CZ Modified Trip (8/29) - Departure out of DEN shifted

[John-MCPO-USN]

Have a trip planned on #5 for 8/29, and just received a trip modification that #5 is now #1105, and the departure time is 1005am vice the normal 0805am departure. My car and roomette assignment remains unchanged. I have not read about any CZ schedule changes......any ideas what is going on?

MODERATOR NOTE: Edited to remove E-ticket that contained personal information.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Most likely track work. And the change to #1105 means that 5 will arrive at some station on the same day twice due to the track work, so there has to be a separate # for one of them.

 

[John-MCPO-USN]

Most likely track work. And the change to #1105 means that 5 will arrive at some station on the same day twice due to the track work, so there has to be a separate # for one of them.

Ahh - OK....must be a great deal of track work ongoing - as I just looked at the schedule out of DEN from today onward into August - and it's #1105 for a while..... Still daylight thru the most scenic portions....so I should be OK....

 

[PVD]

In that area, you do as much as you can in the nice weather, winter is too unpredictable.

 

[John-MCPO-USN]

In that area, you do as much as you can in the nice weather, winter is too unpredictable.

Yep - agree.
Just checked a little more - and the 1105 starts the end of this month - and runs into September (I checked some random dates into Sep and it was still 1105). Departs out of CHI at it's normal time - and arrives in DEN - 715a (normal time) but sits in DEN for an extra 2 hours......so @AmtrakBlue is more than likely spot-on with the track work. GJT is still well before dark, so will catch the most scenic parts of that day (will miss a little Utah getting towards SS....but, I'll live...lol).

I was just thrown off by the 11 portion of the train number.....hadn't encountered that before.

 

[Seaboard92]

Hey look at the bright side of this. If Amtrak doesn't put traditional dining back on, and you arrive on time or early into Denver you now have time to get breakfast somewhere near the station, or at the hotel in the station.

 

[dogbert617]

Have a trip planned on #5 for 8/29, and just received a trip modification that #5 is now #1105, and the departure time is 1005am vice the normal 0805am departure. My car and roomette assignment remains unchanged. I have not read about any CZ schedule changes......any ideas what is going on?

MODERATOR NOTE: Edited to remove E-ticket that contained personal information.

Most likely track work. And the change to #1105 means that 5 will arrive at some station on the same day twice due to the track work, so there has to be a separate # for one of them.

I was wondering seeing this post, is the CZ going to be rerouted through southern Wyoming on the UP route(paralleling I-80 for the most part) through this state in late August? That would be an interesting time to ride the CZ, since I've never seen the southern Wyoming Union Pacific route.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

I was wondering seeing this post, is the CZ going to be rerouted through southern Wyoming on the UP route(paralleling I-80 for the most part) through this state in late August? That would be an interesting time to ride the CZ, since I've never seen the southern Wyoming Union Pacific route.

The announcement from Amtrak mentions that Salt Lake City will not have westbound service on certain days, but does not mention any other stations losing service so I would assume the train will continue to operate the normal route.

 

[John-MCPO-USN]

The announcement from Amtrak mentions that Salt Lake City will not have westbound service on certain days.....

Where can I find the announcement?

And it is the normal CZ routing, just delayed 2hrs out of DEN.

 

[greatwestern]

Presumably this details the changes (although I can't say I understand why there will be no westbound service at Salt Lake City on some of the days).

 

[jiml]

Presumably this details the changes (although I can't say I understand why there will be no westbound service at Salt Lake City on some of the days).



View attachment 18252

Interesting how it's always the day after each period starts.

 

[John-MCPO-USN]

Interesting how it's always the day after each period starts.

It is odd. During the service disruption, the normal SLC arr time is 2305. However, on the 28th, 11th, etc - the arrival time slips to 0057 the following morning. Must be something going on that 2nd day of each window that delays it.......

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Could it be signalling will be one direction only?

 

[Trogdor]

It’s odd how it’s worded (and I don’t recall them calling out specific dates of no service in one direction at a given city), but SLC isn’t losing service. If, on the day the schedule deviation starts, SLC goes from before midnight to after midnight, then that particular calendar date won’t see any westbound service.

For example:
July 27: Train arrives 11:05 pm
July 28: [Train would have arrived 11:05 pm, but actually arrives on...]
July 29: Train arrives 12:57 am.

Keep in mind also that the dates listed in the announcement are the origin dates from Chicago. This means 1105(27) is the first train to operate on the modified schedule, but it doesn’t run through the affected area until July 28, when it shifts later.

 

[jiml]

It’s odd how it’s worded (and I don’t recall them calling out specific dates of no service in one direction at a given city), but SLC isn’t losing service. If, on the day the schedule deviation starts, SLC goes from before midnight to after midnight, then that particular calendar date won’t see any westbound service.

For example:
July 27: Train arrives 11:05 pm
July 28: [Train would have arrived 11:05 pm, but actually arrives on...]
July 29: Train arrives 12:57 am.

Keep in mind also that the dates listed in the announcement are the origin dates from Chicago. This means 1105(27) is the first train to operate on the modified schedule, but it doesn’t run through the affected area until July 28, when it shifts later.

That's probably the explanation, but why even bother to publish it? The train's just going to be late - no surprise. It's not like they've stated two arrivals the next day. Very strange.

 

[Trogdor]

My best guess is that it’s because you will get a “no trains available” message if you search for a trip out of SLC on those specific dates, and so that message is giving the explanation of why. Of course, a passenger just searching the web or app for a given departure isn‘t likely to see that alert unless they know to look for it.

 

[lstone19]

And hence the reason for the 1105 train number as on 8/5, 8/19, 9/2, 9/15, and 9/26, there will be two westbound trains from SLC - 1105 at 1:07am and 5 at 11:30pm.

 

[John Santos]

Is this some kind of test to see if potential passengers are worthy of Amtrak? (/sarcasm) They could have easily added a sentence or two to the announcement that says "The trains normally scheduled to arrive at SLC late in the evening on those dates will arrive at about 1:07 AM the next morning. No service is actually being cancelled."

I've often found it annoying when trying to schedule or book a trip that the Amtrak site seems to think the world ends at midnight every day! I once booked a trip NYP to BOS on the last train, then decided to switch to the 66 at 3AM. I got to Penn Station about midnight and discovered I was 21 hours late for my train; it had been switched to the 66 on the previous date and I didn't notice. Argh! Had to buy a full-price ticket, they didn't even credit me for the missed train. (I now obsessively check the dates and times of all tickets, especially if there is a connection involved. Maybe someday...)

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Time zones have been an issue with booking systems for as long as I can remember and it's not just an Amtrak problem. On numerous occasions I've had to abandon a valid connection and pay extra for separate tickets because the booking service couldn't properly handle a flight that appeared to land before it departed or crossed the date line in a manner the internal rules had not anticipated. Last I checked you still can't book a same-day hotel online after midnight and have to pay the (often higher) walk-in rate instead. These are solvable problems but the cost of building and regression testing a new validation matrix can be prohibitive for outlier situations. Here in the consumer world you can standardize calendar events across numerous devices easily but you cannot standardize alerts because that information is still handled as a discrete variable for some reason.

 

[lstone19]

Last I checked you still can't book a same-day hotel online after midnight and have to pay the often higher in-person rate instead.

I've run into that issue as well. OTOH, I have dealt with an airline website that would let me book a delayed previous-day flight. And for the most part, getting through security, Customs and Immigration (Canada pre-clearance flight), and into the partner-airline lounge mostly worked - with two exceptions, they were all aware there was a previous day flight yet to depart. One security checker was unaware but was satisfied when I showed him the airline app showing the flight status. And the Global Entry kiosk appeared very confused and asked me what flight I was on (it should have known) and the list of flights only showed my flight number once even though it was departing twice that day - 10:00am (delayed from the previous day) and again at 4:30pm. I still have no idea which day's flight it thought I was on.

 

[Barb Stout]

Here in the consumer world you can standardize calendar events across numerous devices easily but you still cannot standardize alerts because that information is still handled as a discrete variable.

Yep, I missed a plane once because the alert was 2 hours late. That was embarrassing.