City of New Orleans Bustitution (ended)

[brooks]

What looked like the normal Amtrak City of New Orleans train except for 2 locos instead of the normal 1, went Northbound through Brookhaven, MM783, at 3;10pm today, without stopping at the station. Also curious why they don't run the train down to Hammond, LA. Spillway is south of there.

 

[brooks]

The spillway could be open for a month. See image.

 

[manchacrr]

What looked like the normal Amtrak City of New Orleans train except for 2 locos instead of the normal 1, went Northbound through Brookhaven, MM783, at 3;10pm today, without stopping at the station. Also curious why they don't run the train down to Hammond, LA. Spillway is south of there.

The reason that the CONO does not turn in Hammond is that there are no facilities to service the train or refuel the locomotives there. In Jackson, there is a major CN rail yard where Amtrak can refuel the locomotives to get them ready for the return trip north. Also, if Amtrak turns the CONO at Jackson, that frees up one of the three trainsets required for the CONO to operate. By turning at Jackson, the CONO can perform a same day turnaround with time to fully service the train as the southbound 59 is scheduled to arrive in Jackson at 11:12 AM and 58 is scheduled to depart Jackson at 5:44 PM giving the crew roughly 6 hours to service the train.

 

[brooks]

The reason that the CONO does not turn in Hammond is that there are no facilities to service the train or refuel the locomotives there. In Jackson, there is a major CN rail yard where Amtrak can refuel the locomotives to get them ready for the return trip north. Also, if Amtrak turns the CONO at Jackson, that frees up one of the three trainsets required for the CONO to operate. By turning at Jackson, the CONO can perform a same day turnaround with time to fully service the train as the southbound 59 is scheduled to arrive in Jackson at 11:12 AM and 58 is scheduled to depart Jackson at 5:44 PM giving the crew roughly 6 hours to service the train.

Thank you. I understand now.
Also, the Amtrak with two locos that went north yesterday at 3:10pm yesterday, just passed Brookhaven MM783 southbound at 2:10PM today 3/16 .

 

[brooks]

City of New Orleans operating to Brookhaven, MS northbound today. Looks like regular service. The bus came with southbound passengers but the northbound train with single loco #38 stopped at the station at 4:21pm today.

 

[Rasputin]

Haven't heard anything about this lately but I assume the bustitution is over. Is that correct?

 

[Thirdrail7]

Correct.

 

[bratkinson]

Amtrak really screwed around with my 4/15 roomette reservation CHI-NOL. I got an email from them about 2 weeks prior to departure indicating that I was going to be bused from Jackson. Shortly after leaving home 4/7, I checked the Amtrak app on my phone and sure enough, there's a 2nd reservation showing the bus. I checked the app the morning of 4/15 and it showed I had TWO roomettes CHI-NOL! Actually, it was the same roomette, CHI-JAN and JAN-NOL. I was NOT notified of the change. Interestingly, it showed up in my AGR activities screen as two separate roomettes rather than being put back together. Good thing I paid with points.

 

[AG1]

Did you receive a points reduction for the bus section ?

 

[PRR 60]

Did you receive a points reduction for the bus section ?

No bus section. He ended up in a roomette all the way.

 

[George K]

I was reimbursed for that section via the credit card I used to book sleeper.

The return trip was on points, and they were credited as well.

 

[bratkinson]

Did you receive a points reduction for the bus section ?

I booked the CONO trip on points, there weren't any points to lose or get back.

And on the Coast Startlight 4 days earlier, I WAS bused Bakersfield-Los Angeles. That was a points trip also. No points to lose/recapture.

 

[George K]

I booked the CONO trip on points, there weren't any points to lose or get back.

And on the Coast Startlight 4 days earlier, I WAS bused Bakersfield-Los Angeles. That was a points trip also. No points to lose/recapture.

If you paid for sleeper accommodations for the entire trip, and did not get them, you should be reimbursed for the portion of the trip that were not sleeper.

 

[bratkinson]

If you paid for sleeper accommodations for the entire trip, and did not get them, you should be reimbursed for the portion of the trip that were not sleeper.

I feel the same way, especially after I got gypped out of getting points back when a late #8 caused me to miss #30 roomette and they put me in coach on #48 8-9 years ago. But then, the ticket clerks don't have a means to deal with points, as far as I know. So, I would have to raise a stink with AGR about missing lunch and dinner on #11 and 12 hrs of roomette time. It's just not worth the aggravation, in my opinion to get maybe 2000 points. But then, I caught an incredible conjunctive fare PDX to CHI via #11 & #422, so 2000 point 'refund' is likely much higher than I'd get. That super low conjunctive fare is why I booked my entire 9500 mile joyride for early April.

 

[AG1]

I have twice received a E-voucher for as a refund on points paid sleepers that were bustituted . One was POR to Spokane($300) and the other was on LSL from ALB to BOS($100). You should contact Customer Relations. All I did was ask. There was no aggravation involved. I had to use the vouchers within a year by calling Customer relations for the next trip reservation.

 

[chrsjrcj]

Reusing an old thread here (although mods may want to spin this off for a new one?), but the City of New Orleans will return to New Orleans tomorrow:

SERVICE ADVISORY: The Bonnet Carre Spillway has been closed. City of New Orleans Train 59 that departs Chicago (CHI) on 7/29, and City of New Orleans Train 58 that departs New Orleans (NOL) on 7/30 will resume service between Jackson (JAN) and New Orleans (NOL).

https://twitter.com/AmtrakAlerts/status/1155988700657901569

 

[Rasputin]

Reusing an old thread here (although mods may want to spin this off for a new one?), but the City of New Orleans will return to New Orleans tomorrow:

SERVICE ADVISORY: The Bonnet Carre Spillway has been closed. City of New Orleans Train 59 that departs Chicago (CHI) on 7/29, and City of New Orleans Train 58 that departs New Orleans (NOL) on 7/30 will resume service between Jackson (JAN) and New Orleans (NOL).

https://twitter.com/AmtrakAlerts/status/1155988700657901569

Glad to hear that it is over. Lasted even longer than many Lake Shore 448 and 449 bustitutions.

 

[dogbert617]

Reusing an old thread here (although mods may want to spin this off for a new one?), but the City of New Orleans will return to New Orleans tomorrow:

SERVICE ADVISORY: The Bonnet Carre Spillway has been closed. City of New Orleans Train 59 that departs Chicago (CHI) on 7/29, and City of New Orleans Train 58 that departs New Orleans (NOL) on 7/30 will resume service between Jackson (JAN) and New Orleans (NOL).

https://twitter.com/AmtrakAlerts/status/1155988700657901569

See post below. Looks like track work along CONO's route is occurring, so sadly New Orleans service via the CONO hasn't yet been restored.

 

[dogbert617]

Reusing an old thread here (although mods may want to spin this off for a new one?), but the City of New Orleans will return to New Orleans tomorrow:

SERVICE ADVISORY: The Bonnet Carre Spillway has been closed. City of New Orleans Train 59 that departs Chicago (CHI) on 7/29, and City of New Orleans Train 58 that departs New Orleans (NOL) on 7/30 will resume service between Jackson (JAN) and New Orleans (NOL).

https://twitter.com/AmtrakAlerts/status/1155988700657901569

Glad to hear that it is over. Lasted even longer than many Lake Shore 448 and 449 bustitutions.

Unfortunately I saw a new service alert for CONO, so sadly it seems like not so fast about CONO train service returning to New Orleans. This time it isn't due to the Bonnet Carre Spillway, but due to track work:

Track Work Affects City of New Orleans Trains 58 and 59
Effective July 29 - August 8, 2019
Due to track work being performed by Canadian National Railway, the schedule of Trains 58 and 59 will be adjusted as shown below.

Monday, July 29 through Friday, August 2

• Northbound Train 58 will depart Jackson at 7:44 pm, 2 hours later than normal, and operate on a later schedule through to Chicago.
  • Northbound buses traveling from New Orleans to Jackson, will operate 2 hours later at all stations.
• Southbound Train 59 will depart Chicago at 9:05 pm, 1 hour later than normal and operate on a later schedule at all stations from Chicago to Jackson.
  • Southbound buses will operate 1 hour later at all stations between Jackson and New Orleans.

Monday, August 5 through Thursday, August 8

• Northbound Train 58, which normally operates between New Orleans and Chicago, will originate in Memphis.
• Southbound Train 59, which normally operates between Chicago and New Orleans, will terminate in Memphis.
• Trains 58 and 59 will operate on a normal schedule between Chicago and Memphis.
• Alternate transportation will be provided between Memphis and Jackson.
  • There will be no alternate transportation to the missed station stops of Marks, Greenwood or Yazoo City.

 

[chrsjrcj]

I believe that press release was written up when there was still a bustitution. Trains 58 and 59 have been operating to and from New Orleans, at least according to Amtrak’s train tracker.

 

[dogbert617]

I believe that press release was written up when there was still a bustitution. Trains 58 and 59 have been operating to and from New Orleans, at least according to Amtrak’s train tracker.

I just checked the track a train map, and it showed that northbound #58 was rescheduled to run about 1-2 hours later than normal at all stations going north. Looks like you're right. And sigh, I see Amtrak put up a schedule notice, that isn't accurate about the bustitution from Jackson to New Orleans being in place.

 

[Griffin T. Murphey DDS]

Hello All, I am new to the forum. We took the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS on May 28th and had to do the bustitution. But what really bothered my wife and myself was the poor selection of food in the dining car. I think only one "hot" dinner, Beef Bourganon and mixed veggies, was available, and it had cool spots from the microwave. So did the only hot thing available for breakfast, the egg and cheese sandwich. Standard Amtrak fare is not all that bad, if repetitive; that was a big loss. We had one car attendant responsible for two sleeping cars. Only one of our 120v AC outlets was working and it took quite a while for the poor guy to get the breakers tripped and working. I must say Amtrak needs to do something better about AC control than the passenger placed cardboard and towels stuffed in the AC vents. To me the bus ride was understandable although there was plenty of freight traffic getting into NO but other factors may have totally prevented it. We felt the entire train was just downgraded so much that the trip was a huge disappointment. We also ran over some of the worst rough track I can recall, yeah not Amtrak's fault -we'll credit that one to the UP.

The morning arrival in Jackson brought a very verbal confrontation by the couple next door with the conductor about the overworked car attendant, hardly the attendant's fault.

 

[Garynofishing]

Hello All, I am new to the forum. We took the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS on May 28th and had to do the bustitution. But what really bothered my wife and myself was the poor selection of food in the dining car. I think only one "hot" dinner, Beef Bourganon and mixed veggies, was available, and it had cool spots from the microwave. So did the only hot thing available for breakfast, the egg and cheese sandwich. Standard Amtrak fare is not all that bad, if repetitive; that was a big loss. We had one car attendant responsible for two sleeping cars. Only one of our 120v AC outlets was working and it took quite a while for the poor guy to get the breakers tripped and working. I must say Amtrak needs to do something better about AC control than the passenger placed cardboard and towels stuffed in the AC vents. To me the bus ride was understandable although there was plenty of freight traffic getting into NO but other factors may have totally prevented it. We felt the entire train was just downgraded so much that the trip was a huge disappointment. We also ran over some of the worst rough track I can recall, yeah not Amtrak's fault -we'll credit that one to the UP.

The morning arrival in Jackson brought a very verbal confrontation by the couple next door with the conductor about the overworked car attendant, hardly the attendant's fault.

There is one political party that wants to cut Amtrak budgets every year. These are the people to thank for your complaints.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

It appears that the CONO has not been running through to New Orleans since Monday. Does anyone here know why this is and when it will end? It appears that the train did operate the full route during the scheduled track work dates, so I'm wondering if it was rescheduled. I am scheduled to leave NOL on Saturday's 58 on an ATL-CHI trip and am wondering whether I should modify to go via WAS instead.

 

[dogbert617]

It appears that the CONO has not been running through to New Orleans since Monday. Does anyone here know why this is and when it will end? It appears that the train did operate the full route during the scheduled track work dates, so I'm wondering if it was rescheduled. I am scheduled to leave NOL on Saturday's 58 on an ATL-CHI trip and am wondering whether I should modify to go via WAS instead.

Yes, I would book trains #20(Crescent) and #29(Capitol Limited) via connecting in Washington, if CONO #58 is cancelled(or if it's bustituted part of the way like to Jackson, and you don't feel like doing that) going north to Chicago. An alternate train transfer you could also consider doing for more interesting train scenery(and you're very lucky you also can do this transfer, as Cardinal only runs 3 days a week), would be to take #20(Crescent) north to Charlottesville, then #51(Cardinal) west to Chicago. If you do the latter, you'll really enjoy the scenery through West Virginia, which I imagine very few Amtrak riders have ever seen myself! Thankfully I rode the Cardinal east on #50 earlier this year(back in May), and it was a great experience to finally do. And IMO, the best scenery part is inbetween Staunton, VA, and Charleston, WV. Although the scenery along other portions of that route(i.e. Ashland, KY, Cincinnati, OH, never mind that #50 eastbound Cardinal riders likely are the only passengers who would have a chance to see Ashland in daylight hours), also is interesting as well.

The only thing I will note about the Cardinal(not sure if you're riding a sleeper), is that it doesn't have a dining car as of now, and only has a cafe car. I would either bring enough snacks onboard #51 to keep yourself satisfied while riding that train in case the Cardinal's cafe car, starts to run out of certain types of food. Another workaround you could do, would be during the smoke/stretch break in Indianapolis(45 minutes), that you could run kitty corner away from the station waiting room to White Castle and get some breakfast food to go, IF you have enough time to do so during that layover. If the smoke/stretch stop by any chance is shortened at Indy too much, there still are vending machines downstairs in the combined Amtrak/Greyhound waiting area you could use. And those vending machines came in handy for me, during #50's stop in Indy. Hope you have a good trip!