First time this year for me on Amtrak, I consider myself a veteran of them since '72, many times cross country. Did Buffalo - Worcester on the Lake Shore, and I'll toss out a couple observations, maybe not new to you but new to me: 1) I'd never used Depew (Buffalo) as a boarding location before, I'll do that again. Fully-open station 24/7, newer depot, easy to get to and FREE PARKING. Nice train watching spot to boot, benches on the platform and not fenced. 2) Despite low expectations, the "Late for Sure" was only 20 minutes late heading eastbound, running the following consist at pre-Thanksgiving levels: 2 P42's - baggage - 3 Viewliners - Horizon-class diner - Metroliner-style lounge, 4 metroliner-style coaches. 3) According to the conductor, the train was completely sold out. I considered myself fortunate to get a north-side (no sun glare for a nice daylight run) window seat. But others were hunting for a seat, any seat, despite reserved-seat status. 4) Rochester was a struggle with a long train and short platforms; we made 3 stops. Not much remains there today of the NYC era. 5) Syracuse has a nice, modern facility. CSX did an adequate job of dispatching; heavy trackwork between Syracuse and Utica in the immediate area of the last major freight train wreck (cars still strewn about), usually 60mph running, good ride except on the crossovers, which are just as rough as Conrail ever was. Heavy freight traffic even for Sunday. 6) Utica was a surprise on Sunday with the Adirondack Scenic idling at the platform in a GP7/F7/C425 lashup for some kind of special. That was nice! Another surprise was that the lunch in the diner was good; really good. 7) From about Fonda to Albany, the track noticeably smoothed out and we took it up to 79 or possibly even higher (couldn't spot mileposts to time it) but it was hot, smooth, and fast. 8) The timetable is SO PADDED we managed to arrive only 10 minutes late in Albany! I always thought the train was split, but we changed to a #448 at Albany with the following consist: P42 - baggage - coach/cafe - 3 metroliner-style coaches. Full but not sold out. 9) The Boston leg is a lot more leisurely, and this time of year, in darkness. 60mph maybe. But we arrived in Worcester only about 5 minutes late. Worcester's streets were all torn up, no place to park or even be picked up. Beautiful, historic, restored station that's completely impractical today. Great to tour, not great to use. I drove a moving van back, and I would have much rather taken the train. Very nice trip. It's REALLY nice to see the trains full, wide demographics, and amazing the number of people that had put on in California. Some griping, but most riders had just had it with the airlines this year (including me) and opted for the train this time. It's sure a different Amtrak than it was years ago. There's still some rough edges, but it's matured nicely, and people sure are using it now. It deserves to be supported and grown into something more than a transportation placeholder.
I'm looking forward to my second and my wife's (DakotaCowgirl) 4th trip on Amtrak come Easter. We'll be taking the 'Builder from Shelby to Chi-town, and the Capitol Ltd from Chicago to Alliance, OH. Hopefully CSX treats the Cap as well as they did the LSL for your trip! BNSF usually takes great dispatching care in keeping the EB on time. I distinctly remember a great trip on the Cal Z from Denver to Sacramento in 2004. Amtrak has the tiger by the tail, and ridership is climbing to unheard-of levels. If the keep their heads in the game, they can beat the airlines at their own game!
I found this useful. It's not Amtrak, but they've taken their online data and summarized it so you can basically predict how late you're likely to be, on the average. For some routes it's not necessary, but on the "Late for Sure" it was helpful to let my family know when I'd be likely to arrive: Amtrak Train Status History - Check On time performance and Amtrak Delays One of the things that impressed me was just how well the average person can deal with a late train now. I mean, just think of it, compared to 10 or 15 years ago. I was carrying a cell, I had excellent coverage on-board the train (Verizon). About an hour out, I was calling ahead to let them know the ETA. As long as I had a cell, the schedule didn't matter as much. My son was watching the Amtrak website that day on the train performance and arrival stats. Between the web and cell phones, a lot of the pure irritation factors are mollified. Honestly, I think that's as much a reason as anything as to why train travel is resurging, because everybody is used to chronic delays anywhere now and plans accordingly. I coordinated the pickup with the cell so that I literally did a 'mailbag catch' in the middle of the street at Worcester. Without that little tool, it would have been a LOT more aggravating. And Amtrak business class was just loaded with laptops and DVD players and kids playing videogames. And unlike an airplane, there's plenty of room for that stuff in front of your seat. Not cramped at all. As an expiriment I toted along my laptop, plugged it in the outlet beside the seat, and was testing wireless reception at stations. I had a connection, somewhat fleeting, but still a connection, at several places. If I'd had a Sprint card (which I will soon) I'll bet it would have worked as well. There's the next technology advantage to rail, in the offing.
Take the Train!! There is NO WAY I will fly on any airline. I don't care for the hassle and the lousy service. The airlines are so hap-hazardly run that my safety is another consern. If the airlines can't keep you and your suitcase together how well are the planes maintained? I'm not afraid to fly as I'm a USAF Vet and flew all over while in the service. Three years ago we took the Amtrak Empire Builder from Vancouver to Milwaukee. We went first class with a bedroom. The train crews and staff were excellent. The food in the diner was top notch. Glass dishes and metal silverware. Linen tablecloths and napkins too. The food was cooked to order and was also first class. Eat your Hearts Out Airlines. Since we were on the BNSF we were on time for the most part. We arrived in Milwaukee only 12 minutes late. On the return we arrived in Vancouver about 20 minutes late. We were an hour and ten minutes late out of Williston due to a medical emergency on the train west bound. While Amtrak isn't the service the railroads had in the past it is still a great way to travel.
70 minutes late out of Williston, ND, and still only 20 min late into Vancouver? Wow, they flew across the prairies west of there! That late train site is neat, and a great resource! Thanks for sharing!
Oh, the other thing.... the price of the coach ticket Buffalo - Worcester was $48. Lets see, 520 miles, the van gets 21 mpg, gas was $3.39 across NY; that's $84 worth of gas and about eight hours in the saddle, too. Add in the free parking and it wasn't even close. You don't have to be a railfan to love that.
70 minutes late to 20 minutes late The station stops were shortened and yes the engineers were really pouring on the speed where they could. The station stop in Havre Montana is supposed to be a half hour stop but they cut it to fifteen minutes. Minot was also a short stop. Just about anywhere the track would permit it the train was really honking it on.
On my first Great Amtrak Adventure in July 1972, the Amtrak "Chief" (yes, the "Chief", not the Southwest Chief or Super Chief) left Chicago on time and got stuck waiting for the National Limited to arrive in KC. It had a 'cross county' transfer of coaches and sleepers, and we waited nearly three hours for it. Chessie really struggled with that train. West of KC, those old leased ATSF warbonnet F-units running ABAB really hooked it up. West of Dodge City, we were doing 38-second miles, mile after mile (95mph) on the jointed rail, raising a massive cloud of ballast dust behind us. We howled all the way to Trinidad that way, and when we got out of Raton, resumed the pace again. By the time we hit Pasadena the next morning, we were like 30 minutes behind. Flying! I'll never forget that. It's the fastest I've ever gone outside the Northeast Corridor, and jointed rail to boot.
I can relate to the "just-born" Amtrak days of '71-'72. In March '72 the City Of New Orleans, still in IC livery, was clocking 100+ by the time it topped the elevated grade 2-3 miles south of CHI Central Station. It remained at that speed until we hit a stuck red-board about a mile out of Champaign station. Man, what a ride...!
I was recently viewing a Chicago area video. It's time frame, includes some early Amtrak trains. Interesting to again see the mish-mash of equipment, which was dumped on them at formation. The diesels needing serious work, belching huge clouds of smoke. Times have changed. Evolution. Boxcab E50
Ah, for us old turkeys who rode the REAL Lake Shore Limited on the New York Central, if one asked the conductor if the train would be on time for the next stop, the conductor might respond "Young man, you are riding on the NEW YORK CENTRAL." They were proud, and almost always on time. Sigh, so long ago. :tb-sad:
Hey guys: Not on Amtrak. But when I "deadheaded" as a young IC brakeman out of Champaign to Centralia in 1968 I rode the cab of the City of New Orleans and we pegged the speed at 112 MPH. There were only five curves in 131 miles and we were moving. The funny thing though, was unless you looked out the window and saw traffic on US 45 moving slowly at 70-75 MPH you really didn't feel the sensation of speed. The IC at that time had 55 MPH max speed for freight trains and 75 MPH for Nos. 50/51 the Fastback piggyback trains. It was sad to see the new "IC" pull up the double track through downstate Illinois but I guess the train density wasn't there to support the maintainence costs. I miss the days of orange and brown streamliners. Saturday memories from an old IC man. Barry
Memories Once it was common to have trains run on a schedule and keep on time. Never more. BNSF did a respectable job when we rode the Amtrak Empire Builder. Union Pacific says they can handle it but from the Amtrak Coast Starlate arrival times it dosen't look like the Union Pacific can handle it. At one time on the late Southern Pacific if a freight train held up a passenger train the crew of the freight was in the superintendents office in short order for a chewing out session. The Amtrak Coast Starlight has been renamed the Coast Starlate account of U.P.'s poor performance.
