Connecting the Lakeshore Ltd with the CZ

Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

buccannear

Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
1
Hi,

I see that the Lakeshore Limited arrives in Chicago at 09.45 am while the California Zephyr departs at 02.00 pm each day.

Can I count on making a connection on the same day or should I overnight in Chicago. I don't want to waste time and money in Chicago if I can help it.

Thanks,

Chris
 
I am relatively new to this board, but my understanding is that if you book an overnight stay in Chicago yourself, you do not have a "guaranteed" connection from the CZ to the LSL and will have to pay for a hotel yourself.

If you book a through trip that counts on the connection the same day and for some reason the LSL is so late that it is missed, Amtrak will accommodate you overnight in Chicago.

Look at the OTP for the LSL and note that your chances of making the connection are pretty good.

Returning eastbound from CZ to LSL may be a bit dicier, but still they make the connection more often than not.
 
It's able to be booked as a same day connection, which is what you should do.

The LSL has had some hideous on time performance lately - I'll have to look into how often the connection is missed.

If it is missed, Amtrak will pay to put you up in CHI and put you on the next day's train. As long as you're cool with being a day late, it isn't a big deal.
 
I hosed this up. Corrected version below

It looks like the connection has been missed 17 of the last 70 days (going back to 7/1/14).

Some of the times are really, really close. Sometimes the CZ left less than 5 minutes before the LSL arrived - I've got to think that either there were *no* connecting passengers, or they're bussing them to close the gap. Look at 9/8, when the LSL arrived at 2:58, but the CZ left at 2:56. Weird.

Edit to add: Data available from John's Amtrak Status Maps site, accessed through Chris Juckins' awesome web interface:

http://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/history.php?train_num=5&station=CHI&date_start=07%2F01%2F2014&date_end=09%2F10%2F2014&sort=schDp&sort_dir=ASC&limit=&co=gt&limit_mins=

Super easy to copy and paste the data from both trains into Excel, make sure the dates line up and then run down the column and compare times. Thanks to you both for making these resources available.

Edit 2: Crap, I spelled your name wrong, Chris. Sorry. :(
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RyanS said:
It looks like the connection has been missed 17 of the last 70 days (going back to 7/1/14).

Some of the times are really, really close. Sometimes the CZ left less than 5 minutes before the LSL arrived - I've got to think that either there were *no* connecting passengers, or they're bussing them to close the gap. Look at 9/8, when the LSL arrived at 2:58, but the CZ left at 2:56. Weird.

Date LSL ARR CZ DEP Missed
7/1/14 2:33PM 3:12PM
7/3/14 1:49PM 2:19PM
7/4/14 1:13PM 2:43PM
7/5/14 12:26PM 2:08PM
7/6/14 2:24PM 2:41PM
7/7/14 1:35PM 2:06PM
7/8/14 3:03PM 2:02PM x
7/9/14 5:13PM 2:00PM x
7/10/14 11:45AM 3:05PM
7/11/14 1:43PM 2:11PM
7/12/14 12:45PM 2:33PM
7/13/14 1:11PM 3:36PM
7/14/14 1:11PM 4:48PM
7/15/14 1:03PM 2:02PM
7/16/14 4:47PM 2:45PM x
7/17/14 1:37PM 2:00PM
7/18/14 1:42PM 2:31PM
7/20/14 2:33PM 2:00PM x
7/21/14 11:38AM 2:56PM
7/22/14 12:21PM 2:13PM
7/23/14 1:02PM 2:11PM
7/24/14 1:16PM 2:35PM
7/25/14 12:26PM 2:14PM
7/26/14 12:32PM 2:00PM
7/27/14 2:00PM 2:16PM
7/28/14 12:00PM 2:00PM
7/29/14 2:34PM 2:30PM x
7/30/14 11:55AM 2:00PM
7/31/14 1:54PM 2:54PM
8/1/14 12:11PM 2:00PM
8/2/14 3:50PM 2:14PM x
8/3/14 2:29PM 2:00PM x
8/4/14 1:44PM 2:00PM
8/5/14 5:41PM 2:50PM x
8/6/14 2:34PM 2:12PM x
8/7/14 12:07PM 2:36PM
8/8/14 12:56PM 3:08PM
8/9/14 2:27PM 2:21PM x
8/10/14 11:21AM 2:00PM
8/11/14 2:28PM 5:11PM
8/12/14 1:23PM 2:17PM
8/13/14 11:50AM 2:55PM
8/14/14 2:17PM 2:00PM x
8/15/14 4:00PM 2:00PM x
8/16/14 2:03PM 2:52PM
8/17/14 2:19PM 2:00PM x
8/18/14 12:54PM 2:28PM
8/19/14 11:38AM 2:40PM
8/20/14 11:54AM 3:04PM
8/21/14 12:29PM 2:00PM
8/22/14 6:34PM 2:00PM x
8/23/14 2:47PM 3:03PM
8/24/14 2:43PM 2:50PM
8/25/14 2:05PM 3:39PM
8/26/14 1:33PM 2:00PM
8/27/14 10:39AM 3:06PM
8/28/14 1:03PM 2:02PM
8/29/14 2:32PM 2:29PM x
8/30/14 12:21PM 2:07PM
8/31/14 11:19AM 3:08PM
9/1/14 12:51PM 4:58PM
9/2/14 12:02PM 2:13PM
9/3/14 12:12PM 2:13PM
9/4/14 1:25PM 2:00PM
9/5/14 1:14PM 2:00PM
9/6/14 2:20PM 2:20PM x
9/7/14 1:25PM 2:03PM
9/8/14 2:58PM 2:56PM x
9/9/14 1:05PM 3:13PM
9/10/14 2:38PM 2:50PM Edit to add: Data available from John's Amtrak Status Maps site, accessed through Chris Juchins' awesome web interface:http://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/history.php?train_num=5&station=CHI&date_start=07%2F01%2F2014&date_end=09%2F10%2F2014&sort=schDp&sort_dir=ASC&limit=&co=gt&limit_mins=

Super easy to copy and paste the data from both trains into Excel, make sure the dates line up and then run down the column and compare times. Thanks to you both for making these resources available.
Click to expand...
Ryan, that's very interesting about the connections! Glad it's useful.
 
RyanS said:
It looks like the connection has been missed 17 of the last 70 days (going back to 7/1/14).

Some of the times are really, really close. Sometimes the CZ left less than 5 minutes before the LSL arrived - I've got to think that either there were *no* connecting passengers, or they're bussing them to close the gap. Look at 9/8, when the LSL arrived at 2:58, but the CZ left at 2:56. Weird.

....
Click to expand...
Excellent analysis! BTW, you could add 7/19/2014 as a missed connection. LSL #49 (7/18) never made it to CHI, it turned around at TOL and passengers were busituted from TOL to CHI, getting in 13 hours late (I was on that train). Disruptions like that don't clearly show up in the status maps database unfortunately.
On the 2 minute connection difference, I wonder if the entered times are that precise? Is it possible that the LSL actually got in several minutes earlier and there was a hurry up cross platform transfer? Of course, it is also possible that no one was making the connection that day or Amtrak simply messed up & and did not hold the CZ an extra 5 minutes.

Eventually the westbound LSL and CL will get back to some degree of normalacy on arriving at CHI close to on-time most days. Checking the train status, today (9/16) is not it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah, there were a couple of skipped dates. Lining up the dates is important. ;)

No weird overlaps now, and you can see some cases where the LSL left late and ~30 min after the LSL - what one would expect to see if it were being held:

Code: 
Date	LSL ARR	CZ DEP	Missed
7/1/14	2:33PM	3:12PM	
7/3/14	1:49PM	2:43PM	
7/4/14	1:13PM	2:08PM	
7/5/14	12:26PM	2:41PM	
7/6/14	2:24PM	2:06PM	x
7/7/14	1:35PM	2:02PM	
7/8/14	3:03PM	2:00PM	x
7/9/14	5:13PM	3:05PM	x
7/10/14	11:45AM	2:11PM	
7/11/14	1:43PM	2:33PM	
7/12/14	12:45PM	3:36PM	
7/13/14	1:11PM	4:48PM	
7/14/14	1:11PM	2:02PM	
7/15/14	1:03PM	2:45PM	
7/16/14	4:47PM	2:00PM	x
7/17/14	1:37PM	2:31PM	
7/18/14	1:42PM	2:00PM	
7/20/14	2:33PM	2:13PM	x
7/21/14	11:38AM	2:11PM	
7/22/14	12:21PM	2:35PM	
7/23/14	1:02PM	2:14PM	
7/24/14	1:16PM	2:00PM	
7/25/14	12:26PM	2:16PM	
7/26/14	12:32PM	2:00PM	
7/27/14	2:00PM	2:30PM	
7/28/14	12:00PM	2:00PM	
7/29/14	2:34PM	2:54PM	x
7/30/14	11:55AM	2:00PM	
7/31/14	1:54PM	2:14PM	
8/1/14	12:11PM	2:00PM	
8/2/14	3:50PM	2:00PM	x
8/3/14	2:29PM	2:50PM	
8/4/14	1:44PM	2:12PM	
8/5/14	5:41PM	2:36PM	x
8/6/14	2:34PM	3:08PM	
8/7/14	12:07PM	2:21PM	
8/8/14	12:56PM	2:00PM	
8/9/14	2:27PM	5:11PM	
8/10/14	11:21AM	2:17PM	
8/11/14	2:28PM	2:55PM	
8/12/14	1:23PM	2:00PM	
8/13/14	11:50AM	2:00PM	
8/14/14	2:17PM	2:52PM	
8/15/14	4:00PM	2:00PM	x
8/16/14	2:03PM	2:28PM	
8/17/14	2:19PM	2:40PM	
8/18/14	12:54PM	3:04PM	
8/19/14	11:38AM	2:00PM	
8/20/14	11:54AM	2:00PM	
8/21/14	12:29PM	3:03PM	
8/22/14	6:34PM	2:50PM	x
8/23/14	2:47PM	3:39PM	
8/24/14	2:43PM	2:00PM	x
8/25/14	2:05PM	3:06PM	
8/26/14	1:33PM	2:02PM	
8/27/14	10:39AM	2:29PM	
8/28/14	1:03PM	2:07PM	
8/29/14	2:32PM	3:08PM	
8/30/14	12:21PM	4:58PM	
9/1/14	12:51PM	2:13PM	
9/2/14	12:02PM	2:13PM	
9/3/14	12:12PM	2:00PM	
9/4/14	1:25PM	2:00PM	
9/5/14	1:14PM	2:20PM	
9/6/14	2:20PM	2:03PM	
9/7/14	1:25PM	2:56PM	
9/8/14	2:58PM	3:13PM	
9/9/14	1:05PM	2:50PM	
9/10/14	2:38PM	3:12PM
Looks like 11/69 days missed, plus the one afigg mentions.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top