Capitol Limited & Lake Shore Limited Delays Summer/Fall 2014

[neroden]

I wonder - is AMTRAK giving out any vouchers to the insane amount of people that are stuck and brought to WAS or other places very late? It seems like it would cost a lot of money to do that.

Amtrak's 'customer inconvenience' costs are way up this year, it's showing up in the operating numbers.

 

[Barciur]

FWIW, looks like the Pennsy had engine issues - it arrived in Lancaster 2.5 hours late with two engines at the head - so I assume one was defective. Both GE Genesis, #50 and #46.

 

[MikeM]

This morning (September 9th) I was sitting at a crossing west of Toledo when the Capitol Ltd came blazing by with three engines (the Amtrak Pointless Arrow unit was in the middle) at 8:05am. Definitely not good time vs. the timetable, but for passengers it's kind of nice to see the countryside in daylight hours. Hopefully everyone will eventually get their timekeeping act together, but for now it's an opportunity to watch the train and still get a full night's sleep. :giggle:

 

[KVG_DC]

I'm hoping this is settled by Thanksgiving/Christmas time when I need to ride again.

 

[tommylicious]

Nearly 5 hours late #30 due to arrive today. Terrible!

 

[richm49]

I know that this topic is like beating a dead horse but it seems like it just keeps getting worse with no end to the delays in sight. In particular, both 29/CL westbound to CHI and 30/CL eastbound to WAS appear to have gotten worse recently. According to data from Amtrak train status history the 29/CL averaged 152 minutes late for last 28 days but has now averaged 206 minutes for last 14 days. And the 30/CL was at 236 minutes late for last 28 days but is now averaging a whopping 296 minutes late for last 14 days. Plus, in those last 14 days 30/CL had 3 huge delays of 443,526 and 742 minutes! It appears from everything I have read that these delays are beyond Amtrak's control due to freight traffic congestion but something has to change here sooner or later. You just can't keep getting people to their destinations almost 5 hours late on average. Maybe the answer is to just add 5 hours padding to these schedules and then the trains would be listed as on time….lol!!!!

 

[MikefromCrete]

Aren't a lot of these delays due to construction projects, including the Indiana Gateway project that is designed to trim delays on the Chicago-Porter part of the route? I would imagine work on these projects will stop as winter weather approaches.

 

[jis]

Aren't a lot of these delays due to construction projects, including the Indiana Gateway project that is designed to trim delays on the Chicago-Porter part of the route? I would imagine work on these projects will stop as winter weather approaches.

None of them are due to Indian Gateway yet. Those project related delays are yet to come. The current delays are due to extensive single tracking by NS to reconstruct tracks between Cleveland and Porter. And yes, as the construction season winds down these construction related delays should go down considerably.

 

[tommylicious]

Jis any idea when that construction is due to wind down?

 

[richm49]

Aren't a lot of these delays due to construction projects, including the Indiana Gateway project that is designed to trim delays on the Chicago-Porter part of the route? I would imagine work on these projects will stop as winter weather approaches.

None of them are due to Indian Gateway yet. Those project related delays are yet to come. The current delays are due to extensive single tracking by NS to reconstruct tracks between Cleveland and Porter. And yes, as the construction season winds down these construction related delays should go down considerably.

I believe that the Amtrak trains 29/30 and 48/49 run on a stretch of single tracking line that extends for some 18 miles in that area. Sharing that single tracking line with all the freight traffic as well creates a bottleneck that is probably the leading cause for these monumental delays.

 

[neroden]

Aren't a lot of these delays due to construction projects, including the Indiana Gateway project that is designed to trim delays on the Chicago-Porter part of the route? I would imagine work on these projects will stop as winter weather approaches.

None of them are due to Indian Gateway yet. Those project related delays are yet to come.

I was fairly sure Indiana Gateway had actually started construction (sometime in June or July IIRC). I'm not sure you'd be able to tell it apart from routine maintenance without being an expert, especially the early stages of work (track realignment, signal rewiring) before the new crossovers get put in.

 

[jacorbett70]

I started following this recently since I am rolling the dice on 49 (10) to 21 (11) and the first train already slipped from on time to 1:51 late due to the issue between Schenectady and Utica and is estimated 2hrs 4min late at Syracuse. At the time of booking I was not thinking much about westbound misses and now might have my first long distance miss at CHI.

I did not plan anything nonrefundable for the first of two days in DAL so if I miss the CHI connection and go 24 hours later I would skip DART riding and come back to DAL for that next year. Amsnag shows at least one room available on 21 (12).

 

[neroden]

I tend to travel in winter for other reasons anyway (it's cheaper, and it gets us out of the snowdrifts). But if this sort of trackwork disruption is going to happen every year, it may have an additional advantage.

 

[jis]

Aren't a lot of these delays due to construction projects, including the Indiana Gateway project that is designed to trim delays on the Chicago-Porter part of the route? I would imagine work on these projects will stop as winter weather approaches.

None of them are due to Indian Gateway yet. Those project related delays are yet to come.

I was fairly sure Indiana Gateway had actually started construction (sometime in June or July IIRC). I'm not sure you'd be able to tell it apart from routine maintenance without being an expert, especially the early stages of work (track realignment, signal rewiring) before the new crossovers get put in.

The point is that the typical delays on that segment today are no more than what it has always been. The extra delays are mostly being taken between Porter and Cleveland.

 

[Railroad Bill]

I started following this recently since I am rolling the dice on 49 (10) to 21 (11) and the first train already slipped from on time to 1:51 late due to the issue between Schenectady and Utica and is estimated 2hrs 4min late at Syracuse. At the time of booking I was not thinking much about westbound misses and now might have my first long distance miss at CHI.

I did not plan anything nonrefundable for the first of two days in DAL so if I miss the CHI connection and go 24 hours later I would skip DART riding and come back to DAL for that next year. Amsnag shows at least one room available on 21 (12).

John, I see your 49 is running about 3 hours behind out of Toledo. Hope you do not lose more time between there and CHI.

 

[afigg]

I started following this recently since I am rolling the dice on 49 (10) to 21 (11) and the first train already slipped from on time to 1:51 late due to the issue between Schenectady and Utica and is estimated 2hrs 4min late at Syracuse. At the time of booking I was not thinking much about westbound misses and now might have my first long distance miss at CHI.

I did not plan anything nonrefundable for the first of two days in DAL so if I miss the CHI connection and go 24 hours later I would skip DART riding and come back to DAL for that next year. Amsnag shows at least one room available on 21 (12).

John, I see your 49 is running about 3 hours behind out of Toledo. Hope you do not lose more time between there and CHI.

LSL #49 (9/10) is currently 3 hours and 36 minutes late at EKH. It could be a squeaker on whether it makes it in time to Chicago for a connection to the TE.

 

[Railroad Bill]

I started following this recently since I am rolling the dice on 49 (10) to 21 (11) and the first train already slipped from on time to 1:51 late due to the issue between Schenectady and Utica and is estimated 2hrs 4min late at Syracuse. At the time of booking I was not thinking much about westbound misses and now might have my first long distance miss at CHI.

I did not plan anything nonrefundable for the first of two days in DAL so if I miss the CHI connection and go 24 hours later I would skip DART riding and come back to DAL for that next year. Amsnag shows at least one room available on 21 (12).

John, I see your 49 is running about 3 hours behind out of Toledo. Hope you do not lose more time between there and CHI.

LSL #49 (9/10) is currently 3 hours and 36 minutes late at EKH. It could be a squeaker on whether it makes it in time to Chicago for a connection to the TE.

Currently 4 hours late at South Bend. Traveling at 57mph according to Amtrak tracker. Go train Go. Gotta get John to his train on time.

 

[jacorbett70]

My saga is on Twitter

http://twitter.com/jacorbett70

Basically they first said they did not know if any trains would be held, then my own SCA announced on the PA that all connections were held. I think he either heard wrong or was given misinformation (all except train 21).

Then I hear on the scanner, when approaching at 1:44, that 21 has the gate and is OK to depart, then a clear signal announced by train 21 engine 130, then I see 21 pass as I approach on 49 just south of Union Station to get an official arrival time of 1:49. I suspect the following: few people involved, the ones in front of me at customer service were going to STL and simply took the evening train, and that left maybe a half dozen taking tomorrow's train. There were sleepers available on 421 (12).

(edit because I had computer problems and had to post to avoid losing what I typed in)

 

[trainman74]

My saga is on Twitter

http://twitter.com/jacorbett70

This is quite a saga, even beyond the LSL's timekeeping! I hope you'll consider posting to the Travelogues forum here to preserve things for posterity (or at least to make them easier to read in the future than your tweets).

 

[afigg]

Then I hear on the scanner, when approaching at 1:44, that 21 has the gate and is OK to depart, then a clear signal announced by train 21 engine 130, then I see 21 pass as I approach on 49 just south of Union Station to get an official arrival time of 1:49. I suspect the following: few people involved, the ones in front of me at customer service were going to STL and simply took the evening train, and that left maybe a half dozen taking tomorrow's train. There were sleepers available on 421 (12).

Ouch. I would have been mightily irritated if it had happened to me. Checking the status map times, holding #21 5 to 10 minutes or getting #49 in 5-10 minutes earlier (well, less extremely late) would have made the difference on the connection. The sooner the CL and LSL can get back to rarely being more than 1 or 2 hours late, the better.
One piece of good news I saw this week is that the Englewood Flyover is only 3 weeks away from start of testing.

 

[neroden]

One piece of good news I saw this week is that the Englewood Flyover is only 3 weeks away from start of testing.

Wow! Should be in service by Thanksgiving then...

 

[jacorbett70]

One thing that puzzled me as to why they would not hold 21 for a few minutes is that there is a LOT of padding in 21's schedule. For example the status file from the 9th shows 21 fell 2hr 49min behind by Arkansas yet recovered to be early into San Antonio. That means three hours of padding.

Status file link:

http://98.69.157.233/scripts/archivefinder.pl?seltrain=21&selmonth=09&selyear=2014&selday=09

 

[jacorbett70]

My saga is on Twitter

http://twitter.com/jacorbett70

This is quite a saga, even beyond the LSL's timekeeping! I hope you'll consider posting to the Travelogues forum here to preserve things for posterity (or at least to make them easier to read in the future than your tweets).

Will do when I get a chance.

 

[neroden]

The point is that the typical delays on that segment today are no more than what it has always been. The extra delays are mostly being taken between Porter and Cleveland.

Point taken.

 

[JoeZeppy412]

On the CL now, headed from Pgh to Seattle on tomorrow's EB. Train arrived in Pgh at about 11:40. Left right on schedule. Lost ten minutes before we left the city limits. Fingers crossed...