LAX

[zephyr17]

Back in the days JFK was not even JFK. It was Idlewild. Most airports are not referred to by their IATA code by anyone other than the air-geeks. Orlando International is known colloquially as OIA, not MCO. I have not heard any man on the street in Newark call Newark Airport EWR. If you tell a taxi driver in New Orleans that you want to go to MSY he'll probably look at you strangely.

Travel agents have almost completely disappeared and DIY bookings make up something like 99% of all tickets sold in the US. As a result nearby major airport codes have become common knowledge among average everyday people. If you asked a working age local resident to take you to "MSY" you'd probably be asked if you meant the airport. On the other hand if you asked a local resident from generation X/Y/M to take you to "Idlewild" you'd probably get nothing but weird looks and shoulder shrugs because nobody other than air geeks would have any clue what the heck you were talking about.

Yes, but asking a local resident to take you to "Kennedy" would work great.

 

[sechs]

For a variety of reasons, most often because Amtrak does not own the tracks, the SWC winds up running late.

In my experience, due to padding at LAX, the train tends to come in seriously early. I've had the 6am breakfast more times than I can count.

Unlike most long-distance trains, except for terminal trackage, the Southwest Chief runs on exactly one railroad the entire distance. BNSF actually cares about running passenger trains, and if there's a consistent problem with running Amtrak on time, I would like to know. I am a shareholder and would certainly hold Matt Rose to task on this.

 

[KmH]

You can check the on-time performance history for any range of dates you want - here:

Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database

Sometimes the SWC is late, on time, or early.

One day last month it shows the SWC was some 13 hours late.

Plan for the worst. Hope for the best.

 

[Lonestar648]

As with any mode of transportation, Weather and accidents can insert unexpected and unavoidable delays. My recent trips on Amtrak, we were never more than 30 minutes late, usually arriving early. There was one exception when severe thunderstorms dumped so much rain so fast, the engineer could only creep along, Rain poured off the train like a waterfall. We arrived over 6 hours late.

 

[the_traveler]

IIRC, when Arrow was first set up, it was established by former airline people. Thus, there are many cross airline/Amtrak codes used for cities/stops.

Among these are PVD, ALB, SYR, ROC, BUF, PHL, ATL, TPA, MIA, STL, PHX, SLC, PDX, SAN, LAX and many others.

 

[sechs]

As with any mode of transportation, Weather and accidents can insert unexpected and unavoidable delays. My recent trips on Amtrak, we were never more than 30 minutes late, usually arriving early. There was one exception when severe thunderstorms dumped so much rain so fast, the engineer could only creep along, Rain poured off the train like a waterfall. We arrived over 6 hours late.

I didn't see any specific pattern in the late trains.

It's not like the time my CS was over 12 hours late because UP refused to send a switch tender out in advance of the train to make sure that all of the snowed-in switches in the mountains were free.

 

[NETrainfan]

To the original poster- Our experience of LA Union Station (many times) has been positive. We stay in the station

or on the patio usually (two sisters) and have had no problems to date. The staff has been helpful, lots of

electric carts and redcaps around, comfortable seating, easy to negotiate except when commuters tromp through.

Enjoy your trip.