NOL, Greensboro, Wilson, SAV, WAS

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.

margo

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Sep 2, 2009
Messages
279
Location
Louisiana
I would appreciate thoughts on our itinerary:  LCH to NOL on SL (staying overnight); NOL to GRO on Crescent, scheduled to arrive 3:37 a.m.;  GRO to Wilson on Carolinian;  Wilson to SAV on Palmetto (staying overnight);  SAV to WAS on SM;   WAS to NOL (staying overnight);   NOL to LCH.  I'm on a mission to ride every Amtrak train (even the short ones).  I've never ridden the Carolinian or Palmettto.  Our trip is Dec. 30 to Jan. 5. We will sightsee 1 day in SAV and 1 day in WAS ( hoping to see the Museum of the Bible).  Of course, all of this is if everything is on time.  LOL    We are seniors and love to ride trains. Does anyone see any problems we might have?  Thank you. 
 
Also, if we arrive in Greensboro at 3:30 a.m., is it safe to stay in the station until our train comes at 8:00 a.m.?  And we will be in Wilson from 11 am to 2 pm on Jan 1.  Do you think any restaurants or attractions will be open? Thanks again.
 
You can wait safely in Greensboro station.

You might try looking at Wilson, NC, on Google maps and then select "nearby" and "Restaurants" from the side panel to see what's there.  After you select a few of them, I'd contact them to see whether or not they'll be open.

As to your connection in Greensboro, NC, be advised that the Crescent has been experiencing some serious delays lately.  Even though there's almost a 5 hour layover, the two trains missed connections 4 times in the last 30 days:  See here

To guard against missing the connection, you should book your reservation from New Orleans to Wilson on one ticket.  Then you'll show up in the system as a connecting passenger and Amtrak should try to help you make the connection if 20 is severely delayed.  If you book NOL-GRO and GRO-WLN as separate tickets, you are are on your own as far as making the connection.

jb
 
Thank you for this advice.  I have already bought my tickets (should have asked before I bought). So should I try to change it from NOL to GRO to NOL to WIL? NOL to GRO is Dec. 31.  Thank you.

I checked for restaurants in Wilson.  Since it will be Jan. 1st, it seems everything will be closed.  Maybe the weather will be nice so we can just walk around.  Forever the OPTIMIST! Thanks again.
 
Wilson, NC, is WLN.  Wilmington, DE, is WIL.

It's up to you as to whether or not you try to change the tickets.  You might call up Amtrak (800-872-7245) and talk to an agent about it.  You might find that to change the tickets now will cost more money because it's closer to the departure dates (demand pricing).  But, perhaps the agent can work some magic and it won't cost more.  You won't know unless you try.  Also, if you have a local agent, you might want to visit them and do it in person.

Good luck.

jb
 
When I spoke to an Amtrak agent, he would not change my ticket.  He said it was a guaranteed connection, so if it was late, either the train to WLN would wait or I would be bussed.  We'll see.
 
When I spoke to an Amtrak agent, he would not change my ticket.  He said it was a guaranteed connection, so if it was late, either the train to WLN would wait or I would be bussed.  We'll see.
If it’s not on one ticket, the connection is not guaranteed, and they will not handle it as such if you miss it. So unless I’m misunderstanding what he said, that agent is incorrect. Prices may have gone up since you booked, but if they haven’t (or haven’t gone up significantly), you may want to call, cancel one of the legs, and modify the other one contain both segments.
 
Personally I would have chosen Selma over Wilson. Selma has some really nice antique shops. One that's just for records and it's huge. It's a really enjoyable town. Same goes for Salisbury, NC
 
The connection IS guaranteed IF there are connecting passengers on board.   Look at it this way.  Suppose 20 is late enough to miss 80.  Someone in the operations center (?) needs to make a decision about holding 80 so that the connection can be made.  An alternative would be to order buses or put the passengers in taxis.  It all depends on how many connecting passengers there are.  So s/he checks the consist to see and finds out there are no connecting passengers.  Problem solved.  80 does not need to be held and no buses or taxis need to be ordered.

It is possible that the Amtrak reservations system is so sophisticated that it will figure out on its own that you want to connect to 80, and flag it, but I don't know.

Telling your conductor that you want to connect to 80 might work, if s/he can enter that into the reservations system.  Again, I don't know for sure.

jb
 
The connection IS guaranteed IF there are connecting passengers on board.   Look at it this way.  Suppose 20 is late enough to miss 80.  Someone in the operations center (?) needs to make a decision about holding 80 so that the connection can be made.  An alternative would be to order buses or put the passengers in taxis.  It all depends on how many connecting passengers there are.  So s/he checks the consist to see and finds out there are no connecting passengers.  Problem solved.  80 does not need to be held and no buses or taxis need to be ordered.

It is possible that the Amtrak reservations system is so sophisticated that it will figure out on its own that you want to connect to 80, and flag it, but I don't know.

Telling your conductor that you want to connect to 80 might work, if s/he can enter that into the reservations system.  Again, I don't know for sure.

jb
That’s not really what a guaranteed connection is. A connection being guaranteed just means that Amtrak has to make arrangements for passengers if they miss or are going to miss that second train, but *not* that they have to actually hold the second train for you. In some cases they may do that, but that’s really only going to happen if it’s only by a small margin and if Amtrak feels that doing so will cost them less than making alternate plans. Which brings me to the vast majority of cases, which is that they just let train 2 go on its way, at which point they generally either bus passengers so that they can make the connection, or try and put them on a later train. If taking said later train involves an overnight in the connecting city, Amtrak must provide lodging and meals.

So the point is, a “guaranteed connection” does not necessarily mean that you are guaranteed to make that ticketed connection, but rather that it is Amtrak’s responsibility to deal with anything that arises from it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm not sure how close it is to the station, but Wilson has a barbecue place called "Parker's". It's not fancy but there are a lot of NC Barbecue folks who swear by Parker's in Wilson! Of course others say King's in Kingston etc. NC barbecue is not to everyone's taste but it is representative of the genre so to speak. So if you've never had NC barbecue, you might give it a try. Expect down home informality.
 
Thank you all for your advice.  I have tried twice, but the agents won't change my reservation.  We're retired and have ridden Amtrak many times, so we will manage whatever happens.  I've learned to always have a back-up plan! Last January we were stuck in the Oregon mountains/forest for 17 hours in one place on the Coast Starlight! At least, Amtrak gives us lots of "stories". Thanks again.  
 
Last January we were stuck in the Oregon mountains/forest for 17 hours in one place on the Coast Starlight! At least, Amtrak gives us lots of "stories". Thanks again.  
LOL, last January we were stuck for several hours in the woods in Yemmasee, SC on the Silver Meteor after derailing in Savannah. Eventually got into NYP 20 hours late because we kept on having to stop and wait for a new crew or for clearance from the freights. An “interesting” trip, but they treated us well and comped us afterward, so I’m honestly pretty happy that it happened.
 
Thank you all for your advice.  I have tried twice, but the agents won't change my reservation.  We're retired and have ridden Amtrak many times, so we will manage whatever happens.  I've learned to always have a back-up plan! Last January we were stuck in the Oregon mountains/forest for 17 hours in one place on the Coast Starlight! At least, Amtrak gives us lots of "stories". Thanks again.  
If the agents told you the connection as guaranteed, they are probably correct but  I would email Amtrak telling themwhat you were told and asking for a verification. You can claim all day what you were told but having it in writing is far better if they deny telling you that.
 
I'm not sure how close it is to the station, but Wilson has a barbecue place called "Parker's". It's not fancy but there are a lot of NC Barbecue folks who swear by Parker's in Wilson! Of course others say King's in Kingston etc. NC barbecue is not to everyone's taste but it is representative of the genre so to speak. So if you've never had NC barbecue, you might give it a try. Expect down home informality.
We go out of our way to stop at Parker's on our road trips to the northeast. It is so good, but it is on the outskirt of town. I doubt if Wilson is overrun with Uber drivers, especially on New Year's but you could try. Best advice for the OP, grab an early lunch, maybe to go, from the cafe on the Carolinian. I agree with one of the posters that Selma is a more interesting town to change trains as it is a beautifully restored station and sits at the cross tracks between CSX north south line and NS line from Greensboro to Selma and on to east NC.
 
Thank you all for your advice.  I have tried twice, but the agents won't change my reservation.  We're retired and have ridden Amtrak many times, so we will manage whatever happens.
I don’t understand how they can just refuse to do that. So you asked if they could do something along the lines of cancelling one ticket and modifyingthe other one to include that segment, and they just said no? Weird.
 
LOL, last January we were stuck for several hours in the woods in Yemmasee, SC on the Silver Meteor after derailing in Savannah. Eventually got into NYP 20 hours late because we kept on having to stop and wait for a new crew or for clearance from the freights. An “interesting” trip, but they treated us well and comped us afterward, so I’m honestly pretty happy that it happened.
Yep, your derailment cost us our cross country trip from DFB to LA scheduled for the next day!
 
Thank you all for your advice.  I have tried twice, but the agents won't change my reservation.  We're retired and have ridden Amtrak many times, so we will manage whatever happens.  I've learned to always have a back-up plan! Last January we were stuck in the Oregon mountains/forest for 17 hours in one place on the Coast Starlight! At least, Amtrak gives us lots of "stories". Thanks again.  
One of the things that might happen if the two trains don't happen to connect for you is that you'll end up on a Piedmont train - but that will only get you as far as Raleigh.  In that event, there's something that you should know.  Since your trip on 80 is booked on a separate reservation, if you don't board 80 at Greensboro, that particular reservation will be canceled, since you'll be what's called a "No Show".  You might end up paying for a separate ticket for the Piedmont trip after having forfeited your Carolinian ticket.  So, if you're going to miss 80, make sure you call Amtrak and handle things BEFORE 80 leaves Greensboro (actually, before it arrives Burlington), or else you'll likely have lost your money for the 80 reservation.

jb
 
This is my itinerary: NOL to GRO (Crescent)  12-31-18 supposed to arrive GRO  1-1-19  at 3:37 am;     GRO to WLN (Carolinian) 1-1-19 depart GRO 8:24 am, arrive WLN 1-1-19  11:14 am;                WLN to SAV (Palmetto) depart 1-1-19   2:47 pm, arrive SAV 9:04 pm 1-1-19.  Then SAV to WAS and WAS to NOL.  We are retired, so we don't have to be any where on a certain date.  This is all a tourist trip, with the main goal to ride some new trains (Carolinian and Palmetto). If we have to add an extra day or two to the trip, that's ok.   I hope this helps to clear things up.  Thank you all for your advice.
 
Sounds like the OP made the reservation as one continuous trip, so wouldn't connections be guaranteed?  Everybody seems to think the trip was booked as separate reservations, but I don't think it was. I think the OP will be taken care of if a connection is missed. 
 
Did our derailment cost you that, or did the storm that caused our derailment cost you that?
I was joking of course. You had the ordeal. We just had to fly to LA. Or maybe I had the “ordeal”?? 5 hrs on an airplane!
 
Good news.

20(31) Arrived Greensboro, NC (GRO) at 716A, 3 hours, 39 minutes late.

80(1) Arrived Greensboro, NC (GRO) at 819A, 1 minute early.

80(1) Departed Greensboro, NC (GRO) at 824A, On time.

So they should have made the connection, but I know that if I were trying to make that connection, I'd have worried about it a lot!

jb
 
Back
Top