why is Capital Limited late every day?

[blackpup]

I've been checking and they are at least over an hour late every day into DC? Why is that? I could see once in awhile, but every day. Have only a 2 hour lee way between trains isn't much when you are in late and hope you don't miss your connections. So options are:

1) change from SS to SM, and take later train.

2) If coming in from CHI on sleeper, someone had mentioned that I can wait in lounge in DC. Does this mean someone would watch my luggage. I mean what do you do in a DC train station for 6 hours if train is on time. You don't want to carry you suitcase around with you if you want to go out exploring.

any tips, suggestions would be great.

I suppose I can always take the change of missing the train, getting a free hotel stay in DC (since I've never been, would be kind of cool) and taking train next day.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Blackpup:

Since you're coming in on a Sleeper ticket, you can use the Club Acela @ WAS Union Station. There is a large Closet like room behind the check in desk where you can leave your luggage for Free. I've not heard of anyone losing anything from here, just take the usual percautions of not leaving any valuables out and you'll be fine.

If you can get a comparable Fare I would urge you to connect to the Meteor instead of riding the Silver Starvation.

Our Nation's Capitol is a fascinating place to visit with much of the attractions being Free or affordable and close to Union Station.

As for riding in a Viewliner Rooomettes,they are much more comfortable more comfortable than Superliner Roomettes, but Superliner

Coaches are better than Amcan IIs.

So, consider riding Coach to Washington on the Cap ( it's an easy overnight trip with great scenery down the Potomac into WAS from the Sightseer Lounge) ) and taking the Meteorin a Roomette to Florida, you'd have Dinner and Breakfast in the Diner and arrive into Florida rested and ready to go!

 

[blackpup]

Blackpup:

Since you're coming in on a Sleeper ticket, you can use the Club Acela @ WAS Union Station. There is a large Closet like room behind the check in desk where you can leave your luggage for Free. I've not heard of anyone losing anything from here, just take the usual percautions of not leaving any valuables out and you'll be fine.

If you can get a comparable Fare I would urge you to connect to the Meteor instead of riding the Silver Starvation.

Our Nation's Capitol is a fascinating place to visit with much of the attractions being Free or affordable and close to Union Station.

As for riding in a Viewliner Rooomettes,they are much more comfortable more comfortable than Superliner Roomettes, but Superliner

Coaches are better than Amcan IIs.

So, consider riding Coach to Washington on the Cap ( it's an easy overnight trip with great scenery down the Potomac into WAS from the Sightseer Lounge) ) and taking the Meteorin a Roomette to Florida, you'd have Dinner and Breakfast in the Diner and arrive into Florida rested and ready to go!

Blackpup:

Since you're coming in on a Sleeper ticket, you can use the Club Acela @ WAS Union Station. There is a large Closet like room behind the check in desk where you can leave your luggage for Free. I've not heard of anyone losing anything from here, just take the usual percautions of not leaving any valuables out and you'll be fine.

If you can get a comparable Fare I would urge you to connect to the Meteor instead of riding the Silver Starvation.

Our Nation's Capitol is a fascinating place to visit with much of the attractions being Free or affordable and close to Union Station.

As for riding in a Viewliner Rooomettes,they are much more comfortable more comfortable than Superliner Roomettes, but Superliner

Coaches are better than Amcan IIs.

So, consider riding Coach to Washington on the Cap ( it's an easy overnight trip with great scenery down the Potomac into WAS from the Sightseer Lounge) ) and taking the Meteorin a Roomette to Florida, you'd have Dinner and Breakfast in the Diner and arrive into Florida rested and ready to go!

What is Amcan IIs?? Why are viewliner roomettes more comfortable?? There will be two of us in a roomette. Right now bedroom is to steep.

 

[wjh2]

1. There could be a multitude of scenarios that would make a train late (freight congestion, track work, accidents, mechanical breakdowns, weather). If you booked a a trip that involved a connection of 90 minutes or more between trains, Amtrak will guarantee it. If the Capitol Limited is late and you miss the connection, Amtrak may book you for the next day's train and put you up in a hotel on their dime.

2. The Silver Meteor sounds like a better option. That train has a dining car, the Silver Star does not.

3. Club Acela in Washington's Union Station does have a place where you leave your bags and then go explore the city.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Amfleet II, the Long Distance Coaches with Footrests and more Comfortable Seating than the Amfleet I Coaches that are used on Short to Medium Length runs.

Superliner Coaches (.and Sightseer Lounges) are Superior in all ways to all Amcans and Cafe/Lounge Cars!

Viewliner Roometes have two levels of windows including by the top bunk which has much more headroom than Superliners Top Bunks as well as include a toilet and sink in the room. ( the Shower is down the hall).

There is also a cubby hole for your luggage by the top bunk that will hold a couple of bags.

The Lighting and AC and heat are generally much better than in Superliner Roomettes also. ( the opposite is generally true in the Bedrooms however ).

Most of us prefer the Top bunk in a Viewliner,whether traveling alone or with another person!

 

[Ryan]

This doesn't look like "over an hour late every day" to me.



You would have missed your connection exactly twice over the last month:



Data from: https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/connections.php?a_train_num=30&c_train_num=91&station=was&date_start=05%2F12%2F2016&date_end=06%2F11%2F2016&df1=1&df2=1&df3=1&df4=1&df5=1&df6=1&df7=1&sort_dir=DESC&dfon=1

 

[blackpup]

ok, thanks for the suggestions.

 

[afigg]

Adding to Ryan's post, using the analysis tools at Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database, show that the median arrival delay for #30 at WAS is 40 minutes over the past month. #30 arrived more than 59 minutes late 10 trips out of 30. Not great, but not always an hour late.

Using the chart tool for average delays by station for a train shows that the delays normally for the eastbound #30 are building up from Chicago to Sandusky OH. (Link to chart results for #30). Changing the dates to the month of April shows a bar chart with lower delays and no particular pattern of delays building up on a specific part of the route. That the delays are now often taking place between CHI and SKY suggests that Norfolk Southern is doing track work and upgrade projects on that segment with the arrival of warmer weather.

As for a 6 hour layover at DC Union Station for the Silver Meteor, there is a lot you can do if you can store your luggage at the Acela Lounge. Capitol Hill and the Library of Congress are in easy walking distance of Union Station. Could make a quick trip to one of the (free) Smithsonian museums via DC Metro or the National Mall Circulator bus.

 

[the_traveler]

Besides the Viewliners roomettes having more headroom in the upper berth (you can actually sit up!), it also has a window - unlike "the coffin" of a Superliner.

 

[blackpup]

Sounds like a plan then. I will ride the EB one day early, change from roomette to coach on CL and get roomette on SM. Thanks for the tips. Yeah, I really don't like the idea of the upper bunk idea of the Super liner, that kind of freaks me out a bit. Looks like I have to pay an extra $70, plus whatever charge fee they charge me.

 

[Ryan]

No change fee. Just fare difference.

 

[neroden]

Standard perception of lateness for a transportation service is roughly the 90th percentile. (Maybe the 95th, for some people.) In order to make plans, people mentally throw out the worst 5% or 10% of delays, and then assume the worst case which remains.

So if a train is on time 80% of the time but over an hour late the other 20%, everyone treats it as a train which is an hour late all the time. This is understandable, and frankly Amtrak's contracts with the "freight railroads" ought to incorporate this concept.

So yeah, I look at that graph and I say "yep, that's a train where I have to assume it's an hour late all the time". It's over an hour late more than 10 times out of a sample size of 31. On the other hand, it's more than 90 minutes late only 3 times out of 31, so I don't think of it as "an hour and a half late all the time".

Just explaining part of human psychology regarding transportation.

 

[blackpup]

just modified on line. still don't know if I'm going to change dells to chi though. train looks mostly on time. but then it might just be my luck the day of my trip something goes wrong. Well, if I stay a day early though, what do you do with your luggage when hotel kicks you out at 11 and train leaves at 6 and you are riding coach.

Just wondering if the top bunks in the bedrooms of the superliners have very little head room also, like the roomettes in the super liners?

 

[Railroad Bill]

Superliner bedrooms still are a bit tight but because you use a ladder to access and have more open space on the sides and near the windows, it seems less constraining. We take the CL often and usually opt to connect to the Silver Meteor to be safe. No problem with storing your luggage in the back room in DC. So many things to do in Washington and with access via the Metros or buses, you can go almost anywhere with a minimum of walking if you wish. Air & Space Museum, National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, Botanical Gardens, and on and on and on.

 

[railbuck]

Well, if I stay a day early though, what do you do with your luggage when hotel kicks you out at 11 and train leaves at 6 and you are riding coach.

Most every hotel will let you store luggage for a few hours after checkout. Or, there are lockers for rent at Chicago Union Station.

 

[blackpup]

ok, everyone, thanks so much for the advice, tips and help

 

[blackpup]

I just have one more question, if there is no observation car on a viewliner, where can you go when you are tired of being cramped in a little roomette?

 

[jis]

The Lounge Car.

BTW the name of that train is Capitol Limited not Capital Limited.

 

[andersone]

the upper berth is too hard for either of us so we book two roomettes,,, it is hell getting old

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

Standard perception of lateness for a transportation service is roughly the 90th percentile. (Maybe the 95th, for some people.) In order to make plans, people mentally throw out the worst 5% or 10% of delays, and then assume the worst case which remains.

So if a train is on time 80% of the time but over an hour late the other 20%, everyone treats it as a train which is an hour late all the time. This is understandable, and frankly Amtrak's contracts with the "freight railroads" ought to incorporate this concept.

So yeah, I look at that graph and I say "yep, that's a train where I have to assume it's an hour late all the time". It's over an hour late more than 10 times out of a sample size of 31. On the other hand, it's more than 90 minutes late only 3 times out of 31, so I don't think of it as "an hour and a half late all the time".

Just explaining part of human psychology regarding transportation.

Murphy's Law of Amtrak trains: They're only late when you're on them.

 

[blackpup]

another question, is the CL usually busy in coach class going from CHI to DC? A roomette is only $166 extra, so for two people I don't think it is that bad. I would love to get a bedroom for both the CL and SM, but the prices are outrageously expensive, at least right now they are.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Go with the Roomette on the Cap for that price,( don't wait @ that price, they rise fast as rooms fill!) you'll have Dinner leaving Chicago (Make your rez in the Metro Lounge @ Union Station),and Breakfast or Brunch rolling through nice scenery in The Hills and alongside the Potomac into Washington.

This is a popular train so chances are Coach will be mostly crowded, plus you get the Low Bucket Rail Fare for Both with the Rooomettes!

 

[PaulM]

Murphy's Law of Amtrak trains: They're only late when you're on them.

In my case it's been upside down. Three out of the 4 times I've taken #30 to PGH to start a bike ride on the Great Allegheny Passage, it has been on time, and the other time only 1 hour late. That's Murphy's Law in action since I would much rather get there about 6:30 instead of being rousted out in the dark at 5:05AM.

I hate to be a spoil sport; but if delays are building up west of PGH, that's great because I'm doing it again in early July.

Regarding the OP's original question, If delays are consistent, then it's probably track work or freight interference. If it's usually almost on time, but sporadic very late arrivals, then it's probably something like engine failure, freight train wreck, trespasser, severe weather, etc.

 

[blackpup]

I scored roomette 2 for both CL and SM, by the layout of the superliner, 2 looks like a good place, right by the stairs and right by the toilet.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I scored roomette 2 for both CL and SM, by the layout of the superliner, 2 looks like a good place, right by the stairs and right by the toilet.

Excellent! Enjoy the ride!