Glad the trip has gone well so far. You should get somewhat of a break due to the slimmed down weekend work schedules. Yesterday's #8 into Chicago was a mess-6 hours and 15 minutes late-arrgh. Today's is "only" 3 1/2 hours late, so somewhat of an improvement. Eastbound EBs on the weekend have averaged arrival times only 2 hours behind, so let's hope the one you are on is at least this good for you--enjoy the ride!!!
I was on that late #8 [2].
Track work wasn't the problem.
It was mostly the slowdown caused by hauling 5 empty private cars on the back of our train from Seattle. Took longer to make the train at Spokane when we combined with 28 from Portland, then also caused a delay in MSP to remove those cars. Add to that the fact we had just the two engines. At Maria's Pass, we first slowed, then had to stop the train. The engineer shut off HEP to the cars, and used that added horsepower to - slowly- reach the crest. Then we stopped to turn HEP back on and were easily able to coast back down and on with the trip. But we were badly off schedule by then.
It was the delays from the extra cars that got us off-cycle with our train orders, but I don't remember any stops on sidings waiting for construction. Before we got to Red Wing, we had a long delay for a bridge to turn after a barge passed. I think the conductor had to check the rail connections before we started again, because that barge was a long way from us by the time we crossed the bridge.
We were so far behind at Portage - scheduled arrival of 12:27 - when we got there at 4:54, the conductor had to announce that we were awaiting new orders from CP. Eventually, the train moved at 6:03, but that was just to get out of the way. We finally got rolling again at 6:30 sharp and then had to stop for the 7(4) to pass us at 6:38. That northbound 7(4) also had some private cars - at least two - on its tail end, so I expect it had delays at MSP as well.
Ours was a crowded train and needed two boarding spots at many more stations than when I'd ridden this route previously. Revenue passengers filled 4 of the transdorm roomettes. In my car, the roomettes got recycled a lot, rarely empty for more than two stops. The dining car staff were excellent all along the trip, as was our SCA, but the crowding and the length of the trip took a toll. The "wine tasting" was abbreviated, apparently because of insufficient supply of wines and the length of meals, since the delays meant more passengers ate in the dining car. Menu items were limited by the final lunch. In fact, the dining room was long since out of food by the time we got to Portage and there was no dinner offered on Friday, even though the train arrived so late into CHI. At Portage or Columbus, the SCA in 830 found enough snack packs for about 2/3 of the sleeper passengers, don't know about the coach passengers, although there was some kind of announcement for them. The snack bar in the observation car had been doing a very brisk business for the entire trip. The lounge attendant found supplies somewhere and restocked it, but I'd bet he ran out again before our train got to Chicago.
After we left Columbus, the conductor made announcements about failed connections and what Amtrak customer service had told him they planned to do for the affected passengers. When I heard him talking to a neighboring roomette passenger, he was extremely professional in conversing with that hostile woman, leaving her much calmed. I was highly impressed by him and how well he dealt with a bad situation. I thought his patience and kindness went above and beyond the call of duty.
A number of sleeper passengers [me included] had tickets to CHI but got off early at Milwaukee.
