The ol' Toledo Shuffle

[Train2104]

Will be doing this next week on 49. Never got a reply to my question in the AGR forum way back when, so I'll ask them here:

Many people have said that they could get into their roomette early, if the prior passenger has already departed. So:

-Who do I ask? Conductor or SCA?

-Where? (Buffalo? Middle of the night in CLE? Earlier?)

-Are they going to look at me like I have two heads? (some AGR agents on the phone couldn't understand it and had to loop in their supervisor)

 

[D.P. Roberts]

The "Toledo Shuffle" was basically a loophole under the old AGR system, due to Toledo being the zone border between the east and central zones. Now that the old system is gone, it's probably not going to happen anymore. The only people still trying this - I assume you did this too - are those who booked their trips last year under the old system.

And since it was never anything official, I would be surprised if any AGR agents or staff had any idea why people might be asking such a thing.

So, the only thing you can really do is ask your SCA. He or she will be the best person to know when and where a room will be occupied. It might help if you tip. In general, though, I've found that as long as there's no passenger overlap, many SCAs don't care about such things as long as it doesn't interfere with their work. For example, the SCA may be fine with you getting into your room early, but he or she may not have made it up yet - and may not plan on doing so until shortly before your stop. For example, the previous passengers may have vacated your roomette in Buffalo, but he/she has tons of other rooms to make up for current passengers, so he/she may not have time for you. Alternately, your room may have been empty the whole time, and you can go right in. It wouldn't help to ask the conductor, as what you're asking is technically against the rules anyway. I think this falls under the rule "it doesn't hurt to ask", but don't count on it.

 

[Train2104]

The "Toledo Shuffle" was basically a loophole under the old AGR system, due to Toledo being the zone border between the east and central zones. Now that the old system is gone, it's probably not going to happen anymore. The only people still trying this - I assume you did this too - are those who booked their trips last year under the old system.

And since it was never anything official, I would be surprised if any AGR agents or staff had any idea why people might be asking such a thing.

So, the only thing you can really do is ask your SCA. He or she will be the best person to know when and where a room will be occupied. It might help if you tip. In general, though, I've found that as long as there's no passenger overlap, many SCAs don't care about such things as long as it doesn't interfere with their work. For example, the SCA may be fine with you getting into your room early, but he or she may not have made it up yet - and may not plan on doing so until shortly before your stop. For example, the previous passengers may have vacated your roomette in Buffalo, but he/she has tons of other rooms to make up for current passengers, so he/she may not have time for you. Alternately, your room may have been empty the whole time, and you can go right in. It wouldn't help to ask the conductor, as what you're asking is technically against the rules anyway. I think this falls under the rule "it doesn't hurt to ask", but don't count on it.

Thanks. I'll ask the SCA.

I didn't mention it by name to the agent, I just explained the situation (that I had a paid coach ticket NYP-TOL, no mention of anything regarding getting in early) and they were confused from there on. One even said I'd miss the "connection".

 

[Anderson]

There's one other case where this sort of thing can come up, namely with odd availability...

...and thank you for reminding me of one time where I was given a similar "connection" warning by an agent about a Denver switch (the ticket was going to be me CHI-DEN and me and Charlie DEN-SLC, so the split actually had a purpose beyond monkeying with the zones) which resulted in me just short of screaming "It's the same damn train!" into the phone.

 

[Railroad Bill]

As a veteran of the "Toledo Shuffle" I can attest to the fact that there are a few problems that many times lead to one not being allowed to make an early change into the sleeper on the westbound trip.

1) Since conductors change in Toledo, the new conductor needs to know what is going on or he will be searching for you in Toledo, even though you are already on the train.

2) If your SCA is sleeping during this evening. (They tend to switch off in the night and your car attendant may not be awake when you want to switch to your sleeper early.

3) The obvious problem of a person occupying your room in the early part of the trip. *May get off in Cleveland but the room has not been made up since your SCA expects you in Toledo.

4) The conductor from PGH to TOL may just say "no way Jose" which is what ours said when we asked about boarding our sleeper in Cleveland on our recent trip to CHI and Denver.

5) of course you could get a favorable reaction from the conductor (of which we also experienced this last year and he said go ahead and board in your sleeper.

You basically need a cooperative SCA and a cooperative Conductor to make it work. As with all Amtrak rides, you never know how that will work out unless you ask.

These issues apply to the Capitol Ltd but would also be an issue on the LSL. In that case you need to talk to the new conductor in Buffalo to see what they think. But your SCA may very well be sleeping after that stop.