shocking

[Amtrak Watcher]

On 30 and 31 August I was on the south-bound Texas Eagle from CHI to DAL. The train arrived at almost every stop on time or early (20 minutes early into DAL) with lots of UP freight trains waiting patiently on the side the entire length of the ride. It was wonderful but shocking.

 

[Windy City LSA]

On 30 and 31 August I was on the south-bound Texas Eagle from CHI to DAL. The train arrived at almost every stop on time or early (20 minutes early into DAL) with lots of UP freight trains waiting patiently on the side the entire length of the ride. It was wonderful but shocking.

Good for you for getting so lucky!! Out of the routes I've been on, the Eagle was always the worst. We always seemed to get pounded by UP between Texarkana and Longview for whatever reason. A couple of times it seemed an eternity just to get from Marshall to Longview. The most memorable time was when I was deadheading to FTW and we were stopped outside of Marshall. I went outside and shot the breeze with the conductors and engineer out on the ballast for probably 20 minutes...and that was after we'd been sitting for awhile. That's the time the most excellent engineer invitied me to ride up front with him to Longview.

By the way...I wonder just how "patiently" those UP trains were waiting... :lol:

 

[daveyb99]

By the way...I wonder just how "patiently" those UP trains were waiting... :lol:

I would doubt the crews minded much, they are paid by the hour moving or not.

I bet it rubbed the dispatchers a little wrong. Or maybe not, maybe they have always wanted Amtrak moving rather than sitting.

 

[jccollins]

On 30 and 31 August I was on the south-bound Texas Eagle from CHI to DAL. The train arrived at almost every stop on time or early (20 minutes early into DAL) with lots of UP freight trains waiting patiently on the side the entire length of the ride. It was wonderful but shocking.

I had the same experience on, believe it or not, the Sunset Limited all the way from Los Angeles to Orlando back in 2001. The train arrived as much as an hour early into some stations, never late the entire way. We spent hours waiting for our scheduled departure times... and this was well before the scheduled running time was lengthened by an additional EIGHT hours!

 

[AlanB]

We spent hours waiting for our scheduled departure times... and this was well before the scheduled running time was lengthened by an additional EIGHT hours!

Actually the schedule has been lengthened by over 12 hours in the last five years.

Yet, it still manages to run at least 5 hours or more late. :angry:

 

[EmpireBuilderFan1976]

I sure am glad the Empire Builder runs on BNSF lines. The one time I took the Capitol limited from CHI to PGH, we were only about an hour late. The last time I took the Cardinal from CHI to CIN, we arrived over 4 hours late. Mainly due to the fact that we had to cross UP tracks to get to the CSX track we were suppose to be on, just outside of CUS. We ended up sitting for atleast two hours waiting for a broken down UP locomotive to be fixed and moved out of our way. And then of course we had to wait for all of their freights to clear the tracks. Seemed like eternity and those trains of theirs were LONG. Fortunately once on the CSX track, CSX was pretty good about letting us go. We only had to pull onto sidings a couple of times and we didnt' even have to come to a complete stop. The CSX freights weren't 5 miles long like UP's.

 

[Boxcar]

]
Good for you for getting so lucky!! Out of the routes I've been on, the Eagle was always the worst. We always seemed to get pounded by UP between Texarkana and Longview for whatever reason. A couple of times it seemed an eternity just to get from Marshall to Longview. The most memorable time was when I was deadheading to FTW and we were stopped outside of Marshall. I went outside and shot the breeze with the conductors and engineer out on the ballast for probably 20 minutes...and that was after we'd been sitting for awhile. That's the time the most excellent engineer invitied me to ride up front with him to Longview.

By the way...I wonder just how "patiently" those UP trains were waiting... :lol:

We lost loads of time there in June due to the Long-Long freights hauling coal to the power plant there.

 

[RailFanLNK]

I was aboard the CZ this weekend. We went by UP train after UP train in the Rockies. They seemed to be waiting on us. My girlfriend couldn't believe it either. We hardly stopped from GSC to DEN. I had taken the time to tell her kids that UP always dinks Amtrak around. Kinda made me look like a liar. I was really surprised!

 

[AlanB]

I was aboard the CZ this weekend. We went by UP train after UP train in the Rockies. They seemed to be waiting on us. My girlfriend couldn't believe it either. We hardly stopped from GSC to DEN. I had taken the time to tell her kids that UP always dinks Amtrak around. Kinda made me look like a liar. I was really surprised!

Maybe the letter and/or the new president shook UP up. :unsure:

 

[Sam Damon]

While a pleasant surprise for your trip, the real test will be how UP handles trains six months from now.