a little doctoring to what flops out of the can. When an extra Supper was forthcoming on a late Meteor last Summer I told the LSA if we were getting Stew to hold at the next station stop so I could get some Onions, Peppers, Hot Sauce and Ale and put some legs under the stuff.

 

[montana mike]

Arrrgh. The LSL is still sitting in CHI, not expected to leave until around midnight. So they will start their journey already 2 1/2 hours late! I wonder why the delay? The inbound LSL wasn't that terribly late. Oh, well. Never a dull moment here.

 

[neroden]

Connections from the west, maybe? :-( SWC is apparently very, very late today.

 

[montana mike]

Wow, #48 let CHI about 2 hours late, BUT, then proceeded to drop another 4 hours in the short distance between CHI and SOB and is now well over 6 hours late-second day in a row heading east-what a mess. Good Grief!!! Terrible.

:-(

 

[jis]

It seems that neither CSX nor NS have a clue on what it takes to operate the Water Level Route reasonably. Apparently they both bit off more than they can chew in acquiring significant parts of Conrail.

 

[montana mike]

Shall we assume that the mega delays in this stretch of track is basically just too much traffic trying to squeeze thru the area and nothing more? This AM's 4 hour crunch was even worse than two days ago, when it took 29 and 49 3 hours to transit the same area. Bummer. It was bad enough to start 2 hours late from CHI, but then to get hit with another 4 hours of delays just after departing must have been disheartening to all on board. I guess they will arrive in NYP verrrry late and the turn around there may get delayed, further compounding the problem. A never-ending frustration to be sure.

 

[afigg]

Connections from the west, maybe? :-( SWC is apparently very, very late today.

No, LSL #48(9/30) left CHI at 11:23 (1:53 late) and SWC #4(9/28) arrived at CHI at 1:03 AM CT. #48 may have been held for crew rest or equipment servicing. Whatever is going on, the most serious delays have shifted to between west of South Bend and Hammond, IN (from random checks of the Amtrak tracker), although Elkhart to South Bend is also prone to delays eastbound in the morning.

CL #30(9/30) left CHI 51 minutes, then SOB 3 hours and 11 minutes late, then did ok with no additional delays, getting to PGH 3 hours late. It was stopped in PGH for over an hour (?), but could get to WAS in time for an early dinner. With #48(9/30) over 6 hours late at TOL and CSX's upper state NY ahead of it, it is facing another AM arrival at NYP.

There is a long thread in a forum at Trains Magazine website on the NS meltdown with posts from someone monitoring the radio that indicate that track work projects in Indiana are a major factor in the delays between SOB and CHI. Along with a lot of freight traffic as we know.

 

[neroden]

So the delays have moved from west-of-Toledo to west-of-South-Bend. If the delays extend as far west as Hammond, then a Michigan reroute won't help. :-(

But the delays seem to be largely due to trackwork. So maybe there's hope for October. The commissioning of Englewood Flyover *should* create a more fluid railroad...

It was stopped in PGH for over an hour (?),

NS/CSX handoff, probably. If the "receiving railroad" is having congestion, there's often extra delays right at the handoff point; we've seen this happen at Cleveland with the LSL as well.

 

[montana mike]

There is a long thread in a forum at Trains Magazine website on the NS meltdown with posts from someone monitoring the radio that indicate that track work projects in Indiana are a major factor in the delays between SOB and CHI. Along with a lot of freight traffic as we know.


Looking at the NS web site it would appear that their construction efforts will continue thru much of October.....

 

[jis]

And today we are seeing that sort of delay in handoff from NS to NS in Toledo too.

The question that comes to my mind is ... why would not Amtrak warn its customers about potential delays of several hours due to track work on specific routes about which they know that to be a fact? Perhaps it really is time to take up the issue of a passenger bill of rights for the rail passengers, along the lines of what has been done for airline passengers. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander.

 

[tommylicious]

2-3.5 hours i can live with on a LD. but 5-10++ along with surplus WWII gruel rations and 1950s cold war surplus civil defense chemical toilets...not so much. they should stock for a complete other meal service.

 

[montana mike]

Amazing. From CHI to TOL it took poor #48 over 8 hours--Ouch! I see both #29 and #49 are again stopped east of SOB waiting, and waiting. Hopefully they will only lose perhaps another hour or so and arrive only 3+ hours late today.

It will be interesting to see if things improve after NS completes the track work at the end of October a planned.