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sporksradiant said:
What's Amtrak policy re: sleeper's and bus substitutions?

Seems to happen often enough from sas to DFW that I'm wondering if I should just book coach to DFW then sleeper on to Chicago
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You'll probably get a Voucher if you miss meals during a Bustitution( not that Flex Meals on the Eaglete are anything to write home about).

The Eaglete CCC serves 2 Flex Meals, Breakfast and Lunch, between San Antonio and Ft Worth.

The ride up I35 on a Bus isn't exactly a joy ride, and can take as long as the Train does, so depending on your fare, the difference between Coach and Sleeper is up to what you feel is Value for Dollars spent.

With the current consist of the Eaglete( CCC, 2 Coaches and a Sleeper on the rear) I would just book Coach to Ft Worth. YMMV
 
Bob Dylan said:
You'll probably get a Voucher if you miss meals during a Bustitution( not that Flex Meals on the Eaglete are anything to write home about).

The Eaglete CCC serves 2 Flex Meals, Breakfast and Lunch, between San Antonio and Ft Worth.

The ride up I35 on a Bus isn't exactly a joy ride, and can take as long as the Train does, so depending on your fare, the difference between Coach and Sleeper is up to what you feel is Value for Dollars spent.

With the current consist of the Eaglete( CCC, 2 Coaches and a Sleeper on the rear) I would just book Coach to Ft Worth. YMMV
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How did you get breakfast? I rode SAS-FTW on 9 April. No breakfast, no coffee in the sleeper until an hour after departure. What they have done to the Eagle is a disgrace.
 
drdumont said:
How did you get breakfast? I rode SAS-FTW on 9 April. No breakfast, no coffee in the sleeper until an hour after departure. What they have done to the Eagle is a disgrace.
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That must have been a "one off" occurrence since a Flex Breakfast on 22/422 is served in the CCC ( or in your room upon request if your SCA is any good )after departure from SAS.

If close to on time, it's also served to Sleeper Passengers boarding in San Marcos and "Last Call" is in Austin.

As for no coffee in your Sleeper, you must have had one of those lazy SCAs the Eaglete has on some crews.
 
drdumont said:
How did you get breakfast? I rode SAS-FTW on 9 April. No breakfast, no coffee in the sleeper until an hour after departure. What they have done to the Eagle is a disgrace.
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I rode SAS-CHI on 10 April (the next day), and we did get breakfast and lunch between SAS and FTW. There was coffee in the sleeper, as well. Really bad crew? Or an equipment problem?
 
I saw the southbound TE go past my town (20 miles NE of the Pontiac, IL station stop) yesterday afternoon with 6 cars behind the 1 engine, which was 1 more than the usual consist Chicago-St. Louis (sleeper + CCC + 3 coaches). Since the Eaglette doesn't stop in my town, it was going by too fast for me to see what the extra car was, especially since it just looked like a normal Superliner car, with no wraparound ads or other special markings on the outside. I wonder what it could have been?
 
I was on the Eagle last Saturday, May 4, 2024, from Chi to BNL.

The consist was: engine, cafe/diner/ 2 coaches, sleeper (not a transition/dorm), and one coach at the very end. Note: this train was scheduled to end in San Antonio. On Saturday it does not connect to the New Orleans to Los Angeles Sunset Limited.

The train was so early into BNL that they called it a "smoke break". I asked the conductor about the consist. He told me that the last coach would be dropped in St. Louis. It was scheduled to return to Chicago on the next morning's Eagle.
 
CHImdw1522 said:
I was on the Eagle last Saturday, May 4, 2024, from Chi to BNL.

The consist was: engine, cafe/diner/ 2 coaches, sleeper (not a transition/dorm), and one coach at the very end. Note: this train was scheduled to end in San Antonio. On Saturday it does not connect to the New Orleans to Los Angeles Sunset Limited.

The train was so early into BNL that they called it a "smoke break". I asked the conductor about the consist. He told me that the last coach would be dropped in St. Louis. It was scheduled to return to Chicago on the next morning's Eagle.
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That's the typical consist for Chicago-St. Louis. However, the southbound TE consist yesterday (5/6/24) had 1 additional car, and I'm not sure what it was.
ETA: 2 engines on the southbound TE today (5/7/24), and back to the usual 5-car consist behind the engines.
 
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So the sleepers are still at the end, for both 21 and 22?

Guess I take my cane (sigh). (I sustained a bone bruise earlier this spring and while it has MOSTLY healed, if I have to sit for a long time or in an awkward position, it hurts, and that knee is very stiff, and I'd rather not fall trying to go get a meal. Yes you can grab the backs of the seats but I don't know. This is the first time I've traveled hurt)
 
Apparently the Temple to Ft. Worth bus bridge is still going, I went to check the train status map (IDK, I prefer it) before leaving for the station in Mineola (I have a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive) and was flummoxed to see the train was still near McGregor but apparently they just stop tracking when they do a bus bridge. Maybe they pick back up when it leaves FTW?
 
Too many trees are coming down onto RR tracks. With lack of pole lines the RRs are eliminating tree removal. Our local CSX line will be a great can example of days of delays removing trees from a major storm.
 
sporksradiant said:
Just saw this on Reddit. Can anyone explain this? How would it affect coming from SAS? View attachment 36681
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UP routinely does track work in Texas, especially East Texas, which is why you'll ride #22 from San Antonio to Ft Worth, board a Bus to Longview where you'll board Train #21 which will be the consist that came from Chicago overnight,and will be turned as #22 in Longview to Chicago.

Passengers on #21 continuing West and East, will board Buses to Ft Worth, and board Train #22 that you arrived on, and that has been turned and continue South to San Antonio as #21.
 
Is this a 4 or 5 day a week bus sub? Otherwise how will the isolated train set SAS <> FTW get servicing. Know SAS does have maintenance but is it capable to do everything needed for 4 or 5 days?
 
Bob Dylan said:
UP routinely does track work in Texas, especially East Texas, which is why you'll ride #22 from San Antonio to Ft Worth, board a Bus to Longview where you'll board Train #21 which will be the consist that came from Chicago overnight,and will be turned as #22 in Longview to Chicago.

Passengers on #21 continuing West and East, will board Buses to Ft Worth, and board Train #22 that you arrived on, and that has been turned and continue South to San Antonio as #21.
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We were scheduled to ride DAL-CHI and CHI-DAL on 15 May and 19 May. I don't spend that kind of money to ride a bus. So we moved our trip to June 19-23. Managed to snag bedrooms, albeit they are Bedroom A. And of all things, the fare was $135 less. AMTRAK Guest rewards had no issues making the change.
 
west point said:
Is this a 4 or 5 day a week bus sub? Otherwise how will the isolated train set SAS <> FTW get servicing. Know SAS does have maintenance but is it capable to do everything needed for 4 or 5 days?
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I was thinking about that too. There's no way to restock food in San Antonio right? How will that work out?

It also puts a big wrench in meals. Southbound you're on a bus from 8:30am to 2 pm, meaning you almost certainly miss lunch and potentially breakfast as well. Northbound you're on a bus from 2pm until 6pm, which at least gives the option to dine lunch and dinner on the train but with short timings.

Would that mean traditional dining as far as fort worth going northbound though? If so I might deal with the bus.
 
sporksradiant said:
I was thinking about that too. There's no way to restock food in San Antonio right? How will that work out?

It also puts a big wrench in meals. Southbound you're on a bus from 8:30am to 2 pm, meaning you almost certainly miss lunch and potentially breakfast as well. Northbound you're on a bus from 2pm until 6pm, which at least gives the option to dine lunch and dinner on the train but with short timings.

Would that mean traditional dining as far as fort worth going northbound though? If so I might deal with the bus.
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There is no traditional dining on the Texas Eagle (except west of San Antonio) unless it has been miraculously restored.

I assume that Aramark has a facility in San Antonio which might help if Amtrak cared to ask. Probably Sysco also.
 
Rasputin said:
There is no traditional dining on the Texas Eagle (except west of San Antonio) unless it has been miraculously restored.

I assume that Aramark has a facility in San Antonio which might help if Amtrak cared to ask. Probably Sysco also.
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I'm aware, it switched from traditional to flex in San Antonio. That said, it doesn't make sense to stock flex for two meals given the train is now turning in ftw instead of San Antonio.

I'm hoping Amtrak agrees and just does traditional to ftw northbound and ftw southbound as an exception
 
sporksradiant said:
I'm aware, it switched from traditional to flex in San Antonio. That said, it doesn't make sense to stock flex for two meals given the train is now turning in ftw instead of San Antonio.

I'm hoping Amtrak agrees and just does traditional to ftw northbound and ftw southbound as an exception
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Where exactly is the Chef going to come from for such a short term thing? It is safe to bet that this will not happen since Flex or alternatively just additional stocking of the Cafe will be cheaper to do and staffing cannot be found on short notice for anything else.
 
jis said:
Where exactly is the Chef going to come from for such a short term thing? It is safe to bet that this will not happen since Flex or alternatively just additional stocking of the Cafe will be cheaper to do and staffing cannot be found on short notice for anything else.
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Unless the chef gets off at San Antonio and waits for the train to return, he'd already be on the train as long as you selected one of the ones continuing on to LA. I don't know for certain this also affects the 21/421, but it likely does. Just don't have any data points to say yet.

It's also equally likely as you said to just stock the cafe. I'm not sure if that would be better or not than flex.
 
sporksradiant said:
Unless the chef gets off at San Antonio and waits for the train to return, he'd already be on the train as long as you selected one of the ones continuing on to LA. I don't know for certain this also affects the 21/421, but it likely does. Just don't have any data points to say yet.

It's also equally likely as you said to just stock the cafe. I'm not sure if that would be better or not than flex.
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The Chef is in the Sunset Limited Diner. s/he does not just get on/off at SAS. S/he travels from New Orleans to Los Angeles and back.

Texas Eagle is a separate train that operates SAS to Chicago, has no Chef and serves Flex. There are two cars that are transferred between Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle in SAS. That is all that happens. Just to help or confuse the outsiders (depending on what is being discussed) those two cars are called 421/422. The Texas Eagle train itself does not go to LAX.
 
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And why the Marketing Department thinks it's wise to call the entire Chicago to LA run as Texas Eagle is beyond me, other than to give passengers the idea that they don't actually change trains. Sadly, the experience on 421/422 is quite different from 1/2. And some passengers are surprised at the change.
 
Shanson said:
Andy why the Marketing Department thinks it's wise to call the entire Chicago to LA run as Texas Eagle is beyond me, other than to give passengers the idea that they don't actually change trains. Sadly, the experience on 421/422 is quite different from 1/2. And some passengers are surprised at the change.
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True this!

The difference between riding between Chicago and San Antonio on the Eaglete, compared to the Sunset Ltd between San Antonio and LA, is like riding a late 1960s SP Sunset Ltd compared to the Santa Fe's Super Chief!
 
Ah. That makes sense. For some reason I thought the sunset limited was flex dining as well.

I agree - it should be called something else from SAS to LA to make that distinction clearer. Maybe the desert flyer?
 

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