EB Mess - 2

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montana mike said:
While it is a great ride-I take it 8-10 times a year for mostly business travel-with the current mess on the Hi-Line, unless you are willing to plan on adding an extra day of travel by staying overnight at either CHI or SEA/PDX to your schedule I would suggest you wait until BNSF and CPR get their act together. There is only one train Amtrak is offering as a connection now, the Lake Shore Limited. But even that one is iffy, given the current track record.

PS--There are other fun rides on some of the other LD trains. You may want to look at those possibilities!
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Thanks for the advice. I'm looking at either a Southwest Chief or (LAX-CHI) Texas Eagle trip in the west, and a Lake Shore Limited trip in the East (To be taken in the next 1-2 years).
 
jimhudson said:
The Chief is a good train but you may want to consider the California Zephyr and the Coast Starligh, Amtraks Best LD Routes, over the SunsetLtd./Texas Eagle!
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I've already taken the CZ once (I'd like to take all of the LD trains at least once, before doing repeats). The Coast Starlight seems like a cool train (I like the idea of the PPC). I could probably find a way to fold it into a SWC trip.
 
William W. said:
jimhudson said:
The Chief is a good train but you may want to consider the California Zephyr and the Coast Starligh, Amtraks Best LD Routes, over the SunsetLtd./Texas Eagle!
Click to expand...
I've already taken the CZ once (I'd like to take all of the LD trains at least once, before doing repeats). The Coast Starlight seems like a cool train (I like the idea of the PPC). I could probably find a way to fold it into a SWC trip.
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Excellent! My next suggestion, if you haven't already taken them, is to ride the Cardinal or the Capitol Ltd East from CHI instead of the Lakeshore!
 
jimhudson said:
William W. said:
jimhudson said:
The Chief is a good train but you may want to consider the California Zephyr and the Coast Starligh, Amtraks Best LD Routes, over the SunsetLtd./Texas Eagle!
Click to expand...
I've already taken the CZ once (I'd like to take all of the LD trains at least once, before doing repeats). The Coast Starlight seems like a cool train (I like the idea of the PPC). I could probably find a way to fold it into a SWC trip.
Click to expand...
Excellent! My next suggestion, if you haven't already taken them, is to ride the Cardinal or the Capitol Ltd East from CHI instead of the Lakeshore!

I have all of the routes that I've already taken in my signature.
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Well, tonight is the night, and EB had left CHI almost 3 hours late. Been getting text/email, and phone call about the late train a few times tonight, I've never had that much update before!

Will keep ya posted as we travel!
 
If I didn't have any sort of fixed schedule (no connections, flights, or hotels to worry about), I'd definitely take the EB. To me, a delay, when I'm not inconvenienced, is extra time on the train at no extra charge. :)
 
William W. said:
If I didn't have any sort of fixed schedule (no connections, flights, or hotels to worry about), I'd definitely take the EB. To me, a delay, when I'm not inconvenienced, is extra time on the train at no extra charge. :)
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Most of us agree with you but the Loooong waits @ Stations, especially in the middle of the night @ unstaffed and rural ones, isn't that great!
 
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TraneMan said:
Well, tonight is the night, and EB had left CHI almost 3 hours late. Been getting text/email, and phone call about the late train a few times tonight, I've never had that much update before!

Will keep ya posted as we travel!
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Hopefully this #7 will perform better than the one currently poking along in MT tonight--now well over 9 hours late. Figure on the #7 that left CHI this evening will likely lose 5-6 hours overnight in ND.

:-(
 
Coming off our recent experience on the EB I would recommend that everyone not use this route until the oil traffic problem has been solved. Arriving into CHI at 4 AM isn't much fun, especially when the SCA's don't put the beds down at 10 PM when the train is late.. They will only pull out the bottom bunk (if you have a bedroom) and you can "comfortably" share that. Roomette passengers sit up and coach passengers flood the sightseer lounge to sleep. The good thing is that the EB carried enough food for an extra dinner and we had nearly the same choices. By the time all sleeper passengers were served all meal selections were gone. Coach was offered a "complementary meal" and you guessed it, the pails were opened and Dinty Moore beef stew was heated and scooped out out giving passengers "the runs" for the next day or so. Its like the same food that they serve to prisoners! By the time you get to your hotel its close to 5:30 AM before you can get some sleep; and you need to check out at 11AM.

The EB mess is not Amtrak's fault, but some very significant oil train problems exist on this route. If they are not addressed and solved soon, I suspect that ridership on the route will decline. Its a shame that this route has been adversely affected by the oil boom.
 
dlagrua said:
Coming off our recent experience on the EB I would recommend that everyone not use this route until the oil traffic problem has been solved. Arriving into CHI at 4 AM isn't much fun, especially when the SCA's don't put the beds down at 10 PM when the train is late.. They will only pull out the bottom bunk (if you have a bedroom) and you can "comfortably" share that. Roomette passengers sit up and coach passengers flood the sightseer lounge to sleep. The good thing is that the EB carried enough food for an extra dinner and we had nearly the same choices. By the time all sleeper passengers were served all meal selections were gone. Coach was offered a "complementary meal" and you guessed it, the pails were opened and Dinty Moore beef stew was heated and scooped out out giving passengers "the runs" for the next day or so. Its like the same food that they serve to prisoners! By the time you get to your hotel its close to 5:30 AM before you can get some sleep; and you need to check out at 11AM.

The EB mess is not Amtrak's fault, but some very significant oil train problems exist on this route. If they are not addressed and solved soon, I suspect that ridership on the route will decline. Its a shame that this route has been adversely affected by the oil boom.
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And you want to contribute to the decline in ridership? :wacko:
 
"BNSF Railways is seeking bids from tank car manufacturers for 5,000 "next generation" tank cars that will be built to even higher standards that CPC-1232 standards agreed to in October 2011."

Source is Trains Magazine July 2014 issue. Page 6.

Someone is betting big.
 
Just-Thinking-51 said:
"BNSF Railways is seeking bids from tank car manufacturers for 5,000 "next generation" tank cars that will be built to even higher standards that CPC-1232 standards agreed to in October 2011."

Source is Trains Magazine July 2014 issue. Page 6.

Someone is betting big.
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I believe BNSF announced that a few months ago. I made quite a bit of money off that news (I used to have a position in American Railcar Industries' stock).
 
So far the trip has gone well. We only lost 10 min on the KO, and didn't have to sit in siding for long! Train is pretty full too!

-Sent from my iPad using Amtrak Forum App.
 
7 left on time from CHI today and is on time leaving MKE too. It's been a while since that happened.
 
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Sounds like maintance work around Glasgow. If we are not there by some time(didn't catch it right away), we can't move till 10:30.

-Sent from my iPhone 5 using Amtrak Forum App,
 
Keep us updated on your progress, TraneMan. The wife and I will be heading west in a couple of weeks and with the on-time performance of late, it looks like our connection to Cascades 516 at SEA is risky. It is all one itinerary and I know they'll take care of us if we don't make it, but I'd rather make the connection than miss it.
 
On the 7, just left Red Wing for Minneapolis/St. Paul. The flooding in Red Wing is impressive, pretty close to the tracks past the little park. I think we're only 10-15 minutes behind.
 
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