Tumbleweed
OBS Chief
Can you still do the 28/14 overnight connection on your own dime?
EB mess
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tim49424
Engineer
I agree. I only pointed out that the new schedule "expires" in late May to explain why trial (or actual) bookings show no changes beyond May 31, reverting back to the current schedule.
rusty spike
OBS Chief
I would think so. The AGR rules read that an ongoing connection within 23 1/2 hours of the arriving train will be issued on the same reward, but hotel is at your expense.
D.P. Roberts
Conductor
But again, it shows the normal schedule, but won't allow 14-28 connections. If the normal schedule was actually in effect, there's no reason to block 14-28 connections anymore. So the current "ban" on 14-28 connections extends to some date beyond the current schedule change.
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tim49424
Engineer
I wasn't responding about 14-28 connections......I was talking about the EB schedule as a whole. I don't expect any connections will be restored at either end anytime soon.
D.P. Roberts
Conductor
Well, I can understand the connections between 27-11, and the outbound connections from 8 in Chicago, but what's wrong with the 14-28 connection? That's only a problem if 28 is still leaving 3 hours earlier than normal, correct?
I may not remember this correctly, but there was a lot of discussion on here when the 14-28 connection was broken (which happened right before the schedule change was announced) that an upcoming schedule change must be on its way, since there didn't appear to be a logical reason to break it (after all, the CS wasn't arriving late to PDX).
If the EB returns to its original schedule, people can still make the 14-28 connection. If the schedule remains changed, that connection stays broken. So, if Amtrak is 99% certain that people with existing 14-28 connections (who booked before it was broken) are going to be SOL, then the longer they wait to make the change official, the harder it will be to re-book everyone.
Any chance that Amtrak would go back to the bus connection that they used when the CS was often late? There were many months when they took connecting passengers from Klamath Falls north on US 97 getting to Pasco Washington to connect to the EB.
If everything goes well, I will be on the 14 tomorrow night, the 28 Sunday night and the 48 Tuesday night.
I'm already planning a 3-hour delay on the EB, which means I have a little time to get food outside of the train before boarding the LSL. Should I go ahead and book a night in CHI just in case there's a misconnect? Or will Amtrak take care of lodging?
Fortunately I'm in no rush to get to my destination; the forced layovers would hurt only the wallet.
Thanks in advance.
I'm already planning a 3-hour delay on the EB, which means I have a little time to get food outside of the train before boarding the LSL. Should I go ahead and book a night in CHI just in case there's a misconnect? Or will Amtrak take care of lodging?
Fortunately I'm in no rush to get to my destination; the forced layovers would hurt only the wallet.
Thanks in advance.
D.P. Roberts
Conductor
As to the hotel, it depends on how & when you booked your ticket. If you booked 14-28-48 in one booking, as one ticket, then yes, it's considered a "guaranteed connection" and Amtrak should take care of a hotel overnight & probably put you on the train the next day (or, depending on your ultimate destination, they may just put you on a bus).
However, if you booked each leg of the trip separately, then you're on your own.
As to the 3 hour delay - if you check out http://www.amtrakdelays.onlineschedulingsoftware.com/ it will show you how late the EB has been lately. It has averaged about four and a half hours late, and it has arrived as much as 36 hours late in the last month or so. You're leaving on a Sunday, and it has been better on the weekends, so maybe it won't be that bad.
Good luck!
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gn2276
Service Attendant
At the end of May the schedule will be looked at again and the schedule might be changed again.
tim49424
Engineer
I am sure that the schedule will be tweaked a few times until they can get it right....including a change to accommodate the opening of SPUD.
Also, ending the suspension of connections on both ends is in the best interest of everybody involved.
Also, ending the suspension of connections on both ends is in the best interest of everybody involved.
All one ticket and an award, so I should be good to go then. It's my first transcontinental train trip and I did book a roomette the entire way. I've also been watching the delays the last couple of weeks, but not closely; I'm concerned but won't be worried if we beat the average.
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Saw it left PDX 53 minutes late, which is quite unusual. No delay for the 14 into PDX yesterday afternoon either.
EB_OBS
Conductor
Freight train hit a car.
PaulM
Engineer
But isn't the problem here that 28 to 14 is no longer a PUBLISHED connection. You can do it with an overnight in PDX with the multi-city option. But AGR doesn't recognize them.
For some reason I thought that back when AGR made a big noise clarifying the rules that overnights would be permitted when there was no reasonable connection otherwise. The example given was #6 to #11.
FWIW, if NYP to ELP with a layover in NOL is published, there is no reason why MSP to SAC with a layover in PDX isn't.
rusty spike
OBS Chief
I just made a 14/28 connection between LAX & WFH which as of April 1st is no longer a same-day "published" connection. but AGR permitted the next-day connection on the same redemption.
I am not returning on the same route, but that would be a 27/11 connection from WFH to LAX. I was not sure what you mean by a "28 to 14" connection--I was thinking you meant 27/11 since you llisted MSP to SAC as your endpoints. I haven't a clue what AGR would permit, under their "clarified" rules. What is AGR's definition of a "published route"? Those published in the timetables, or is it created as a result of entering the two endpoints on Amtrak.com? Hopefully someone can clairify AGR's "clarification".
I am not returning on the same route, but that would be a 27/11 connection from WFH to LAX. I was not sure what you mean by a "28 to 14" connection--I was thinking you meant 27/11 since you llisted MSP to SAC as your endpoints. I haven't a clue what AGR would permit, under their "clarified" rules. What is AGR's definition of a "published route"? Those published in the timetables, or is it created as a result of entering the two endpoints on Amtrak.com? Hopefully someone can clairify AGR's "clarification".
tricia
Conductor
It'd be a huge help if the on-time-performance stats on Amtrak's website indicated HOW late the EB (and other trains) have been running over the past month and past year, either on average or in some sort of graph or table display. As it stands, only info offered is what percentage of the time the train arrives on time. Not so helpful for the EB these days. :wacko:
If anyone on this list has been compiling that data, at least for arrivals in PDX, Seattle, and CHI, and can easily share it here, I'm pretty sure a good many folks would very much like to see it.
If anyone on this list has been compiling that data, at least for arrivals in PDX, Seattle, and CHI, and can easily share it here, I'm pretty sure a good many folks would very much like to see it.
montana mike
Conductor
Go to here ( http://www.amtrakdelays.onlineschedulingsoftware.com ) and just plug in either PDX or SEA or CHI as the station and the corresponding train and you can see how poorly those trains have been doing.
For example #7 has been running an average of 131 minutes late into SEA over the past week. And #8 running over 300 minutes late into CHI during the same time frame.
Since these delays mirror almost exactly what BNSF has told Amtrak they should expect for most of 2014, I would say they are very good indications of performance for any planned trip this year. With the addition of 90 minutes to the westbound schedule by adding a lot of padding thru ND, things should improve for #7/27 (ie. the trains arrival times in PDX and SEA will be "officially" 90 minutes later). The 3 hour bump going east is going to help, BUT, with average daily delays of over 6 hours I can't imagine that #8 will see very many "on time" arrivals, if any......and with the exception of the LSL and possibly the CONO, the EB will likely not be able to connect with any other trains out of CHI on a regular basis, even with the 3 hour earlier start times in PDX and SEA.
:-(
For example #7 has been running an average of 131 minutes late into SEA over the past week. And #8 running over 300 minutes late into CHI during the same time frame.
Since these delays mirror almost exactly what BNSF has told Amtrak they should expect for most of 2014, I would say they are very good indications of performance for any planned trip this year. With the addition of 90 minutes to the westbound schedule by adding a lot of padding thru ND, things should improve for #7/27 (ie. the trains arrival times in PDX and SEA will be "officially" 90 minutes later). The 3 hour bump going east is going to help, BUT, with average daily delays of over 6 hours I can't imagine that #8 will see very many "on time" arrivals, if any......and with the exception of the LSL and possibly the CONO, the EB will likely not be able to connect with any other trains out of CHI on a regular basis, even with the 3 hour earlier start times in PDX and SEA.
:-(
From a passenger on 8(12), posted to Facebook.
tricia
Conductor
Wow! Thanks for the link--really very helpful for anyone planning trip on EB in the months ahead. Knowing the likely range of "how late" makes contingency planning a lot more certain.
From the More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same Dept.: The Spokane newspaper, the Spokesman-Review, has a feature in their Monday edition featuring photos of certain buildings from yesteryear and the same buildings today. This morning's article featured the Northern Pacific station from 1926 and today's Internal Center which includes Amtrak and Greyhound/National Trailways buses. The accompanying article said the NP reached Spokane from Seattle in 1881, and that President Ulysses S. Grant drove the Golden Spike for the transcontinental NP route in Montana in 1883. The train carrying the President and several dignitaries was scheduled to arrive in Spokane at 8AM on Sept. 9th, and an elaborate celebration was planned as the train made its way westward to Seattle. Instead, the train didn't get into Spokane until 7PM. 131 years later, nothing's changed. :lol:
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lionelhoguy
Service Attendant
I see that #7 EB from CHI to MSP was over two hours late into MSP yesterday April 13th, does anyone know why? I am taking the EB #7 from CBS to MSP on April 15th and I really do not want to get into MSP after 2am if possible.
lionelhoguy
Service Attendant
I am still wondering if anyone knows why EB #7 was so late yesterday? Thanks,
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