Equipment Change on #29/#30

Per a post on train orders today 10/20, the Cap Ltd consists will have a combo Diner/Lounge (CCC) in place of the Regular Diner and Sightseer Lounge normally run on this route. This will be in effect until Nov. 20.

The claim is that due to the congestion on the NS Lines and the turn around of equipment in CHI from #29 to #30 that until the congestion has stopped, Amtrak put together a 3rd Train set for the Caps and they are short of Superliner Diners and Lounges, hence the CCC!

No mention of # of Sleepers or Coaches or any " temporary" schedule changes!

We had them on #30 last week & the cafe car guy indicated the change was being made.

Jim, this would be a fourth set for the Capitol. Currently there is one set that lays over for about 27 hours in DC. The "quick turn" is in Chicago where the set spins same day. If they were running with two sets then you would see 29 coming out of the gate late nearly every day, which hasn't been the case.

The original Amtrak announcement is at http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Alert_C&pagename=am/AM_Alert_C/Alerts_Popup&cid=1251626977249, for the record.

I wonder if the shortage is in the diners or in the lounges. If it's the lounges, seems like a perfect place to deploy the Auto Train lounges that are dormant since there's five of them, and only two needed to run in the trains (since they cut back to one lounge).

I saw #30 come through Chesterton IN tonight (10/20) on the webcam. It was about 1 hour late. The consist was 2 P42s and 5 cars. There was no baggage car, no SSL (as noted above) and presumably the CCC. I'm guessing that the rest was 2 sleepers and 2 coaches. I suppose that, since there was no baggage car, a regular (non-dorm) sleeper could have been used in part for dorm purposes.

Pete

So for once the CCC will actually be used as intended; I wonder where the Crew will hang out? Hopefully this will not last much past 20 NOV as the Cap scenery warrants a Sightseer Lounge.

Does this mean there will be reduced dining car capacity and it will take longer to get meals?

Barciur said:

Does this mean there will be reduced dining car capacity and it will take longer to get meals?

Click to expand...

Yes, only half the car is used for a Diner, the other half is the Cafe/Lounge!

The Texas Eagle and City of New Orleans regularly run these CCCs but usually also have a Sightseer Lounge. The Crew tends to use the Lounge half of the CCC as their hangout spot!

It seems , given the fact that the Cap was photgraphed (http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=502659&nseq=7) as recently as the 17th with eight passenger cars, but has now been cut down to five, presumably to accommodate adding another trainset, that passenger loads have plunged recently and probably the CCC is adequate for what passengers remain. So yes, reduced diner capacity, but also reduced demand.

I will report back in 2 weeks on how my adventure has gone then The closer it gets to the date the more interesting things become!

Since much of the Cap 29 & 30 ride is in darkness in the winter months. (time changes first of November), the lounges mainly serve as a sleeping place for lounge lizards.

We had CCC cars for several years in their original configuration but since most have been changed over to somewhat regular seating, they are not as bad as the original sets. \

If this move will get the Cap back on a more regular schedule until the track work is finished, it is good thing. It has been a nightmare for the past few months.

The Capitol Limited is suffering from the OTP catastrophe. I would expect it to be suffering even more than the LSL because about half of its traffic is "bridge" traffic connecting to other trains at DC or Chicago. (The LSL has lots of "on line" traffic from upstate NY and is *still* packing people in, even with the recent lateness.) The resulting loss in riders on the CL probably makes it possible to handle them with a CCC. :-(

Chicago reverts to std time from daylight time on 2 Nov. both before and after the clocj change, the CL leaves Chicago after sunset, so the hours run in darkness eastbound differ by minutes that time of year. The CL does not resume departing Chicago in daylight until 8 March 2015 with the return to daylight time.

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Ugh. This is going to be a royal mess if it persists, considering the Cap's "connection" role...

Honestly, it's a shame they couldn't just have "inconsistent" sets of equipment for the train so they could at least maintain decent loads part of the time (say, run an extra sleeper and coach on non-Cardinal days while boosting the Cardinal's capacity on its operating days like they have been).