Late Zephyr Results in New Coffee Shop

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Agent

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Here's a story about a new coffee shop named "Coffee Depot" that opened up recently near the Amtrak station in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It says the idea for the shop was formed while a couple was waiting for a late California Zephyr, and decided the vacant laundromat across the tracks would be a great place to open a new coffee shop for people waiting on a train. So, after partnering with the husband's friend who's a manager at a bank, that's what they did (at a later time, not while they were still waiting for their train).

The Coffee Depot is train-themed with railroad pictures and signs on the walls. There also a plan to have model trains run too.

The story list the hours for the store as, "6 a.m. to 1 or 2 p.m., or whenever the train comes in." That suggests they are more focused on people waiting for the eastbound train, #6. Although I think there have been a couple times this summer when #5 made it to Mount Pleasant before #6.

Might be worth checking out in case you're ever waiting for a train there.

If you can't read the story with the first link, there's an audio version here.
 
On more than one occasion I picked up something from the vending machine at the laundromat while waiting for a late west bound. I hope the coffee shop is successful.
 
Talk about lateness, the Califronia Zephy is hardly ever on time.The average lateness into DEN has averaged 177 minutes over the past few weeks. Three hours late should be considered unacceptable but nothing is ever done to improve things. I hope that someone from Amtrak reads this post and fixes the problem so that I can stop complaining.
 
Short of Amtrak running its own track, what can Amtrak do to reduce delays here? I don't think they want to be running three hours late.
Amtrak has or is supposed to have an agreement with the frieght railroads for priority. I often wonder why this is not being enforced. Amtrak pays the railroads millions for use of the freight routes and receives second class service. Don't the freight railroads have an obligation to deliver on what Amtrak pays for and has every right to deserve?

Amtrak loses millions on lateness and this should be the congressional focus of coss savings instead of worrying about a $9.95 burger that costs Amtrak $15 to deliver.
 
Nice article, thanks for posting. All they need to add, would be a railroad frequency scanner to 'entertain' the customer's.... :)
 
Nice article, thanks for posting. All they need to add, would be a railroad frequency scanner to 'entertain' the customer's.... :)
Maybe. As my wife reminds me on a too-regular basis, the random noise of scanner chatter can be pretty disruptive to folks wanting to quietly converse. Possibly OK at very low volumes; certainly not "railfan platform" levels like at Rochelle or Folkston.

We must visit this coffee shop. Soon. We are - seriously! - working on the same thing for our town, with six trains a day. Our problem has been acquiring a space close to the station. Somebody beat us to a couple of prime spots, and one other turned out to be structurally unsound. :(
 
Short of Amtrak running its own track, what can Amtrak do to reduce delays here? I don't think they want to be running three hours late.
Amtrak has or is supposed to have an agreement with the frieght railroads for priority. I often wonder why this is not being enforced. Amtrak pays the railroads millions for use of the freight routes and receives second class service. Don't the freight railroads have an obligation to deliver on what Amtrak pays for and has every right to deserve?

Amtrak loses millions on lateness and this should be the congressional focus of coss savings instead of worrying about a $9.95 burger that costs Amtrak $15 to deliver.
I seem to recall a law suit regarding that agreement. The suit has been making its way through the courts for some time now.

Case law

Supreme Court Opinion (9-0) vacating the Appeals court decision on March 9, 2015
 
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I stopped today, and purchased the last cinnamon roll. It large and had plenty of icing. Coffee was good also.

Seemed to be fairly busy, as Amtrak 6 was about 2 hours late.

Greg
 
I wonder if there's enough time for a through-passenger to get off and get something. Or is that wishful thinking? Or maybe the cafe brings goodies over to the station side of the tracks? No, that would probably just delay the train.
 
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The coffee shop is on the opposite side of train from passengers boarding and detraining.

Depends on how bad you want to spend 24 hours in Mt. Pleasant, while your luggage goes on to Chicago!

I wouldn't chance it.

Greg
 
Nice article, thanks for posting. All they need to add, would be a railroad frequency scanner to 'entertain' the customer's.... :)
Maybe. As my wife reminds me on a too-regular basis, the random noise of scanner chatter can be pretty disruptive to folks wanting to quietly converse. Possibly OK at very low volumes; certainly not "railfan platform" levels like at Rochelle or Folkston.

We must visit this coffee shop. Soon. We are - seriously! - working on the same thing for our town, with six trains a day. Our problem has been acquiring a space close to the station. Somebody beat us to a couple of prime spots, and one other turned out to be structurally unsound. :(
Good point....not all customer's would be enamored of hearing a scanner.... ;)

Good luck on your endeavor...maybe some other reader's of this forum might get motivated to something likewise....even if it's just having a New York style food cart trackside somewhere.... :)

Keep us posted on how you make out.....
 
The coffee shop is on the opposite side of train from passengers boarding and detraining.

Depends on how bad you want to spend 24 hours in Mt. Pleasant, while your luggage goes on to Chicago!
Wouldn't mind a 24 hour stay at all. Mount Pleasant appears to be a nice little town, about twice the size of the one I live about 5 miles from. Decent hotels and a Wally World too! Better there for me than an overnight in Chicago. But I wouldn't want to get stuck there overnight on the Labor Day weekend when (according to this... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Thresher%27s_Reunion ...100,000 visitors flood the little town for the festivities. That's about 12 times the town's population. WOW! :eek:

Regards
 
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