Can a train depart early?

[zoltan]

Just looking at 3 stations for #2 (and remember that these are ALL in the future!):
SAS - Estimated on time

HOS - Estimated 1 minute late

NOL 0 Estimated 1 hour 31 minutes early

:huh:

Is this perhaps a more extreme version of what is routinely done in Britain - a few minutes - or in this case, more than that, in proportion with the length of the schedule - being added to the timing between the second to last station and the final station, to make the on time figures seem more favourable?

 

[the_traveler]

True - but it won't even get to SAS for 2 ½ hours! :blink: So how do they know it will get to San Antonio on time, get to Houston late and then get to New Orleans VERY early? :huh: (Unless UP has freights just waiting to jump out at #2, and then get out of the way as #2 highballs down the track! :lol: )

 

[ScottC4746]

True - but it won't even get to SAS for 2 ½ hours! :blink: So how do they know it will get to San Antonio on time, get to Houston late and then get to New Orleans VERY early? :huh: (Unless UP has freights just waiting to jump out at #2, and then get out of the way as #2 highballs down the track! :lol: )

Well, the current #2 that left LAX yesterday shows

Dep LAX On Time

The rest of these are arrivals

POS +7

ONA +5

PSN +8

YUM +24

MRC +14

TUS On Time

BEN +106

LDB +6

DEM No Information

ELP On Time

ALP On Time

SND On Time

DRT + 10 (doing so good until betwen Sanderson and Del Rio)

SAS En Route Scheduled On Time, one more hour until we know for sure.

 

[GG-1]

What are you, Eric's twin brother? :huh:

Of course not! I'm Eric's twin cousin, 23 times removed! (They keep removing me - last time it took the Marines, but I keep returning!) :lol:

His hair is a little Darker than mine :lol:

 

[ScottC4746]

Apparnetly the train arrived because now we have:

POS +7 minutes

ONA +5 minutes

PSN +8 minutes

YUM +24 minutes

MRC +14 minutes

TUS On Time

BEN +16 minutes

LDB +6 minutes

DEM No Information

ELP On Time

ALP On Time

SND On Time

DRT + 10 (doing so good until betwen Sanderson and Del Rio) Minutes

SAS - 38 minutes

HOS Est. On time

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Actually the AT is unique in that they collect the tickets in the station before you board. When you check in at the desk, they lift your ticket, give you a seat check (for coach), and your dinner reservation.

Why do you need a seat check? The Auto Train is also unique in that all the passengers have the same destination. Is this just a matter of assigning seats?

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Is this perhaps a more extreme version of what is routinely done in Britain - a few minutes - or in this case, more than that, in proportion with the length of the schedule - being added to the timing between the second to last station and the final station, to make the on time figures seem more favourable?

I'm sure I've seen #448 arrive at BOS 7-8 minutes early.

It's perfectly reasonable to pad the schedule to account for typical amounts of traffic, so that someone reading the schedule will get a reasonably realistic expectation of when they will arrive.

 

[AlanB]

Actually the AT is unique in that they collect the tickets in the station before you board. When you check in at the desk, they lift your ticket, give you a seat check (for coach), and your dinner reservation.

Why do you need a seat check? The Auto Train is also unique in that all the passengers have the same destination. Is this just a matter of assigning seats?

The passenger doesn't really need a seat check, it's more for the car attendants. And it's even possible with the new ticket holders that they've stopped handing out seat checks, I honestly didn't pay attention when I rode it last summer. But the attendant used to use the check to ensure that you were boarding the correct car, it provided a handy reference that he/she could pull out of your ticket holder to ensure you were assigned to that car and to direct you to your seats.

The new special AT ticket envelopes now have a space for the agents in the terminal to write your seat and car numbers on the front of the envelope/booklet. If IIRC it used to be written on the inside.

 

[sky12065]

The new special AT ticket envelopes now have a space for the agents in the terminal to write your seat and car numbers on the front of the envelope/booklet. If IIRC it used to be written on the inside.

Alan,

FYI I have the ticket envelope/booklet/pocket that I received my tickets in, and in looking at it I find that there is only space for Passenger and Reservation Number information on the front. (The agent only wrote in the reservation no.) There is no space for the seat and car numbers on either the outside or inside of the jacket. Just a lot of advertising on the outside and an Amtrak users guide on the inside. The print date of the document is 4/08. However, I don't know if what you're referring to is newer or if there are different envelopes for coach seats or for different locations .

 

[the_traveler]

The new special AT ticket envelopes now have a space for the agents in the terminal to write your seat and car numbers on the front of the envelope/booklet. If IIRC it used to be written on the inside.

I don't know if what you're referring to is newer or if there are different envelopes for coach seats

I've never taken the AT, so I can't say for sure, but I think that may be the answer. I take it you had a room, so you know which car and room you have. In coach, you don't know which car and seat you have ahead of time. But I could be wrong!

 

[sky12065]

The new special AT ticket envelopes now have a space for the agents in the terminal to write your seat and car numbers on the front of the envelope/booklet. If IIRC it used to be written on the inside.

I don't know if what you're referring to is newer or if there are different envelopes for coach seats

I've never taken the AT, so I can't say for sure, but I think that may be the answer. I take it you had a room, so you know which car and room you have. In coach, you don't know which car and seat you have ahead of time. But I could be wrong!

Me begin'n to thinkith that I should have asked what AT stood for instead of presuming it was an abbreviation for AmTrak! I can guess other things like Articulated Transport or the train that Duke Ellington played about!

ON EDIT: After originally posting this message I found a related video that I think that some of you might really get a kick out of... CLICK HERE!

 

[AlanB]

The new special AT ticket envelopes now have a space for the agents in the terminal to write your seat and car numbers on the front of the envelope/booklet. If IIRC it used to be written on the inside.

I don't know if what you're referring to is newer or if there are different envelopes for coach seats

I've never taken the AT, so I can't say for sure, but I think that may be the answer. I take it you had a room, so you know which car and room you have. In coach, you don't know which car and seat you have ahead of time. But I could be wrong!

Joe,

Unless you've been on the AT (Auto Train), then you haven't seen the special ticket envelopes/booklets that I'm talking about, they aren't used on any other Amtrak train. They have a place to write in the number assigned to one's car, to help in the claiming process at the other end, as well as a space for your accomodations. Additionally the booklet has a route guide, directions to the terminals, and other interesting/valuable information.

 

[PaulM]

Just for the the record, the east bound CZ whose train status that got all these tangents going arrived in CHI 37 minutes early. I still maintain that the CZ not running 5 - 10 - 15 hours late every day is Obama's first miracle.

 

[sky12065]

The new special AT ticket envelopes now have a space for the agents in the terminal to write your seat and car numbers on the front of the envelope/booklet. If IIRC it used to be written on the inside.

I don't know if what you're referring to is newer or if there are different envelopes for coach seats

I've never taken the AT, so I can't say for sure, but I think that may be the answer. I take it you had a room, so you know which car and room you have. In coach, you don't know which car and seat you have ahead of time. But I could be wrong!

Joe,

Unless you've been on the AT (Auto Train), then you haven't seen the special ticket envelopes/booklets that I'm talking about, they aren't used on any other Amtrak train. They have a place to write in the number assigned to one's car, to help in the claiming process at the other end, as well as a space for your accomodations. Additionally the booklet has a route guide, directions to the terminals, and other interesting/valuable information.

I must have been on Auto Brain not to think of Auto Train! :blush: I gotta get more sleep one of these nights! Oh well! Thanks for kicking my brain back into manual overdrive!

 

[jackal]

Actually the AT is unique in that they collect the tickets in the station before you board. When you check in at the desk, they lift your ticket, give you a seat check (for coach), and your dinner reservation.

Actually, the conductor and assistant conductor did this in the lobby of DEN. All the passengers lined up in the lobby in front of a kind of podium/desk, and as we filed by, they lifted the tickets, gave us seat checks, and then told us to go through the door marked "TO TRAINS."

Don't recall if they actually assigned seats or if it was first-come, first-serve on-board. (I think they did assign them there.)

But it's still not a regular practice anywhere else I've seen on the Amtrak system.

 

[jis]

Actually the AT is unique in that they collect the tickets in the station before you board. When you check in at the desk, they lift your ticket, give you a seat check (for coach), and your dinner reservation.

Actually, the conductor and assistant conductor did this in the lobby of DEN. All the passengers lined up in the lobby in front of a kind of podium/desk, and as we filed by, they lifted the tickets, gave us seat checks, and then told us to go through the door marked "TO TRAINS."

Don't recall if they actually assigned seats or if it was first-come, first-serve on-board. (I think they did assign them there.)

But it's still not a regular practice anywhere else I've seen on the Amtrak system.

Last November in Seattle, for the Vancouver Cascades service they collected tickets in the station before boarding and gave each passengers a seat check with a car number and an assigned seat number. They actually use a seat chart with seat numbers on stickers which theypick up from the chart and stick on the check. I asked for a window seat and the conductor picked up a window seat sticker from the seat chart and stuck it on my seat check before handing it to me.

 

[AlanB]

Actually the AT is unique in that they collect the tickets in the station before you board. When you check in at the desk, they lift your ticket, give you a seat check (for coach), and your dinner reservation.

Actually, the conductor and assistant conductor did this in the lobby of DEN. All the passengers lined up in the lobby in front of a kind of podium/desk, and as we filed by, they lifted the tickets, gave us seat checks, and then told us to go through the door marked "TO TRAINS."

Don't recall if they actually assigned seats or if it was first-come, first-serve on-board. (I think they did assign them there.)

But it's still not a regular practice anywhere else I've seen on the Amtrak system.

Last November in Seattle, for the Vancouver Cascades service they collected tickets in the station before boarding and gave each passengers a seat check with a car number and an assigned seat number. They actually use a seat chart with seat numbers on stickers which theypick up from the chart and stick on the check. I asked for a window seat and the conductor picked up a window seat sticker from the seat chart and stuck it on my seat check before handing it to me.

There are stations throughout the system where this happens, another that I know of is St. Louis. Typically they are larger stations where the crew is either changing or originating.

There are even some conductors that will come into the Metropolitan lounge in Chicago and collect the sleeping car passenger's tickets prior to actually boarding the train.

 

[the_traveler]

I just got off #172 a few hours ago. While listening to the scanner at NLC, the Assistant Conductor said he was clear. The Conductor got on and said that we had to wait 2 minutes. (We arrived into NLC early.) So we sat for 2 minutes.

We did not leave early!