Connection from Texas Eagle 22 to Southwest Chief 3

I live in Austin, Texas and my friend lives in Lawrence, Kansas. We are planning a joint train trip to Seattle this summer. The plan is that I'd start out in Austin on train 22 and then connect to the Southwest Chief, train 3. We'd take this train to LAX and then the Coast Starlight up to Seattle.

Anyway, since this trip will involve AGR points, I'm limited to segments that are given through the normal reservation process.

For the leg from Austin to Lawrence, I'm given two options to connect from 22 to 3.

The first is a layover in St. Louis from 7:19 a.m. to 4 p.m. Then they have me take the Missouri River Runner to Kansas City where I'd catch the Chief. Nothing against St. Louis, but I've already had a long layover in that station before, and explored downtown and the arch. I do like the RIver Runner, but that layover just seems too long.

The second option is to stay on 22 to Sprinfield (SPI) at 9:55 a.m. Then I'd take the thruway bus (5522) to Galesburg (12:10 to 2:25 p.m.). The Southwest Chief arrives in Galesburg (GBB) at 5:38 p.m. This would give me a more relaxed morning on the Eagle, dinner on the Chief, and more train time. It seems like it should be plenty of time for the connection.

So although I'm leaning toward option two, I'm worried about train 22's poor on time performance at Springfield. It's arrived after noon several days recently. From what I've read on this site, it seems like work being done at Fort Worth might slow the Eagle's progress throughout the summer. Does anyone know how long the thruway bus will wait for train 22? Is this connection too risky? If we're really late into St. Louis, would Amtrak let me bail and switch over to the River Runner connection?

Thanks for advice from those who've made this connection or know more about it!

I believe a connection to the morning MORR is offered. So instead of a long layover in STL, there would be a long layover in KCY.

Nice trip! I live in Austin also and have made this trip many times! The trip from SPI-GBB is in a Van that is just for Amtrak Passengers so they Will meet #22 @ the Station! The trip across the Corn Fields of Illinois is thru Peoria on mostly Freeway so it's an easy trip!

Galesburg has a Train Museum in the Station next to Amtrak and also has several places to eat around the station since you won't have lunch on #22 if its on time into SPI! (Breakfast is served around STL)

As Dave said if #22 is on time into STL you can catch the morning River Runner to KCY, its a guaranteed connection also. (In business class) Kansas City has some interesting places to see and you can eat some good bar-b-q also!

If you like some suggestions for KCY let us know but you'd also be OK with riding # 22 to SPI and the Van to GBB to catch the Chief!

On 5/13 I started my trip from Houston to Seattle. I boarded the 22 in Longview and was scheduled to take the AMBus from Springfield to Galesburg to pick up the Zephyr (Chief was also one of my options).

The 22 was running 3 hours late, which would have been enough to make a connection, but shortly before Springfield, I was told by the conductor that he had been advised that I would be too late to make the shuttle connection and that I should remain on the 22 all the way to Chicago and see Passenger Services to make alternate arrangements.

By sheer luck, the Zephyr was delayed and had not left Chicago so I was able to board it there. But the Chief left on time, so if I'd have been you that day, I'd have been SOL.

I don't know why they would not allow me to take the bus at SPI, as it should have waited for me. Would the 6322 bus be transporting any other passengers other than from the 22?

I would try for the St Louis connection if I were you.

Glad you made the Connection!

The connecting vehicle between SPI and GBB is a Chartered Van that hauls Only Ticketed Amtrak Passengers and is a Guaranteed connection!

There are also Thruway Buses that run between Davenport,IA and Indianapolis also via RockIsland.Moline,Galesburg,Peoria,Bloomington/Normal,Champaign-Urbana and Danville IL for various Trains, see Page #83 in the National Schedule!

Thanks for all the information!

I am leaning towards taking the thruway bus (van) connection. If the van is just waiting for passengers from 22, then it seems like even if we're late into Springfield it should be able to get us to Galesburg in time for the Chief.

Two years ago I did a round trip to visit the same friend. On the way up I did make the earlier connection to the River Runner in St. Louis. I had my friend pick my up that afteroon in Kansas City (very close to Lawrence). So I might do the same this time. We could hang out some, have dinner at a brewery I like in Lawrence and then catch the Chief from Lawrence. I did enjoy business class on the River Runner both times before. I just don't want to have an 8 hour layover at the station.

Regarding Steve's trip, I'm not sure why they had you stay on to Chicago. To be honest, I hadn't worried at all about the van connection until I read your post and the post about Tower 55 delays in Fort Worth. That got me concerned about what looks like it should be a safe connection.

And with regard to the optional long stopover in KCY, I hear that everything is up to date there, and they've gone about as far as they can go.

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In November I went from Denver to Austin to see OK state beat Texas. That was bad enough but on the way back 22 was late enough to Springfield that the van left. The conductor told me the same thing about going to Chicago and talking to passenger services. I called a friend at Amtrak Chicago and told him it would be cheaper to get a taxi to take the five of us left behind than to pay for motel rooms for us in Chicago. That's how I got my first limo ride from Springfield to Galesburg with plenty of time to catch the Zephyr. I was very popular with the other 4 folks who got left behind.

Excellent! I've been ferried in Taxis and Vans but never in a Limo when missing a "Guaranteed Connection!":Chicago is the King of missed connections!

Right now, I'm leaning toward to following:

I'll take 22 up from Austin to Kansas City. My friend will pick me up at the station in Kansas City and we'll drive the half hour or so to Lawrence and I can see some of sights, eat dinner at the Free State Brewery I like, visit friends, and then we'll catch the Chief that night in Lawrence.

Thanks for all the great advice! If it was just me traveling, I'd probably try the thruway van connection. But since the success of trip depends on meeting up with someone else for the continued journey, I don't want to end up getting put on the next day's train out of Chicago if things go wrong. (And I don't have any friends at Amtrak to persuade to call me a taxi - that's a great story!)

Please let me know when #22 is on a Re-Route to KCY, I'll go with you! LOL

I know you mean you'll do the River Runner from STL-KCY which gives you an alternate if for some reason the Eagle is Late into STL in that you can hop the evening RR to KCY to meet your friend and board the Chief around 1030PM.

I left out the bit about switching to the MORR in St. Louis that morning. (quite a crucial step) Last time I road the River Runner they had the nice 2-1 seating in business class and I really enjoyed it. We had a really great attendant in the lounge/business class car and I enjoyed the scenery!

I was going to do the SPI to GBB but my Eagle was about 5 hours late. They actually took us off in STL and drove us in a van to GBB. I was catching the CZ though, and this was back in 2006.

One thing I'm not clear on, if the thruway van 5522 is to ferry passengers on train 22 to their connections in Galesburg, why would it leave Springfield before the Texas Eagle arrived? That possibility is what scares me about using the thruway connection in this case.

This had to have been a mistake by the driver since the Thruway is Exclusively for Amtrak Passengers between GBB and SPI! The size of the Van is based on the number of passengers on #22/#21 and

#4/#6. The van runs non-stop between the Amtrak Stations in GBB and SPI and is guaranteed in both directions!

Amtrak will make it good if something happens as Chris pointed out when they took the #22 pax from STL-GBB. Last summer when #6 hit some cattle in Nebraska and we were 8 hours late into CHI they booked us on the next days Train, gave us taxi and meal money and put us up in a really nice Hyatt!

Don't worry, enjoy the rode!

What they told me when the van left before 22 got in was that the van also carried passengers from a southbound CHI-STL train; so the van didn't leave Springfield empty.

I've never heard of the SPI-GBB van taking passengers from the Lincoln Trains since you can catch #5 and #6 in CHI and there is s morning Train to get you to CHI in time for this!

Something is strange here, wonder if whoever told you this just made it up?

Thanks for the clarification, Jim! Ordinarily, I completely agree with you -- I would be happy to chill for as long as Amtrak needed to put me up to take the next train. In this case, I was more nervous since I'm meeting up with a friend later in the journey. But I totally agree that the best advice with trains (and planes) is to relax, be patient, and enjoy the ride!