First time on Amtrak and getting worried about Chicago connection

[OlympianHiawatha]

The one time I missed a connection and was put up in a motel, it was about 25 minutes from downtown Chicago. But we were bussed to Union Station in plenty of time before our train left so had time to do some exploring around Chicago.

I will guess it was the Holiday Inn just off the 55 near Midway? I was put up there once when a connection busted and Loop hotels were sold out with the Lolla-P Festival going on. I thought it was a very decent property (although there were 2 drunken wedding receptions going on) and the bus ride was not bad at all. Plenty of time for everyone to comfortably catch their next day trains.

 

[JayPea]

The one time I missed a connection and was put up in a motel, it was about 25 minutes from downtown Chicago. But we were bussed to Union Station in plenty of time before our train left so had time to do some exploring around Chicago.

I will guess it was the Holiday Inn just off the 55 near Midway? I was put up there once when a connection busted and Loop hotels were sold out with the Lolla-P Festival going on. I thought it was a very decent property (although there were 2 drunken wedding receptions going on) and the bus ride was not bad at all. Plenty of time for everyone to comfortably catch their next day trains.

That would be the one, yes. I didn't think it was bad at all, myself. Neither the bus ride or the accommodations were bad.

 

[Phil S]

It depends on the area. If they bus from say GBB to TOL, it is all on I-80 at 65-70 MPH and going south of Chicago. If they bus from CHI to IND, the bus goes over 65 MPH but the Cardinal goes under 40 MPH.

I was on the CS that was running late and was going to miss the connection with the EB (old schedule). So they bussed the connecting passengers from Albany, OR to PDX, while the CS continued it's regular route and stops. The trip up I-5 was actually faster, and the EB departed PDX over 30 minutes before the CS arrived!

Albany to PDX is a little unusual in that both stations are <10 minutes from I-5 and the SP track swings way east to avoid the Salem hills. In fact Amtrak routinely tickets all of us boarding in ALY and connecting to 28 on the early afternoon bus rather than the CS. EUG/PDX bus might also be able to beat an on-time CS but just barely as the track EUG/ALY is almost a straight line.

 

[zuko3984]

So i'm back from my trip and thought i would post a follow up for anyone interested. I'll start by thanking everyone for the advise and well wishes. I'll also say that i have decided that Amtrak is not for me and this was my first and last trip on Amtrak.

I did end up making my connection in Chicago on my outgoing trip. But just barely. Train was just under 5 hours late. Had just enough time to get through the station and get on my connection. They only gave us breakfast on the first train and i didn't have time to get any lunch in Chicago so basically didn't really eat anything till they served dinner on my connection. But at least i made it. Was also about 2 hour late getting into LA. Didi miss my connection in LA but got on a later train and finally mdd it to my destination about 4 hours later then i planned.

The trip back was a complete disaster. Train into Chicago was over 12 hours late. Got to Chicago after 3am. Missed connection to NYP. Was booked on next day's train but in coach not a sleeper. They would have put me up in a hotel but i decided that i could drive home and be home before the next train even left Chicago. So rented a car and drove home and was home in bed before the train i would have been on left Chicago. Did already get a partial refund on the sleeper portion of the trip and was told i could get a refund for the rest of the Chicago to NYP trip but had to request the refund in writing which i did.

I know things happen and sometimes it is out of Amtrak's hands but when every train they run from NY to Chicago is at least 2 hours late every day it's just not a reliable form of transportation to me.

I know some people seem to love train travel but i guess i am just someone who doesn't get it. For those who enjoy it that's great but for me it's longer, slower, more expensive, not comfortable and unreleiable. Maybe you need to be a person who doesn't view the travel as just a way to get to the destination but as part of the trip. For me flying, driving, train, walking or whatever is just a way to get to my destination and not really part of my vacation. If i could fly i would but right now i can't due to medical reasons. As soon as i can fly again i will. But until i can fly again i will be driving anyplace i need to go. I enjoyed the drive back from Chicago much more then the train ride.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Train travel isn't for everyone. But you tried it. Good luck in your future travels, just remember driving is the most dangerous transportation of all.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I think a lot of folks feel the same way you do zuko3984. Even though I enjoy traveling by train I generally only take Amtrak on the outbound legs of personal trips. I never use Amtrak for business trips and I avoid connections whenever possible. Otherwise my experiences on Amtrak can become too frustrating to be enjoyable and that's not what I'm looking for when I'm on vacation.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Nonsense. Anybody who doesn't love Amtrak is obviously crazy, and should be locked up. Any deviance from this is heresy! This Zuko should be excommunicated! CRUCIFIED EVEN!

Lol.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Unfortunately, with the trains being very late for the past few months, many people have left Amtrak for other means of transport. I have had four sets of friends take the train on my recommendation and they are all off the Amtrak bandwagon after experiencing multiple problems with connections, service on the train, and expectations that I guess were too high.

It almost seems like the freight railroads (with the help of Congress) are doing what they can to make Amtrak a negative experience. I hope things will improve soon or the only people riding will be our loyal AU members :unsure:

 

[neroden]

Unfortunately, several of the Class I freight railroads have been preventing Amtrak from running on time recently.

BNSF has had total system meltdown on the Empire Builder route. It's messing up their freight trains something awful too, so maybe they're doing their best. The Southwest Chief route they usually do a lot better on; you had terrible luck coming back from LA.

NS is also having a system meltdown from Chicago to Cleveland recently, unfortunately; they're usually pretty good.

CSX (who control Albany-Cleveland on the Lake Shore Limited route) is particularly bad everywhere and at all times and just doesn't seem to care.

I suggest, in future, before considering Amtrak, check out the route you're considering on http://www.amtrakdelays.onlineschedulingsoftware.com/ . Some routes are pretty good about running on time; others, unfortunately including most of the cross-country ones, are not.

I hope you'd consider taking the Pacific Surfliner from LA to San Diego or the NE Regional from Boston to NY to Washington, which are much more reliable trains. They run on track controlled by PASSENGER train operators, so they don't have the same problems as trains running on track controlled by Class I freight railroads.

 

[Richard McCormick]

I will be traveling from NY to CHI late October connecting to Texas Eagle with through cars via San Antonio to Tucson.After reviewing recent arrival times of both 49 LSL and 29 CL I believe there is reason to worry about making that connection. During period of 8/2-8/29 49 LSL has missed connection in CHI with Texas Eagle 16 times in a 27 day span!!Plus ,two other times it arrived in CHI with less than 20 minutes to spare to make this connection. This train has also missed connection with the later departing 3 SWC( leaving CHi at 3:00 P.M.) 4 times in that 27 day span and on 7 other occasions made the connection to SWC with less than 30 minutes to spare.

Even the 29 CL,which is scheduled to arrive CHi one hours before 49 LSL, has missed connection to texas Eagle 4 times in 27 day span.Recently this has gotten even worse missing connection to 421 TE twice in the last 6 days alone. Do I need to leave NY a day earlier and sleep over in CHI to be sure of masking connections to the TE. Since the through cars of the TE only depart 3 times a week I really don't want to miss that train and ruin my plans to arrive in Tucson on time. Any suggestions other than overnight stay in CHI by leaving a day earlier?

 

[afigg]

I will be traveling from NY to CHI late October connecting to Texas Eagle with through cars via San Antonio to Tucson.After reviewing recent arrival times of both 49 LSL and 29 CL I believe there is reason to worry about making that connection. During period of 8/2-8/29 49 LSL has missed connection in CHI with Texas Eagle 16 times in a 27 day span!!Plus ,two other times it arrived in CHI with less than 20 minutes to spare to make this connection. This train has also missed connection with the later departing 3 SWC( leaving CHi at 3:00 P.M.) 4 times in that 27 day span and on 7 other occasions made the connection to SWC with less than 30 minutes to spare.

Even the 29 CL,which is scheduled to arrive CHi one hours before 49 LSL, has missed connection to texas Eagle 4 times in 27 day span.Recently this has gotten even worse missing connection to 421 TE twice in the last 6 days alone. Do I need to leave NY a day earlier and sleep over in CHI to be sure of masking connections to the TE. Since the through cars of the TE only depart 3 times a week I really don't want to miss that train and ruin my plans to arrive in Tucson on time. Any suggestions other than overnight stay in CHI by leaving a day earlier?

What we do not know is when the NS track work will be completed for the season or at least parts of it. By late October, one would hope the CHI to Alliance OH corridor will have returned to close to normal for getting the Amtrak trains through, but without information from NS or Amtrak, we are in the dark.

 

[zephyr17]

Hmm, when I book my own tickets (as opposed to AGR), I always build in a 1 day layover in Chicago going eastbound, but I never did westbound. The layovers were both longer and the eastern trains had shorter runs so there was less to get catastrophically delayed in.

Sounds like I might start needing to do that both ways.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Is this a Paid or AGR Award trip? It is a Guaranteed Connection so Amtrak will get you to LAX even if its on another Train (SWC ) or even a Plane!!

Take a look @ the Cardinal ( 3 days a week/it would have to connect with the 3 days a week #421 out of CHI as you noted) which runs NYP-CHI and has been averaging a lot better OTP than the Cap or the Late Shore!

Also I'd say that the Cap Ltd out of WAS would give you much better odds of making your TE Connection than the Late Shore!( you'd ride a Regional or Acela NYP-WAS)

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I will be traveling from NY to CHI late October connecting to Texas Eagle with through cars via San Antonio to Tucson.After reviewing recent arrival times of both 49 LSL and 29 CL I believe there is reason to worry about making that connection. During period of 8/2-8/29 49 LSL has missed connection in CHI with Texas Eagle 16 times in a 27 day span!!Plus ,two other times it arrived in CHI with less than 20 minutes to spare to make this connection. This train has also missed connection with the later departing 3 SWC( leaving CHi at 3:00 P.M.) 4 times in that 27 day span and on 7 other occasions made the connection to SWC with less than 30 minutes to spare.

Even the 29 CL,which is scheduled to arrive CHi one hours before 49 LSL, has missed connection to texas Eagle 4 times in 27 day span.Recently this has gotten even worse missing connection to 421 TE twice in the last 6 days alone. Do I need to leave NY a day earlier and sleep over in CHI to be sure of masking connections to the TE. Since the through cars of the TE only depart 3 times a week I really don't want to miss that train and ruin my plans to arrive in Tucson on time. Any suggestions other than overnight stay in CHI by leaving a day earlier?

Curious how you determined the missed connections? Did you compare the actual arrival times with the actual departure times? Depending on how late the incoming train is, they will sometimes hold the outgoing trains.

I'm doing this myself, but just for the particular days of the the week I will be traveling in 5 weeks. And so far, the outbound train has departed after the inbound train making me believe they held the trains.

 

[RWR]

551725" timestamp"][551725" timestamp McCormick" post=551707" time-stamp="1409345939]I will be 551725" timestamp from NY to CHI late October connecting to Texas Eagle with through cars via San Antonio to Tucson.After reviewing recent arrival times of both 49 LSL and 29 CL I believe there is reason to worry about making that connection. During period of 8/2-8/29 49 LSL has missed connection in CHI with Texas Eagle 16 times in a 27 day span!!Plus ,two other times it arrived in CHI with less than 20 minutes to spare to make this connection. This train has also missed connection with the later departing 3 SWC( leaving CHi at 3:00 P.M.) 4 times in that 27 day span and on 7 other occasions made the connection to SWC with less than 30 minutes to spare.

Even the 29 CL,which is scheduled to arrive CHi one hours before 49 LSL, has missed connection to texas Eagle 4 times in 27 day span.Recently this has gotten even worse missing connection to 421 TE twice in the last 6 days alone. Do I need to leave NY a day earlier and sleep over in CHI to be sure of masking connections to the TE. Since the through cars of the TE only depart 3 times a week I really don't want to miss that train and ruin my plans to arrive in Tucson on time. Any suggestions other than overnight stay in CHI by leaving a day earlier?

What we do not know is when the NS track work will be completed for the season or at least parts of it. By late October, one would hope the CHI to Alliance OH corridor will have returned to close to normal for getting the Amtrak trains through, but without information from NS or Amtrak, we are in the dark.