2/20 Cardinal Cancelled - Planning Ahead

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snvboy

snvboy

Service Attendant
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
163
Location
Virginia
I see the 2/20 Cardinal 51 has now been cancelled. I'm booked on the 2/25 Cardinal 51 to Chicago, then connecting to the California Zephyr. Last night I protectively made a booking the Capitol Limited on 2/25 in case the Cardinal gets cancelled.

If the 2/25 Cardinal gets cancelled, does anybody know what alternate arrangements Amtrak is making on this route?

And, how would I go about "merging" my two reservations together so I don't loose my accommodations on the CZ? We're meeting up with some friends in Chicago for the CZ leg, so it's important to us that we stay on track (bam!) with everything.
 
Thanks - sounds easy enough. Hoping they get everything safely back to normal in WV. Having taking the CL a bunch of times over the years, I'm really looking forward to the Cardinal and something a little different.
 
The wreck has created a mell of a hess,,, they finally confirmed none of the oil made it into the Kanawha so the drinking water is at least safe

there are still small oil fires burning but they have lifted the boll order,,,,

can't find any local info about when CSX will open the route

Local news does confirm it was Bakken Oil
 
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Thank god that the oil train didn't wreck in town.
 
I'm willing to roll the dice on that. I've been waiting for this vacation for a LONG time. Based on the T&C on amtrak.com, i read that I can cancel either reservation up to the time of departure at my originating station, and I get an eVoucher good for one year. I'm fine with that.

It just worries me that this is a bad wreck, Amtrak isn't issuing any service advisories on it, and we're planning on hooking up with some friends in Chicago to take the CZ the rest of the way to San Francisco. The Friday and Sunday Cardinals are already canceled, so our 2/25 train (right now) is the first that would go through.

I really wanted to take the Cardinal, both because the timing is better for me and to see stuff I haven't seen in a while. But I'm not opposed to bailing out on that and switching to the CL now if it mean less hassle when I'm traveling. I love taking Amtrak because I'm in "vacation mode" as soon as I get on that train - no TSA bullcrap, BYOB in the sleeper, meals that are WAY better than a bag of peanuts, and seeing all of our great country that you never see on the plane.

I don't REALLY care which way the chips fall on this, I just want to get on a train - any train - on 2/25 and be in the stress-free vacation zone.

Also a little worried that IF they run the Cardinal on 2/25, there might be some unexpected trouble and we'd miss our connection in Chicago to the CZ and be back to square one.

Open to any advice here. Bottom line is making our connection to the CZ in Chicago, and having a stress-free vacation.
 
Look at the duplicate reservation rule. You're not allowed to have mutually exclusive reservations. Amtrak can and has cancelled one of the two reservations without notice in the past.

You can't be on the Cap and Card at the same time, and what are you going to to if they randomly decide to cancel your Cardinal reservation, and blow away the rest of your trip?

Cancel the Cap reservation and let the system work. Worst case you're bussed between the two stub Cardinals that are running.
 
Ryan, I am not sure they are offering alternate transportation between both sets of equipment...

Personally, I would not take a chance on the Cardinal making the connection even if it does run. Since meeting up with friends is a priority, I would officially change to the Cap.

If Cardinal does run, there are going to be slow orders, work crews, freight trains backed up clogging the mainline, etc...
 
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so, to wrap this thread up…. Modified the first reservation, cancelled the backup, all looks honkey dory.

Thanks for the advice.
 
So looking at those photos, I can't believe that the line will be open again by Wednesday, but Amtrak are still selling tickets for that day's train
 
Yes, I heard that too and I tweeted them today and got that response. If so, they've done a hell of a job to rebuild the rails
 
Amtrak.com status tab now shows both 2/25 and 2/27 Cardinals as being cancelled. So, I guess I made the right move to the CL! And no rooms left on the CL, so glad I jumped on this a few days ago. Though I feel bad for anybody that wasn't looking ahead at this - Amtrak doesn't seem to be doing a good job a being proactive about this situation.
 
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