My wife and I rode #3 out from Naperville out to LA before Thanksgiving arriving over an hour early; return trip after Thanksgiving was almost on time into Naperville. Food service in the dining car was good to excellent depending on the meal. It was a delightful round trip.
Last night, our collegiate son returning home from LA was stranded at Ontario, CA's airport late afternoon and early evening by a SW Airlines flight cancellation. No other flights were available and what I thought was quick thinking on my part was having him take a taxi from that airport and board the SW Chief at San Bernardino. He gladly (at the time) did so. The train left within 10 minutes of the scheduled time. It lost 1.25 hours going into Victorville. Then it lost well over five additional hours into Barstow. Then the crew timed out short of Needles. Apparently an absolutely absurb rule prevents a timed out crew from completing the leg into the next station; therefore, the relief crew had to wait to hop a freight train and ride out to #4 sitting in the middle of nowhere. This is the 21st century for Pete's sake. Then the train had to stop (somewhere, either at Kingman or east of there) to refuel way short of the normal refueling point at Albuquerque. The train is now 9 1/2 hours late. Unlike Amtrak train crews I have experienced, the crews on this #4 have provided the passengers with virtually no information on the causes of the delays; passengers have had to demand information from the conductor. As fond as I am of long distance passenger rail travel and despite being a rather frequent western trains Amtrak patron, this kind of lousy service, even given bad weather, is just inexcusable for operation on a mainline transcontinental route. How can this happen? Why did this happen to this particular #4 that left L.A. on Dec 17?
Broken rail, broken signals, broken equipment, broken passengers. Lots of things can go wrong. That is extremely busy double track, so anytime you get any one single sizeable problem, traffic can get backed up in a hurry with trains getting multiple hour delays.
The hours of service law is very rigid in it's definition by Congress and and interpretation by the FRA. 12 hours and you are not permitted to do anything. (insert you frt conductor joke here) A dead crew waiting for a taxi isn't even allowed to do a roll-by inspection of a passing train. They're not even allowed to do their complete end of trip report until they've had their rest. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. They ARE allowed to go past 12 hours in an absolute emergency, but what you describe falls way short of the standard.
Normally, the dispatcher will pick a spot to do the recrew that accessible by taxi/jitney. Things must have been a complete mess to use a frt train for crew transport.
What you won't see is that tomorrow's train headed the other way will likely get delayed waiting for this crew to be rested. Amtrak probably burned their extra board with the relief crew and now will not have anyone rested for the return trip.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
jjtrains Last night, our collegiate son returning home from LA was stranded at Ontario, CA's airport late afternoon and early evening by a SW Airlines flight cancellation. No other flights were available and what I thought was quick thinking on my part was having him take a taxi from that airport and board the SW Chief at San Bernardino. He gladly (at the time) did so.
Last night, our collegiate son returning home from LA was stranded at Ontario, CA's airport late afternoon and early evening by a SW Airlines flight cancellation. No other flights were available and what I thought was quick thinking on my part was having him take a taxi from that airport and board the SW Chief at San Bernardino. He gladly (at the time) did so.
Junior got some bad advice even if Number 4 had been on time.
He could have spent the night in a motel near Ontario and probably been on his way home in the morning. Assuming he was flying to Chicago, SW has morning flights from Ontario to Chicago's Midway Airport at 6:40, 7:20, 7:45, 8:25, 8:50, 9:15, 10:25, and 11:30. With the exception of the late morning flights, junior could have been home in time for supper the next night had he stayed overnight and flown out on one of the morning flights. It would be very unusual if SW had not been able to book him on one of those flights.
The cost of the motel would have been less than the cost of the meals on the train, assuming that he traveled in a coach and ate in the dinning car. If he opted for a sleeper, he could have stayed in the best hotel in Ontario.
Amtrak's long distance trains are not a serious alternative to commercial air service or for that matter driving. If arriving at your destination on time is not a consideration, and you like to read and chat with people in the lounge car, traveling on a long distance train can be fun. But relying on one to get you anywhere on time is not a good idea.
jjtrains How can this happen? Why did this happen to this particular #4 that left L.A. on Dec 17?
How can this happen? Why did this happen to this particular #4 that left L.A. on Dec 17?
While there is all the high-tech gear installed, nothing cleans out frozen switches like a trackman with a broom and shovel.
When it comes to the Hours of Servivce Law, the Fed's take this law very, very seriously and there is a sizable fine payable by the individual (not company, the individual) who instructs a crew to violate the law. Most rail employees I know, both management and rank and file, are not financially well off enough to instruct someone to violate the HOS law.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
The same weather that grounded Southwest hampered Amtrak. I heard Cajon was a mess with the Interstate between Vegas and LA closed. Airports closed from Spokane to Vegas.
You can't outsmart a major winter storm. Best thing to do? Accept that the weather is beyond anyone's control, get a room, take the next available flight. It's part of life.
Its one thing if your trying to get to a small town along the route, like say Raton, NM. but if you are traveling between major cities, it is better to wait and take a later flight.
I'm awfully sorry to learn of this person's experience. But riding Amtrak constantly since 1971 has taught me a few lessons. One is to plan on spening the night in a Chicago hotel if I'm going to the west coast or returning to Ohio. I have had a few trips ruined late trains that missed their connections.
Also, travel in the winter with its hazardous weather slowing trains (I agree about the railroads simply not having the required manpower taking care of the tracks and switches) is matched by summertime trains, delayed by MofW work, sun kinks in the rails, even thunderstorms knocking out signals or downing trees. In Florida, I was delayed on Amtrak once by fires threatening that state's interior.
In short, every Amtrak journey has potential delay and disaster for the traveler. Experience can help us, but the potential is always there. Always put a day or so between your arrival and when you need to be there and you'll be alright. In Europe they have second hands on the station platform clocks; in the USA we learn to say "we'll get there when we get there."
I'm hopeful Amtrak's day is about to dawn and that there will be more, and better, service in our future. In the meantime, take your cellphone, your mp3 player, The New York Times, and a flask. A scanner helps, too; that way you know as much as the train crew.
My best wishes to everyone traveling this Holiday season; may all the trains be happy, warm, and on-time! Merry Christmas!
jjtrains Unlike Amtrak train crews I have experienced, the crews on this #4 have provided the passengers with virtually no information on the causes of the delays; passengers have had to demand information from the conductor.
Unlike Amtrak train crews I have experienced, the crews on this #4 have provided the passengers with virtually no information on the causes of the delays; passengers have had to demand information from the conductor.
When you say passengers have had to demand information, I'm assuming you mean that crew members were hard to find and did not volunteer information proactively, but rather passengers had to ask them what's going on. I hope "demand" is hyperbole.
I've never been able to comprehend the reluctance to provide information. What was preventing the outgoing crew from telling passengers that they were going to exceed their time beforehand, then go hide somewhere so they could get their rest?
I can understand why the crew can't operate after they time out, since you'd want the crew to stop working BEFORE they get fatigued enough that it impedes safe operation, and then they have to get rest, and so can't do anything, so they can start work fresh on whatever the next run is.
I'm also assuming, maybe naively, that there are some Amtrak employees on board such as sleeping car, lounge and diner attendants, whose jobs involve hotel or steward type duties instead of train operation and are not subject to hours of service rules. I'd expect those crew members to provide public relations, including keeping passengers informed of the reason for the delay and progress or lack thereof.
Patrick Boylan
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