Thanksgiving Week Dome/Chicago

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rtabern

rtabern

Conductor
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
1,606
Location
Northwest Wisconsin
Just seeing if anyone has any "inside" information on the movements of Amtrak's Great Dome "Ocean View" #10031 for next week? For the past 4 years now it's been run on the Hiawatha the Mon, Tue, Wed, and Thrs of Thanksgiving Week... then down to St. Louis on Fri & Sat... and back on the Hiawatha on Sunday for one last run.

As usual, my sources at Amtrak have told me thus far, there is nothing indicating this will happen for next week. Got the same response the last 3 years and it's always run.

Any sightings down in the yard in Chicago, etc?

We are hoping to ride it on "Black Friday" down to St. Louis and a couple of rounds on the Hiawatha.

They seemed to stop "promising it" and "promoting it" running after several trips on the Cardinal got cancelled in 2010 and 2011 due to weather and mechanical problems... and more mechanical problems in 2013 that caused it not to run to St. Louis (on that trip, several railfans were riding and apparently demanded their money back -- I was not on that, but heard it through the grapevine that some in Amtrak marketing were pissed with their phone calls and demand for vouchers and trying to get off the train before it left the gate).

Hope it comes back -- riding it TG week has become a tradition for us (see profile picture!)

We will try and catch #329 on the way to work next Monday morning to see... unless someone has some good info for me on here.
 
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If it follows previous years' patterns... it is put on starting with Train #329 on the Monday before Thanksgiving (this year, that would be this coming Monday... November 23rd). We are going to try and catch it to verify.

TylerP42: It would run on Train #330 out of Chicago on Sunday, Nov. 29th, but that is the last day of operations for the week, presuming that it runs. If you meant Sunday, November 22nd, you might want to check the yards. We are coming in on #4 that arrives in Chicago on Sunday, November 22nd and will take a look too. But it wouldn't run until the next day on #329.

Hoping SOMEONE knows SOMEONE at Amtrak who can confirm... unless it truly is a last minute decision, but I don't buy that. Someone has to know out of Chicago Ops. Unfortunately, a lot of friends who would be in the know have left Amtrak in the past few years.
 
For those interested...

The where-abouts of the Am-Dome 10031 Ocean View remain a mystery. My internal Amtrak sources who are usually in the know dont seem to have a clue this year. I have heard it will run on the Hiawathas, to its still in Albany, to getting a much needed interior refurb, to the FRA having some issues with glazing and it being pulled. I ride almost every day when the Ocean View is in the Midwest but refrained from posting due to no concrete info this year. The past three years (2012-14) it has run on the Hiawathas the Mon, Tue, Wed, Thrs, and Sun of TG week... with runs to STL on the Fri, Sat using 303 and 306. However... it was not on yestetdays (Mondays) #329 like it normally has been. I caught it on the way to work. The conductor said a seventh car was supposed to be added, but due to the bridge issue on Sunday things got messsd up. He did not know if the extra car would be Ocean View or just an unstaffed cafe car. We are going to catch todays (Tuesday) 329 too here in the next hour on our way into work, but I have my doubts.

Too bad if its not on. We have made a TG tradition of brining dinner to the crews and doing a mini meal for them in the Ocean View.

We even got tickets way out to ride to STL on Friday on 303/306... which is or was the usual consist. We will probably still go, as we are researching that line to narrate on a private car charter in 2016... but still... would have been much better to be on Ocean View.
 
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I did hear from a third source this morning that #10031 has been taken down to Beech Grove for an interior refurb. I am not 100 percent convinced because I know Amtrak usually commits the car to the charters out of Leavenworth, WA in December and Reno in February. You would think a gutting of the interior would take place between March and September. Maybe they are doing some minor repairs? We rode it in July when it was randomly put on the Chicago to Carbondale teain for a few days and the air conditioning was shot to hell in half of the car.

Sad though... riding it has become a fun TG tradition since 2010. On TG night the last three years we brought the crew on the Hiawatha frain set with the dome some of our leftovers since they couldnt be witg their families.

BTW this mormings 329 had a 7th car... NE Regional cafe car, unstaffed.
 
Glad I found this thread. I, too, am ticketed for a weekend trip to STL, having had the expectation of riding the dome. I may or may not keep to it now. Will look for you if I'm on the train!

I did have suspicions that it would not run this year, however. As I recall in the past, there was some sort of supplemental funding from the state which included the provision of having the dome run in Illinois Thanksgiving week. With the budget crisis, perhaps that money was not made available - thus, no dome.

Saw both trains pass through the north side of Chicago within the last hour. And, as rtabern noted, no dome on either.
 
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An alternate fan day trip of Chicago to Holland, MI and back, made possible as a day round trip by the special, supplemental service now becomes all the more intriguing.
 
NorthShore said:
An alternate fan day trip of Chicago to Holland, MI and back, made possible as a day round trip by the special, supplemental service now becomes all the more intriguing.
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Holland is a cute little town. Be sure to repeat that trip in the spring, when the tulips are in bloom.
 
Alas, it's usually an overnight turnaround. Only made possible as a day trip (admittedly with a short layover that doesn't allow time for visiting) due to the special Thanksgiving weekend added service.
 
NorthShore said:
Alas, it's usually an overnight turnaround. Only made possible as a day trip (admittedly with a short layover that doesn't allow time for visiting) due to the special Thanksgiving weekend added service.
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Yeah, the 6:00 a.m. departure time from Grand Rapids has prevented me from traveling on the Pere Marquette. I'd have to leave Kalamazoo at 5:00, and thaaaaaaat's never happening.
 
I have to leave my place about 5am to get to the station too! That's what I get for living way out in the country! It's also a reason I'm moving into the city, I'll be about a 10 minute walk to the station then.
 
hessjm said:
I have to leave my place about 5am to get to the station too! That's what I get for living way out in the country! It's also a reason I'm moving into the city, I'll be about a 10 minute walk to the station then.
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And so much closer to amazing restaurants! :)
 
We will check on #329 tomorrow (Wed.) morning. If its not on the busiest travel day... its not going to run this week and we will turn in our tickets.
 
rtabern said:
Steve4031 said:
BCon 303 11/27 has been sold out for months. There's still availability on 301.
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If the dome would be on... it would be on #303, not #301 on Friday.
You planning to ride?
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I'm on 21 this year. We usually take 303 to stl on Friday but with bc sold out months in advance we went with 21. I kind of thought that bc sold out from rail fans trying to get a jump on the dome.
 
Steve4031 said:
rtabern said:
Steve4031 said:
BCon 303 11/27 has been sold out for months. There's still availability on 301.
Click to expand...
If the dome would be on... it would be on #303, not #301 on Friday.You planning to ride?
Click to expand...
I'm on 21 this year. We usually take 303 to stl on Friday but with bc sold out months in advance we went with 21. I kind of thought that bc sold out from rail fans trying to get a jump on the dome.
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Hmmm... I claim the 5th. I can tell you 2 BC seats will probably open up around 8am if the Dome isnt on the Hiawatha this morning.
 
Yeah, with what appears to be a couple of glum, rainy days, I'm not sure that a trip through the flatlands of Illinois sans dome view will cheer me up all that much. I'm likely taking the voucher, too. Maybe next year!

Thanks for your diligence on this, rtabern.
 
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NorthShore said:
Yeah, with what appears to be a couple of glum, rainy days, I'm not sure that a trip through the flatlands of Illinois sans dome view will cheer me up all that much. I'm likely taking the voucher, too. Maybe next year!

Thanks for your diligence on this, rtabern.
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True. What a bummer it's not running -- like I said -- we made it a fun tradition the past 3 or 4 years to ride atleast a short segment on the Great Dome every day -- and then bring the crew working on Thanksigivng night some leftovers and set up a mini-buffet for them in the Dome. We were looking forward to a re-peat this year -- including a run down on 303/306 to STL on Friday -- but it's just not meant to be, I guess.

I still don't get why Amtrak keeps the Great Dome such a secret -- except maybe to avoid angry railfans asking for refunds if some hicups comes up and it has to get pulled. It was un-advertised the past few years... and then mysteriously ran for like a week between Chicago and Carbondale in June sans any explanation (we did one R/T on that).

We switched trains around this morning a bit... we're going to do #301 down to STL on Friday morning (business class), stay overnight, and come home the next day (got a cheap sleeper on #422). We are still going to head down to St. Louis, as my wife and I are researching the route for a new book we are writing for our "Outside the Rails" rail route guide series. It should be about 70 pages and sell for around the $15-20 range. We have driven the route three weekends and need to do one last sweep actually riding the route before sending our notes off to the publisher.

We are looking at a Dome ride on the Hoosier State on Sunday morning, too, since we didn't get to ride Ocean View.
 
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I really wish the IP dome ran through something more scenic or in greater daylight (south) and slightly later hours (north.)

I took a short trip aboard Ocean View a couple of years ago on the altered Friday runs, when it didn't get switched over from the Hiawatha. About a dozen or so passengers showed up at Union Station, expecting to ride it south. When we discovered it wasn't hooked up to 303, a friendly ticket agent figured out where it was, and offered alternative accommodation aboard the runs to Milwaukee. I was only able to go to Glenview, but thoroughly enjoyed it. I was interested in taking the trip to St. Louis last year, but could only confirm the dome was here the week of Thanksgiving, as publicity was so minimal. At which point all seats were high bucket, anyway, and I had another obligation. Expecting the usual, I got out ahead of it this year. Alas..

But I still think a trip to Springfield is in the offing next Spring. And, perhaps, St. Louis when the weather is warmer and it would be pleasant to walk around the mounds of Cahokia.

All the best on the book project! I'm jealous that you've also been able to drive it, as that must have enabled visiting some off beat interesting stuff. A fair amount of the route relatively parallels historic Route 66, doesn't it?
 
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