siberianmo
Service Attendant
Greetings from a chilly mid-May afternoon in east central Missouri, USA . . .
Another installment from my trip notes of rail travels . . . this one of my 2nd round trip between Kirkwood and Kansas City, MO in 2014 . . .
Trip Report
May 14th, 2014
Kirkwood – Kansas City – Kirkwood
Aboard the Missouri River Runner
Caveat: These reports are “memo’s to file” and are intended for inclusion within my foto albums as a record of my experiences – they are not “blogs.”
Wednesday, May 14th 28th - #311 Missouri River Runner
Amtrak train #311 westbound arrived late at Kirkwood from downtown St. Louis where about 35 passengers were waiting to board.
Reason for the delay had to do with the north bound Texas Eagle #22 arriving downtown 2 hours and 18 minutes late. The River Runner held departure for 49 minutes to allow transfer of 4 passengers from #22 thereby arriving in Kirkwood @ 10:39 AM. Much chagrin expressed about this. More later . . .
Weather: Dry – chilly and overcast.
Equipment:
Locomotive AMD103/PA42 #65
Horizon coaches #54540 - 54531
Amfleet Café/Business Class car # 48165 <at rear>
Departed
Kirkwood 10:41 AM < sked 9:44 – 57 mins late>
Washington 11:24 < sked 10:21 – 57 mins late>
Hermann 11:52 < sked 10:49 – 57 mins late>
Jefferson City 12:39 PM < sked 11:36 – 57 mins late>
Sedalia 3:07 < sked 12:46 PM – 2 hrs 21 mins late>
Warrensburg 3:59 < sked 1:20 – 2 hrs 39 mins late>
Lee’s Summit 4:20 < sked 2:04 – 2 hrs 16 mins late>
Independence 4:35 < sked 2:20 – 2 hrs 15 mins late>
Arrived
Kansas City 4:54 < sked 2:55 – 1 hr 59 mins late>
Crew: Conductor: Eric – Assistant: Rich – AC trainee Melissa - Café attendant: Debbie
Miscellaneous:
Café/Business Class car at rear of consist with 14 passengers upon departure from Kirkwood (3 added /10 off along the way). Boarded first for B/Class took single seat on port side, near rear.
Business Class amenities: Coffee with unlimited refills along with a free non-alcoholic beverage of choice. No USA Today – free WI-FI available. Clean interior, windows a bit dirty in Café/Business Class car. Rest room in the seating area of car.
Sat in café area chatting with crew; enjoying the freshly brewed coffee.
There seemed to be quite a bit of freight activity, mostly west bound with many sitting idle on the double-tracked main between St. Louis and Jefferson City, presumably due to back up. With our “operational window” lost, the train had many slow orders and stops in sidings to allow for passing freights – mainly west of Jefferson City where the main line is single track.
At 1:45 PM we were put into a siding by the UP dispatchers in Omaha, NE because a freight in front of us became disabled. Two UP locomotives had to be ordered to the scene to push it into a siding in order to permit resumption of thru traffic. We lost approximately 45 minutes due to this and slow orders. More grumps from many.
Learned that on Monday the 12th, train #4 the Southwest Chief arrived in Kansas City 18 minutes after the scheduled departure of the Missouri River Runner #314. That train did not wait for several ticketed passengers wanting to change trains from #4 to #314 – it departed on time @ 8:15 AM. Not very considerate especially in light of what happened today with my train being delayed 49 minutes for 4 passengers from the late arriving Texas Eagle @ St. Louis. Seems something is wrong with that picture! I stress this is MY opinion based on what I experienced and overheard.
It was an enjoyable trip for me in spite of the delays for mine is to simply take it all in – for pleasure. I enjoy the banter amongst friendly crew and passengers. No doubt there were many passengers more than a bit annoyed with it all and it is truly a shame that Amtrak will take the “hit” for the delays regarding the breakdown of the freight train and slow orders, et al. However, Amtrak deserves the “hit” for the late departure of my train from downtown St. Louis. That surely could have and should have been handled better.
Foto ops were available but the poor visibility along with very dirty vestibule door windows (2) made clarity a problem for my little Canon Elph. My albums are chock full of those scenes over the decades, so for me there really was nothing missed. Some fotos will appear at the end of this report for those interested.
An observation: I have to wonder what the waiting passengers at Lee’s Summit and Independence must have thought as they saw our late arriving train discharge passengers then proceed to Kansas City knowing that the same train would be returning to pick them up who-knows-when? Have to think it would have been nicer to board them and at least give them a seat in a comfortable setting rather than remain standing out in the chilly Fall-like day. Gotta wonder.
Once we arrived in KCity, the passengers waiting to board the renumbered 316, the east bound River Runner, were taken on for a 15 minute trip through the Wye. Then we made it through the station again with no stopping for the resumption of travel to the respective destinations.
Return trip - #316 Missouri River Runner
Crew: Conductor: Mark – Assistant: Andrea – Café attendant: Deb.
Train #316 departed on time for St. Louis with 8 in Business Class. Picked up 6 more on the way with 3 departing.
Weather: comfortably cool – dry and cloudy in KCity.
Equipment: Same as above
Departed
Kansas City 5:05 PM for Wye then thru station for east bound trip < sked 4 PM – 1 hr 5 mins late>
Independence 5:35 < sked 4:19 – 1 hr 16 mins late>
Lee’s Summit 5:51 < sked 4:36 – 1 hr 15 mins late>
Warrensburg 6:36 < sked 5:19 – 1 hr 17 mins late>
Sedalia 7:24 < sked 5:49 – 1 hr 35 mins late>
Jefferson City 8:41 < sked 7:03 – 1 hr 38 mins late>
Hermann 9:31 < sked 7:48 – 1 hr 43 mins late>
Washington 9:57 < sked 8:16 – 1 hr 41 mins late>
Arrived
Kirkwood 10:37 < sked 8:56 – 1 hr 41 mins late>
Miscellaneous:
Business Class amenities: NY Times newspaper. Coffee with unlimited refills along with a free non-alcoholic beverage of choice.
Westbound KCity bound Amtrak passed while in siding @ California; approx 8:30 PM also running late.
Sat in Café dining area from Warrensburg to Kirkwood engaging in banter with crew and passengers. Enjoyable, as always.
As with west bound trip, lots of freight activity - seemingly more to the west than not.
Rains began to fall as the sky darkened into nighttime - but aboard the River Runner all was comfy-cozy with good cheer abounding -for the most part!
Got home at 11:07 PM
End of Report - next up will be my SW Chief trip from LA to KCity.
Fotos to follow . . . .
This first batch is all from the Kirkwood Amtrak station - formerly MoPac's passenger depot back-in-the-day.
More available upon request . . .
Another installment from my trip notes of rail travels . . . this one of my 2nd round trip between Kirkwood and Kansas City, MO in 2014 . . .
Trip Report
May 14th, 2014
Kirkwood – Kansas City – Kirkwood
Aboard the Missouri River Runner
Caveat: These reports are “memo’s to file” and are intended for inclusion within my foto albums as a record of my experiences – they are not “blogs.”
Wednesday, May 14th 28th - #311 Missouri River Runner
Amtrak train #311 westbound arrived late at Kirkwood from downtown St. Louis where about 35 passengers were waiting to board.
Reason for the delay had to do with the north bound Texas Eagle #22 arriving downtown 2 hours and 18 minutes late. The River Runner held departure for 49 minutes to allow transfer of 4 passengers from #22 thereby arriving in Kirkwood @ 10:39 AM. Much chagrin expressed about this. More later . . .
Weather: Dry – chilly and overcast.
Equipment:
Locomotive AMD103/PA42 #65
Horizon coaches #54540 - 54531
Amfleet Café/Business Class car # 48165 <at rear>
Departed
Kirkwood 10:41 AM < sked 9:44 – 57 mins late>
Washington 11:24 < sked 10:21 – 57 mins late>
Hermann 11:52 < sked 10:49 – 57 mins late>
Jefferson City 12:39 PM < sked 11:36 – 57 mins late>
Sedalia 3:07 < sked 12:46 PM – 2 hrs 21 mins late>
Warrensburg 3:59 < sked 1:20 – 2 hrs 39 mins late>
Lee’s Summit 4:20 < sked 2:04 – 2 hrs 16 mins late>
Independence 4:35 < sked 2:20 – 2 hrs 15 mins late>
Arrived
Kansas City 4:54 < sked 2:55 – 1 hr 59 mins late>
Crew: Conductor: Eric – Assistant: Rich – AC trainee Melissa - Café attendant: Debbie
Miscellaneous:
Café/Business Class car at rear of consist with 14 passengers upon departure from Kirkwood (3 added /10 off along the way). Boarded first for B/Class took single seat on port side, near rear.
Business Class amenities: Coffee with unlimited refills along with a free non-alcoholic beverage of choice. No USA Today – free WI-FI available. Clean interior, windows a bit dirty in Café/Business Class car. Rest room in the seating area of car.
Sat in café area chatting with crew; enjoying the freshly brewed coffee.
There seemed to be quite a bit of freight activity, mostly west bound with many sitting idle on the double-tracked main between St. Louis and Jefferson City, presumably due to back up. With our “operational window” lost, the train had many slow orders and stops in sidings to allow for passing freights – mainly west of Jefferson City where the main line is single track.
At 1:45 PM we were put into a siding by the UP dispatchers in Omaha, NE because a freight in front of us became disabled. Two UP locomotives had to be ordered to the scene to push it into a siding in order to permit resumption of thru traffic. We lost approximately 45 minutes due to this and slow orders. More grumps from many.
Learned that on Monday the 12th, train #4 the Southwest Chief arrived in Kansas City 18 minutes after the scheduled departure of the Missouri River Runner #314. That train did not wait for several ticketed passengers wanting to change trains from #4 to #314 – it departed on time @ 8:15 AM. Not very considerate especially in light of what happened today with my train being delayed 49 minutes for 4 passengers from the late arriving Texas Eagle @ St. Louis. Seems something is wrong with that picture! I stress this is MY opinion based on what I experienced and overheard.
It was an enjoyable trip for me in spite of the delays for mine is to simply take it all in – for pleasure. I enjoy the banter amongst friendly crew and passengers. No doubt there were many passengers more than a bit annoyed with it all and it is truly a shame that Amtrak will take the “hit” for the delays regarding the breakdown of the freight train and slow orders, et al. However, Amtrak deserves the “hit” for the late departure of my train from downtown St. Louis. That surely could have and should have been handled better.
Foto ops were available but the poor visibility along with very dirty vestibule door windows (2) made clarity a problem for my little Canon Elph. My albums are chock full of those scenes over the decades, so for me there really was nothing missed. Some fotos will appear at the end of this report for those interested.
An observation: I have to wonder what the waiting passengers at Lee’s Summit and Independence must have thought as they saw our late arriving train discharge passengers then proceed to Kansas City knowing that the same train would be returning to pick them up who-knows-when? Have to think it would have been nicer to board them and at least give them a seat in a comfortable setting rather than remain standing out in the chilly Fall-like day. Gotta wonder.
Once we arrived in KCity, the passengers waiting to board the renumbered 316, the east bound River Runner, were taken on for a 15 minute trip through the Wye. Then we made it through the station again with no stopping for the resumption of travel to the respective destinations.
Return trip - #316 Missouri River Runner
Crew: Conductor: Mark – Assistant: Andrea – Café attendant: Deb.
Train #316 departed on time for St. Louis with 8 in Business Class. Picked up 6 more on the way with 3 departing.
Weather: comfortably cool – dry and cloudy in KCity.
Equipment: Same as above
Departed
Kansas City 5:05 PM for Wye then thru station for east bound trip < sked 4 PM – 1 hr 5 mins late>
Independence 5:35 < sked 4:19 – 1 hr 16 mins late>
Lee’s Summit 5:51 < sked 4:36 – 1 hr 15 mins late>
Warrensburg 6:36 < sked 5:19 – 1 hr 17 mins late>
Sedalia 7:24 < sked 5:49 – 1 hr 35 mins late>
Jefferson City 8:41 < sked 7:03 – 1 hr 38 mins late>
Hermann 9:31 < sked 7:48 – 1 hr 43 mins late>
Washington 9:57 < sked 8:16 – 1 hr 41 mins late>
Arrived
Kirkwood 10:37 < sked 8:56 – 1 hr 41 mins late>
Miscellaneous:
Business Class amenities: NY Times newspaper. Coffee with unlimited refills along with a free non-alcoholic beverage of choice.
Westbound KCity bound Amtrak passed while in siding @ California; approx 8:30 PM also running late.
Sat in Café dining area from Warrensburg to Kirkwood engaging in banter with crew and passengers. Enjoyable, as always.
As with west bound trip, lots of freight activity - seemingly more to the west than not.
Rains began to fall as the sky darkened into nighttime - but aboard the River Runner all was comfy-cozy with good cheer abounding -for the most part!
Got home at 11:07 PM
End of Report - next up will be my SW Chief trip from LA to KCity.
Fotos to follow . . . .
This first batch is all from the Kirkwood Amtrak station - formerly MoPac's passenger depot back-in-the-day.
More available upon request . . .
Also like the pictures, but considering, I have taken a liking to that station 
