Tehachapi Ticketing Ordeal

[WhoozOn1st]

My ENVY got the better of me, so I booked northbound on the Coast Starlight (14) on June 22. I'll work on the details, but just HAD to be on that run. Traveler's relentless gloating got to me. And I thank him for that!

So went to Amtrak.com, found tickets still available, but still wasn't quite sure about the Tehachapi detour. Called Julie. Foillowing the usual riggamarole and wait I got an agent named Barbara. Told her I was ready to buy, but wanted to know for certain about the detour. Got put on hold of course, and the next time I heard a human voice - after listening to Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly" a couple times - it was some guy from Hertz asking what kind of car I would like to rent. Politely explained the situation, bade him farewell, hung up, and tried again. How did I get shunted over to Hertz!?

Following Julie again, and an even longer wait, got some guy named Arnold (coincidentally our governor's name) without the accent. Once again explained my situation. Again put on hold. But this time Arnold came back, and started reading me the memo about the Tehachapi detour. Stopped him in the middle of it: "Dude, that's all I needed to know. Thank you so much!" Explained that I'm a railfan, and the whole reason for the trip is the detour - rare mileage. Arnold was amused.

Click: BOOKED.

Wave from the southbound, Traveler!

 

[the_traveler]

My ENVY got the better of me, so I booked northbound on the Coast Starlight (14) on June 22. I'll work on the details, but just HAD to be on that run. Traveler's relentless gloating got to me. And I thank him for that!
Wave from the southbound, Traveler!

I'm confused - did you book 14 (the northbound) or 11 (the southbound)? :huh:

I'm on 14 also! (It's going to be a long trip! :lol: )

 

[WhoozOn1st]

My ENVY got the better of me, so I booked northbound on the Coast Starlight (14) on June 22. I'll work on the details, but just HAD to be on that run. Traveler's relentless gloating got to me. And I thank him for that!
Wave from the southbound, Traveler!

I'm confused - did you book 14 (the northbound) or 11 (the southbound)? :huh:

I'm on 14 also! (It's going to be a long trip! :lol: )

Guess I was confused too, about your itinerary. I'm definitely on 14. And a roomette, even! (pleasantly shocked one was available) So now, folks, I have my work cut out for me: Try to enjoy the ride while avoiding Mr. Gloat. A VERY long trip. HAHAHA!!!

Let's do lunch! Your people can call my people to set it up. HAHAHA!!

 

[the_traveler]

No hard feelings! I'll even buy lunch! :lol:

 

[wayman]

Let's do lunch! Your people can call my people to set it up. HAHAHA!!

Hey, does this mean your slice of your mother's birthday cake is now unclaimed?... Wouldn't want it to go to waste, y'know...

 

[the_traveler]

Let's do lunch! Your people can call my people to set it up. HAHAHA!!

Hey, does this mean your slice of your mother's birthday cake is now unclaimed?... Wouldn't want it to go to waste, y'know...

Nah! My people just claimed it as their commission! :lol:

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Hey, does this mean your slice of your mother's birthday cake is now unclaimed?

My mother herself is now unclaimed. Hey, it's Tehachapi!

 

[Steve4031]

I feel you on this one. I just did the same kind of deal with the Texas Eagle detour between chicago and St. Louis. As soon as the routing of the detour was confirmed: I yelled and booked a round trip sleeper. Everyone at worked looked at me . . . but who cares.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Everyone at worked looked at me . . . but who cares.

Who indeed? Stand up for your railfan rights!!

 

[Steve4031]

Say it loud I'm a Railfan and proud. To paraphrase a James brown song. LOl

 

[the_traveler]

Dr Gloat here!

As much as I hate to do it - I took the preventative side and cancelled my trip!

My thoughts and wishes are with those directly affected by the flooding in the midwest! But I also don't know how it would affect my travel plans.

Right now the SWC is operating, but who knows what till happen on 6/20-22 when I go thru. True, it may just get detoured and/or delayed, but unless I get to LAX by 10:15 on 6/22, I'll miss the CS! And on the return, I'll be on the EB - but right now that is not running. I could even come back on the CZ - but that is not running either!

Nothing personal, but I don't feel ike being stuck on the wrong (er - I meant the west :lol: ) coast!

And also, on the return, the Thames River Bridge (in CT) closure had been delayed until ___! I'd hate to find out it was delayed until June 28-29 - when I return!

So I'll have to hold my visit to LA until October!

-------

BTW - I redeemed AGR points for this trip. It included a roomette on part of the trip. This cancellation was within the 7 day cancellation period. THERE WAS NO PENALTY! So either the penalty doesn't matter if AGR points are redeemed - or they are giving an exception due to the flooding!

 

[AlanB]

Sorry that things didn't work out, but I definately understand your concerns.

 

[daniel3197]

Probably much BETTER to cancel your trip than to plan a very--very CLOSE connection.

You would then have had a LOT of anxiety about arriving Los Angeles and possibly missing your train by 15 or 30 minutes.

I NEVER NEVER plan any TIGHT connections myself for that very same reason.

Any missed connection could really ruin what is supposed to be a relaxed and FUN vacation trip on Amtrak.

I do hope you can reschedule your trip so that you do not have any crazy and close connections !

Good Luck on any future trips that you make !

=== Daniel

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Say it loud I'm a Railfan and proud. To paraphrase a James brown song. LOl

 

[WhoozOn1st]

As much as I hate to do it - I took the preventative side and cancelled my trip!

Sorry to hear that. Now I'll have nobody but innocent passengers to harass. Not that there will be all that many on a run like this, rare mileage through the Tehachapis, and with advance notice.

Will I now be the de facto AU representative aboard the Tehachapi detour northbound?

Don't worry, I'll be on my finest behavior, and put my best foot in my mouth. I mean forward.

As I did on the steam excursion, I'll spread the good word about Amtrak Unlimited. I have little "cards" - smaller and on regular paper - that I printed up to hand out in case the topic arises; with me around, it almost always does eventually.

Have Fez, Will Travel.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

If anybody in NorCal wants to make last minute plans for this rare mileage trip southbound (11), tickets were still available about 10 minutes ago, as were roomettes, and at a lower bucket (by 70 bucks, w/roomette; $237 vs. $307) than I paid for 11, which is sold out. That would be for SAC to LAX, June 22.

EDIT: SAC-BFD (Bakersfield) is also available on 11.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

than I paid for 11, which is sold out.
EDIT: SAC-BFD (Bakersfield) is also available on 11.

Screwed THAT up. And nobody said a word! I'm on 14, which is sold out.

At any rate, at this late hour reserved coach and roomettes on 11 are STILL available - SAC/LAX - and at good prices. As even merely a medium-core railfan this is difficult to fathom. But there you have it.

As AlanB said in another thread, this run is far more scenic, and far more rare, than the Wyoming bypass of Moffat Tunnel.

No, I am not an Amtrak sales agent.

Fair Warning: There WILL be pictures.

 

[wayman]

At any rate, at this late hour reserved coach and roomettes on 11 are STILL available - SAC/LAX - and at good prices. As even merely a medium-core railfan this is difficult to fathom.

If you can get me to SAC, I'll do it and take lots of pictures! Promise!

My father heard on a different railroad board that this may be the first of two CS reroutings through the Loop this summer, the second happening "late summer/early fall". Has anyone here heard anything of the sort? If it's true, I'll definitely be on that one.

Also, Whooz, did you know there will be *three* private vistadomes on 14?

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Also, Whooz, did you know there will be *three* private vistadomes on 14?

This is VERY bad news, far as I'm concerned. Though I was living in fear of such a development it was kind of expected. That's gonna wreck the potential for photography directly aft. At least I'll get shots of the culprits at LAUS.

While scouring the web for details about the route I ran into a photo of a Starlight through Tehachapi (2005, if memory serves) with a private car tacked to the end. "Rats. Hope that doesn't happen this time." Oh well.

Hey wayman, do you or your dad (or ANYBODY) know anything about the route out of L.A.? The only stuff I found (Thursday) was kinda cryptic. Then again I'm not the world's most proficient internet sleuth, so I'm left with some guesses.

 

[the_traveler]

My father heard on a different railroad board that this may be the first of two CS reroutings through the Loop this summer, the second happening "late summer/early fall". Has anyone here heard anything of the sort? If it's true, I'll definitely be on that one.

Hopefully it's true - and hopefully it will be around October 9-12!

If so, we'll ALL be on it! B)

 

[wayman]

This is VERY bad news, far as I'm concerned. Though I was living in fear of such a development it was kind of expected. That's gonna wreck the potential for photography directly aft. At least I'll get shots of the culprits at LAUS.

Here's the link for the vistadome tour operator website, so you can at least know who the culprits are in advance. (That website says two private cars; dunno why I thought it was three earlier.)

On the bright side, they seem to know everything about the route! From their site:

THE ITINERARY

June 22 SUNDAY: LOS ANGELES-MOJAVE-TEHACHAPI-BAKERSFIELD-STOCKTON-SACRAMENTO and on north to Portland, Oregon .Seattle, Washington . Depart Los Angeles Union Station at 10:15am with our private rail cars coupled to the rear end of Amtrak No. 14, the northbound "Coast Starlight". Our private car consist on No. 14 will be the Silver Lariat and Silver Solarium. The regular arrival time in Sacramento is scheduled for 11:50PM on June 22. But because of the shorter route that No. 14 will take today we estimate the actual arrival time will be more like 10:00PM, in which case the train will be held in Sacramento, until the scheduled departure of 11:59PM.

Here is a condensed run down of the route: At Burbank Junction we start our detour and head out on the Valley Subdivision soon entering tunnel 25 which take us under San Fernando Pass and out into Newhall and then up the Soledad Canyon through Ravenna and Vincent before dropping down into the Mojave Desert at Palmdale Junction, where we enter onto the Union Pacific's Mojave Subdivision and run north through Lancaster and on to Mojave.

At South Mojave ,the BNSF's line from Barstow joins the UP and we start the long climb into the mountains. Departing Mojave the freight traffic can be very intense at times as we turn northwest and start the steeper climb up into the Tehachapi Mountains. For the next 24 miles between Mojave and Cable is double track with traffic set up to handle trains in both directions. If conditions are just right we could be crossed over and run around a slow moving freight or two before arrival at Cable. From here is it single track down the steep mountain with passing sidings every few miles. Five miles north of Cable is the famous Tehachapi Loop and then another 10 miles further down the mountain we start down the Cliff-Caliente Loops. We will run through 12 tunnels on the north slope of the Tehachapi Mountains.

Once in Bakersfield, we run north over the BNSF route of Amtrak's San Joaquin Valley passenger trains to Stockton once in Stockton No. 14 will be switched off to the former WP mainline heading for Sacramento. Departing Stockton No. 14 could be sent via the former WP or former SP line to Sacramento and on north to Oregon.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Cool, and just in time for my own departure. THANKS, wayman!!