Missed Guaranteed Connection

[ThayerATM]

This fall we've booked a trip from ROC (on 49) to CHI, then from CHI to EMY (on 5), then from EMY to SEA (on 14), then from SEA to CHI (on 8), then from CHI to ROC (on 48). Bedrooms all the way. I've built in enough cushion in EMY and SEA, so even a one day delay wouldn't be a problem in either city, but I didn't build in any cushion in CHI.

This last Monday 49 was 7 hours and 46 minutes late, and didn't get into CHI 'till 5:31 PM, 3 hours and 31 minutes AFTER 5 left CHI. <_<

I know my question is hypothetical --- but if we were presented with an identical scenario this fall --- what are my options? I'm assuming that no bus is going to be able to catch the Zephyr (5) which already had a 3 & 1/2 hour head start, :hi: and I really don't want to ride a bus anyway. :angry:

As I see it, we could fly from CHI to OMA, or LNK, or DEN, and wait for the Zephyr (5) to get there, but at 70 years of age we really do enjoy sleeping from time to time. And the train trip was the whole point anyway.

Do I hear any ideas from the members here?

 

[zephyr17]

This fall we've booked a trip from ROC (on 49) to CHI, then from CHI to EMY (on 5), then from EMY to SEA (on 14), then from SEA to CHI (on 8), then from CHI to ROC (on 48). Bedrooms all the way. I've built in enough cushion in EMY and SEA, so even a one day delay wouldn't be a problem in either city, but I didn't build in any cushion in CHI.

This last Monday 49 was 7 hours and 46 minutes late, and didn't get into CHI 'till 5:31 PM, 3 hours and 31 minutes AFTER 5 left CHI. <_<

I know my question is hypothetical --- but if we were presented with an identical scenario this fall --- what are my options? I'm assuming that no bus is going to be able to catch the Zephyr (5) which already had a 3 & 1/2 hour head start, :hi: and I really don't want to ride a bus anyway. :angry:

As I see it, we could fly from CHI to OMA, or LNK, or DEN, and wait for the Zephyr (5) to get there, but at 70 years of age we really do enjoy sleeping from time to time. And the train trip was the whole point anyway.

Do I hear any ideas from the members here?

Well, you do know even with a guaranteed connection, Amtrak is highly unlikely to pay for your airfare anywhere.

What Amtrak will do, if there is no way to successfully bus bridge or other option, is to put you up in Chicago overnight and send you out on the next day's Zephyr. If there is an accommodation available, you'll get it. Otherwise, you'll get coach and have your sleeper accommodation charge refunded for that segment (CHI-EMY).

The good news is Amtrak is quite good providing food, lodging and transfers at their expense in these situations (as opposed to the airlines, where the airport camp-out is all too often the only choice). The bad news is they will fulfill their guarantee in their own way, which is almost always to send you out on the next days train if there aren't other alternatives available.

Since I prize my sleeper accommodations, I usually build in one day slack time in connecting between long distance trains. The main exception to my rule is I'll usually take my chances with a connection from 3 to 14 at Los Angeles because 3's timekeeping is usually pretty good, and there are alternatives that Amtrak can use to connect on that route (San Joaquins) that can meet 14 in the Bay Area or Sac. I'll also risk a connection from 5 to 14 at Sac because there is so much time between the 5's arrival and 14's departure at Sac.

BTW, if you are super late and you decide to try to catch up with the train by flying at your own expense, you had better let Amtrak know before the Zephyr's departure. They'll have developed their own plans for you, and unless you get hold of them and make them aware of your independent arrangements, they will release your space on that day's Zephyr. So you could easily fly to Omaha or Denver and find that your room has been resold unless you let them know and get your reservation adjusted accordingly.

Finally, in the Fall, the chances of having this kind of weather related delay is much lower, but anything can happen, and I have been on my share of 13 hour late trains.

 

[ThayerATM]

This fall we've booked a trip from ROC (on 49) to CHI, then from CHI to EMY (on 5), then from EMY to SEA (on 14), then from SEA to CHI (on 8), then from CHI to ROC (on 48). Bedrooms all the way. I've built in enough cushion in EMY and SEA, so even a one day delay wouldn't be a problem in either city, but I didn't build in any cushion in CHI.

This last Monday 49 was 7 hours and 46 minutes late, and didn't get into CHI 'till 5:31 PM, 3 hours and 31 minutes AFTER 5 left CHI. <_<

I know my question is hypothetical --- but if we were presented with an identical scenario this fall --- what are my options? I'm assuming that no bus is going to be able to catch the Zephyr (5) which already had a 3 & 1/2 hour head start, :hi: and I really don't want to ride a bus anyway. :angry:

As I see it, we could fly from CHI to OMA, or LNK, or DEN, and wait for the Zephyr (5) to get there, but at 70 years of age we really do enjoy sleeping from time to time. And the train trip was the whole point anyway.

Do I hear any ideas from the members here?

Well, you do know even with a guaranteed connection, Amtrak is highly unlikely to pay for your airfare anywhere.

What Amtrak will do, if there is no way to successfully bus bridge or other option, is to put you up in Chicago overnight and send you out on the next day's Zephyr. If there is an accommodation available, you'll get it. Otherwise, you'll get coach and have your sleeper accommodation charge refunded for that segment (CHI-EMY).

The good news is Amtrak is quite good providing food, lodging and transfers at their expense in these situations (as opposed to the airlines, where the airport camp-out is all too often the only choice). The bad news is they will fulfill their guarantee in their own way, which is almost always to send you out on the next days train if there aren't other alternatives available.

Since I prize my sleeper accommodations, I usually build in one day slack time in connecting between long distance trains. The main exception to my rule is I'll usually take my chances with a connection from 3 to 14 at Los Angeles because 3's timekeeping is usually pretty good, and there are alternatives that Amtrak can use to connect on that route (San Joaquins) that can meet 14 in the Bay Area or Sac. I'll also risk a connection from 5 to 14 at Sac because there is so much time between the 5's arrival and 14's departure at Sac.

BTW, if you are super late and you decide to try to catch up with the train by flying at your own expense, you had better let Amtrak know before the Zephyr's departure. They'll have developed their own plans for you, and unless you get hold of them and make them aware of your independent arrangements, they will release your space on that day's Zephyr. So you could easily fly to Omaha or Denver and find that your room has been resold unless you let them know and get your reservation adjusted accordingly.

Finally, in the Fall, the chances of having this kind of weather related delay is much lower, but anything can happen, and I have been on my share of 13 hour late trains.

Thanks zephyr17.

I was hoping that someone would jump right in and tell me something more hopeful, but you've put it together exactly like I was afraid it would be. :lol:

First thing I'm going to do is call Amtrak and see if I can build in overnight cushions in CHI, both going out and coming back. Coach is entirely out of the question on most LD trains. We could probably handle coach for 12 hours between CHI and ROC, but on 5 between CHI and EMY, or 8, between SEA and CHI, that long distance would be absolutely impossible for both of us. Last year on 49 between NYP and ROC we had to traipse through six coach cars for a smoke break in the middle of the night, and it was like walking through downtown Bagdad after a terrorist attack. hboy: We had to walk around, and step over, body parts just to walk in a straight line. That's not our idea of how to get anywhere.

My knee jerk reflex would be to scrap the entire trip and settle for coach tickets back to ROC from CHI which would probably involve, at best, eating a cancellation fee.

However, my wife is more adventuresome. :wub: She's in favor of quickly flying ahead of the train and picking it up somewhere along its route. That might well involve paying for that bedroom between CHI and wherever we ended up getting back on the train, but at least we'd salvage most of a pleasant train trip.

I figure you're right, in that the chances of this train lateness will be much less likely in the fall than it is now, in the middle of winter. We took this same trip in the fall three years ago (in the other direction) and it came off without a hitch. That's really why I built in three days in San Francisco and three days in Seattle this time. I never even considered building in an extra day in Chicago, which is a city I really do like. But I've spent so much time in Chicago in my lifetime that I just don't feel much like being a tourist there.

 

[the_traveler]

The "good" thing about being put on the next day's train is that say you have a roomette on the missed train, but the next day's train has all the roomettes sold out but has a bedroom available - you should be upgraded to the bedroom at no extra cost!

 

[ThayerATM]

The "good" thing about being put on the next day's train is that say you have a roomette on the missed train, but the next day's train has all the roomettes sold out but has a bedroom available - you should be upgraded to the bedroom at no extra cost!

I've thought about that. But what are the chances of that happening? :lol: Statistically, my chances are greater of being put in coach. My preference is not to try and draw to an inside straight.

 

[buck1108]

I missed a connection once (Capitol Ltd connecting to a Regional to New Haven) due to an overnight fire on the tracks on the Capitol Ltd's route, somewhere in Indiana. They got us off the train in Pittsburgh, onto several buses, took the Pittsburgh Tollway to Harrisburg, boarded a train to Philadelphia, and still missed the connection there. So, they had us wait in the Philly Amtrak office until 10pm, when the hotel rates would go down, and then they gave us a taxi ride to the hotel, a hotel room, food vouchers, taxi ride back, and an early (5am) morning regional up to New Haven. I cherish that early morning trip...hardly a soul on that train, and a great ride.

 

[ThayerATM]

You've got to be a hearty soul. :hi:

If I MUST get from point A to point B, under deadline, I'm willing to excuse a lot in order to get there. I've even spent time traveling in a Heritage baggage car, sitting on a yellow step stool (which DID have a pillow as a cushion). :lol:

A pleasure trip, on the other hand, is quite another matter. <_<

 

[buck1108]

What was the story on the baggage car? Did you have to sign a waiver to sit there?

A friend of mine and her then-college mates (many moons ago, when there were still mail trains running from Chicago to Oklahoma) opted to ride in the mail train from Chicago to Oklahoma, as they had missed the passenger train (Rock Island?), so they rode in the caboose and actually beat the passenger train by a few hrs! She mentioned that they had to sign waivers to do that. :lol:

She has another story of traveling from Ohio to Oklahoma as a child and hiding a cat and kittens in a hat box.... the next morning, a hole in the hat box, kittens out of the box, hanging onto the berth curtains with little claws... :giggle:

 

[ThayerATM]

What was the story on the baggage car? Did you have to sign a waiver to sit there?

A friend of mine and her then-college mates (many moons ago, when there were still mail trains running from Chicago to Oklahoma) opted to ride in the mail train from Chicago to Oklahoma, as they had missed the passenger train (Rock Island?), so they rode in the caboose and actually beat the passenger train by a few hrs! She mentioned that they had to sign waivers to do that. :lol:

She has another story of traveling from Ohio to Oklahoma as a child and hiding a cat and kittens in a hat box.... the next morning, a hole in the hat box, kittens out of the box, hanging onto the berth curtains with little claws... :giggle:

Nope. No waiver. It's really kind of serendipitous story, but I'm not going to post it on this forum. Look up my email address and I'll tell you privately.

I WILL say this on this forum. If I had a chance to ride in a caboose on a real live train, in real live time, I'd not only sign a waiver, I'd offer up my first-born kid. I think I can safely say that 'cuz I don't think she sees this forum. :lol:

 

[the_traveler]

If I MUST get from point A to point B, under deadline, I'm willing to excuse a lot in order to get there. I've even spent time traveling in a Heritage baggage car, sitting on a yellow step stool (which DID have a pillow as a cushion). :lol:

That was back in the days when you played a hobo, right?

 

[ThayerATM]

If I MUST get from point A to point B, under deadline, I'm willing to excuse a lot in order to get there. I've even spent time traveling in a Heritage baggage car, sitting on a yellow step stool (which DID have a pillow as a cushion). :lol:

That was back in the days when you played a hobo, right?

I played hobo back in the early 60's when I had neither pot nor window. I honestly never had to be anywhere at anytime (except classes) back then. My only goal was to graduate from college. I did graduate, in 1962. :hi:

The stint in the baggage car came a couple of years ago when I HAD to get from Rochester to New York City, and there was a bedroom available from ROC to NYP, and I grabbed it. What I didn't know was that there were no stops between Albany and NYP. I mentioned it to our car attendant, and he came up with the idea. He took us to the baggage car and told us that we could stay there as long as we wanted, but to keep our mouths shut. :lol: Any further explanation will have to wait for another lifetime.