EB Mess - 2

[SarahZ]

And the construction efforts in MT and ND have ramped up big time. My BNSF guy said the 5-6 hour delays being seen this week thru this area should be likely much of the summer until late October.

:-(

:angry:

I'll bring snacks.

 

[yarrow]

And the construction efforts in MT and ND have ramped up big time. My BNSF guy said the 5-6 hour delays being seen this week thru this area should be likely much of the summer until late October.

:-(

so how longs will amtrak keep the reestablished connection of eb 27 to cs 11 in pdx?

 

[EB_OBS]

And the construction efforts in MT and ND have ramped up big time. My BNSF guy said the 5-6 hour delays being seen this week thru this area should be likely much of the summer until late October.

:-(

so how longs will amtrak keep the reestablished connection of eb 27 to cs 11 in pdx?

It's a myth. They are not. I have it first hand from the District Manager that Amtrak is not footing the bill for missed connections in PDX. Every effort is being made to ensure that all passengers with a connection understand this.

 

[yarrow]

And the construction efforts in MT and ND have ramped up big time. My BNSF guy said the 5-6 hour delays being seen this week thru this area should be likely much of the summer until late October.

:-(

so how longs will amtrak keep the reestablished connection of eb 27 to cs 11 in pdx?

It's a myth. They are not. I have it first hand from the District Manager that Amtrak is not footing the bill for missed connections in PDX. Every effort is being made to ensure that all passengers with a connection understand this.

ok, hold on a minute. amtrak will book the connection of 27 to 11. but it's not a guaranteed connection? as of last week, we booked an october trip with the connection and were told we could no longer book and overnight in pdx(it's an agr redemption)so we booked spk-lax without the overnight in pdx.. what sort of bs is this? EB_OBS, you are the pride of amtrak but your bosses are self serving bs artists

 

[yarrow]

And the construction efforts in MT and ND have ramped up big time. My BNSF guy said the 5-6 hour delays being seen this week thru this area should be likely much of the summer until late October.

:-(

so how longs will amtrak keep the reestablished connection of eb 27 to cs 11 in pdx?

It's a myth. They are not. I have it first hand from the District Manager that Amtrak is not footing the bill for missed connections in PDX. Every effort is being made to ensure that all passengers with a connection understand this.

ok, hold on a minute. amtrak will book the connection of 27 to 11. but it's not a guaranteed connection? as of last week, we booked an october trip with the connection and were told we could no longer book and overnight in pdx(it's an agr redemption)so we booked spk-lax without the overnight in pdx.. what sort of bs is this? EB_OBS, you are the pride of amtrak but your bosses are self serving bs artists

i just called amtrak and spoke with an agent, asked her if 27 to 11 was a guaranteed connection and what that meant, and was told it meant amtrak would do whatever it took to get you to your destination and if that included overnight lodging in pdx that amtrak would cover it

 

[tim49424]

Strangely enough, for my upcoming trip the EB sleepers are entirely sold out, but there are 8 or more roomettes on the CS during the same time frame.

On ours, it's the same out, return home, there's 2 room left.

One left on our one-way trip on the EB to PDX in July.

 

[montana mike]

With average arrival delays into PDX well over 3 hours over the past month or so this could be a challenge making the connection, but if Amtrak is still on the hook for a night in Portland, other than arriving a day late at your destination I guess things could be worse.

 

[yarrow]

With average arrival delays into PDX well over 3 hours over the past month or so this could be a challenge making the connection, but if Amtrak is still on the hook for a night in Portland, other than arriving a day late at your destination I guess things could be worse.

yeah, but as i understood the above post of EB_OBS, who, imho, ought to know amtrak is not on the hook for a night in pdx. i put much more confidence in what he has to say than a random agent

 

[EB_OBS]

Yeah I don't know why they are allowing the connection again on a single reservation.

I can tell you that I've already been involved in two situations where we had to contact the train and ensure that passengers boarding, who had connections in PDX, were told by the conductors before they got on that if they missed the connection they would be on their own.

I'll get word to the District Manager that agents are still telling passengers the connection is guaranteed. It is my understanding that it is not.

 

[JayPea]

Empire Builder "troubles" back to the normal SNAFUs this AM- #8 just under 6 hours behind in MN, #7 in WA over 5 hours late and #27 suffering a service disruption. Bummer.

Does anyone know what the "service disruption" is for #27 that was supposed to arrive in Portland on Wednesday morning? Amtrak's status map still shows it parked somewhere north of Pasco.

BNSF track gang had a construction window and with #7 so late, #27 missed it and had to bus to PDX.

The equipment finally left SPK at 2:15pm. At 6:30pm it hadn't even made it thru Cheney, WA. Finally arrived into PDX 4:08am.

There's a lot of construction and expansion going on right now between SPK and PSC.

Over 4 hours and the train hadn't made it through Cheney yet? :blink: I can walk that distance that fast! Of course it helps that it's downhill between Spokane and Cheney.

I'm taking #7 out of Spokane a week from Monday to Seattle and hoping that the EB isn't too badly delayed due to it being the weekend. #7 this past Monday was just nine minutes late into Seattle. This after being 32 minutes EARLY the day before and 10 minutes EARLY the day after. The last couple of days have been back to "normal" (hours late) but this morning #7 left Whitefish "only" 2 hours and 20 minutes late. I'm not making any connections in Seattle, though, except with my bed at my hotel, so I guess it doesn't matter that much. Besides, If it's even a little late, I will get to see all that grand scenery between Spokane and Wenatchee!

 

[montana mike]

West bound appears to do somewhat better that eastbound (#8 this AM still in ND is now just under 6 hours late-arrgh!!). I believe this is because of both freight and construction scheduling in MT and ND. My BNSF guy's estimate of 5-6 hour delays on the eastbound trains this spring has been (unfortunately) reasonably accurate. This timing even puts the connection to the LSL into jeopardy on some nights. I just don't see any other connections being made with other LD trains in CHI for a long time-bummer. I used to connect on a regular basis, but now I do a train/fly combo on most trips.

 

[EB_OBS]

Well another derailment, this time east of St. Cloud, MN. ETO, 8:00PM CT.

#7 had already made it west of there before the derailment. Unfortunately #8 will have to hold 'til the tracks open.

 

[Joe F]

Well another derailment, this time east of St. Cloud, MN. ETO, 8:00PM CT.

#7 had already made it west of there before the derailment. Unfortunately #8 will have to hold 'til the tracks open.

The derailment has also caused cancellation of Northstar Commuter Rail service today, which runs on BNSF tracks between Minneapolis and Big Lake.

http://www.startribune.com/local/263007261.html

It looks like #8 is showing a service disruption between Grand Forks and Fargo. If they are being held because of the derailment, is it possible for the EB to detour on the Willmar and Wayzata subs between Dilworth (Fargo) and Minneapolis instead?

 

[montana mike]

Wow, Hollywood couldn't write a script stranger than what has happened to this route--amazing!

:-(

 

[andersone]

I was worried about getting dinner on 7 ,,, maybe I will be getting breakfast as well,,,,, before it rolls into GPK

 

[aurbo]

looks like 8 is taking the Wilmar route - however is currently stopped south of Morehead, as of 0940am.

 

[MrFSS]

I was worried about getting dinner on 7 ,,, maybe I will be getting breakfast as well,,,,, before it rolls into GPK

If they have any food left!

 

[CHamilton]

looks like 8 is taking the Wilmar route - however is currently stopped south of Morehead, as of 0940am.

Via the Empire Builder group on Facebook:

BNSF derailed a freight between Elk River and Ramsey, MN this morning. Both mains on the Staples Sub are blocked. All North star trains canceled this morning.

 

[EB_OBS]

looks like 8 is taking the Wilmar route - however is currently stopped south of Morehead, as of 0940am.

Yep, just waiting for BNSF pilots on-duty and expect to take up to 5-6 additional hours according to BNSF.

 

[EB_OBS]

OH, and did I forget to mention that #8(12) had to set out its lounge car last night at SPK due to a broken brake pipe? Subway and KFC all the way to CHI.

What's next?

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Back to the issue of "guaranteed connections"...

It seems like some agents are saying that many EB connections are guaranteed, and that some are not. I thought that any connection to (the EB or any other train) booked as one ticket was a guaranteed connection. If you want to book a connection that is too short, Amtrak requires you to book two tickets.

They've made exceptions to this - allegedly contacting everyone who had valid connections to tell them that their connections were no longer valid. So, it seems like if you bought a ticket for that connection, and Amtrak hasn't called you to tell you that your connection isn't valid, then the responsibility is on them, right?

 

[yarrow]

Back to the issue of "guaranteed connections"...

It seems like some agents are saying that many EB connections are guaranteed, and that some are not. I thought that any connection to (the EB or any other train) booked as one ticket was a guaranteed connection. If you want to book a connection that is too short, Amtrak requires you to book two tickets.

They've made exceptions to this - allegedly contacting everyone who had valid connections to tell them that their connections were no longer valid. So, it seems like if you bought a ticket for that connection, and Amtrak hasn't called you to tell you that your connection isn't valid, then the responsibility is on them, right?

right. also are you interested in the brooklyn bridge or some prime land in florida?

 

[Bob Dylan]

OH, and did I forget to mention that #8(12) had to set out its lounge car last night at SPK due to a broken brake pipe? Subway and KFC all the way to CHI.

What's next?

Bummer to have no lounge on such a long trip but KFC and Subway Chow is better than most of the stuff sold @ New York Prices in the Cafe!
Does this mean the Coach Pax get to eat Free?

And thanks for your Posts, Boots on the Ground is always best since Reliable Info from Amtrak is rare! Keep us posted, Amtrak needs more like you!

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Lounge car down, did they take over a table in the dinner and sell (dry) snacks? Something like the Denver to Seattle Pioneer use to do.

Also I get very nervous about the temp control of KFC products, when getting placed on the train. Has anyone been lucky enought to get this service. Was the food still hot or a bit cool.

 

[andersone]

how about a consist Q ..scrape some of my memory rust off,,, . my reservation says 7 going out so I will be on the sleeper either one or two in front of the diner (730/731) ,,, on the way back it tells me I am on 28 so that means I will be on the back end, (2630) second from last - PDX coach the only thing behind me? This sound right?

I also did find a list of the Superliner ][ state "Names"