CL 30 running late on a consistent basis

I'm booked on the Capitol Limited 30 train from Waterloo to DC tonight. I've been noticing that it's consistently around 2 hours late getting to Waterloo from Chicago lately. I'm not sure if it's leaving Chicago late for a reason or if there's some sort of track work or traffic that holds it up.

10:23 scheduled boarding at Waterloo is fine for me, but midnight to 1 AM boarding times are…ugh.

I'm hoping for luck tonight but not holding my breath.

Both the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited have been encountering serious delays going both ways between Chicago and Cleveland on the Norfolk Southern segment. This has been going for at least a month, so no reason to think it will improve tonight. Norfolk Southern is apparently doing a lot of track work on the route. Be prepared for a late train at Waterloo and a late arrival in DC.

I figured it was something. Coming in from DC a few weeks ago we were stopped just past Toledo and sat for a very long time before proceeding to Waterloo.

Might have been faster to get off at Toledo and rent a car…heh.

Also, this site has the most entertaining anti-spam check ever.

It is unlikely that they will hold the CL to allow transfers from the Empire Builder which will come into CHI after 8PM.

They may hold the CL to allow transfers from the CZ which will come in about 6:30PM a couple hours late.

Late departures by the CL and LSL are quite often dictated by late arrivals by Western trains.

The good news is that the SW Chief has already arrived and passengers don't have to worry about connecting to another train.

I'm booked on 30 later this month connecting to the Star in WAS, a 2 hour connection. I'm expecting unless the Star is late to be bounced to the Meteor that night; hopefully the Roomette inventory on the Meteor will hold.....

When my folks came out to DC on the 30 a few weeks ago, they were taking people with WAS connections off at Pittsburgh and busing them or something according to my mother.

OlympianHiawatha said:

I'm booked on 30 later this month connecting to the Star in WAS, a 2 hour connection. I'm expecting unless the Star is late to be bounced to the Meteor that night; hopefully the Roomette inventory on the Meteor will hold.....

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I was booked on 30 connecting to the Star. I changed my reservation (which was an AGR reservation) to the Meteor. That connection right now is the least of my worries. Westbound, I will be attempting to connect from 49 to 5 and eastbound from 6 to 30. Hopefully, weather and track work will cooperate.

Departed Chicago only 20 minutes late. Maybe I'll get lucky

pennyk said:

OlympianHiawatha said:

I'm booked on 30 later this month connecting to the Star in WAS, a 2 hour connection. I'm expecting unless the Star is late to be bounced to the Meteor that night; hopefully the Roomette inventory on the Meteor will hold.....

Click to expand...

I was booked on 30 connecting to the Star. I changed my reservation (which was an AGR reservation) to the Meteor. That connection right now is the least of my worries. Westbound, I will be attempting to connect from 49 to 5 and eastbound from 6 to 30. Hopefully, weather and track work will cooperate.

Click to expand...

As my 30 rolls east, I'll be watching the clock and if enough time drops, I'll be on the phone to AGR making the change on the fly, err, roll unless we have a good Conductor who can work something out (hopefully not involving a bus). While there's less train time on the Meteor, it is scheduled into WPB only about an hour behind the Star.

afigg said:

Both the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited have been encountering serious delays going both ways between Chicago and Cleveland on the Norfolk Southern segment. This has been going for at least a month, so no reason to think it will improve tonight. Norfolk Southern is apparently doing a lot of track work on the route. Be prepared for a late train at Waterloo and a late arrival in DC.

Click to expand...

It's more then just track work.. NS just got a new Dispatching Software System and rumor has it... It sucks. Give it time and things will improve once the Dispatchers get used to the new software and the bugs are worked out.

I got somewhat lucky. It was only running 1 hr. late at waterloo. But we were 2 hours late getting into WAS

We have a reservation on 30 later this year with a connection to the Meteor. We have made the Star connection in the past but with the way things have been lately, it is a much safer deal to go with 97 and have some time in DC to explore rather than sit and worry about making the 91 connection.

Whatever is causing the Cap delays seems to be just as bad on the weekends as during the week. I always figured freight traffic and track work tend to ease up on Saturday and Sunday.

Acela150 said:

afigg said:

Both the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited have been encountering serious delays going both ways between Chicago and Cleveland on the Norfolk Southern segment. This has been going for at least a month, so no reason to think it will improve tonight. Norfolk Southern is apparently doing a lot of track work on the route. Be prepared for a late train at Waterloo and a late arrival in DC.

Click to expand...

It's more then just track work.. NS just got a new Dispatching Software System and rumor has it... It sucks. Give it time and things will improve once the Dispatchers get used to the new software and the bugs are worked out.

Click to expand...

That would explain a lot. Bear in mind that the combo of these factors is also causing fits for the MI trains as well.

30 is showing a Service Disruption out of CHI tonight (18 JUL). Any ideas what is going on up there now?

Seems to have been another issue between CHI and SOB.

Dick, Glad you made your SS connection today. Our trip to Fla in January will be on the Meteor since we cannot trust OTP for CL 30, the way things have been going. Looks like Alan, Jis and Company are making great time on the Lake Shore today as well. Early into NYP this afternoon. Must be our

AU power with Amtrak that kept your trains moving.

We changed our reservations from star to meteor since we did not trust the connection. When we got to WAS, we tried to switch back, but all sleepers were sold out.

pennyk said:

We changed our reservations from star to meteor since we did not trust the connection. When we got to WAS, we tried to switch back, but all sleepers were sold out.

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Amtrak: "It's like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get"

Wow, are the Silver Trains that busy in July, I thought people left Florida in the Summer except for the Disney Crowds??

Looks like alls well that ends well when it comes to the AU/OTOL Gang! Looking forward to stories from the Fest, True or Not! LOL

jimhudson said:

Wow, are the Silver Trains that busy in July, I thought people left Florida in the Summer except for the Disney Crowds??

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The Star is the first train out of the blocks each day and carries only 2 Sleepers; the Meteor does not leave until later that evening but carries 3 Sleepers. But because the Star wanders further into the Carolinas and makes the side trip over to TPA by the time it gets into south Florida, the Meteor isn't that far behind.

CL really late again today. Left Chicago last night only half hour down and by the time they arrived in Toledo, it was almost four hours late. 5am this morning into CLE and another late arrival into WAS later today. This is very disheartening to those who want to ride trains but find them very undependable. Talked to another friend of mine who rode the EB to Seattle last month on my recommendation. (We lost another Amtrak rider as he and his wife saw little exciting about being 8 hours late to their destination). And the beat goes on! :angry2:

OlympianHiawatha said:

jimhudson said:

Wow, are the Silver Trains that busy in July, I thought people left Florida in the Summer except for the Disney Crowds??

Click to expand...

The Star is the first train out of the blocks each day and carries only 2 Sleepers; the Meteor does not leave until later that evening but carries 3 Sleepers. But because the Star wanders further into the Carolinas and makes the side trip over to TPA by the time it gets into south Florida, the Meteor isn't that far behind.

Click to expand...

The first train of the day down the Atlantic Coast line, though it does not quite make it all the way to Florida, is the Palmetto to Savannah, the fastest "LD" train that Amtrak has. The Star is the second train of the day.

Unless the Amtrak Tracker is screwed up tonight's 30 Cap has been sitting dead in the water near Gary IN for at least 2 hours. If this is ongoing Dispatching trouble someone at Amtrak needs to grow a set and get that resolved NOW!