Things you can't do in the Carolinas...?

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wayman

Engineer
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
2,312
Location
Northampton MA
Between Rocky Mount, NC, and Savannah, GA, the two Silver trains separate and take parallel routes for several hundred miles. By the timetables, it looks like one ought to be able to get guaranteed connection routings between Florence, SC (on the Palmetto/Silver Meteor route) and Columbia, SC (on the Silver Star route) by taking...

Palmetto, dep. Florence 11:46, arr. Rocky Mount 15:00

Silver Star, dep. Rocky Mount 19:29, arr. Columbia 1:44

connection time: over four hours

Silver Star, dep. Columbia 1:44, arr. Savannah 4:29

Palmetto, dep. Savannah 8:20, arr. Florence 11:46

connection time: just under four hours

or even...

Silver Star, dep. Columbia 1:12, arr. Rocky Mount 7:01

Palmetto, dep. Rocky Mount 14:07, arr. Florence 17:22

connection time: over seven hours (could actually connect in Richmond with over two hours)

But try plugging those cities into amtrak.com and you'll be told "we can't find train service to match your request". Not the "sold out" error but the "we simply don't have trains that do that" error, which is demonstrably incorrect. Why wouldn't these connections be guaranteed and show up?

I'm sure Amtrak Customer Service would love to field this call... "but sir, it's only eighty miles from Florence to Columbia, are you sure Amtrak is the best travel option for you?..." :lol:
 
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This is one thing you can't do in the Carolinas....

You can't pass through either of em without stopping for some good Carolina style pulled pork BBQ! That's something I look forward to every time I am up that ways.

Well, unless you're maybe stuck on the train or a bus.

OBS gone freight...
 
I'm sure Amtrak Customer Service would love to field this call... "but sir, it's only eighty miles from Florence to Columbia, are you sure Amtrak is the best travel option for you?..." :lol:
These are Long Distance trains. I don't think Amtrak allows short distance tickets because what would they do with your seat or compartment for the other parts of the route, especially when you are wanting to ride basically just in the "middle" of the route?
 
I'm sure Amtrak Customer Service would love to field this call... "but sir, it's only eighty miles from Florence to Columbia, are you sure Amtrak is the best travel option for you?..." :lol:
These are Long Distance trains. I don't think Amtrak allows short distance tickets because what would they do with your seat or compartment for the other parts of the route, especially when you are wanting to ride basically just in the "middle" of the route?
Unless the timetable specifically prohibits it, short trips are permitted on the LD trains. The problem here is that Amtrak's Computer Reservation System does not have the programming logic to construct this connection. You can use the multi-trip function to do it yourself. It would be interesting to see how it prices.
 
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