Main CZ #5 & 6 Discussion Thread

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I have a trip on #5 on 20Sep2011......hopefully everything will have cleared up by then.....(maybe)......
 
Then what your saying is what the CS agent told me about our trip west CHI to RNO on the #5 for Sunday 4th that it will run as scheduled is false. I haven't got a call or a email yet from Amtrak saying any differant.

If I don't get a call by saturday, I have to leave home at around 9pm then when I get to CDL I better check with the agent before printing tickets. Don't plan to ride a bus anywhere east or west on this trip so someone better have the scoop saturday night.

Also the track in the area of the derailment was back in shape in 20 hours. Still have some more welding work to do but they have lowered the speed limit on that section to 25mph.
 
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Amtrak just called....strange, they called to say no service from Reno to Chicago on the 8th of Sept....Thats the last part of our trip. Nothing about the first part from Chicago to Reno on the 4th. I called Amtrak CS and ask what the deal was. I was told the #6 was only running to Denver east bound and there would be no west bound #5 untill NEXT month out of Chicago. She used the flooding as an excuse.

At least I got the call a couple days ahead of time rather then the day before.
 
Guess that explains why you can’t book #5 out of Chicago for any day in September. I don’t have an update from my sources yet, but I am guessing they are finally out of equipment for making up trains…..and the two locos that were damaged a few weeks ago were probably the tipping point.
 
... speaking as someone who has had the "Amtrak call", I'm sorry ... how disappointing for you ....
 
Ben_G said:
Amtrak just called....strange, they called to say no service from Reno to Chicago on the 8th of Sept....Thats the last part of our trip. Nothing about the first part from Chicago to Reno on the 4th. I called Amtrak CS and ask what the deal was. I was told the #6 was only running to Denver east bound and there would be no west bound #5 untill NEXT month out of Chicago. She used the flooding as an excuse.

At least I got the call a couple days ahead of time rather then the day before.
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That is too bad. Maybe you get from/to DEN and LAJ by :help: bus :help: and catch 3 & 4 to salvage your trip?

I noticed that Amtrak has removed the Passenger Service Notice for 5 & 6 that dealt with delays around OMA because of the flooding, but has NOT posted an alert or advisory about the cancelling of 5 & 6 east of DEN. Maybe they are waiting until they have contacted all affected booked passengers before posting an alert, so that customer service does not get slammed with those folks in addition to those still impacted by the troubles in the East. :unsure: On the other hand, maybe it is more of the same of Amtrak being slow to post timely alerts and notices on the website. :wacko:
 
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Posted on Facebook:

SOME AMTRAK CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR SERVICE TO RESUME

by Amtrak on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 1:55pmTrains 5 & 6 to operate between California and Colorado this weekend

CHICAGO – Daily service by the Amtrak California Zephyr between San Francisco Bay Area and Denver will resume this weekend, effective with the departure of eastbound Train 6 from Emeryville, Calif., on Sept. 3, and the westbound Train 5 from Denver on Sept. 4.

Direct train service between Denver and Chicago will continue to be suspended between Fort Morgan, Colo., and Burlington, Iowa, until a date to be announced later this month. The BNSF Railway Co. continues to make repairs to massive flood damage near Omaha that had led to a detour route resulting in lengthy delays to Amtrak service across Nebraska and Iowa.

Amtrak service for the full California Zephyr route has been suspended since Aug. 26, when a portion of a construction crane at a grain elevator obstructed the BNSF Railway Co., tracks and caused an Amtrak train to become disabled near Benkelman, Neb. That suspension allowed Amtrak to deploy equipment and crews to resume this limited California Zephyr service.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. Passengers who have paid for travel on canceled trains can contact Amtrak to receive refunds without fee or penalty or can rebook for future travel. If tickets have not yet printed, the refund/rebook can be done on Amtrak.com or the free Amtrak iPhone “app."
 
CHamilton said:
Posted on Facebook:

SOME AMTRAK CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR SERVICE TO RESUME

by Amtrak on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 1:55pmTrains 5 & 6 to operate between California and Colorado this weekend

CHICAGO – Daily service by the Amtrak California Zephyr between San Francisco Bay Area and Denver will resume this weekend, effective with the departure of eastbound Train 6 from Emeryville, Calif., on Sept. 3, and the westbound Train 5 from Denver on Sept. 4.

Direct train service between Denver and Chicago will continue to be suspended between Fort Morgan, Colo., and Burlington, Iowa, until a date to be announced later this month. The BNSF Railway Co. continues to make repairs to massive flood damage near Omaha that had led to a detour route resulting in lengthy delays to Amtrak service across Nebraska and Iowa.

Amtrak service for the full California Zephyr route has been suspended since Aug. 26, when a portion of a construction crane at a grain elevator obstructed the BNSF Railway Co., tracks and caused an Amtrak train to become disabled near Benkelman, Neb. That suspension allowed Amtrak to deploy equipment and crews to resume this limited California Zephyr service.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. Passengers who have paid for travel on canceled trains can contact Amtrak to receive refunds without fee or penalty or can rebook for future travel. If tickets have not yet printed, the refund/rebook can be done on Amtrak.com or the free Amtrak iPhone “app."
Click to expand...
Nice that they post it on Facebook. However, it should be posted on the website first. Amtrak should understand this. That was the point of linking the Amtrak and AGR websites. What, folks are supposed to surf the web to get thier answers about what Amtrak is up to? :excl: But, OTOH, that is how I found AU! :giggle:
 
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From Amtrak (as posted on Facebook and at other places):

SOME AMTRAK CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR SERVICE TO RESUME

by Amtrak on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 3:55pm

Trains 5 & 6 to operate between California and Colorado this weekend

CHICAGO – Daily service by the Amtrak California Zephyr between San Francisco Bay Area and Denver will resume this weekend, effective with the departure of eastbound Train 6 from Emeryville, Calif., on Sept. 3, and the westbound Train 5 from Denver on Sept. 4.

Direct train service between Denver and Chicago will continue to be suspended between Fort Morgan, Colo., and Burlington, Iowa, until a date to be announced later this month. The BNSF Railway Co. continues to make repairs to massive flood damage near Omaha that had led to a detour route resulting in lengthy delays to Amtrak service across Nebraska and Iowa.

Amtrak service for the full California Zephyr route has been suspended since Aug. 26, when a portion of a construction crane at a grain elevator obstructed the BNSF Railway Co., tracks and caused an Amtrak train to become disabled near Benkelman, Neb. That suspension allowed Amtrak to deploy equipment and crews to resume this limited California Zephyr service.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience.
Click to expand...
 
Where is the end to the bad news about the CZ?

Just got off the phone with a colleague who hinted that Amtrak is rapidly revisiting the concept of permanently running the CZ only as far east as DEN, and either bus-bridging to the SWC to get to CHI, or bringing back the Denver Zephyr from days of old to cover DEN to CHI. DZ would not be daily. Apparently, this has been looked at many times over the years, but the concept grew legs again this week.

Makes me wonder if the 30-day halt in DEN-CHI service is being carefully viewed as a viability test.
 
George B said:
Just got off the phone with a colleague who hinted that Amtrak is rapidly revisiting the concept of permanently running the CZ only as far east as DEN, and either bus-bridging to the SWC to get to CHI, or bringing back the Denver Zephyr from days of old to cover DEN to CHI. DZ would not be daily. Apparently, this has been looked at many times over the years, but the concept grew legs again this week.

Makes me wonder if the 30-day halt in DEN-CHI service is being carefully viewed as a viability test.
Click to expand...
They cannot be serious. CHI-DEN is the most popular section of that route, they have to add extra cars just between those two stations to satisfy demand in peak season. And they want to DROP daily service? What the hell are these people smoking?! :help:
 
Ben_G said:
Amtrak just called....strange, they called to say no service from Reno to Chicago on the 8th of Sept....Thats the last part of our trip. Nothing about the first part from Chicago to Reno on the 4th. I called Amtrak CS and ask what the deal was. I was told the #6 was only running to Denver east bound and there would be no west bound #5 untill NEXT month out of Chicago. She used the flooding as an excuse.

At least I got the call a couple days ahead of time rather then the day before.
Click to expand...
Having just read your posts in this thread: http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/42275-5-6-service-disruption/ I can understand why you - and your wife - are upset. The information you got from 1-800-USARAIL sure seems like deliberate misinformation when what people are posting online BEFORE you called contradicts what you were told. It may be S.O.P. in today's world for companies to pull these kind of stunts, but it does leave a bad taste in one's mouth when it appears you can see right through them. Disruptions and cancellations would be a less bitter pill to swallow if one was not left feeling lied to. Maybe Julie's last name is Information, and she is single? :giggle:

>

>

>

>

>

>

Hence: Miss Information :eek:hboy:
 
George B said:
Where is the end to the bad news about the CZ?

Just got off the phone with a colleague who hinted that Amtrak is rapidly revisiting the concept of permanently running the CZ only as far east as DEN, and either bus-bridging to the SWC to get to CHI, or bringing back the Denver Zephyr from days of old to cover DEN to CHI. DZ would not be daily. Apparently, this has been looked at many times over the years, but the concept grew legs again this week.

Makes me wonder if the 30-day halt in DEN-CHI service is being carefully viewed as a viability test.
Click to expand...
IS that a LIMITED SUNSET or not?
 
If I remember correctly, when Amtrak took over in 1971, the City of San Francisco (which was not being run by Amtrak) was not daily, but the Denver Zephyr was. So, this would be a reverse of that.

I would think that if they were seriously going to bus-bridge with the SWC at Trinidad, they would have to put more equipment in to the SWC’s consist, either as part of the full trainset, or have cars set-out or cut-in at someplace like ABQ.

Before reactions get too crazy, I do want to remind folks that I was told this was being CONSIDERED, and has to be taken with a grain of salt at this point.
 
If that rumor is true, which I highly doubt, why not do a TE-style system: Daily east of Denver, triweekly the train continues to Emeryville.
 
I hope they get the CZ up and running on its full route by October 1st. It would throw a big wrench into the plans of many of the folks who are traveling to/from the gathering in Seattle on the CZ if not. I'm lucky, I guess, I live so close to Seattle that I have several options should the EB not be running for whatever reason. And given the rotten luck the EB and Amtrak in general have had, I won't hold my breath until I'm actually on the EB headed west out of Spokane! :unsure:
 
CHamilton said:
Posted on Facebook:

SOME AMTRAK CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR SERVICE TO RESUME

by Amtrak on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 1:55pmTrains 5 & 6 to operate between California and Colorado this weekend

Direct train service between Denver and Chicago will continue to be suspended between Fort Morgan, Colo., and Burlington, Iowa, until a date to be announced later this month.
Click to expand...
Now what is going on between Chicago and Burlington? Perhaps we need to start a rumor that Amtrak is trying to reacquire all the original Burlington "Silver" equipment and bring us a 1950s Zephyr with 5 BIG DOMES! :lol: :eek: :p
 
Well----when I made my Train Odyssey plans way back in March, I would have NEVER guessed that #5 would be cancelled for an entire month (late---yes, but cancelled---no). There is just no planning for that.

So, now my entire trip is in jeopardy (JAX-DC #98, DC-CHI #51, then the cancelled CHI-SAC #5, SAC-SEA #14, 2 days in SEA, then SEA-CHI #8, CHI-DC #30 and finally DC-JAX #97-----used RAIL PASS and Sleepers on all legs).

What to do?? Rent a car and drive from CHI to SAC? Try the SWC to LA, then attempt to re-book my sleeper on #14 from LA vice SAC? Fly from CHI-DEN (I hate flying)? Or, just get all my money back, re-group....and try again (last resort).

I am a huge AMTRAK fan----and understand the unforseen situation----but, I've been looking forward to this adventure----well before I booked it in March.

John
 
George B said:
Where is the end to the bad news about the CZ?

Just got off the phone with a colleague who hinted that Amtrak is rapidly revisiting the concept of permanently running the CZ only as far east as DEN, and either bus-bridging to the SWC to get to CHI, or bringing back the Denver Zephyr from days of old to cover DEN to CHI. DZ would not be daily. Apparently, this has been looked at many times over the years, but the concept grew legs again this week.

Makes me wonder if the 30-day halt in DEN-CHI service is being carefully viewed as a viability test.
Click to expand...
I find this hard to believe. The Chicago-Denver section is the heaviest used portion of the route. Breaking the route in two would seem to be self defeating. and running the Chi end of the train less than daily? The Zephyr's current problems are caused by an act of nature, not some inherent problem with the route.

I don't know what your sources are smoking, but it must be some pretty heavy stuff.
 
I got the call tonight that my res for 9/6 Chi>Emy is canceled, after being told yesterday that it would run. Got rebooked on the SWC in a family bedroom (I had a bedroom on the CZ) connecting to the Starlight. Now my problem is figuring out a return on 9/16, since sleepers are pretty scarce.
 
John-MCPO-USN said:
Well----when I made my Train Odyssey plans way back in March, I would have NEVER guessed that #5 would be cancelled for an entire month (late---yes, but cancelled---no). There is just no planning for that.

So, now my entire trip is in jeopardy (JAX-DC #98, DC-CHI #51, then the cancelled CHI-SAC #5, SAC-SEA #14, 2 days in SEA, then SEA-CHI #8, CHI-DC #30 and finally DC-JAX #97-----used RAIL PASS and Sleepers on all legs).

What to do?? Rent a car and drive from CHI to SAC? Try the SWC to LA, then attempt to re-book my sleeper on #14 from LA vice SAC? Fly from CHI-DEN (I hate flying)? Or, just get all my money back, re-group....and try again (last resort).

I am a huge AMTRAK fan----and understand the unforseen situation----but, I've been looking forward to this adventure----well before I booked it in March.

John
Click to expand...
Not a lot of domestic flying fans on here John! :rolleyes: First choice would be to check on rebboking the SWC CHI-LAX/CS LAX-SEA. Second would be to "fly"( a four letter word here!) Chicago-Denver, ride the Zephyr to SAC, the best scenery is between Denver and Sacramento!!! I wouldnt drive that trip, but it would beat Cancelling :eek: the rest of a "Dream Trip"! Check it out on Amsnag or Amtrak.com and try to rebbok the CHI-LAX-SEA portion!
 
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