Shortline
Conductor
On 422 in Tuscon, woke to hear there is a good possibility of a bus from El Paso to SAS-no one knows for sure-any one here know? Hoping we don't need to go buy same day plane tickets.....
422 June 21 Bustitution?
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Green Maned Lion
Engineer
Dude a few hour bus ride is better than flyin'
Depends entirely on the person. Some of us find bus rides incredibly nauseating; it's why I won't use a Thruway connection even though I'm a major proponent of them (and spamming them across the network).
Amtraktrainstatus is showing #1 and #2 as Service Disruptions but there doesn't seem to be any info available as to why??? # 1 hasn't even left NOL and # 2 doesn't show it reaching TUS yet? There has been Flooding in West Texas but no info about the tracks????
Keep us posted, maybe your crew will let y'all know?????
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Shortline
Conductor
A few hours,I could deal with-12+ lasting into the early morning hours? No.
The bus ride from TUS to SAS on I-10 is about as desolute a ride through the desert as there is! Honestly, if #2 isn't running I'd rather fly than ride a Bus on the road to nowhere, no contest!
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Shortline
Conductor
Unfortunately no delta or southwest flights today after we get in anyway. Can get southwest tomorrow but very expensive with dollars or points. Reserved a car, if we get cancelled, we'll drive home. 10 hour drive home, or 10-12 hour bus to San Antonio and still have another 14 hours to go by train....think we'll cut our losses if we have to get off at ELP. Still no word yet.
C
Cali
Guest
I hope your train trip doesn't get cancelled!
If someone has a sleeper and is bustituted for a portion of the trip, does Amtrak compensate for this?
fillyjonk
OBS Chief
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If it's an "emergency" bustittuion, you have to call the Amtrak customer service as soon as you know. You get a voucher these days, I think.
I was emergency bustituted once, it was kind of horrible. I found out a few hours in advance and was able to arrange for a refund of the sleeper cost (less 10%) but I think they just do vouchers now.
I do not recommend emergency bustitutions, especially overnight. When I had to do it, Amtrak used what were essentially city buses and they were very uncomfortable. Eighteen hours or so on a bus with no sleep....I had to get back for work or I would have waited until I could ride the train back.
Edited to add: generally the planned bustitutions go a lot more smoothly, and they line up charter buses that are far, far more comfortable. I've done the STL to BNL bus a few times (trackwork). That was not bad at all. But the emergency bustitutions, unless Amtrak has better contingency plans now, was kind of a cluster...
I was emergency bustituted once, it was kind of horrible. I found out a few hours in advance and was able to arrange for a refund of the sleeper cost (less 10%) but I think they just do vouchers now.
I do not recommend emergency bustitutions, especially overnight. When I had to do it, Amtrak used what were essentially city buses and they were very uncomfortable. Eighteen hours or so on a bus with no sleep....I had to get back for work or I would have waited until I could ride the train back.
Edited to add: generally the planned bustitutions go a lot more smoothly, and they line up charter buses that are far, far more comfortable. I've done the STL to BNL bus a few times (trackwork). That was not bad at all. But the emergency bustitutions, unless Amtrak has better contingency plans now, was kind of a cluster...
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Shortline
Conductor
Amazingly still no official word, no announcements, etc. seemed at lunch that many are not even aware. Asked the conductor on the way back to our room after lunch, and he said they would be making an announcement soon as to accommodations. I'm on hold now, with AGR. Will see....apparently according to rumor, a 300 foot sinkhole ate some track east of ELP. Sounds like its a done deal, we're getting off. If we have a room we can get in and go to sleep at SAS, we may bus. If we have to bus all night, to get there with no sleeper, or have to sit up all night until 7, we're driving.....
Sounds similar to the flash flood near Needles last August that put me off the SW Chief. But at least I was still in LAX - 15 min before departure! Good luck and say your stress reducing mantra, if you have one!
the_traveler
Engineer
How would you avoid an emergency bustitution anyway? :huh:
Say you're on Amtrak in Pudunkville and there's a freight derailment up ahead. (That's why they call it an emergency bustitution - they didn't plan the derailment!) And they can and do use whatever buses that are available nearby. Would you rather wait for a say Greyhound or Megabus that is 12 hours away or a bus from a town 10 minutes away that have buses available? :huh:
I was on the Cardinal one time and the tracks were closed ahead because of a freight that derailed up ahead. We were stopped near Thurmond, WV. (Population I think is 8 total!) We finally pulled up to Prince, WV and were bused from there to CVS. I'm not sure where the buses were from (maybe Charleston), but I'm glad they were from there instead of waiting for one to come from PHL or IND! BTW - I got to CVS at 2:45 am, so should I have avoided the emergency bustitution?
henryj
Conductor
Well Amtrak shows #1 approaching Schulenberg. So apparently they will turn it in SAS to become #2 tomorrow. Means those people will be bussed also to El Paso. Unfortunate, but if the track is blocked it's all they can do.
neroden
Engineer
I've avoided an emergency bustitution by getting a one-way car rental, but I was going from Minneapolis to Chicago. (This was during the 2008 floods.) I don't see how you could do that at Thurmond WV, no.
brentrain17
Service Attendant
The bus is by far my LAST choice of public transport
fillyjonk
OBS Chief
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Well, in my case, I was visiting family and COULD have stayed a couple more days if I didn't have to be back for work. I guess it wasn't totally emergency in the sense of "it happened while I was on the train" but it was certainly short-term and not very well planned.
We were told on the train, "There will be buses specific to destination, so you won't have to go to every single Amtrak stop between STL and FTW" but that turned out to be a lie. We also made a detour to West Memphis to pick up a relief driver. There just wasn't very good communication, which I get happens in emergency cases, but if I were doing it again? I'd seriously looking into if a one-way car rental were possible.
We were told on the train, "There will be buses specific to destination, so you won't have to go to every single Amtrak stop between STL and FTW" but that turned out to be a lie. We also made a detour to West Memphis to pick up a relief driver. There just wasn't very good communication, which I get happens in emergency cases, but if I were doing it again? I'd seriously looking into if a one-way car rental were possible.
Shortline
Conductor
Ok. Just outside of El Paso, they finally came over the PA and annunced the train was terminating there. Sinkehole was reportedly 350 feet by 75 feet.
Most sleeper passengers knew already (thats how I heard about it at breakfast) because apparently the lounge attendant in LA gave a heads up. I missed that, we were having dinner at Traxx, and having a couple beers, walked to the train 15 minutes to 10, got on board, took a shower, and were in bed before the wheels started turning!
Long story short, my son and I debated on what to do. We did consider just sticking it out and riding the bus, my son was actually thinking it would be an adventure, but when we got to El Paso, they got on the PA again, told everyone to stay on, or step off but stay close, but that it would be 5-7 hours before the busses got there. I heard they were in ELP, but the drivers were getting their DOT drivers rest, and would be 11 PM or midnight before they were ready to leave. Word was they were trying to find other rested drivers, but whatever, I was done at that point, no way was I going to sit for another 4-5 hours on a stopped train (or worse, if they made us get off and wait in the station) before getting on a bus for a long overnight ride. They were talking estimated arival in SAS by bus around 0800. No thanks....
We jumped off, got a cab, went to the airport and rented a car. unfortunately there were no flights out that night to OKC, so rather than spend the night in ELP AND pay through the nose for a ticket, we rented a car, and drove home. Stopped in Pecos TX for the night, then finished up today, got home around 2 PM (still 7 hours and 35 minutes before scheduled even IF the train made it!) So, cost me a night at a Holiday Inn Express, and $200 for a rental car and fuel for a 700 mile drive, but it was better than the alternative....
Going to call tomorrow, hoping to get at least some of the points back for the AGR trip, so we can try it again some other time.
Thinking on the way in, I just don't have a lot of luck with Amtrak.....I estimate I've taken 20 long distance trips spread out over my adult lifetime, most of them in the past 3 years. Out of those 20, this is the 3rd that was disrupted-First was a Coast Starlight trip we flew down from Anchorage to take. Called ahead the day before when we left Anchorage after seeing flooding in Oregon on the news, they said everything was great....got to the station, cancelled due to the washouts....had been for 2 days. 2nd was 2 years ago, Minot-CHI-KAL, train was 18 hours late to Minot, had to be at a meeting, ended up buying a plane ticket same day. Then this one....That's about a 15% failure rate! I fly 2-3 times a month, and have for the last 5 years- in that time, only been stuck once overnight in Chicago during a blizzard, no big deal, just went to the Airport Hilton and flew out the next morning, wasn't stuck in the middle of West Texas with limited options. That's WAY less than a 1% failure rate....
I get that it's not Amtrak's fault that flooding washed out the tracks to cancell my trip on the Coast Starlight. The Empire Builder 18 hour delay was from blizzards, ironically I could fly out with no problems, and just for grins, I checked the airport status map, none were shut down, but the trains were nearly! And this sinkhole was out of their control too.....not saying they could have done anything at all different, but really, it's just not a reliable way to travel, at least given MY odds it seems! Thankfully we were just on a screw around trip, and had the means to make our own alternate arrangements knowing we'll have to eat the entire cost.
Most sleeper passengers knew already (thats how I heard about it at breakfast) because apparently the lounge attendant in LA gave a heads up. I missed that, we were having dinner at Traxx, and having a couple beers, walked to the train 15 minutes to 10, got on board, took a shower, and were in bed before the wheels started turning!
Long story short, my son and I debated on what to do. We did consider just sticking it out and riding the bus, my son was actually thinking it would be an adventure, but when we got to El Paso, they got on the PA again, told everyone to stay on, or step off but stay close, but that it would be 5-7 hours before the busses got there. I heard they were in ELP, but the drivers were getting their DOT drivers rest, and would be 11 PM or midnight before they were ready to leave. Word was they were trying to find other rested drivers, but whatever, I was done at that point, no way was I going to sit for another 4-5 hours on a stopped train (or worse, if they made us get off and wait in the station) before getting on a bus for a long overnight ride. They were talking estimated arival in SAS by bus around 0800. No thanks....
We jumped off, got a cab, went to the airport and rented a car. unfortunately there were no flights out that night to OKC, so rather than spend the night in ELP AND pay through the nose for a ticket, we rented a car, and drove home. Stopped in Pecos TX for the night, then finished up today, got home around 2 PM (still 7 hours and 35 minutes before scheduled even IF the train made it!) So, cost me a night at a Holiday Inn Express, and $200 for a rental car and fuel for a 700 mile drive, but it was better than the alternative....
Going to call tomorrow, hoping to get at least some of the points back for the AGR trip, so we can try it again some other time.
Thinking on the way in, I just don't have a lot of luck with Amtrak.....I estimate I've taken 20 long distance trips spread out over my adult lifetime, most of them in the past 3 years. Out of those 20, this is the 3rd that was disrupted-First was a Coast Starlight trip we flew down from Anchorage to take. Called ahead the day before when we left Anchorage after seeing flooding in Oregon on the news, they said everything was great....got to the station, cancelled due to the washouts....had been for 2 days. 2nd was 2 years ago, Minot-CHI-KAL, train was 18 hours late to Minot, had to be at a meeting, ended up buying a plane ticket same day. Then this one....That's about a 15% failure rate! I fly 2-3 times a month, and have for the last 5 years- in that time, only been stuck once overnight in Chicago during a blizzard, no big deal, just went to the Airport Hilton and flew out the next morning, wasn't stuck in the middle of West Texas with limited options. That's WAY less than a 1% failure rate....
I get that it's not Amtrak's fault that flooding washed out the tracks to cancell my trip on the Coast Starlight. The Empire Builder 18 hour delay was from blizzards, ironically I could fly out with no problems, and just for grins, I checked the airport status map, none were shut down, but the trains were nearly! And this sinkhole was out of their control too.....not saying they could have done anything at all different, but really, it's just not a reliable way to travel, at least given MY odds it seems! Thankfully we were just on a screw around trip, and had the means to make our own alternate arrangements knowing we'll have to eat the entire cost.
crescent2
Conductor
Sorry about the shortened train trip. Please let us know if you get any points back. From what I've read here (no experience) they only issue vouchers.
dart330
OBS Chief
How does a railroad generally deal with a sinkhole in the ROW? Has there been any word from UP on when the line will reopen?
I don't know if the sinkhole was part of this flooding -- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=666268776760970
This occured two days ago a few miles NE of Langtry, TX and yes, that railroad bridge does carry Amtrak.
This occured two days ago a few miles NE of Langtry, TX and yes, that railroad bridge does carry Amtrak.
neroden
Engineer
Well, I guess I've had bad luck with air travel... a 15% failure rate seems about right!
We actually got in the habit of abandoning the last leg of our trip and renting a car when we arrived at Philadelphia, because the USAir inbounds from Philadelphia to Ithaca were delayed so often that we could usually drive faster. That was before I swore off air travel due to the security theater, of course.
Then there was the time we were delayed on the tarmac for 8 hours at JFK without air conditioning, and the plane had to refuel because it ran low on fuel while waiting in the queue to take off. And then there was the day when America West's entire national computer system died: three of us were supposed to come in from three different origins and none of us arrived on the flight we were scheduled on.
I've had much better luck on non-US airlines, because *they are simply better*. The problem is, basically, that stuff in the US sucks. This is why I call the US an underdeveloped (or "third world") country.
We actually got in the habit of abandoning the last leg of our trip and renting a car when we arrived at Philadelphia, because the USAir inbounds from Philadelphia to Ithaca were delayed so often that we could usually drive faster. That was before I swore off air travel due to the security theater, of course.
Then there was the time we were delayed on the tarmac for 8 hours at JFK without air conditioning, and the plane had to refuel because it ran low on fuel while waiting in the queue to take off. And then there was the day when America West's entire national computer system died: three of us were supposed to come in from three different origins and none of us arrived on the flight we were scheduled on.
I've had much better luck on non-US airlines, because *they are simply better*. The problem is, basically, that stuff in the US sucks. This is why I call the US an underdeveloped (or "third world") country.
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
I would rather ride on a bus for ten hours (and sleep) then drive my car 700 miles. And I suspect my Mercedes is a nicer car than whatever you rented.
neroden
Engineer
I get motion sick on buses (or when a passenger in a car), but not on trains, or when driving. So I can't sleep in the bus at all: I have to stare out the window the entire. time.
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fillyjonk
OBS Chief
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I WOULD have slept during the bustitution except the driver put the vidscreens on and showed shoot-em-up movies all night long with the sound on high. I seemed to be the only one bothered by it and several other people on the bus gave off hostile vibes so I was afraid to say anything.
And even with earplugs in, it was extremely loud and disturbing. If it had been a quieter movie, maybe, but random bursts of simulated gunfire are not conducive to sleep.
And yes, I complained to Amtrak after the trip.
And even with earplugs in, it was extremely loud and disturbing. If it had been a quieter movie, maybe, but random bursts of simulated gunfire are not conducive to sleep.
And yes, I complained to Amtrak after the trip.
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