CONO Advice

[jmbgeg]

Experienced Superliner traveler but never been on CONO. 2011 CONO trip. Any advice? Similar or variant from EB, CS, SWC or CZ?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Experienced Superliner traveler but never been on CONO. 2011 CONO trip. Any advice? Similar or variant from EB, CS, SWC or CZ?

Generally it's a regular Superliner with a CCC in lieu of a real diner but the food is pretty good ,(dinner sometimes is served before leaving the CHI Station.)some items great (the Bourbon Pecan Pie is right up there with the Choco Bundt Cake on the EB!)The diner crew has been friendly and professional on my trips! They call this the Chicken Bone Express cause so many coach pax bring food, the diner isnt real busy! If the train happens to being run through with the TE there will be a Sightseer Lounge, otherwise the Cafe end of the CCC is it! Not much to see on this route except Memphis, crossing the Mississippi in Kentucky in the middle of the night, and the run into New Orleans is pretty nice across the water! I had the Invisible Man on this train for my SCA twice and the tracks can be rough in Tennessee and Mississippi!This train seems to attract some real characters, guess it's the New Orleans thing! :lol:

Of course New Orleans is a great town so the journey is worth the overnight ride! Usually the equipment is tired and old, and lately the CHI cleaning crews have been on Vacation, hence funky,funky cars! :angry: (I know you prefer Bedrooms so perhaps they do a better job on them than roomettes or the coaches! Hope this helps!

 

[Eric S]

I would add that if it happens to be operating with JUST the CCC, then the food service can be overwhelmed by the volume of passengers seeking food southbound out of Chicago.

 

[jmbgeg]

Experienced Superliner traveler but never been on CONO. 2011 CONO trip. Any advice? Similar or variant from EB, CS, SWC or CZ?

Generally it's a regular Superliner with a CCC in lieu of a real diner but the food is pretty good ,(dinner sometimes is served before leaving the CHI Station.)some items great (the Bourbon Pecan Pie is right up there with the Choco Bundt Cake on the EB!)The diner crew has been friendly and professional on my trips! They call this the Chicken Bone Express cause so many coach pax bring food, the diner isnt real busy! If the train happens to being run through with the TE there will be a Sightseer Lounge, otherwise the Cafe end of the CCC is it! Not much to see on this route except Memphis, crossing the Mississippi in Kentucky in the middle of the night, and the run into New Orleans is pretty nice across the water! I had the Invisible Man on this train for my SCA twice and the tracks can be rough in Tennessee and Mississippi!This train seems to attract some real characters, guess it's the New Orleans thing! :lol:

Of course New Orleans is a great town so the journey is worth the overnight ride! Usually the equipment is tired and old, and lately the CHI cleaning crews have been on Vacation, hence funky,funky cars! :angry: (I know you prefer Bedrooms so perhaps they do a better job on them than roomettes or the coaches! Hope this helps!

I had the invisible man yesterday on the EB from PDX to SPK. He started out as the best ever SCA out of PDX and then was not seen for hours. Jim, I am now at 160k AGR without any MC points. :-0

 

[Bob Dylan]

His name wasnt Courteny by any chance was it? :unsure: I know you ride alot ,but without an AGR MC thats damn good to rack up so many AGR points, especially when there arent daily trains to commute on or do point runs! I just booked our summer California Dreamin' and Traveling Salvation Army Show for July so am currently low on points, Ill be Select for 2011 but the budget (retiree,no business travel)doesnt allow Select Plus! (BTW-Forgot to mention,New Orleans during hurricane season is cheap,uncrowded (except on weekends)and very hot/humid, so try to visit in the Spring or Fall (non-football weekend!)

 

[Donctor]

If the train happens to being run through with the TE there will be a Sightseer Lounge, otherwise the Cafe end of the CCC is it!

They share consists. The only time they don't is if one is really late arriving into CHI. And when that happened last week, the City still left CHI with a Sightseer, albeit one taken from the yard.

When a Sightseer is unavailable, the City will usually use two CCCs.

 

[had8ley]

If the train happens to being run through with the TE there will be a Sightseer Lounge, otherwise the Cafe end of the CCC is it!

They share consists. The only time they don't is if one is really late arriving into CHI. And when that happened last week, the City still left CHI with a Sightseer, albeit one taken from the yard.

When a Sightseer is unavailable, the City will usually use two CCCs.

I dunno...the usual consist of the City calls for a CCC alone. The reason the Eagle was (usually) neater than the City was because it called for a SSL and the City did not; thus two distinct train consists. This is just another glaring example of forget the vacuum and toilet paper; NOL will fix it when it gets there. Swapping consists beats a little housekeeping. Rack up another "Where's the Manager for this train?"

 

[Carter]

New Orleans during hurricane season is cheap,uncrowded (except on weekends)and very hot/humid, so try to visit in the Spring or Fall (non-football weekend!)

The trick my wife and I used when we went in the summer a few years ago was to ride out the hot part of the day with a late long lunch and a nap back at the hotel, and then back out for dinner and dancing (the foxtrot still counts, right?) or concert or just bumming around the Quarter or whatever.

As for the CONO, we had no problems. On the southbound out of Memphis, the attendant had misplaced her manifest, and she got flustered and would stop by to ask what our stop was about every 25 minutes. Eventually I put a post-it with "All the way to NOLA" on the door and then we could hear her as she passed by every time "They're all the way to the end. Okay..." Northbound we had lunch from Central Grocery, which did make dinner a little boring, but the service was fine every time we went in.

 

[Donctor]

I dunno...the usual consist of the City calls for a CCC alone. The reason the Eagle was (usually) neater than the City was because it called for a SSL and the City did not; thus two distinct train consists. This is just another glaring example of forget the vacuum and toilet paper; NOL will fix it when it gets there. Swapping consists beats a little housekeeping. Rack up another "Where's the Manager for this train?"

I don't understand the "two distinct train consists" comment. The Eagle and the City currently share consists. Assuming nothing has changed within the past two days, this is fact.

 

[Eric S]

I don't understand the "two distinct train consists" comment. The Eagle and the City currently share consists. Assuming nothing has changed within the past two days, this is fact.

Has there been any indication if this (the Texas Eagle and City of New Orleans sharing consists) will remain the case going forward? (Perhaps it would be better to ask if there has been any indication that this practice will change?)

 

[Donctor]

I don't understand the "two distinct train consists" comment. The Eagle and the City currently share consists. Assuming nothing has changed within the past two days, this is fact.

Has there been any indication if this (the Texas Eagle and City of New Orleans sharing consists) will remain the case going forward? (Perhaps it would be better to ask if there has been any indication that this practice will change?)

I do not believe there has been any such indication. Unless either train's consist is lengthened or shortened (the latter is not possible on the City), I don't see this changing until the daily Eagle starts. If the trains didn't share consists, assuming the schedules stay the same, the Eagle would need four sets.

When the economy gets better and UP's freight business goes back up, Amtrak performance on UP trackage (Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle, Coast Starlight, California Zephyr) may once again become abysmal. If that does happen, the sharing may end (because bad OTP on 22/322/422 can't ensure an on-time 59).

Currently, when none of the trains are really late, the set arriving on 58 at 9:00a becomes 21/421, departing at 1:45p. The eastbound 22/422 that arrives at 1:52p becomes that night's 59. One day last week, failures on 21 and 22 further south caused the inbound Eagle to be a number of hours late, and 59 was comprised of yard cars. (CHI didn't have adequate time to wye 59, so it left CHI facing forward. The Eagle wasn't wyed in Texas (though the engine was), so its cars were backwards (with the STL coach added between the engine and the 3rd coach.)

 

[had8ley]

I dunno...the usual consist of the City calls for a CCC alone. The reason the Eagle was (usually) neater than the City was because it called for a SSL and the City did not; thus two distinct train consists. This is just another glaring example of forget the vacuum and toilet paper; NOL will fix it when it gets there. Swapping consists beats a little housekeeping. Rack up another "Where's the Manager for this train?"

I don't understand the "two distinct train consists" comment. The Eagle and the City currently share consists. Assuming nothing has changed within the past two days, this is fact.

OK...until recently the City ran with a deadhead coach or bag to satisfy the CN rule of eight sets of axles; it did not have a SSL and I think the TT will bear witness to this. It ran all last year and the beginning part of this year with NO sightseer; it was not until recently that the two trains turned into each. Until that time it required two different consists~ one for the City going to NOL (without a SSL) and one for the Eagle to fly to SAS (with an SSL). When they reached the end terminus they were turned and headed back to Chicago and did not swap consists. #22 turned back to SAS as #21 and #58 turned back to NOL as # 59; now we have a real chicken bone express as when one leaves NOL it seems the garbage isn't cleaned up until it goes to Chicago, down to SAS, back to Chicago and finally back to NOL where it is properly cleaned.

 

[Donctor]

When they reached the end terminus they were turned and headed back to Chicago and did not swap consists. #22 turned back to SAS as #21 and #58 turned back to NOL as # 59; now we have a real chicken bone express as when one leaves NOL it seems the garbage isn't cleaned up until it goes to Chicago, down to SAS, back to Chicago and finally back to NOL where it is properly cleaned.

I didn't realize they were even cleaned at all.

 

[Gord]

I dunno...the usual consist of the City calls for a CCC alone. The reason the Eagle was (usually) neater than the City was because it called for a SSL and the City did not; thus two distinct train consists. This is just another glaring example of forget the vacuum and toilet paper; NOL will fix it when it gets there. Swapping consists beats a little housekeeping. Rack up another "Where's the Manager for this train?"

I don't understand the "two distinct train consists" comment. The Eagle and the City currently share consists. Assuming nothing has changed within the past two days, this is fact.

OK...until recently the City ran with a deadhead coach or bag to satisfy the CN rule of eight sets of axles; it did not have a SSL and I think the TT will bear witness to this. It ran all last year and the beginning part of this year with NO sightseer; it was not until recently that the two trains turned into each. Until that time it required two different consists~ one for the City going to NOL (without a SSL) and one for the Eagle to fly to SAS (with an SSL). When they reached the end terminus they were turned and headed back to Chicago and did not swap consists. #22 turned back to SAS as #21 and #58 turned back to NOL as # 59; now we have a real chicken bone express as when one leaves NOL it seems the garbage isn't cleaned up until it goes to Chicago, down to SAS, back to Chicago and finally back to NOL where it is properly cleaned.

Rode 59 on March 15th and 58 on Mar. 29th, both had SSL's which were well used and appreciated.

Great trip except 59 hit a shopping cart overnight which knocked out the electrical or air for the toilets, smell was getting pretty bad by the time we hit NOLA.

Gord

 

[Donctor]

Rode 59 on March 15th and 58 on Mar. 29th, both had SSL's which were well used and appreciated. Great trip except 59 hit a shopping cart overnight which knocked out the electrical or air for the toilets, smell was getting pretty bad by the time we hit NOLA.

Gord

Are you sure the smell wasn't just Memphis?

 

[had8ley]

When they reached the end terminus they were turned and headed back to Chicago and did not swap consists. #22 turned back to SAS as #21 and #58 turned back to NOL as # 59; now we have a real chicken bone express as when one leaves NOL it seems the garbage isn't cleaned up until it goes to Chicago, down to SAS, back to Chicago and finally back to NOL where it is properly cleaned.

I didn't realize they were even cleaned at all.

You must be getting on # 59 at Hammond...

 

[Donctor]

When they reached the end terminus they were turned and headed back to Chicago and did not swap consists. #22 turned back to SAS as #21 and #58 turned back to NOL as # 59; now we have a real chicken bone express as when one leaves NOL it seems the garbage isn't cleaned up until it goes to Chicago, down to SAS, back to Chicago and finally back to NOL where it is properly cleaned.

I didn't realize they were even cleaned at all.

You must be getting on # 59 at Hammond...

:lol:

 

[PaulM]

For a contrarian point of view, I'll drag out a recent trip report entitled "Don't pick on the City of New Orleans". I concluded:

My main purpose in writing this report is to counter the opinion sometimes expressed here that the CNO is the bottom of the Amtrak barrel, the step-child, the runt of the litter. Sure, no free wine tasting like the Empire Builder. But the cars were as clean and well maintained as any other LD train, no roomette rattles or mechanical malfunctions, the service was excellent, and we were more or less on time except for the weather caused signal problem. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride with one exception: being so close to the engine with the loud horn.

 

[had8ley]

For a contrarian point of view, I'll drag out a recent trip report entitled "Don't pick on the City of New Orleans". I concluded:

My main purpose in writing this report is to counter the opinion sometimes expressed here that the CNO is the bottom of the Amtrak barrel, the step-child, the runt of the litter. Sure, no free wine tasting like the Empire Builder. But the cars were as clean and well maintained as any other LD train, no roomette rattles or mechanical malfunctions, the service was excellent, and we were more or less on time except for the weather caused signal problem. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride with one exception: being so close to the engine with the loud horn.

Not picking on the City but sure wish somebody would "pick" things up :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[AAARGH!]

On my recent trip, the CONO had the best overall crew of the 11 trains I took. They ALL seemed to enjoy their job and working together and really made it fun for the passengers. I have heard other CONO crews are not so good, but ours were.

The equipment was no different than any other train, reasonably clean and in decent working order. The CONO trainset became the next day's TE, so if the equipment on the CONO is bad, so it is on the TE.

 

[Rail Freak]

On my recent trip, the CONO had the best overall crew of the 11 trains I took. They ALL seemed to enjoy their job and working together and really made it fun for the passengers. I have heard other CONO crews are not so good, but ours were.
The equipment was no different than any other train, reasonably clean and in decent working order. The CONO trainset became the next day's TE, so if the equipment on the CONO is bad, so it is on the TE.

Yeah jeff, I agree. I saw the conductor in the SSL around 5:30 am and complimented the crew! Our SCA was a hoot!

RF

 

[had8ley]

On my recent trip, the CONO had the best overall crew of the 11 trains I took. They ALL seemed to enjoy their job and working together and really made it fun for the passengers. I have heard other CONO crews are not so good, but ours were.
The equipment was no different than any other train, reasonably clean and in decent working order. The CONO trainset became the next day's TE, so if the equipment on the CONO is bad, so it is on the TE.

I don't think the problem lies with the NOL based crew. One coach TA cannot keep up with garbage left over from San Marcos and toilets that were not dumped in three or four days. I think housekeeping should be the #1 priority on this train; especially since it is traveling an arduous journey from NOL to Chicago down to SAS and return. I have personally witnessed coaches that I would refuse to ride in back into NOL after one of these R/T's and all the crew would say is, "it was bad leaving Chicago and never got any better."

 

[cpamtfan]

4 hours doesn't seem like enough time to turn a train.

 

[Donctor]

4 hours doesn't seem like enough time to turn a train.

It should be (though I acknowledge that it's not necessarily working the way it should).

I don't know why the Chicago workers wouldn't be able to. As far as I can tell, they don't have any other trains that urgently need to be turned during that four-hour period. Come to think of it, though, I never actually see the City get cleaned. The Lake Shore and Cardinal, yes. The California Zephyr, Empire Builder and Southwest Chief are already assembled for the day's departures, because none of the three have a same-day turn in CHI.

 

[had8ley]

4 hours doesn't seem like enough time to turn a train.

It should be (though I acknowledge that it's not necessarily working the way it should).

I don't know why the Chicago workers wouldn't be able to. As far as I can tell, they don't have any other trains that urgently need to be turned during that four-hour period. Come to think of it, though, I never actually see the City get cleaned.

BINGO !!! <_<