CONO leaving later 06-31 March 2017?

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River Cities

Train Attendant
Joined
Nov 16, 2014
Messages
16
Location
STL
Wednesday I got an e-mail with an updated eTicket for my northbound trip on the City of New Orleans (CONO). No explanation accompanied, but I eventually noticed the departure time had been moved back. Yesterday I got the phone call alerting me to the schedule change. Based on searching several dates, it looks like the train now leaves New Orleans at 17:45 (5:45pm) for most of March, but has the regular schedule again in April.

I don't see any service alerts for the train on the website. Is this for track work or some other occasion? (In this case I'm sure not complaining about having extra time down south instead of a longer layover in Chicago!)
 
I picked a random date in March and saw the 5 pm departure. It's enticing because this timing, with a little luck provides for a daylight (sunrise) crossing of the Ohio near Cairo, IL.

Just wish the diner food wasn't so crappy.
 
Since the CONO is leaving later, it is not critical to Amtrak if passengers arrive at their stations at the original departure times. They just have to wait. Not like when the the SL departs LA early plus all the stations along the route to San Antonio. In this case those arriving at the original times would miss their trains. Just trying to imagine the logic used by Amtrak.
 
Trackwork indeed affecting 58(6MAR) through 58(31MAR) and also 390(7MAR) through 390(1APR). 58 and 390 have swapped slots during this time period Carbondale through Chicago.
 
Will Amtrak guarantee connections from the CONO to CZ, SWC, and Empire Builder during this time. I have connected for the CONO to CZ many times on my previous Amtrak trips. I guess they could make CZ connecting passengers disembark at Champaign and be bused to Galesburg.
 
The accounting on this one is going to be a nightmare: 58's time in southern IL is quite lousy normally while 390's is quite good.

Also, does anyone know why 58 is showing sold out for this period?

Edit: Also, if the trackwork is in Mississippi it is almost assuredly not north of JXN. North of JAN, however...

And yes, I had to look that up, though I thought I remembered JXN being the one in MI. Don't sweat it; a few pax have made the same mistake as well on the day of travel.
 
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City of New Orleans Train 58 Schedule Change Effective March 6 through April 1, 2017Track work being performed by Canadian National Railway will affect the northbound schedules of Trains 58, as described below:

Train 58: New Orleans to CarbondaleStarting March 6 through March 31, 2017, Train 58 will depart New Orleans four hours later (at 5:45 pm), and depart four hours later at all stations through its arrival at Carbondale at 7:22 am. From Carbondale through Chicago, Train 58 will be combined with Train 390 and will follow that schedule to arrive in Chicago at 1:00 pm.

Customers with tickets for Train 58 should note that the train will depart all stations according to this later schedule.

Train 1158: Carbondale to ChicagoIn order to maintain the normal pattern of three daily round-trips between Carbondale and Chicago, from March 7 through April 1, 2017, Train 1158 will operate from Carbondale to Chicago.

Customers with tickets for travel between Carbondale and Chicago on Train 58 during this period will instead travel on Train 1158.

The northbound schedule for Train 392 and the southbound schedules for Trains 59, 391 & 393 are unchanged for this period.

For the complete schedule information, visit Amtrak.com, use our free mobile apps, speak with station personnel or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

Thank you for traveling with Amtrak.

PSN 0317-61
 
I'm taking 58 next week on the new schedule up to CHI. Curious to find out if an "express lunch" will be served prior to arrival. My gut says no, but I guess it's possible. For the record the train has been arriving in CHI over an hour late (past 2pm) each day since this schedule was implemented.
 
Will Amtrak guarantee connections from the CONO to CZ, SWC, and Empire Builder during this time. I have connected for the CONO to CZ many times on my previous Amtrak trips. I guess they could make CZ connecting passengers disembark at Champaign and be bused to Galesburg.
Unless the projected arrival time in CHI is very close to the expected departure time for the CZ and SWC, i expect that Amtrak will bus them fks to Galesburg.
 
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We rode 58 back from New Orleans to Chicago March 6-7th. Around lunchtime on the 7th our room attendant let us know we could get a meal from the Cafe for free before our train arrived in Chicago, but were limited to a few choices of hot or cold sandwiches. We grabbed a couple of cheeseburgers and a bag of chips. So it seems with the new temporary schedule they are feeding sleeping car passengers.
 
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