They were on a BUS, a thing with wheels that can move anywhere, not just to nearest Amtrak station. You take the passengers in the bus to where the train was going, whether it is SEA, PDX, SAC or whatever station where you can service them. Yes it would be a long-ass bus journey, but still preferred over holding other passengers in a train hostage for 7 hours for no fault of theirs.Then you had the practical matter of what to do with those bus passengers if they missed the train connection. Chemult is basically a wide spot in the road. There's a couple of podunk hotels, and those were likely sold out. So what do you do...take everyone back to Bend? (More hotels, but probably also sold out). Do you drop them off at a 24-hour truck stop in Chemult?
I disagree. From what I have heard about the trains during the eclipse, about half the train's passengers were probably on that bus. I would much rather have two 7 hours delays with both on the train rather than one on-time train and a 7 hour late bus.They were on a BUS, a thing with wheels that can move anywhere, not just to nearest Amtrak station. You take the passengers in the bus to where the train was going, whether it is SEA, PDX, SAC or whatever station where you can service them. Yes it would be a long-ass bus journey, but still preferred over holding other passengers in a train hostage for 7 hours for no fault of theirs.Then you had the practical matter of what to do with those bus passengers if they missed the train connection. Chemult is basically a wide spot in the road. There's a couple of podunk hotels, and those were likely sold out. So what do you do...take everyone back to Bend? (More hotels, but probably also sold out). Do you drop them off at a 24-hour truck stop in Chemult?
They were on a BUS, a thing with wheels that can move anywhere, not just to nearest Amtrak station. You take the passengers in the bus to where the train was going, whether it is SEA, PDX, SAC or whatever station where you can service them. Yes it would be a long-ass bus journey, but still preferred over holding other passengers in a train hostage for 7 hours for no fault of theirs.Then you had the practical matter of what to do with those bus passengers if they missed the train connection. Chemult is basically a wide spot in the road. There's a couple of podunk hotels, and those were likely sold out. So what do you do...take everyone back to Bend? (More hotels, but probably also sold out). Do you drop them off at a 24-hour truck stop in Chemult?
Half a train worth of passengers on a bus? Is Coast Starlight running as a single car streetcar, or was the "bus" an Airbus 380? h34r:From what I have heard about the trains during the eclipse, about half the train's passengers were probably on that bus.
It is likely more than one bus was used since it was a special occasion. Either way, it was just an estimate, so it is not precise.Half a train worth of passengers on a bus? Is Coast Starlight running as a single car streetcar, or was the "bus" an Airbus 380? h34r:From what I have heard about the trains during the eclipse, about half the train's passengers were probably on that bus.
Didn't hear about that, but would make sense. There still appears to be more to it though.I'm hearing from a reliable source that the bus, which runs from Redmond, OR, got stuck in eclipse-related traffic, and then ran out of fuel after several hours' delay.
They kept on getting screwed. Had to wait an hour at one point for a freight.Explains the delay. At last check (minutes ago), the train has not yet started its coastal run. Expect a late departure for 14 tomorrow morning.
Thanks for the context and the perspective. This was truly an unusual situation. Sitting in Chemult on a Superliner train for 7 hours sounds like a pretty good alternative compared to that canceled United flight.I took 14(19) up to Chemault and connected to the bus to Redmond on Sunday. It was a a small (30 passenger?) bus, about half full, but everyone was heading to the eclipse. I rented a car and drove up to Madras, which was ground zero. Coming back on Monday, I left within 10 minutes of the end of totality, and it took me 7 hours just to get back to Redmond, about 25 miles away.
My plan was to fly back and I had a seat on an 8pm United flight to SFO (that's the short version . I made it to the airport, but apparently unrelated computer problems kept the inbound flight on the ground at SFO, and they eventually cancelled it around 10:30pm. At that point, there were no seats on any flights heading south out of Oregon until Friday -- that includes Portland, Portland and Eugene. So United (Skywest, actually) put us up at a Super 8 motel, where the room rate was $315 and told us our best bet was to rent cars -- Avis and Hertz had a special deal, $100 to anywhere in California. They had a lot of cars they had to get back.
I drove down to Sacramento yesterday, and caught a plane to southern California (that's the short version, again . Traffic was still heavy on US 97 from Bend, through K Falls to the I-5 junction at Weed. Heavy, but moving at nearly the speed limit.
If Amtrak held 11 to wait for the bus -- I doubt there was more than one -- then they made the right call. It was pretty much an evacuation situation.
That said, it was all very orderly and well mannered -- good natured, even. Everyone I was with, including a planeload of stranded passengers, took it in stride. It was an awesome celestial event, and the hassles of getting home seemed petty in comparison.
It was a solution that was explored and finding the appropriate number of rooms proved problematic. As you indicated, there were other considerations. The hours of service limits for the train and bus crews is not a contractual rule. It is federal rule that is not easily ignored. As such, attempting to send the bus to another location wouldn't have yielded favorable results when the driver went on the law with relief stuck in the same traffic. The amount of time it took that bus to complete the last 10 miles is unbelievable (except TiBike would probably believe it) and I can easily see why they initially decided to wait. It probably would have been quicker if they let the passengers walk from their location to the train station.If TiBike found a room at a Super 8, it's possible Amtrak could have called around, although would anyone in DC know it was an acceptable solution? Presumably those at Skywest knew since they live in the area.
Welcome to Amtrak Unlimited! Sorry about your experience. I am sure it was frustrating.I was on this train. During the delay, we had no communication from the staff at all; is that normal? When arriving at Chemult, there was an announcement from the conductor that a bus was late, so we'd be delayed for "ten or fifteen minutes". We then heard nothing (except cafe car announcements and stuff) until arriving at Dunsmuir, thirteen hours later. Is not saying anything about delays Amtrak's policy?
"there was more to the situation than the public knows or needs to know."
Needs to know? Amtrak is a (taxpayer-funded) railroad service, it's not the CIA. Amtrak is legally subject to FOIA, and I'll be filing a FOIA request to find out more about what happened.
I've been on trips where the train is only stopped for five minutes before the conductor gets on the PA to warn everyone of a potential delay, only to start moving again five minutes later. On those occasions it sometimes seems like Amtrak staff are jumping the gun a bit. However, when things really do go south Amtrak often seems to go strangely silent with warnings and updates.I was on this train. During the delay, we had no communication from the staff at all; is that normal? When arriving at Chemult, there was an announcement from the conductor that a bus was late, so we'd be delayed for "ten or fifteen minutes". We then heard nothing (except cafe car announcements and stuff) until arriving at Dunsmuir, thirteen hours later. Is not saying anything about delays Amtrak's policy?
That retort sounded flippant and condescending to me as well. I’d be annoyed if I went several hours with no meaningful updates and then another Amtrak employee implied I had no right or expectation to know what was going on or why. If he has nothing productive to add to the discussion then why post anything?Needs to know? Amtrak is a (taxpayer-funded) railroad service, it's not the CIA. Amtrak is legally subject to FOIA, and I'll be filing a FOIA request to find out more about what happened.The delay on the bus did cause the train to be delayed, but it did not cause it to be delayed 7 hours. As usual, there was more to the situation than the public knows or needs to know. And I'm sorry, but I'm going to leave it at that.
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