SWC transfer to CS

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Mr.Technician

Service Attendant
AU Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2021
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118
Location
Minnesota
One of the trip plans I have bouncing around in my head is to take the SWC to LAX from GBB, then the CS to EMY, and back to GBB on the CZ. I would spend the bulk of my vacation in the EMY area and very little in LAX. I can put the CS and the SWC on the same ticket but it's cutting it close (8:00 AM ar to 10:10 AM dp) if the train is running late. According to asm.transitdocs.com, the SCW is on average 42 minutes late into LAX this past month, and if the SWC were so late the CS could not be held, I know Amtrak will get you to your destination one way or another. The complication is the tri-weekly schedule of the CS. If I miss the CS, there isn't another train the next day.

Would Amtrak bus me to Bakersfield and send me on the San Juaquin? Or would they bus me the whole way? I still feel comfortable booking the SWC and CS together but wouldn't want to have set plans the next day.

Alternatively I could find a hotel in LAX and the spend the day there, though it wouldn't be worth renting a car until EMY.
 
Mr.Technician said:
One of the trip plans I have bouncing around in my head is to take the SWC to LAX from GBB, then the CS to EMY, and back to GBB on the CZ. I would spend the bulk of my vacation in the EMY area and very little in LAX. I can put the CS and the SWC on the same ticket but it's cutting it close (8:00 AM ar to 10:10 AM dp) if the train is running late. According to asm.transitdocs.com, the SCW is on average 42 minutes late into LAX this past month, and if the SWC were so late the CS could not be held, I know Amtrak will get you to your destination one way or another. The complication is the tri-weekly schedule of the CS. If I miss the CS, there isn't another train the next day.

Would Amtrak bus me to Bakersfield and send me on the San Juaquin? Or would they bus me the whole way? I still feel comfortable booking the SWC and CS together but wouldn't want to have set plans the next day.

Alternatively I could find a hotel in LAX and the spend the day there, though it wouldn't be worth renting a car until EMY.
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The Coast Starlight runs Daily LAX-SEA, the only 3 times a week LD Trains are the Sunset Ltd and the Cardinal.

And if the if the SWC is Late enough to miss the Connection @ LAX, yes, you would take the Bus/Train Combo through Bakersfield to the Bay Area.
 
I was considering starting a new thread but realize this one was already here. It appears the SWC to CS connection is no longer possible as of this morning.

For example, you can book separately:
1642273294212.png
1642273348567.png
But not together:
1642273394945.png

I believe the CS leaves earlier than it used to. Maybe 2 hours is the cutoff?

Edit: my screenshot shows SNS instead of SAC but the point still stands.
 
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The separate bookings are on different days ... The likely problem is the reduced schedule they just introduced.
 
Did you do anything different to get it?

Btw, if you travel the 'other' direction you could meet the SWC eastbound in LA before it leaves in the evening.
 
tgstubbs1 said:
Did you do anything different to get it?

Btw, if you travel the 'other' direction you could meet the SWC eastbound in LA before it leaves in the evening.
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Nope, same as before.

It doesn’t look like the CS connects southbound with the SWC? If i remember correctly the SWC leaves LA at 6 and the CS gets in at 9.
 
Mr.Technician said:
Nope, same as before.

It doesn’t look like the CS connects southbound with the SWC? If i remember correctly the SWC leaves LA at 6 and the CS gets in at 9.
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Yes, you're right. I think the only way around this is to use a commuter train from San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara.
If you arrive from Galesburg on SWC in LA you can catch the CS north.
 
My buddy just missed the Starlight 14 out of LA in December (not a SWC missed connection, a different cause) and they were given the option of doing the bus to San Joaquin or taking the next day's Starlight. In this case, Amtrak didn't cover the cost of the hotel.
 
desertflyer said:
My buddy just missed the Starlight 14 out of LA in December (not a SWC missed connection, a different cause) and they were given the option of doing the bus to San Joaquin or taking the next day's Starlight. In this case, Amtrak didn't cover the cost of the hotel.
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That would be a tough choice. The entire point of taking the CS for me is to see the coast from the train, but the San Joaquin would be fun too if it came down to it. However, I would probably be shooting for Salinas (the goal is to leave the CS before it gets too close to SAC and while it's earlier in the day) so I'm not sure how they would connect me in the event of a missed connection.

Edit: Looks like the SWC is an hour late on average, well within the needed threshold, but is sometimes very late: ASMAD - Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database - Create a Chart of Historical Amtrak Train Performance
 
jis said:
There was a time back in the '80s when the CS arrived into LAX at 6:55pm and the SWC left at 7:45 pm. It was still not a legal connection, but if you wanted to take your chances you could make it on most days.
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How'd they make that work?
 
jis said:
Back then there was no yield management and cancellations were not as expensive as they are now. So the cost of missing a connection monetarily was much less.
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Oh, well I was actually talking about the schedule. My bad for not clarifying.
 

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