why the longer stops at OMA and LNK?

[SeeBuyFly]

The Zephyr schedule lists 'longer' stops, in the sense that both arrival and departure times are specified, at a handful of stations. DEN and SLC probably make sense, but why both OMA and LNK in quick succession? What happens there?

 

[Anderson]

Those are usually crew change stops, and that is determined by a tangle of rules outside Amtrak's jurisdiction. However, I think the "main" reason for that is that:
(1) CHI-OMA is already cutting it close enough to work hour limits and

(2) LNK-DEN is already cutting it close enough to work hour limits.

So you either get stuck moving one of those out further, or you just get a "bridge crew" between those two cities to avoid risking either longer-distance crew hitting work limits.

 

[the_traveler]

When you see separate arrival and departure times, it could be any of the following:

1. It is a crew change point. (Engineers and Conductors by law can only work a certain number of hours per day, so they change every 6-8 hours.)
2. There are a large number of passengers detraining or boarding at that location on average.
3. That extra time is padding. A train can not leave a station before it's scheduled time (unless it is a "D" or "L" station), but if late it can shorten the dwell time to make up time.

 

[amtkstn]

Train and engine crews can only work up to twelve hous at a time.

 

[MattW]

Based on a Trains magazine map of Amtrak Crew Districts that you can find on the internet, it appears that one of the stops is a crew change for conductors, while the other is a crew change for the engineers. Most routes seem to change the entire operating crew, but why they offset them in some places is probably like Anderson said, a tangle of rules outside of Amtrak's jurisdiction.

 

[coachseats]

Matt W is correct- conductors work CHI-OMA and Engineers work CHI-OTM and OTM-LNK. OMA also usually has a pretty good number of passengers on and off so it takes a bit longer. Both are also "fresh-air/smoking stops" for those so inclined.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Trains have usually stayed longer at larger cities. Look at other train schedules and I think you will see.

 

[railiner]

IIRC, the train cars get watered at Lincoln. Or at least they used to. It is also possibly a fuel stop for the engines.

 

[fairviewroad]

Interesting that neither stop is especially long. In fact LNK is just 6 minutes in either direction. There are lots of stops

on just about any LD route that last longer than 6 minutes even though they don't have an "arrival" time listed on the

timetable. In fact just about any station stop that offers checked luggage and/or a smoking stop is going to come close

to 6 minutes. So the designation at LNK doesn't really seem necessary.

 

[Anderson]

Eh, if there's not a lot of checked luggage coming/going, some stops can be pretty brief. I know the Silvers can pretty much "tap and go" at WIL and NWK, for example. The stops at BAL aren't that long, either.

 

[fairviewroad]

Eh, if there's not a lot of checked luggage coming/going, some stops can be pretty brief. I know the Silvers can pretty much "tap and go" at WIL and NWK, for example. The stops at BAL aren't that long, either.

Totally different ball o'wax on the NEC, though. A strong incentive there to keep things moving. But on most once-a-day LD trains

station stops w/baggage service) are routinely 5+ minutes. Take Grand Forks or Williston on the EB, or Grand Junction or Reno

on the CZ, or Eugene or KFalls on the CS (just to name stops I'm more familiar with.) And none of those have an "arrival" time listed.

I'm for cleaner timetables when possible and I think LNK is an example of unnecessary clutter. But it's not a big deal.

 

[chakk]

There are many other stations on the CZ route that have long stops, but aren't printed as such in the Amtrak timetables. Most notable is the stop at GJT, which shows only a single time in the printed schedule, but is normally listed as a 13-minute stop on the Amtrak iPhone app. And since there is about 25 minutes of padding between GJT and the station immediately preceding it (i.e., GSC for #5 and GRI for #6), the REAL station dwell time at GJT is quite often more than 30 minutes. Only if the GJT is significantly late into GJT will the stop be shortened to less than the "minimum" 13 minutes.