Seven-hour delay for Texas Eagle

[AlanB]

Allen,
I made a quick look for the photos I took in there when it was fairly new, but so far can't find them.. I just recall that it had floral arrangements, as accents on tables and I think the fireplace? Also there were nice lamps and pictures on the walls.. Its almost totally, if not completely void of those things now.. It just doesn't look the same without them.. I'll keep looking for those pictures for confirmation, but I know I was impressed when it was new at the nice touches in the room, since my dad was in that business I was used to noticeing things like that.. What was there is gone now..

I can't recall if the flowers were there when I went though in July, but I can assure you that the fireplace was still there, altlhough thankfully not lit. :lol:

I can't recall if I noticed pictures either, but since the expansion there are now more TV's than before, not to mention more train status monitors.

 

[AlanB]

Jay,
It's usually the afternoon trains that put the biggest strain on the lounge in my experience, as there are far more trains departing at that time, compared to the evening. Since the lounge was expanded, it is much better able to handle the evening crowds IMHO, while the afternoon trains during the summer months especially continue to strain the lounge's capacity.

Larry,

I'm curious as to what accessories you find missing from the lounge?

Alan;

If I remember correctly they actually had a computer game on the desk just to the left of the front desk when you walked in for the kids (and some of us adults also). I don't know if the computer walked or broke but I haven't seen it in quite some time.

Jay

Jay,

I can't say that I ever noticed that game, but then I would have been busy on my laptop anyhow.

 

[Larry H.]

Bare walls and tattered furniture, looks a bit like a run down hotel lobby.. It used to look like a 1st class one.

 

[had8ley]

Jay,
It's usually the afternoon trains that put the biggest strain on the lounge in my experience, as there are far more trains departing at that time, compared to the evening. Since the lounge was expanded, it is much better able to handle the evening crowds IMHO, while the afternoon trains during the summer months especially continue to strain the lounge's capacity.

Larry,

I'm curious as to what accessories you find missing from the lounge?

Alan;

If I remember correctly they actually had a computer game on the desk just to the left of the front desk when you walked in for the kids (and some of us adults also). I don't know if the computer walked or broke but I haven't seen it in quite some time.

Jay

Jay,

I can't say that I ever noticed that game, but then I would have been busy on my laptop anyhow.

I'll bet you weren't too busy to stock up on some of the Dunkin' Donuts they used to have....

 

[AlanB]

I'll bet you weren't too busy to stock up on some of the Dunkin' Donuts they used to have....

Must have been before I started riding out there, or maybe it was a morning only thing, but I never noticed any Dunkin Donuts. Only pretzels and other stuff like that.

 

[had8ley]

I'll bet you weren't too busy to stock up on some of the Dunkin' Donuts they used to have....

Must have been before I started riding out there, or maybe it was a morning only thing, but I never noticed any Dunkin Donuts. Only pretzels and other stuff like that.

Yes, it was a morning only amenity. We'd hit the Metro lounge coming in on #58. Just before they stopped putting them out they were cutting them in half so I know somebody was cutting the budget in addition to the donuts.

 

[john h]

It seems though the Texas Eagle avergage delay is a lot better than it used to be getting into SAS frequently used to be 2 - 3 hrs late, but looking today the average seems to have cut down to less than an hour which is great news.

 

[frj1983]

It seems though the Texas Eagle avergage delay is a lot better than it used to be getting into SAS frequently used to be 2 - 3 hrs late, but looking today the average seems to have cut down to less than an hour which is great news.

It's nice to see that the late time is shrinking on this train!

And yes Alan, my computer at home works fine!

 

[Steve M]

This past February I took the Southwest Chief from Fort Madison, IA to Los Angeles. I left on a Tuesday, arrived on a Thursday, spent the long weekend at a very enjoyable event, and headed back on the westbound train that left the following Monday night.

On that return trip, we heard a horror story of what had happened to the westbound train that was 1 day behind my westbound train. It too had an engine failure, and a consequent power failure on the train, and this had happened in the middle of nowhere. I can't recall now exactly how many hours this train was delayed, but we heard that it didn't arrive in Los Angeles until the Saturday (when it should've been on the Friday).

Between that story and one or two other little things, I think I'm going to be driving there when the same event comes up in 2008.

 

[GG-1]

Between that story and one or two other little things, I think I'm going to be driving there when the same event comes up in 2008.

Aloha

Wow from your report I can understand the quoted statement. But from a long time participant on this board the most stable, on time train is the Southwest Chief. My two trips were a fantastic way to cross part of the country. Hopefully when time to travel again Amtrak will be your choice.

 

[Sam Damon]

One has to wonder if having the P40s around to take some of the miles off of the P42s might result in fewer engine failures.

I understand some of them are headed to NJT, but one would think that P40s could be used to cycle through AutoTrain service, or on #42/43/44 without a great deal of fuss or muss.

 

[AlanB]

One has to wonder if having the P40s around to take some of the miles off of the P42s might result in fewer engine failures.
I understand some of them are headed to NJT, but one would think that P40s could be used to cycle through AutoTrain service, or on #42/43/44 without a great deal of fuss or muss.

Four P40's were indeed sold to NJT, still others (8) are already on lease to Connecticut's CDOT. That leaves 29 still in storage for Amtrak.

That said however, many of the reports that I've heard from Metro North indicate that those P40's were run into the ground by Amtrak and require constant attention, huge amounts of oil, and lots of repair work. I can't imagine that the rest of the fleet still in Amtrak hands is in much better shape, especially after being in moth balls for almost three years now.

And then we come to the idea that there are already more P42's on the active roster than Amtrak can hope to use. The reason that the P40's were retired was simply because with the loss of Express Trak, Amtrak no longer needed as many engines as it used to need when it was hauling the freight. They have more than enough P42's to go around right now, and could probably even retire a few of them and still have enough spares to cover normal breakdowns.

No, what Amtrak needs is proper management and money. Money to buy the needed parts and to hire the right amount of people to do the jobs. Proper management means that manager's aren't rewarded just because they save money on their budget. Their rewards need to be both performance based and budget based.

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee gone freight]

No, what Amtrak needs is proper management and money. Money to buy the needed parts and to hire the right amount of people to do the jobs. Proper management means that manager's aren't rewarded just because they save money on their budget. Their rewards need to be both performance based and budget based.

Now that is the most truthful (and to the point) piece of info recorded within this topic! I'll believe it when I see it, though! OBS gone freight....

 

[AlanB]

No, what Amtrak needs is proper management and money. Money to buy the needed parts and to hire the right amount of people to do the jobs. Proper management means that manager's aren't rewarded just because they save money on their budget. Their rewards need to be both performance based and budget based.

Now that is the most truthful (and to the point) piece of info recorded within this topic! I'll believe it when I see it, though! OBS gone freight....

Well I wasn't planning on holding my breath waiting for it. :lol:

Just stating what needs to actually happen.

 

[Steve M]

Between that story and one or two other little things, I think I'm going to be driving there when the same event comes up in 2008.

Aloha

Wow from your report I can understand the quoted statement. But from a long time participant on this board the most stable, on time train is the Southwest Chief. My two trips were a fantastic way to cross part of the country. Hopefully when time to travel again Amtrak will be your choice.

Doubtful. On top of that engine-failure story, the other things that concern me are...

a) to get on the train, I have to drive about 6 hours to the station anyway and leave my car there by itself for a week.

b ) I've done this trip twice. Both years, something on the train got me sick, and much moreso this last time.

c) Also both years, on the return journeys, we had police arrive to take passengers into custody at one of the stations on the way back. Further to this, I heard that on this year's return trip, someone was able to just get into one of the roomette cars and start looking for stuff to steal at one of the stops, though they were caught by a conductor.