Forced Connection 92/19

[JoeBas]

All,

I'm planning a return trip back "Down South" from North Carolina on a clear, crisp Sunday in October. I'd like to take 92 to Washington and connect to 19 there for the ride back to New Orleans, however this results in a "Forced Connection" (Scheduled arrival WAS on 92 at 3:15, Scheduled Departure WAS on 19 at 6:30, 3:15 conx time). The only alternative seems to be booking the guaranteed connection, which involves sitting around in Raleigh all day waiting to sit around in Greensboro half the night waiting for 19 - less than thrilling.

Does anyone have any experience making this change? How often is 92 more than three hours late? Obviously I can wait to Quik Trak my tickets at RGH and just cancel and bail onto the Carolinian/Crescent combo on Sunday if something happened to the Star before RGH, I guess the only danger is something killing the Star between RGH and WAS with a non-guaranteed connection?

 

[the_traveler]

You can always do a multi-city booking and hope for the best!

But you never can tell. For the FL mini-Gathering in January, some of us took the morning departure out of NYP and some of us took the afternoon departure. At WPK, the "later" train arrived over 1 hour before the "earlier" train! :lol:

 

[John Bobinyec]

All,

I'm planning a return trip back "Down South" from North Carolina on a clear, crisp Sunday in October. I'd like to take 92 to Washington and connect to 19 there for the ride back to New Orleans, however this results in a "Forced Connection" (Scheduled arrival WAS on 92 at 3:15, Scheduled Departure WAS on 19 at 6:30, 3:15 conx time). The only alternative seems to be booking the guaranteed connection, which involves sitting around in Raleigh all day waiting to sit around in Greensboro half the night waiting for 19 - less than thrilling.

You can squeeze a few more minutes for your connection by switching trains at Alexandria instead of Washington. If you arrive early enough you can still take the Metro to D.C. and back to kill some time.

Where in NC are you starting from? Could you take 98 instead of 92?

jb

 

[JoeBas]

All,

I'm planning a return trip back "Down South" from North Carolina on a clear, crisp Sunday in October. I'd like to take 92 to Washington and connect to 19 there for the ride back to New Orleans, however this results in a "Forced Connection" (Scheduled arrival WAS on 92 at 3:15, Scheduled Departure WAS on 19 at 6:30, 3:15 conx time). The only alternative seems to be booking the guaranteed connection, which involves sitting around in Raleigh all day waiting to sit around in Greensboro half the night waiting for 19 - less than thrilling.

You can squeeze a few more minutes for your connection by switching trains at Alexandria instead of Washington. If you arrive early enough you can still take the Metro to D.C. and back to kill some time.

Where in NC are you starting from? Could you take 98 instead of 92?

jb

Coming out of Raleigh, don't see any way for 98. I'm not planning on checking bags, so the Alexandria connection does give a LITTLE more leeway, in fact it increases it to over 4 hours of conx time, which is fine with me. How much conx time does Amtk require to guarantee the connection?

 

[afigg]

Coming out of Raleigh, don't see any way for 98. I'm not planning on checking bags, so the Alexandria connection does give a LITTLE more leeway, in fact it increases it to over 4 hours of conx time, which is fine with me. How much conx time does Amtk require to guarantee the connection?

I'm confused. where are you starting from in NC? Raleigh NC? If so, why not take the 79 Carolinian in the afternoon to Greensboro (or Charlotte)?

If you are not starting in Raleigh, then yes, there are considerable gaps in NC and SC that make connecting to a once a day Crescent a challenge.

 

[John Bobinyec]

Coming out of Raleigh, don't see any way for 98. I'm not planning on checking bags, so the Alexandria connection does give a LITTLE more leeway, in fact it increases it to over 4 hours of conx time, which is fine with me. How much conx time does Amtk require to guarantee the connection?

The simple answer is that it depends upon several things, including the reliability of the connecting trains. Here's an answer from someone in NARP when I was asking about a connection between 92 and 29 at Washington:

"Amtrak’s general rule for the system is a minimum 60-minute layover for a guaranteed connection, but exceptions are made based on the incoming train’s reliability, both good and bad. An example of a guaranteed connection that is tighter than 60 minutes is between certain northbound Northeast Regionals and certain northbound Empire Service trains at New York Penn, where the ticketed connection time can be as little as 20 minutes and the connecting train is generally across the platform from the arriving one."

jb

 

[JoeBas]

I'm confused. where are you starting from in NC? Raleigh NC? If so, why not take the 79 Carolinian in the afternoon to Greensboro (or Charlotte)?

Because my friends who are flying are all flying out Sunday morning, and I'd rather not spend 8 hours sitting around at RGH followed by 6 hours at Greensboro waiting for 19 - why sit and wait when you can ride?

 

[JoeBas]

"Amtrak's general rule for the system is a minimum 60-minute layover for a guaranteed connection, but exceptions are made based on the incoming train's reliability, both good and bad. An example of a guaranteed connection that is tighter than 60 minutes is between certain northbound Northeast Regionals and certain northbound Empire Service trains at New York Penn, where the ticketed connection time can be as little as 20 minutes and the connecting train is generally across the platform from the arriving one."

OTP on the star must be TERRIBLE, then, if they won't allow 4 hours as a suitable guaranteed connection time!

Any stats available on how often the Star is 4+ hours late into ALX?

 

[Trogdor]

If you can book it on a single reservation, it's a valid connection.

The reason you don't get 92-19 as a connection is because it's not really a logical routing (you are going out of your way).

But you can do a multi-city and book it that way. You can book to WAS, and if your train is really late, get off in ALX instead to provide extra cushion.

 

[JoeBas]

If you can book it on a single reservation, it's a valid connection.

The reason you don't get 92-19 as a connection is because it's not really a logical routing (you are going out of your way).

But you can do a multi-city and book it that way. You can book to WAS, and if your train is really late, get off in ALX instead to provide extra cushion.

Yeah, that was the weird thing, going TO Raleigh it gave me the 20/91 connection as a valid option, but coming back 92/19 wasn't showing.

With the Alexandria cushion, I called again and got an agent to book me through, pointing out that it was 4+ hours of connection time. I've got 6 hours in WAS heading TO RGH, and I'm sure I can kill 4 in ALX if I have to - I've always wanted to hike up to the Masonic monument, etc.

 

[afigg]

I'm confused. where are you starting from in NC? Raleigh NC? If so, why not take the 79 Carolinian in the afternoon to Greensboro (or Charlotte)?

Because my friends who are flying are all flying out Sunday morning, and I'd rather not spend 8 hours sitting around at RGH followed by 6 hours at Greensboro waiting for 19 - why sit and wait when you can ride?

Ok, now I get it. You can see a lot of Virginia countryside during the day and DC Union Station.

Just appears that the reservation system is not set to handle such a out of the way connection. Maybe the programmers should add a railfan option button to allow the connection. :lol:

 

[JoeBas]

[

Ok, now I get it. You can see a lot of Virginia countryside during the day and DC Union Station.

Just appears that the reservation system is not set to handle such a out of the way connection. Maybe the programmers should add a railfan option button to allow the connection. :lol:

C'mon, it's not JUST railfan... who wants to be sitting in Greensboro at Midnight waiting for your train when you could have been fed dinner in the diner, settled into your roomette and an hour into sleep?

 

[gatelouse]

[

Ok, now I get it. You can see a lot of Virginia countryside during the day and DC Union Station.

Just appears that the reservation system is not set to handle such a out of the way connection. Maybe the programmers should add a railfan option button to allow the connection. :lol:

C'mon, it's not JUST railfan... who wants to be sitting in Greensboro at Midnight waiting for your train when you could have been fed dinner in the diner, settled into your roomette and an hour into sleep?

Sounds like railfan to me! But you're in great company here.

 

[TampAGS]

I connected from the 92 to the 19 back in 2009 and had no trouble at all. The 92 was late by a half-hour or so, but the 19 ended up departing late as well. It made for a nice sight-seeing walk around the Capitol building. The only trouble was that I had my carry-on bags to lug around with me.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

With the Alexandria cushion, I called again and got an agent to book me through, pointing out that it was 4+ hours of connection time. I've got 6 hours in WAS heading TO RGH, and I'm sure I can kill 4 in ALX if I have to - I've always wanted to hike up to the Masonic monument, etc.

ALX is a great place! It is the best place in the entire DC area IMHO hboy:

Washington's Masonic Memorial is definately worth a visit. It stays open until 4:00PM. Here is a link: http://www.gwmemorial.org/index.php Afterwards either walk or take the free 'trollybus' along King St. towards the river. There are lots of restaurants and shops all along King St. Another interesting place to visit is the Stabler Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, which is just off King St. on Fairfax St.: http://alexandriava.gov/Apothecary

Your time in ALX will pass too quickly.

If you want any suggestions for food or other activities, send me a PM.