Anyone know what time the SWC typically arrives in LA?

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Blackshirt Husker

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I know 8:15 is listed, but I've heard that it usually gets in earlier, sometimes by as much as an hour. Any truth to that, or has anyone experienced consistently earlier arrival times?
 
When I rode last October we were about twenty minutes or so early into Union Station in LA.
Amtrak train arrived early and there was no disruption in space time continuum? Did anyone contact the Federation Council?
 
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The only meaningful (continuously complete) source of such data is on juckins.net, such as this one done for this thread: https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/history.php?train_num=3&station=lax&date_start=01%2F01%2F2016&date_end=07%2F30%2F2016&df1=1&df2=1&df3=1&df4=1&df5=1&df6=1&df7=1&sort=d_ar&sort_dir=DESC&co=gt&limit_mins=&dfon=1 It's about 6 months of arrival data (about 180 arrivals) in one swell foop. :)

Any other information will be anecdotal and cannot help but be spotty. Very spotty.

Regards
 
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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!)
 
The only meaningful (continuously complete) source of such data is on juckins.net: https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/history.php?train_num=3&station=lax&date_start=01%2F01%2F2016&date_end=07%2F30%2F2016&df1=1&df2=1&df3=1&df4=1&df5=1&df6=1&df7=1&sort=d_ar&sort_dir=DESC&co=gt&limit_mins=&dfon=1 It's about 6 months of arrival data (about 180 arrivals) in one swell foop. :)

Any other information will be anecdotal and cannot help but be spotty. Very spotty.

Regards
Wow--this is an incredibly useful site, and I had no idea it existed. Thanks for posting.
 
This train has been experiencing poor OTPs in both directions lately.

There are varying reasons but P-42 Failure and Slow orders due to Heat are the main reasons.

The Chief used to be one of the Best performers of the LD Trains, but surprisingly the OTP rate for the Sunset Ltd. into and out of LAX has been much better lately.

You pays your money and you takes your chances when it comes to LD Amtrak trains.
 
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).
 
This train has been experiencing poor OTPs in both directions lately.

There are varying reasons but P-42 Failure and Slow orders due to Heat are the main reasons.

The Chief used to be one of the Best performers of the LD Trains, but surprisingly the OTP rate for the Sunset Ltd. into and out of LAX has been much better lately.

You pays your money and you takes your chances when it comes to LD Amtrak trains.
Very true, and personally, I don't mind delays: just means more time on the train, which is never a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. In this case I'm looking at connecting trains to go to Emeryville once I arrive-- probably a good idea to plan for a later train than booking one with a shorter turnaround time.
 
The only meaningful (continuously complete) source of such data is on juckins.net, such as this one done for this thread: https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/history.php?train_num=3&station=lax&date_start=01%2F01%2F2016&date_end=07%2F30%2F2016&df1=1&df2=1&df3=1&df4=1&df5=1&df6=1&df7=1&sort=d_ar&sort_dir=DESC&co=gt&limit_mins=&dfon=1 It's about 6 months of arrival data (about 180 arrivals) in one swell foop. :)

Any other information will be anecdotal and cannot help but be spotty. Very spotty.

Regards
Thanks, and I couldn't do the stats without Amtrak Status Maps. John gets all the data, every day, for a long time now.

Like others have said, #3 into LAX hasn't been very good recently. The average arrival lateness is 59 minutes, median is 3 minutes, but a chart for the past few months paints a not-so-rosy picture. When I was on #3 in mid-June we were 6 hours late into LAX. We started losing time before ABQ and it just cascaded from there.

(link to chart)

8LAX.png
 
This train is often up to an hour early arriving Los Angeles, but that is if everything goes correctly. As others have indicated, the timekeeping in the past year or so has slipped noticeably. I will be taking it coach from Flagstaff to LA on Aug. 18. We shall see.
 
To me, the worst delay is at the end of the trip after they close out the cafe/lounge car and you're forced to stay in your cramped seat next to a total stranger (assuming you're traveling alone in coach) while the train isn't moving. If there's a delay in the middle of the trip you can always escape.
 
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There is a lot of padding between Fullerton and Los Angeles...I've been more than an hour late into FUL and arrived an hour early into LAX.
my second-best friend lives in Santa Ana. whenever I visit LA, she always picks me up at LAX and drive to her home. (Santa Ana is pretty close to Fullerton)

however, riding in her car always scared the bejesus out of me. the worst one I remember was exactly 32 minutes from Santa Ana to LAX. (no traffic and she did 90+ most of the way)
 
A few years ago I took train 3 but got off at Flagstaff. Don't remember whether it was early, on time or late. :blink:
 
14 will usually wait for 3, even if it's an hour or so.
 
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.
 
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