On Sunday, my girlfriend and I took a friend to Union Station. She was traveling from Chicago to El Paso on 421. As of 12 p.m., she still has not left San Antonion, Texas. Apparently, there were problems with 1, which was at least 8 hrs late out of New Orleans yesterday. Thus, my friend will spend over 12 hours in San Antonio. Then she will arrive into El Paso at 3:30 or so in the morning. Ouch!. Hope those UP dispatchers help a little.
Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle
- Thread starter Steve4031
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carknocker51
Train Attendant
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- Mar 29, 2003
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teamwork...the American way!!!My friend who is meeting the train in El Paso has the answer. Double track the whole line. She's got the right idea, but I explained that that was a lot of money.
On another note, even though 1 is about 14 hours late, a ticket agent told me 421 is about 91/2 hours late. This lead to an intersting discussion where I explained that this would be impossible unless 421 was operating as a seperate train in front of 1. She read a detailed message from the computer stating that passengers on 421 would arrive into El Paso at about 1:30 to 2 A.M., about 9 hours late. Maybe they were bussed?
She's got the right idea, but I explained that that was a lot of money.On another note, even though 1 is about 14 hours late, a ticket agent told me 421 is about 91/2 hours late. This lead to an intersting discussion where I explained that this would be impossible unless 421 was operating as a seperate train in front of 1. She read a detailed message from the computer stating that passengers on 421 would arrive into El Paso at about 1:30 to 2 A.M., about 9 hours late. Maybe they were bussed?
Superliner Diner
Conductor
Steve. the possibility that your friend was subjected to a substitute bus was very strong. When the Sunset Limited runs ridiculously late, passenger have the option of waiting for the severely delayed train, or setting out on a substitute bus that can operate on time. If there is an extra set of equipment sitting someplace, they can start it out on time and thus get the train back on time again.Steve4031 said:My friend who is meeting the train in El Paso has the answer. Double track the whole line.
On another note, even though 1 is about 14 hours late, a ticket agent told me 421 is about 91/2 hours late. This lead to an intersting discussion where I explained that this would be impossible unless 421 was operating as a seperate train in front of 1. She read a detailed message from the computer stating that passengers on 421 would arrive into El Paso at about 1:30 to 2 A.M., about 9 hours late. Maybe they were bussed?
Five years ago, as part of a swing through Texas and the South, I was going from Dallas to San Antonio to Jacksonville, FL. When #21 got to San Antonio, the eastbound Sunset was running 10 hours late. I had a reservation at a beach resort in Jacksonville Beach which I clearly would have missed (and would have had to pay for it whether I showed up or not). They brought out a bus and operated it on time. We went all the way from SAS to New Orleans, which is an all-day trip. It was horrible. We left San Antonio about 4:30 AM, got to Houston in time for the morning rush hour, and had to stop at cafeterias and truck stops along the way for food and rest. The driver was clearly fatigued, and the bus was veering out of the lanes of I-10 at times. We got to New Orleans in time for the evening rush hour traffic, and actually arrived at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal ahead of the Sunset's scheduled arrival time. That evening a make-up #2 originated in NOL for Florida, by utilizing equipment and crew that had come off #59 that afternoon. The delayed #2 from California would meanwhile terminate when it finally got to NOL and the equipment would turn as #58 the next day to make up for the consist that went to Florida. My make-up #2 train actually got into Jacksonville 15 minutes early, and we got to enjoy Jacksonville Beach after all.
The bus trip was an awful experience, one that Amtrak compensated me for when I complained (this was before the days of Warrington and his vouchers). But at least I was delivered to my destination early rather than 10 hours late.
The train arrived El Paso at 5:55 A.M. this morning. 15 hours late, wow. I'll let you know what my friend's take on it is. At least she was not bussed. I thought that that would happen too.
Amfleet
Engineer
Apparently it has been terminated there and passengers are being bussed to LAX. This is according to an uncomfirmed report off Trainorders however.
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