LSL Massachusetts stub train

[Superliner Diner]

I reserved and have picked up tickets for a trip tommorrow on Train #448, the Lake Shore Stub Train, going from Albany to Springfield (and yes prepared for possible delays if #48 is late into ALB). Since the trip is comparatively inexpensive (vs NEC, Empire Corridor), I decided to book Business Class.

This morning (one day before the trip) I got a call from Amtrak stating that #448 is still running, however there will be no Business Class. My only option, I was told, would be to go in Coach and I'm entitled to a refund for the difference, which I can arrange at any Amtrak ticket window in my travels.

What is going on here? Is there a shortage of Amfleet I Business Class cars? They didn't tell me whether this is a permanent thing or just the case on this particular trip. If the BC car (which I surmise is normally a club-dinette with half the car the cafe and half BC) is gone, is the whole food service car gone? Or did they substitute it with a full dinette?

I guess I'll find out first hand tomorrow.

 

[Rafi]

I reserved and have picked up tickets for a trip tommorrow on Train #448, the Lake Shore Stub Train, going from Albany to Springfield (and yes prepared for possible delays if #48 is late into ALB). Since the trip is comparatively inexpensive (vs NEC, Empire Corridor), I decided to book Business Class.
This morning (one day before the trip) I got a call from Amtrak stating that #448 is still running, however there will be no Business Class. My only option, I was told, would be to go in Coach and I'm entitled to a refund for the difference, which I can arrange at any Amtrak ticket window in my travels.

What is going on here? Is there a shortage of Amfleet I Business Class cars? They didn't tell me whether this is a permanent thing or just the case on this particular trip. If the BC car (which I surmise is normally a club-dinette with half the car the cafe and half BC) is gone, is the whole food service car gone? Or did they substitute it with a full dinette?

I guess I'll find out first hand tomorrow.

Kevin,

Please do let us know, and if you can find out if this is a widespread thing (rather than a one-off occurrence), I'd be interested to know that, too. I'm booked on the westbound LSL stub (449) in BC at the end of September, so I'm crossing my fingers.

-Rafi

 

[AlanB]

This is not the first report that I've seen of the BC car going missing on the LSL Stubie. I'm not quite sure why it seems to be happening, but I do recall at least one other member reporting in his trip report a few months back that he arrived into ALB, only to find out that there was no BC car.

 

[dan72]

This is not the first report that I've seen of the BC car going missing on the LSL Stubie. I'm not quite sure why it seems to be happening, but I do recall at least one other member reporting in his trip report a few months back that he arrived into ALB, only to find out that there was no BC car.

Yep, that would be me. B) . In fact, other bits of information were not correct either. My attendant also told me they don't have a lounge car on the Boston stub, only to find a fully stocked one after boarding (#48 was starting to run out of items by Albany).

The redeeming item for me was that the coach wasn't even 1/3 full so I was able to sprawl out among the two seats, albeit Amfleet I seats.

At least you got a phone call, I didn't hear anything from them. :angry:

Hope the trip goes well!

Dan

 

[Superliner Diner]

OK I am reporting live from Springfield, MA after my ride. This is what I can report....

In Albany I went to the ticket window to straighten out my BC mess. Although the message I got from the reservations office said that I would get a refund, the lady at the ticket window could not make that happen. In short, I was downgrading my ticket rather than upgrading, albeit it had not been my choice to do so. She ended up giving me a voucher for the difference in the form of Amtrak ticket stock to use as cash towards a future trip.

The consist of today's #448 cannot be described as anything but PATHETIC:

101 P-42 locomotive

43364 Amfleet I full dinette

25010 Amfleet II coach

21701 Amfleet I ex-Metroliner coach (livery marked "Business Class")

And that's it. Pretty sad what it's become. You may note that there was not even a baggage car. Solution.... use half of the full dinette as the baggage car. Those with checked baggage, if they went to partake of the food service, got to see their luggage stacked up over tables and what is normally booth seating. The second of the 2 coaches is marked as Business Class, and I thought for a moment that they had made a mistake and there was in fact BC. Wrong... they were just using it as a regular coach class car. I asked the conductor why there was a BC car after I was told there was no BC, and he said something about the fact that they normally use those as regular coaches on the NEC. What the NEC has to do with the LSL I don't know.

At any rate, one guess I have is that there was a shortage of baggage cars. So they used a full dinette rather than a club dinette, which sacrificed BC. More important to transport passengers' luggage than provide somewhat of a premium atmosphere, especially for those who had come off the main LSL from sleepers.

BTW I did see #449 in Albany as well; it did have a baggage car but I was not in position to note its full consist.

 

[sechs]

Perhaps, this has something to do with the general shortage of single-level cars, due to the Talgo issues.

 

[battalion51]

sechs may be thinking in the right direction, but that wouldn't explain the occurance a few months ago. The LSL stub in my experience has run with an ex-Metroliner Club Dinette, not a full Business Class car since there isn't enough demand. What may be throwing this is the demand for these types of cars on other routes. The Vermonter almost always has an ex-Metroliner car as does 66/67 and a number of Chicago based trains. If the equipment isn't positioned correctly there are few alternatives for the train makeup. While Albany does have a number of trains cycle through their facility each day, I don't think many ex-Metroliners make their way over there.

 

[Superliner Diner]

While Albany does have a number of trains cycle through their facility each day, I don't think many ex-Metroliners make their way over there.

OK but is this train being equipped from Albany, or from Boston?

And in either case, why is 448/449 running short one baggage car?

 

[battalion51]

I'd imagine the equipment is more Albany based than Boston based. The equipment spends more time laying over in Albany than it does in Boston, it's usually only in the Boston yard for about 10 hours (on a good day) whereas it's in Albany for about 24. The motors are definitely Albany based since Albany actually has a rotation of P-42's whereas Boston does not.

 

[amtrak_russ]

i wonder if the lsl stub is losing ridership because of the adjusted time from the spring Timetable?

 

[battalion51]

The LSL stub has never been a primary bread winner since its conversion to what it is today. The train is intended to bring Boston passengers (and other intermeditate passengers) to Albany for their connection to the LSL. The in between stuff has never really been a focus for this train, thus why the time performance is not a huge concern since its counterpart is equally late.