Southwest Chief Delay

[El Capitan]

I noticed that the Southwest Chief #4 arrived in Chicago nine hours late on May 14. Is there any way to find out what caused such an unusual delay? I'm considering making a trip from Cincinnati to Newton, KS this summer, and the eastbound connection in Chicago is relatively tight--"only" 2 and a half hours between #4 and the Cardinal #50. There's not much tolerance for major delays.

 

[Guest_coachseats_*]

I read on another board the delay was caused by a death on board, and a long wait for the coroner to come and take care of the body. After that, a late train tends to get later as it is out of its "slot" roughly scheduled into the railroads operations. I would not be overly worried, however, as the SW Chief overall has a very good on time performance history. Also, if your tickets are all on one reservation, your connection is "guaranteed" by Amtrak, meaning that they will either put you up in a hotel until the next train, or find other means of transportation to get you home at their cost.

 

[El Capitan]

Thanks for the information. You're right, the Southwest Chief is not usually very late into Chicago. I've made the trip from Cincinnati to Newton a couple of times, but it's been a while (November 2003).