In case you missed it last year

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Trogdor

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The next round of tie replacement on the UP will be starting up shortly. I forget the dates offhand (I'm thinking the 1st-8th, and 15th-23rd of each month, but it could also be the 8th-15th, and 23rd-end), but the boring, middle-of-nowhere, passing through no towns that matter detour will be back on for April, May, and June (and I think July).

Initially, Lincoln Service trains will operate only between Bloomington and Chicago, with buses from Bloomington to St. Louis. Later on, when the track work moves north of Bloomington, the alternate service will be different.
 
I rode the detour last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would do it again, if it took some other detour route. Would like to go thru Decatur some way if possible. Any chance of that happening as work progresses?
 
I rode the detour last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would do it again, if it took some other detour route. Would like to go thru Decatur some way if possible. Any chance of that happening as work progresses?

OKEY DOKEY :wacko: ... I am new to Amtrak and will be traveling on the Texas Eagle June 16 from Chicago to LAX.... How does this ?detour work? will we have a bustitution or just delayed? We have a roomette on the TE so our meals would be included but with a detour how would that work? Beginning to rethink this plan :huh: I was SO looking forward to this trip but the more I read and discover ... I am not so sure :eek:hboy:
 
This was copy and pasted from trains news wire. This is only part of the article.

In an effort to give track workers unimpeded access to the line, Amtrak is diverting trains 21 and 22, the Texas Eagle, during three periods this spring. The trains will run over Union Pacific’s ex-Chicago & Eastern Illinois trackage via Findlay, Ill., April 2-9, April 16-24, and May 1-9.
 
I rode the detour last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would do it again, if it took some other detour route. Would like to go thru Decatur some way if possible. Any chance of that happening as work progresses?
No. The detour will not change during the course of the trackwork project.

OKEY DOKEY :wacko: ... I am new to Amtrak and will be traveling on the Texas Eagle June 16 from Chicago to LAX.... How does this ?detour work? will we have a bustitution or just delayed? We have a roomette on the TE so our meals would be included but with a detour how would that work? Beginning to rethink this plan :huh: I was SO looking forward to this trip but the more I read and discover ... I am not so sure :eek:hboy:
Since you will be boarding in Chicago and traveling past St. Louis, the only difference for you is that you will see different stuff out the window for the first few hours of your trip.
 
I rode the detour last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would do it again, if it took some other detour route. Would like to go thru Decatur some way if possible. Any chance of that happening as work progresses?
I have to agree about the rare mileage...I think we had at least four sets of pilots and sat at Villa Grove forever waiting on another pair of pilots.
 
I rode the detour last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would do it again, if it took some other detour route. Would like to go thru Decatur some way if possible. Any chance of that happening as work progresses?
I have to agree about the rare mileage...I think we had at least four sets of pilots and sat at Villa Grove forever waiting on another pair of pilots.
Yeah, we were delayed there as well. IIRC, we had to wait to meet No. 22 there, possibly exchange pilots.

I noticed that we crossed the IC Mainline (or CN, now), at Tuscola. I didn't look for interchange track, but thinking about it now, it would seem that would be a better way to go, if possible. The Amtrak crews are qualified over that segment, and it is a higher speed route.

Another possible reason that they don't go that way might be that since UP route is being diverted, UP is picking up the tab for the detour expense, and uses the route of its choosing as a condition?
 
I suspect that the all UP route makes it easier for boarding the pilot engineers. The Eagle follows the

Cardinal route to the UP yard in Dolton where it picks up the first Pilot. The crew changes in Villa Grove. And then continues on to STL. On my trip we sat in Dolton about 20 minutes, and Villa Grove about 30. We were about an hour late into STl.
 
I suspect that the all UP route makes it easier for boarding the pilot engineers. The Eagle follows the

Cardinal route to the UP yard in Dolton where it picks up the first Pilot. The crew changes in Villa Grove. And then continues on to STL. On my trip we sat in Dolton about 20 minutes, and Villa Grove about 30. We were about an hour late into STl.
But if they ran on the CN (CONO route), they wouldn't need any pilots until interchanging at Tuscola, and could possibly make it to STL on schedule.
 
Up does not have a Crew change point at tuscola. They would have to drive somebody there.
That shouldn't be a problem--it's only about 8 miles from Villa Grove.

Crew bases usually have Suburbans available to "dog-catch" relief crews....
 
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The next round of tie replacement on the UP will be starting up shortly. I forget the dates offhand (I'm thinking the 1st-8th, and 15th-23rd of each month, but it could also be the 8th-15th, and 23rd-end), but the boring, middle-of-nowhere, passing through no towns that matter detour will be back on for April, May, and June (and I think July).

Initially, Lincoln Service trains will operate only between Bloomington and Chicago, with buses from Bloomington to St. Louis. Later on, when the track work moves north of Bloomington, the alternate service will be different.
I think I'll give it another shot... It was sorta a fun change and some rare mileage. The thing was I did the detour after the fall time change so it got dark way too quick going S/B. I think I will wait until May or something and book the trip... getting triple AGR points... AND also having it light on #21 all the way to STL.
 
Can anyone confirm that the TE will be detouring between May 31st and June 2nd?

I would like to take a trip from CHI-HOU during that time but snagging rare mileage will likely seal the deal. :cool:

I did a test on the Amtrak Website, it said sold out before STL but I was still able to order a room, so this kind of confused me :unsure:
 
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Can anyone confirm that the TE will be detouring between May 31st and June 2nd?

I would like to take a trip from CHI-HOU during that time but snagging rare mileage will likely seal the deal. :cool:

I did a test on the Amtrak Website, it said sold out before STL but I was still able to order a room, so this kind of confused me :unsure:
At the moment it doesn't appear that's a detour date, as I see no buses for the other trains. But it is still early and it could be that Amtrak is still loading detour dates into ARROW. Additionally, the 321 coach to St. Louis is running. That coach gets dropped on detour dates, since the detour takes longer than the normal route and Amtrak doesn't want to further delay the train in St. Louis by hooking & unhooking the extra car. It helps to get things back on time a bit if they don't have to worry about that extra car.
 
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