Forget to stop

[daveyb99]

why not just make the reservation for Kankakee. that way your safe for getting off.

I agree. Why do people game the system like this, especially at a flag stop.

I can see the next topic: AMTRAK left me stranded in CHI

 

[p&sr]

it'll be impossible to know that they're 10 minutes away unless the crew makes the announcement.

Not impossible at all. You just have to follow the printed schedule, which you are carrying in your pocket, having obtained one at the start of your journey, or downloaded it from the Amtrak Website. Take note of the stop just prior to your destination, and the time of your departure from there. Note on the schedule how long it normally takes to get from there to your destination. Figure this time in the REVERSE direction as well (from destination to the stop you just left), and use the SHORTER of the two times (this corrects for schedule padding). Add that interval to the time of departure, and there is your estimated time of arrival. Be ready ten minutes in advance (everything in hand, and close enough to the door that you can get there on a moment's notice). If you feel the train starting to slow down, IT'S TIME.

 

[p&sr]

I agree. Why do people game the system like this, especially at a flag stop.

Reminds me of one arrival at Martinez, when I was ticketed through to Emeryville ("just in case"). As we approached the station, it occurred to me that nobody else was going to get off. I found a car attendant in another car, and learned that they were NOT going to open the doors from my coach, nor were they going to announce anything, since nobody in there was expected to get off. So I just had time to grab all my bags and exit through the OTHER coach.

It would have been an unpleasant surprise, had I just waited by the door of my own car and expected it to open for me.

All the more so at a station where the Train might not even be planning to stop!

 

[jis]

He was? When does the conductor change in the north-bound Vermonter?

Springfield, MA. They run from Springfield to St Albans, stay overnight there, and then make the trip back the next day. South of Springfield, I seem to recall a change in New Haven, and I've never ridden it past Bridgeport, so I wouldn't know where they change south of there.

Yup the Conductors run Springfield to St. Albans. The Engineer changes at Brattleboro, i.e. one Engineer takes it from Springfield to Brattleboro and then another Engineer takes it from Brattleboro to St. Albans.

South of Springfield the crew change points are New Haven and New York Penn.

 

[Tony]

The conductors change at NYP, New Haven, and again at Springfield.

I can't disagree, but that kind-of seems a bit often, no?

 

[AlanB]

The conductors change at NYP, New Haven, and again at Springfield.
I can't disagree, but that kind-of seems a bit often, no?

They change at New Haven because that is the point where the train goes from an electric motor to a diesel motor. Crews also change in DC for the trains that run south of WAS, again because of the change from electric to diesel.

New York is a normal crew change for all trains that run through NYP, since it's the mid-point on the corridor.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

it'll be impossible to know that they're 10 minutes away unless the crew makes the announcement.

Not impossible at all. You just have to follow the printed schedule, which you are carrying in your pocket, having obtained one at the start of your journey, or downloaded it from the Amtrak Website. Take note of the stop just prior to your destination, and the time of your departure from there. Note on the schedule how long it normally takes to get from there to your destination. Figure this time in the REVERSE direction as well (from destination to the stop you just left), and use the SHORTER of the two times (this corrects for schedule padding). Add that interval to the time of departure, and there is your estimated time of arrival. Be ready ten minutes in advance (everything in hand, and close enough to the door that you can get there on a moment's notice). If you feel the train starting to slow down, IT'S TIME.

Does that reliably eliminate schedule padding? Are you certain that there is no pair of adjacent stops anywhere in the Amtrak system where there's padding in both directions?

 

[jis]

The conductors change at NYP, New Haven, and again at Springfield.
I can't disagree, but that kind-of seems a bit often, no?

Part of the reason is that the conductors have to be route qualified for a particular route. Hence the crew zones are laid out to sort of optimize how many need to qualify for a particular zone.

BTW, the OBS staff, i.e. the cafe car person runs through all the way from Washington to St. Albans and vice-versa.

 

[p&sr]

Does that reliably eliminate schedule padding? Are you certain that there is no pair of adjacent stops anywhere in the Amtrak system where there's padding in both directions?

Who can say? But it seems to me the whole point of "schedule padding" is that even when a train is running "behind schedule" for some while, they may still arrive "on time" at the end of the line, or at some major destination (terminating a significant section of the run). If so, then the only way there could be padding in both directions is if two "major destinations" occur with no stops in between. Remember, they cannot depart prior to the scheduled time (unless the stop is marked for departing passengers only), so any padding early in the trip (or early in a major section) would only CAUSE the Train to be LATE, not enable a late Train to arrive "on time" after all.