Late Zephyr

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Late Zephyr

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The California Zephyr was supposed to arrive in Chicago at 2:50 PM. It is expected to be in at 7 PM. Will they provide sleeper people with dinner? Or is it just too bad so sad
 
Well still nothing and we are expected to arrive CHI at 8:30idh
 
Am I the only one who doesn't mind Dinty Moore? haha.

I've never had it on Amtrak, but I'll occasionally buy a can or two at the store.
 
William W. said:
Am I the only one who doesn't mind Dinty Moore? haha.

I've never had it on Amtrak, but I'll occasionally buy a can or two at the store.
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Dinty Moore is always in my pantry, I usually doctor it up with cans of corn, peas, cut green beans, tomato sauce, and a can of Campbell's beef gravy. It makes a great meal that can be stored indefinitely and made up on a minutes notice. Great over rice or with good bread.
 
My wife and I have a CZ trip coming up next month and, as we usually do, I've started watching the arrival times to see how it's doing. The Zephyr's on time performance the last few weeks has been awful! In the last month it's only been on time once, and every other day it's been at least 3-4 hours late. A couple of days it's been 10-12 hours late (i.e. it arrives into CHI at 3AM!). Does anybody know what's going on with this?

Dinner is important, but a better question is what's Amtrak doing about missed connections from the CZ to east bound trains that night? We're scheduled to go from the Zephyr to the Cardinal, which lives Chicago around 5:15PM.

Thanks!
 
If the connection is guaranteed, Amtrak will take care of you if your connection is missed. They may bus you, sent you by taxi or van, or pay for you to stay at a hotel and send you out on the next train.
 
The next train sounds nice, but it's not really an option. For one thing, in the case of the Cardinal the "next train" won't be for two or three days! The other problem is that we have sleeping car reservations, and I'll bet that there won't be a sleeper open on the next train.

We've been on bus rides for Amtrak before, for all sorts of reasons, and we universally hate it. There's a reason why we're riding the train, after all!
 
Not that I anticipate it happening, because we supposedly have a generous layover in CHI, but what does happen if you miss your connection to the eastbound Cardinal? I'm guessing they bus you or something to try to catch up to it? Thanks-
 
Thanks, traveler! I'm confused about how we would get to the bus in GBB, if we've missed the connection in CHI. Or are you saying they might bus us to any place between GBB and IND to catch up?

I am not at all familiar with the Cardinal's route, but is GBB Galesburg and is it on our route? (sorry for my confusion on IL geography and bustitution procedures)

Thanks, chakk also. I am definitely hoping we don't get the bustitution experience, but I suppose that's a better area for it to happen than in some of the more scenic ones.
 
The Cardinal runs from Chicago, through Indiana, Indianapolis, part of Ohio, into Cincinnati, and to points beyond.

If you're going straight to Chicago, there is a bus that runs between Chicago and Indy. Besides that, I'd imagine that Amtrak would run a special bus to catch you up. A bus takes ~3 hours from Chicago to Indy, while the Cardinal itself takes ~5+ hours.
 
The conductor will likely know before your CZ arrives in Galesburg whether or not your train will miss its connection in Chicago. If they know that you will likely miss your connection in Chicago, then he/she will come visit you on the CZ before arrival into Galesburg and request that you disembark at GBB. They will also unload any checked baggage that you have in GBB, and a bus (more likely one of those 8-12 passenger "vans") will meet your train and drive you -- and your checked luggage -- across Illinois to some regularly scheduled stop of the Cardinal in Indiana (I don't know all the stops, so won't guess) where they are certain that you would arrive before the eastbound Cardinal does.

You would then board the Cardinal at that location, and your checked luggage would be loaded into the baggage car of the Cardinal.

If you have a sleeper reservation on the Cardinal, your room would be waiting for you. If you board after dinner service has ended, then the sleeping car attendant would provide you a voucher toward a free meal in the cafe car (is there one on this train?).
 
Thanks! I was confused about the GBB thing, but I now understand why GBB got thrown in there.

We're not arriving on the CZ (but I wish we were!). We're just riding trains on a trip to nowhere and will be coming into CHI on the Capitol Limited, then out the same day on the Card.

From what I understand, there is only some kind of combo diner/cafe on the Card, no regular dining car or lounge.
 
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GBB is Galesburg yes. Thar answer was if you were arriving on the CZ or SWC which stop in GBB. In your case, since the CL arrives in the morning, there should not be a problem. But if the had to, maybe they may bus you from say South Bend to somewhere on the route.
 
There is almost no chance of missing the Cardinal if connecting from the CL. I would not worry.

Have fun on the Cardinal, by the way. It certainly isn't the best equipped LD train, but it has character, and the OBS is great.
 
Is South Bend somewhere near the end of the Cap's route, so that we would bypass CHI entirely in that case?

Sorry for the 20 questions! I would be surprised if the Cap is so late as to miss the Card so I'm not worried, but I became curious after reading a post. Thanks!

I know the Cardinal is "different" but I'm really looking forward to it! (I always had strange teacher's pets, too. LOL)
 
crescent2 said:
Is South Bend somewhere near the end of the Cap's route, so that we would bypass CHI entirely in that case?
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Yes, South Bend is in NW Indiana, very close to the Michigan border.

I imagine the bus would follow I-80 the entire way, which would put you just south of Chicago, traveling through Joliet and then Gary, IN. You'd be in "Chicagoland" but not Chicago itself.
 
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Crescent: As was said, no worry making connections in CHI from the Cap to the Card even if the Cap is late you still have a 7 hour scheduled layover between #29s arrival and #50s departure!

For the poster wondering about the Cards Diner-Lite. Its a combo car with 1/2 serving as a Diner and the other half as s Cafe-Lounge car! One person serves as the LSA/Wait person/cook/bus person/bottle washer and another as the LSA/Cafe attendant in the so called Cafe-Lounge!

There is a regular scheduled Ambus that meets the Eastboynd Zephyr and Chief in GBB and stops in Middle Illinois towns to Indianapolis but if these trains are really late Amtrak might have you stay on to Chicago and either send you out on the Cap Ltd. Or even the Lake Shore Ltd! Putting you up for two nights till the next Card isn't usually done, you may also be put in taxi or Van and chase down the Card in Indiana as was said! YMMV
 
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Got it, thanks all!

I've looked at the route maps for the Cap and Card, but it's been awhile. I'm not up on the geography enough to know where cities are in relation to one another even though I know which state they're in. I got totally CORN-fused about GBB! (What do I expect when I'm asking about the Card in the CZ thread?!!) :blush:

I feel really good about all our connections--they are all at least 6-8 hours, and none are in the middle of the night! I'd be disappointed in the unlikely event it turned out we couldn't even visit Union Station. However, I could always embellish the story about racing with the train through Indiana to beat it to the next station. LOL

I'm just so ready for an Amtrak ride.
 
Galesburg

Home to Carl Sandburg

Birthplace of my daughter

and the bus runs along I-74,,, maybe three hours to Indy,,,,

and you get to wave at Peoria, Bloomington and Champagne

along the way,,,
 
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