EB Delay making us change plans, suggestions needed. CBS to CHI

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lionelhoguy

lionelhoguy

Service Attendant
Joined
Nov 14, 2008
Messages
158
Location
Green Lake, Wisconsin
For our annual trip we had planned to take Empire Builder #28/8 from Columbus WI to Chicago, Il. We are connecting to the Capital Limited that leaves at 6:40pm. If the Empire Builder will be on time on December 26th it will arrive at 3:55pm and we would have plenty of time to catch the Capital. My questions are: #1 - What are the chances the EB #8/28 will be less than 2 hours late December 26th? #2 - If we decide to get a ride to the Milwaukee Airport station and take the Hiawatha how much of a problem will we have hauling our checked bags? Leaving a day early is not an option.

Last year we waited until the last moment and had to hire a car to take us to Chicago. The driver could not find the station, we almost missed our train and the trip cost us a fortune. Hopefully a bit of pre-planning will make this trip start smoother.
 
Where is your final destination? If you are going somewhere on the NEC they can put you on the Lake Shore which doesn't leave until after 9PM.
 
I should add it is a guaranteed connection, meaning they may hold the Capitol if the EB is only slightly late and if it isn't they will put you in a hotel for a night and give you a meal voucher.
 
My suggestion, if you're worried about missing your connection, is to take the Hiawatha out of MKE to CHI.
 
Enjoy the trip - I would not count on the EB being less than two hours. Sounds like the hiawatha is a better bet. Enjoy your trip!
 
lionelhoguy said:
Looks like 338 is the one for us. Thanks for the help.
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You may want to check to make sure that 338 to 30 is a guaranteed connection, I think it is. If it isn't I'd say take 336. Are you going in coach or sleeper CHI-WAS? If sleeper you may make use of the Metropolitan Lounge in CHI while you wait, or go out and explore the city. You could take the first train out of MKE and spend all day in in the city and come back to the station around 5. If you are going coach, meaning your meals won't be included in the cost of your ticket, then I suggest dinner in the city before you board.
 
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#338 most definitely is the guaranteed connection its over 2 hours. I know of some corridor connections, like the Empire Service to Northeast Regional trains via NYP that are guaranteed (bookable as one reservation) and are as short as 30 minutes.
 
I plan to rearrange the trip this morning. I will make sure the #338 is a guaranteed connection, but I am not really worried. It would take a lot to eat up 2 hours between MKE & CHI...knock on wood
 
#338 is a guaranteed connection and I saved $122, now i have enough money left over for dinner in CHI. :giggle: Thank you all for your help and suggestions! :hi:
 
We were on a very late EB out of Montana and as we approached Minn and Milwaukee we were told that everyone at these stops (St. Paul and East) were bused to Chicago.

Not sure if that was accurate info, but maybe they will bus you in over to Chicago - if the EB is really late... or offer another option to make the Capital Limited connection?
 
Thank you for the information, but I already re-booked the first leg of the trip. Barring any major FUBAR moments east of Chicago we are good to go now.
 
Just checked and it looks like EB #8 that we would have boarded at CBS is right on time now. I wonder if the freights took a holiday? I guess we could have taken the EB all the way to Chicago. :(
 
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