Lake Shore Limited discussion 2023 Q4 - 2024

[zephyr17]

There was actually a president of one of the major railroads whose oft-quoted dictum was that passenger traffic was neither useful nor ornamental.

Full quote:
"Passenger trains are like the male teat - neither useful nor ornamental."

Attributed to James J. Hill, the Empire Builder.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Sadly, I realised today that I didn't relish that bustitution on the LSL from Boston after all. A bit too soon after arriving in the USA just the day before.

I cancelled my ticket, but lost 25% of the fare paid. Not a major amount, but I still feel it is wrong. Not many firms can get away with entering into a contract to supply something, changing what is delivered, but then charging 25% because the substitute supplied is not suitable.

I have booked to fly instead. Got a cheap fare on Plummet Airlines.

Heck of a name for an Airline Eddie!

 

[Rasputin]

Two months of substantial cancellation of trains 448 and 449 from Sept. 1 to the end of October. No guarantee of any Albany - Boston express busses as a substitution. Just sad.

With all of the months of cancellations of these trains over the years, I would think that the "necessary" trackwork would have resulted in getting the speed on the line between Albany and Boston up to about 95 mph by now but nothing ever seems to change. These trains just get no respect from Amtrak, CSX, MBTA and Keolis. They all want these trains to just go away but 448/449 passengers are a rugged breed and we return for punishment time and again.

 

[Rasputin]

I am trying to piece together from various reports and comments what happened with the Boston sleeper earlier this month. It appears that the Boston sleeper went west to Chicago and a problem was found with the air conditioning. Maybe there was no air conditioning. Based on the comments, Chicago failed to fix the problem and the car came east on 448. The car was supposed to go out on 449(12) but because the repairs had not been made in Chicago, the car was bad ordered in Boston and the sleeper passengers in 449(12) were downgraded to coach. I don't know if an extra sleeper was added to 49(12) in NY to accommodate the Boston sleeper passengers or if the Boston sleeper passengers went all the way by coach. Corrections and additional information would be welcome.

As I have discovered from time to time, just because you have a sleeping car reservation for the Boston sleeper is not a guarantee that you will get to use it.

 

[fdaley]

I am trying to piece together from various reports and comments what happened with the Boston sleeper earlier this month. It appears that the Boston sleeper went west to Chicago and a problem was found with the air conditioning. Maybe there was no air conditioning. Based on the comments, Chicago failed to fix the problem and the car came east on 448. The car was supposed to go out on 449(12) but because the repairs had not been made in Chicago, the car was bad ordered in Boston and the sleeper passengers in 449(12) were downgraded to coach. I don't know if an extra sleeper was added to 49(12) in NY to accommodate the Boston sleeper passengers or if the Boston sleeper passengers went all the way by coach. Corrections and additional information would be welcome.

As I have discovered from time to time, just because you have a sleeping car reservation for the Boston sleeper is not a guarantee that you will get to use it.

I believe Steve4031 reported on this incident starting about post #20 in the thread "Trip Report: Brightline and the Silver Star." I will try link to that here:

https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/trip-report-brightline-and-the-silver-star.87770/#post-1048218

I gather from his report that an additional sleeper ultimately was not added to the New York section and that there were not enough remaining rooms in the NY sleepers to accommodate everyone who had reservations in the Boston car. So some, including him, wound up spending the night in coach.

 

[caravanman]

Following on from the bustitution change to my LSL from Boston to Chicago, I cancelled my ticket, but lost 25% of the fare paid. Not fair in my opinion, as I had been offered, and paid for, an all train ride.

I emailed Amtrak, and it looks like being a slow process to resolution:

"Dear EDWIN,
Thank you for contacting us regarding your refund. We apologize for the delay in responding, but we have been experiencing a high email volume. Your patience in this matter is appreciated.
We have forwarded your e-mail correspondence to our Customer Relations Department. A Customer Relations representative will contact you as soon as possible. Please be advised that a response may take several weeks."


Sounds like they have a lot of Customer Relations emails to deal with, one can only guess that most are lavishing praise onto Amtrak for the excellent service it provides...

 

[Trucker72]

We made the Downeaster to Lake Shore connection. As probably all of you know there's no baggage car on the Boston train. A few days ago I checked on sleeper availability on the website. It showed no rooms available. We figured we would be sleeping with our 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks and 2 camera bag's. Turns out that they do not sell roomettes 8 and 10. They store linens and water in those. Now they also have e everyone's bags piled in there everyone's bags piled in there.

 

[daybeers]

An egregious waste of taxpayer money right there...who forgets a storage closet?? Sigh.

 

[fdaley]

We made the Downeaster to Lake Shore connection. As probably all of you know there's no baggage car on the Boston train. A few days ago I checked on sleeper availability on the website. It showed no rooms available. We figured we would be sleeping with our 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks and 2 camera bag's. Turns out that they do not sell roomettes 8 and 10. They store linens and water in those. Now they also have e everyone's bags piled in there everyone's bags piled in there.

Do they really block out two roomettes on every run for storage? So much for maximizing sleeper revenue.

Doing away with baggage service at Boston was another Anderson-era innovation, like dining cars without dining.

 

[Daze]

I have had no issues with storing my luggage at the Chicago Metropolitan Lounge, as previous posters have said, Amtrak people keep the access pretty tight, and there are cameras, so I don't worry about it. For myself, I will point out that there is never anything in my roller bag or bigger luggage that I can't do without for a day or two. Anything vital to my well-being stays with me in a shoulder bag: Wallet, keys, garage door opener, passport, spare cash, medications, DSLR, extra lens, tickets and itineraries, phone and charger, etc. Can be a bit of a hassle, but this way if my bag is checked and lost, or stolen, it is only a minor inconvenience.