14 to 28, how late is too late?

[wayman]

The CS to EB connection in PDX is guaranteed, under the current timetable, at 65 minutes (3:40pm CS arrival, 4:45pm EB departure).

Looking at Amtrak Delays, coming into PDX, the CS has been:

0-29 minutes late on 9 of the past 14 dates

30-59 minutes late on 1 of the past 14 dates

60-89 minutes late on 1 of the past 14 dates

90 or more minutes late on 3 of the past 14 dates

Presumably, if the CS is going to be late, but not too late, Amtrak will hold the EB for the CS. But how late is too late? If the CS is running an hour behind, does Amtrak generally hold the EB? How about ninety minutes behind? Two hours?

Looking further at Amtrak Delays, I see that on the dates when the CS was pretty late, the EB has been similarly late into Pasco, suggesting the EB was held:

Dec 29, CS arrived at PDX 143 minutes late, EB arrived at PSC 100 minutes late.

Dec 28, CS arrived at PDX 52 minutes late, EB arrived at PSC 31 minutes late.

Dec 23, CS arrived at PDX 95 minutes late, EB arrived at PSC 88 minutes late.

Dec 21, CS arrived at PDX 90 minutes late, EB arrived at SPK 173 minutes late (no data for PSC).

Dec 20, CS arrived at PDX 87 minutes late, EB arrived at PSC 65 minutes late.

Is that in fact what's likely going on here? (Amtrak Delays doesn't give departure times, only arrival, so I don't know how to see what time the EB actually departed Portland, else I'd just check that.)

Also, looks like over the past six days, the EB's been under 90 minutes late into Minot, but before the past six days, it was often four hours or more late into Minot. Does this suggest that things are now fairly well sorted out, and the trainsets are all in the right places again?

 

[bobinyec]

Is that in fact what's likely going on here? (Amtrak Delays doesn't give departure times, only arrival, so I don't know how to see what time the EB actually departed Portland, else I'd just check that.)

Perhaps you could get more exact information at http://www.dixielandsoftware.com/Amtrak/status/StatusPages/ .

John Bobinyec

 

[Rafi]

Will, while this is anecdotal evidence, I can tell you that on my recent trip this past May, our northbound CS was about 100 minutes late into Eugene (if memory serves), where they detrained anyone connecting to 28 and bussed them to Portland instead.

-Rafi

 

[MrFSS]

When I made that connection in May the CS was about 10 minutes late into PDX but they held the EB and I got off the CS and walked across the platform onto the EB. Maybe 30 seconds between trains!

Interestingly, the reason we were late into PDX was a freight. We stopped about .5 mile from the station on the bridge and I could see the station. We sat there for almost 30 minutes.

 

[zephyr17]

You can be pretty sure they won't hold it for 90 minutes or 2 hours. If you are that late, you will be bused.

My guess is they may hold it for up to 1/2 hour, but I think that would be about the outside limit.

Also, you should know they are about to push the schedule back 2 hours next month until about April for UP trackwork. They are breaking the 14 to 28 connection for as long they are on the that schedule.

 

[wayman]

You can be pretty sure they won't hold it for 90 minutes or 2 hours. If you are that late, you will be bused.

My guess is they may hold it for up to 1/2 hour, but I think that would be about the outside limit.

Also, you should know they are about to push the schedule back 2 hours next month until about April for UP trackwork. They are breaking the 14 to 28 connection for as long they are on the that schedule.

I think I'm on the last (or possibly next-to-last) 14-28 connection before the upcoming schedule change Changing trains on 1 January 2011, having celebrated the New Year on the train (boarding tomorrow morning at LAX)

 

[Rail Freak]

HAVE FUN, SON!!!

 

[the_traveler]

Will, while this is anecdotal evidence, I can tell you that on my recent trip this past May, our northbound CS was about 100 minutes late into Eugene (if memory serves), where they detrained anyone connecting to 28 and bussed them to Portland instead.

The same thing happened to me in October, Rafi.

The CS was also about 100 minutes late into Eugene, and they also bussed us up to Portland. We got off the bus, walked thru Union Station, boarded #28 - and I think it was moving before I got to my room!

 

[DET63]

Is that in fact what's likely going on here? (Amtrak Delays doesn't give departure times, only arrival, so I don't know how to see what time the EB actually departed Portland, else I'd just check that.)

Couldn't you just check the arrival times of EB 28 into Vancouver, WA (VAN) and just "backtrack" to figure out when the train left PDX? The EB is scheduled to leave PDX at 4:45 pm, and VAN at 5:07, so under normal conditions, the trip should take about 22 minutes. I don't think dwell time is built into the schedule for VAN, though the train usually takes at least 4-5 minutes to load (I would assume the e/b EB doesn't unload there).

Or is no arrival time for VAN given by Amtrak Delays since it's a board-only station?