Capitol Limited & Lake Shore Limited Delays Summer/Fall 2014

[afigg]

I think it would be faster if both trains were routinely detoured via the Michigan Line. Ahem.

The delays are mostly between Toledo and Porter, amirite?

The westbound LSL and CL trains today were delayed several hours when they got to Toledo and then hit more delays. The traffic jam appears to stretch from Cleveland to South Bend. If the detour through MI adds some 3 hours to the trip, the time savings would be pretty much a wash. Although Amtrak might do a MI detour for a day to give NS a break to help clear traffic backlog.

Here are the status maps dump for the westbound LSL and CL today which have arrived at CHI, but seriously late. Note that #49 was right behind #29.

* Train 29 of 09/25/2014.
* Capitol Limited
* +---------------- Station code
* | +----------- Schedule Arrival Day
* | | +-------- Schedule Arrival time
* | | | +----- Schedule Departure Day
* | | | | +-- Schedule Departure Time
* | | | | | +------------- Actual Arrival Time
* | | | | | | +------- Actual Departure Time
* | | | | | | | +- Comments
* V V V V V V V V
* WAS * * 1 405P * 405P Departed: on time.
* RKV * * 1 429P * 431P Departed: 2 minutes late.
* HFY * * 1 516P * 517P Departed: 1 minute late.
* MRB * * 1 545P * 546P Departed: 1 minute late.
* CUM 1 714P 1 724P 715P 724P Departed: on time.
* COV * * 1 947P * 947P Departed: on time.
* PGH 1 1148P 1 1159P 1118P 1159P Departed: on time.
* ALC * * 2 139A * 201A Departed: 22 minutes late.
* CLE 2 253A 2 259A 305A 313A Departed: 14 minutes late.
* ELY * * 2 329A * 505A Departed: 1 hour and 36 minutes late.
* SKY * * 2 402A * 546A Departed: 1 hour and 44 minutes late.
* TOL 2 508A 2 522A 820A 831A Departed: 3 hours and 9 minutes late.
* WTI * * 2 636A * 1125A Departed: 4 hours and 49 minutes late.
* EKH * * 2 729A * 307P Departed: 7 hours and 38 minutes late.
* SOB * * 2 751A * 332P Departed: 7 hours and 41 minutes late.
* CHI 2 845A * * 432P * Arrived: 7 hours and 47 minutes late.

* Train 49 of 09/25/2014.
* Lake Shore Limited
* NYP  *  *     1  340P  *     342P  Departed:  2 minutes late.
* CRT  *  *     1  426P  *     426P  Departed:  on time.
* POU  *  *     1  510P  *     510P  Departed:  on time.
* RHI  *  *     1  527P  *     527P  Departed:  on time.
* ALB  1  620P  1  705P  608P  713P  Departed:  8 minutes late.
* SDY  *  *     1  731P  *     806P  Departed:  35 minutes late.
* UCA  *  *     1  844P  *     932P  Departed:  48 minutes late.
* SYR  *  *     1  941P  *     1036P Departed:  55 minutes late.
* ROC  *  *     1  1100P *     1215A Departed:  1 hour and 15 minutes late.
* BUF  1  1155P 1  1159P 106A  122A  Departed:  1 hour and 23 minutes late.
* ERI  *  *     2  136A  *     250A  Departed:  1 hour and 14 minutes late.
* CLE  2  327A  2  345A  438A  446A  Departed:  1 hour and 1 minute late.
* ELY  *  *     2  418A  *     539A  Departed:  1 hour and 21 minutes late.
* SKY  *  *     2  455A  *     615A  Departed:  1 hour and 20 minutes late.
* TOL  2  555A  2  615A  855A  917A  Departed:  3 hours and 2 minutes late.
* BYN  *  *     2  705A  *     1020A Departed:  3 hours and 15 minutes late.
* WTI  *  *     2  733A  *     1136A Departed:  4 hours and 3 minutes late.
* EKH  *  *     2  825A  *     321P  Departed:  6 hours and 56 minutes late.
* SOB  *  *     2  849A  *     344P  Departed:  6 hours and 55 minutes late.
* CHI  2  945A  *  *     442P  *     Arrived:  6 hours and 57 minutes late.

PS. anyone replying to this post, please trim the above schedule dump as a courtesy to keep the message size smaller.

 

[neroden]

Well, I booked a Chicago overnight going westbound on my January trip. But, still, ridiculous. They'd better load enough food for an extra meal in Indiana -- and that *is* under Amtrak's control.

 

[Barciur]

30 out of CHI posts as 3 hours 50 minutes late on Amtrak.com.

Starting to fret on my CL trip to Chicago in a month's time...

 

[jacorbett70]

I think it would be faster if both trains were routinely detoured via the Michigan Line. Ahem.

The delays are mostly between Toledo and Porter, amirite?

The westbound LSL and CL trains today were delayed several hours when they got to Toledo and then hit more delays.

Looks like all the western connections were broken except for 59. Tough day for this to happen the same day that 1000s of flights were cancelled stranding flyers in Chicago as well.

 

[montana mike]

And it keeps on getting worse. #48 still hasn't left CHI. Already at least 90 minutes late (and Amtrak estimates a 1 AM Saturday (3 1/2 hour delay) departure), which will just compound the delays enroute. What a mess!

:-(

 

[Barciur]

Has 30 been cancelled?

 

[greatcats]

I see that 30 left Chicago at 11:56 pm. Ain't that wonderful? Presumably sleeper passenger were given some money to go get dinner. I don't know what to say about what should be done with these freight railroads, other than make inane suggestions, but they should be ashamed of the mess they have created. They probably don't care all that much, but after all they are under contract to Amtrak. Doesn't this amount to a breach of contract, not providing reasonably reliable access to their lines?

 

[Guest]

Is it possible that with the flight cancellations from Chicago yesterday, Amtrak took on extra passengers that needed to go to these locations and added a coach car or two to each train? Or is that something that Amtrak would need far more time to do?

 

[jis]

Amtrak would be a viable option mostly for cancelled regional operations. Not so much for main line long haul operations. They'd probably get to their destinations faster mostly by waiting for the clearing flights the following day.

 

[richm49]

I changed my westbound reservations from NYP-CHI for 49/LSL to 51/Cardinal.Yes, I know the route is circuitous and that it departs @ 6:55 A.M.(leaving on a Sunday) vs 3:40 P.M. for LSL but it has a much better on time record,especially for the last 5 weeks or so. While 29/CL and 49/LSL have been ridiculously late getting into CHI( 49/LSL has missed ALL West Coast LD trains on 5 occasions just from 9/1-9/25), 51/Cardinal has been EARLY or on time 10 of the last 15 westbound trips to CHI with only 1 delay exceeding 60 minutes. If you need to connect to West Coast LD train it should be a consideration…..too bad it only runs 3/day/week schedule!

 

[tommylicious]

Indiana - Ohio have gone completely crazytown!

 

[montana mike]

Wow. #49 lost an additional two hours just between SOB and CHI today--unreal--arriving well over 4 1/2 hours late and once again missing westbound connections. what the heck is going on here. Things are getting worse, not better. I think Amtrak needs to issue a service alert for this train!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Looks like 7 & 5 are holding for connections.

 

[montana mike]

Is it possible that with the flight cancellations from Chicago yesterday, Amtrak took on extra passengers that needed to go to these locations and added a coach car or two to each train? Or is that something that Amtrak would need far more time to do?

The very long delay in getting the CL going last night was due to the fact that the inbound train was so very late.

 

[afigg]

Wow. #49 lost an additional two hours just between SOB and CHI today--unreal--arriving well over 4 1/2 hours late and once again missing westbound connections. what the heck is going on here. Things are getting worse, not better. I think Amtrak needs to issue a service alert for this train!

Both CL #29(9/26) and LSL #49(9/26) lost additional 2 hours between SOB and CHI today. I looked at the Amtrak tracker around mid--day and they were both, along with a Wolverine, at 0 mph for a while in Northern IN. At least, they got to CHI less late than yesterday, #29(9/26) 4 hours and 43 minutes late, #49(9/26) 4 hours and 48 minutes late at 2:33 PM. CZ #6(9/25) is over 4.5 hours late enroute to CHI, so a late turnaround departure of the CL #30 is going to give time for a late CZ connection.

#29(9/26) was having a good run, BTW, only 20 minutes late departing Sandusky OH. Then wham.

#30(9/26) is the one having the really ugly run today; the very late #29 yesterday causing a 5 hours and 16 minutes late departure from CHI, departed CLE 9 hours and 26 minutes late, and now PGH 10.5 hours late. Yikes.

Amtrak really needs to issue a service alert for the CL and LSL, ideally with some information on what the problems are and when it is expected to get better. Saying nothing at all officially is not helping.

What is interesting is from what I have observed with random checks of Status Maps in recent weeks is the constant delays for the LD trains appear to be now mainly concentrated on EB, CZ, CL, LSL. The SWC, Cardinal, Crescent, the Silvers are doing better than they were in staying close to on-time. Not perfect by any means, but better.

 

[justinslot]

I was on the 29 that arrived in Chicago today--we were ahead of schedule as of Pittsburgh, but apparenly overnight we entered the Bermuda Toldeo Triangle and lost like 4 hours. Hey, at least I made the SWC.

 

[neroden]

I don't know what to say about what should be done with these freight railroads, other than make inane suggestions, but they should be ashamed of the mess they have created.

Well, if we're talking "shoulds" in an ideal world of flying ponies, the federal government would buy 'em out, print some money, hire a whole lot of new employees, build some more tracks, and fix the service problems. As has been done with a number of systems throughout the world over the years. Sadly, we are in a political situation where that simply won't happen. Woodrow Wilson tried once, using World War I as the excuse, but it was unwound very quickly. So I guess we'll have to come up with something else for now.

 

[Barciur]

What's the excuse for 30 3h40m late departure out of Chi? Again late arrival for turnaround? It was "only" 283 minutes - yesterday it was 467, so it was more understandable..

 

[tommylicious]

with tonight's 30 just having left, and last nite's 30 not even arrived yet, I'm seriously thinking about cancelling my trip next week. this is insane. tonight's 30 will be a minimum of 6 hours late, and last nite's 30 will be 12+ late. insane. i'm not going to have me and my daughter eating irradiated, canned stew on a trip that's supposed to be enjoyable. Amtrak should just shut the line down until this gets sorted. A previous poster pointed out that a service alert hasn't even been issued, with 2 trains 12 hours late in the last 2 weeks, and a mean lateness of about 4 hours. Negligence! Get another consist into the Chicago yard darnit, or just shut down the lines! The worst delays were caused by running the equipment in a too tight turnaround in Chicago.

 

[neroden]

Given the location of the delays, at this point if I were Amtrak I would be trying to temporarily reroute via Dearborn and Kalamazoo. Of course, this may conflict with the ongoing trackwork there. :-(

There should certainly be a service alert.

 

[Barciur]

From trainorders:

This time, despite the late arrival of Train 28(25), there was sufficient time to turn the equipment...
it was close but it got done.

But there was no qualified crew to run the train. The Toledo crew base is inadequately staffed and its
extra board is out of people so there was nobody to send to Chicago for an on-time departure. The incoming
crew got its rest, then took the train out at 1020pm, 3 hr 40 min late.

So that's the cause of the 30 delay...

 

[montana mike]

Pathetic!!!! So sad.

:-(

 

[Howitzer]

This is a bummer, I was planning a trip to WAS for Thanksgiving and I can normally deal with delays but 6-12 hour delays on a short weekend won't work. Hopefully the delays will ease up by October.

 

[tommylicious]

29 lost 3 hours between SOB and CHI, trashing the whole run to 6 hours late, and most likely putting tonite's 30 in major delay territory as well. What. A. Mess. Chicago yard needs to keep another CL trainset.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

29 lost 3 hours between SOB and CHI, trashing the whole run to 6 hours late, and most likely putting tonite's 30 in major delay territory as well. What. A. Mess. Chicago yard needs to keep another CL trainset.

Where do you propose they get the equipment for that?