Anyone know what time the SWC typically arrives in LA?

[bmjhagen9426]

I would rather pay 60 to 100 more for spending a night at LA than risk being bustituted then having to argue with the Philly Customer Relations guys, and in fact that is what I plan on doing on my Chicago to K.Falls trip (connecting from SWC to CS). Having overnight layovers between trains is always a good idea if you have the time or the money. Since I prefer to maximize my rail mileage for any given year, bustitution is a setback, as bustitution miles don't count.

 

[battalion51]

Not to mention the vast difference in scenery between the Starlight and San Joaquin...

 

[bmjhagen9426]

Not to mention the vast difference in scenery between the Starlight and San Joaquin...

I get your point. I was rerouted via San Joaquin + Ambus combo a year and a half ago (December 2014) when I was coming down from Oregon headed for LA, but for a different reason (washout caused by flash flooding in Southern California). Although I got into LA much quicker, the scenere, not that great compared to my original CS routing.

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

The next to last stop is Fullerton which is at 6:44am and is only 26 miles away. So if it leaves Fullerton at 6:44am, it would have 1:31 to go 26 miles. Also, Fullerton is discharge only so the last before that is Riverside (6:03am), 62 miles away.

The last time I went into LAX on the SWC was over a decade ago but I'm guessing there isn't the problems similar to the LSL/CL/old TR getting into CHI or CL getting into WAS (really slow and frustrating last time!)

Thanks for this. I seem to remember something similar on the old Texas Eagle timetable (when you were scheduled to get into LA at like 7:15 but often found yourself with an hour and a half to travel the 20 miles between the 2nd to last stop and LAX).

The Empire Builder has a bunch of padding between St. Cloud and MSP, to ensure an on time arrival into MSP, so it often will get to MSP or SCL very early, up to an hour if the engineer really booking it.

 

[calwatch]

Didn't last summer. I was put on the bus to Bakersfield.

Sound like the #3 I was on last year arriving on Tuesday 8/11/15...arrived 3:11 late at 11:26AM.

The Coast Starlight departed on time that morning at 10:10 and alternates/bustitutions were being announced as we arrived.

At Needles, we were 4:32 late and 4:19 late at Fullerton.

My personal experience was waiting on June 26, where 3(24) came in at 10:22 and 14 waited. This also happened on June 28 (although 14 left an hour 9 minutes late for some reason), July 8, and July 23. If Train 3 is three hours or more late (which is happening with disturbing frequency this summer, about 10% of the time) I would not expect that dispensation.

 

[unitedstatesfan]

Didn't last summer. I was put on the bus to Bakersfield.

Sound like the #3 I was on last year arriving on Tuesday 8/11/15...arrived 3:11 late at 11:26AM.

The Coast Starlight departed on time that morning at 10:10 and alternates/bustitutions were being announced as we arrived.

At Needles, we were 4:32 late and 4:19 late at Fullerton.

My personal experience was waiting on June 26, where 3(24) came in at 10:22 and 14 waited. This also happened on June 28 (although 14 left an hour 9 minutes late for some reason), July 8, and July 23. If Train 3 is three hours or more late (which is happening with disturbing frequency this summer, about 10% of the time) I would not expect that dispensation.

calwatch, if 3 arrived at 1022, what time did 14 get away?

 

[acelafan]

#14 left at 10:34AM that day. Here's a link for past data:

https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/connections.php?a_train_num=3&c_train_num=14&station=Lax&date_start=06%2F01%2F2016&date_end=08%2F12%2F2016&df1=1&df2=1&df3=1&df4=1&df5=1&df6=1&df7=1&sort_dir=DESC&dfon=1