CZ OTP into CHI

[the_traveler]

I have a 2 hour connection in CHI in March from the CZ to the Cardinal. (For some reason, Amtrak and AGR will only book to the Cardinal and not to the CL! ) So I looked at OTP - these were for 4 consecutive days recently!

2009-01-14: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 9:46 pm Delay: 356 minutes
2009-01-13: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 4:55 pm Delay: 65 minutes

2009-01-12: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 8:10 pm Delay: 260 minutes

2009-01-11: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 3:10 pm Delay: -40 minutes

What is going on? Some days, it's either early or on time, the very next day it's hours late! I could be put on the CL instead (to WAS to connect to the Crescent), but just including the 4 days above, it would not connect to the CL either on 2 of the 4 days shown!

 

[Steve4031]

It is probably weathter in the mountains, or the UP with freight delays. This will probably stabilize as winter weather becomes less severe.

 

[ThayerATM]

I have a 2 hour connection in CHI in March from the CZ to the Cardinal. (For some reason, Amtrak and AGR will only book to the Cardinal and not to the CL! ) So I looked at OTP - these were for 4 consecutive days recently!

2009-01-14: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 9:46 pm Delay: 356 minutes
2009-01-13: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 4:55 pm Delay: 65 minutes

2009-01-12: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 8:10 pm Delay: 260 minutes

2009-01-11: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 3:10 pm Delay: -40 minutes

What is going on? Some days, it's either early or on time, the very next day it's hours late! I could be put on the CL instead (to WAS to connect to the Crescent), but just including the 4 days above, it would not connect to the CL either on 2 of the 4 days shown!

In September I've got a six hour layover between the CZ and the LSL. The CZ was 377 minutes late last night, and we would have missed that connection if Amtrak hadn't held the LSL back by 23 minutes.

Do we need to start planning an extra day between all trains just to be on the safe side? Six hours seemed safe when I got the tickets. Now I'm beginning to wonder. <_<

 

[RailFanLNK]

The CZ is the CZ! I check its OTP everyday and sometimes I'm giddy and sometimes I sigh! :unsure: Its its own enigma. Its a total crapshoot! Personally the last 3 weeks its been "early" into LNK a few times which is mindboggling. I'm riding the CZ in March and I just hope we get to CHI at a decent time, but I prepare for anything!

Al

 

[manchacrr]

2009-01-12: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 8:10 pm Delay: 260 minutes

I was on the CZ into Chicago on the 12th. There was a freight derailment between Galesburg and Princeton in Illinois. We were actually running on time up until Galesburg. In Galesburg, they announced that there was a derailment and that all passengers making connections into Chicago were to exit there. They then put us on buses and drove us to Chicago. They then brought the Southwest Chief into the Galesburg station in reverse and coupled it to the back of the CZ to form one long consist with two engines at each end to run them together into Chicago via a detour. The buses brought us into Chicago at about 7:30 while the connected trains arrived into Chicago at 8:10.

 

[Bane]

When I was on it on Dec. 22 it ran late because it got slowed down going through The Sierra Nevadas and the baggage car broke outside Reno lol! I have no details except they filled the bottom of the last Superliner coach to account for it!

 

[Guest_Bryan_*]

how is the cz in the end of feb-early march because i am going from osceola, iowa to denver, colorado and just wondering how reliable it is??

 

[sechs]

It is probably weathter in the mountains, or the UP with freight delays.

This is easy to check. Just see how the train is going through Denver, where it switches between BNSF and UP.

 

[rile42]

The easiest way to check is to go to the Amtrak Status Map, http://72.148.42.113:8080/Amtrak/AmtrakStatusMaps.html, I hope that's the correct site address, and click on the number of the train, on the map, you are interested in checking. You will see a rundown of each stop and the on-time performance for that particular train. For example, the CZ that is arriving today in Chicago is now 7 hours and 59 minutes late leaving Hastings. If you look at the performance page, it departed GJT 2 hours and 35 minutes late. At the next stop, GSC it departed 6 hours and 10 minutes late. You can get a decent idea of where the problem arises very easily using the info on the site. Now what caused the problem is a different matter though. I think it also keeps an archive of the same type of table for each train but I'm not sure of that.

 

[PaulM]

If you look at the performance page, it departed GJT 2 hours and 35 minutes late. At the next stop, GSC it departed 6 hours and 10 minutes late.

Interestingly, the same site also shows #6 arriving in GSC on Jan 23 at 3:46PM, 2 hours and 31 minutes late, and departing at 7:25PM, 6 hours and 10 minutes late, as rile42 mentioned.

I was waiting at WIP, the 2nd stop after GSC, and an agent at 1-800-USA-RAIL said there had been a "snow slide" between GSC and GRA (Grandy, CO), the next stop to the east; and they were waiting for equipment to clear the track.

FWIW, the day before #6 was early into WIP. I had ridden #6 from GSC to WIP a week earlier; and we were a little less than 1/2 hour late.

 

[Montanan]

2009-01-12: Scheduled: 3:50 pm Actual: 8:10 pm Delay: 260 minutes

I was on the CZ into Chicago on the 12th. There was a freight derailment between Galesburg and Princeton in Illinois. We were actually running on time up until Galesburg. In Galesburg, they announced that there was a derailment and that all passengers making connections into Chicago were to exit there. They then put us on buses and drove us to Chicago. They then brought the Southwest Chief into the Galesburg station in reverse and coupled it to the back of the CZ to form one long consist with two engines at each end to run them together into Chicago via a detour. The buses brought us into Chicago at about 7:30 while the connected trains arrived into Chicago at 8:10.

I was on the same train!! I wonder if we met each other?

There were only about three dozen of us left on the CZ after the connecting passengers were transferred to the busses. We went into Chicago via the old Santa Fe route to Joliet, and then on the old GM&O, with the Chief in the lead and the CZ running backwards at the rear. I sat in the dining car for much of the detour, playing Scrabble with Evelyn, one of the dining car servers.

Even with the problems at the end, it was a great trip. Otherwise on time, great winter scenery, a generally excellent crew. My sleeping car attendant was a woman named Grace, and she was unquestionably the best car attendant I've ever had on Amtrak.

Here's a shot of the CZ locomotive awaiting its fate in Galesburg that afternoon:

 

[Green Maned Lion]

The CZ hasn't been a great OTPer for a long time. Why is this news?

 

[the_traveler]

The CZ hasn't been a great OTPer for a long time. Why is this news?

I agree! So why does Amtrak ONLY book (it's an AGR award, so I can't go multi-city booking) from the CZ to the Cardinal - a 2 hour connection - instead of (or at least offer) a CZ/CL connection which is a 4 hour connection? :huh: If you arrive on the EB (5 minutes after the CZ ARRIVES! ). you CAN reserve to connect to the CL!