Amtrak reservation system quirk?

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JeffW

Train Attendant
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
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85
Location
Rochester, NY
Hi, all. An interesting quirk that my mom is running into:

Setting a reservation for a round-trip from Elkhart to Cumberland in September and October places the rider on the Capital Limited on the way out, as you'd expect. On the return trip, it gives me these options:

Ride the CL from Cumberland to Elkhart

or

Ride the CL from Cumberland to Toledo, and then take the LSL from Toledo to Elkhart.

My mom claims that she only sees the layover option, but I seem to find both options on my computer. If this persists, I'll order the tickets for her.

Any thoughts on why the layover option is given? From my years of living near Toledo, I don't recall any particularly attractive sights near the train station (especially at 6am). Of course, I'm one of those who would take the layover just to see the LSL pull into the station!

Thanks for any thoughts!
 
You are better off reserving each trip separately for a number of reasons.

I have never seen a layover option in TOL to switch from the CL to the LSL, but I would not want to select that option. Better to go with the straight trip on the CL between Cumberland and Elkhart
 
There have been a lot of little system quirks. Some included available fares where there might be a convoluted routing to go just 150 miles in maybe 18 hours. Then it seems like someone is watching AU and it disappears.
 
Her CL would be in the station at 1149pm and her LSL would pick her up at around 7. 7 hours in the Toledo Amtrak Station would be awful. I love it but the only thing that is cool there is T-Center where most NS Traffic gets through, but at night you can't really see anything, especially with NS's black paint.
 
I was pricing out a trip from the east coast to Chicago during double points season and saw the Toledo layover option. I'm seriously tempted to book it for the extra 200 points!
 
Hi, all. Thanks for the points.

Strangely, I was able to book it for her just fine...Maybe it was the computer she was using?

In the meantime, I'll take our 3-year-old on a trip to Chicago next weekend. He's looking forward to seeing skyscrapers.
 
I was pricing out a trip from the east coast to Chicago during double points season and saw the Toledo layover option. I'm seriously tempted to book it for the extra 200 points!
A layover in Toledo with a change of trains in the wee hours isn't really worth the 200 points!
Take a Hiawatha or Lincoln or Illinois Train points run when you get to CHI! Glennview or Joliet are good place es to layover, Galesburg if you want a longer day trip!

Edited: correct my misunderstanding about which trains would be involved in Toledo switch!
 
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Where do you get this 7 hours? :huh: #29 arrives around 5 am and #49 departs at 6:15 am - which I understand to be just 1 hour!
Exactly. The ride to PA would be straight through on the CL. The Return would be on the CL with an optional layover to the LSL. The hour or so layover is dependent on trains being on time. Interestingly, recent trends show the CL with better on-time performance than the LSL. One concern would be if the CL were so late, it would miss the LSL.

Just to confirm, I was able to get the through-tickets, so no layover. My mom wouldn't enjoy hanging out to watch trains as much as I would!
 
I was pricing out a trip from the east coast to Chicago during double points season and saw the Toledo layover option. I'm seriously tempted to book it for the extra 200 points!
A layover in Toledo with a change of trains in the wee hours isn't really worth the 200 points!
Take a Hiawatha or Lincoln or Illinois Train points run when you get to CHI! Glennview or Joliet are good place es to layover, Galesburg if you want a longer day trip!

Edited: correct my misunderstanding about which trains would be involved in Toledo switch!
Chicago is home base for me. And I'm a night owl (so usually awake in Toledo, anyway.) An hour in an Art Deco gem with some interesting historical rail photography, and an opportunity to watch a couple of freight trains pass, for no extra money and 200 extra points is FAR better than trekking downtown and spending ANY money for a hop to Glenview or Joliet.
Daytrip to Milwaukee, Springfield, or even Bloomington, Normal OTOH, is well worth while.
 
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