Texas Eagle detour route St Louis - Chicago

[CJtrainguy]

The Texas Eagle is currently detouring in Illinois from St Louis to Chicago due to work on the regular line. What lines are being used for the detour?

[Electroliner 1935]

UP (exMOPAC) and (ex C&EI) I believe with no stops between STL & CHI

Lincoln Service and Texas Eagle: Service Changes between Chicago and St. Louis

Effective on Select Dates Starting July 15 - 24, 2015

As Union Pacific Railroad continues work to bring 110 mph speeds to the Lincoln Service, track and signal upgrades will affect Amtrak service, as follows:

Texas Eagle: July 16 - 23, 2015 Servie Changes

During construction, Texas Eagle service will be affected between Chicago and St. Louis, as indicated below:

• Southbound Train 21/421 will detour between Chicago and St. Louis from July 16 - 23, 2015, and will not stop at any intermediate stations. Alternate transportation will not be provided. At St. Louis, the train will resume its normal schedule to Los Angeles.
• Northbound Train 22/422 will operate as scheduled to St. Louis. From July 16 - 23, 2015, the train will detour between St. Louis and Chicago, and will not stop at any intermediate stations. Passengers on Train 22/422 destined for Chicago will remain on the train. Passengers on Train 22/422 traveling to stations between St. Louis and Chicago will get off the train in St. Louis and board a bus to their destination. The bus will only stop to discharge passengers.
• Trains 321 and 322 will be canceled. Passengers may make reservations on Lincoln Service bus/train services referenced above.
• Possible Delays: Trains traveling through the work area may encounter delays of up to 45 minutes.

[CJtrainguy]

Electroliner 1935

UP (exMOPAC) and (ex C&EI) I believe with no stops between STL & CHI

Thanks. I'll be on the Texas Eagle from Little Rock to Chicago in a few days, so look forward to sampling some unusal trackage. By the time I head back south from Chicago, the TE should be back on its usual route, so I'll get to experience that as well.

I was curious if the detour would have been over on the line through Champaign, but see that's not the case. Not so familiar with the railroads in that part of Illinois.

The detour doesn't seem to have paricularly affected the timekeeping of TE compared to how it's been running for the week or so before the detour.

[Electroliner 1935]

If you go the Amtrak's Track-a-train, It shows #21 East of the IC red line which is where the UP's ex C&EI route is. And it says its next stop is STL. As of 5PM it is shown as on time and doing 58 mph. GPS is wonderful.

[CJtrainguy]

GPS is wonderful. I was on the TE 22 coming into Chicago on Monday. Not a really good day for the Texas Eagle. About an hour late to St Louis. Even somewhere around Kankakee it looked like we'd get into Chicago with a couple hours delay. Then it went downhill, having to wait in a siding for 21 on its way south and then waiting on freights and Metra as we got closer to the city. Got into Union Station at 5:13, 3 hours and 21 minutes late. Instead of a nice layover with time for looking around the Loop and maybe dinner, I had time to check out the Great Hall and walk outside Union Station for a few minutes before it was time to board the Capitol Limited, which left exactly on time. At least I made my connection. Heard from several others on the TE 22 who didn't make their connections to other trains. One couple was even trying to catch a flight in Chicago which wasn't going to happen.

[JC UPTON]

Electroliner 1935

If you go the Amtrak's Track-a-train, .....

 

Where is / how do you get to "Track-a-train"?

[Electroliner 1935]

It is not on a smartphone. (At least, not mine) On a computer, go to

http://www.amtrak.com/home and it is on the lower left (You may have to scroll down on your screen) where it says

"Check Train Status"  Click on it. It will bring up the US Map with the Amtrak routes on it and arrows representing the trains and their locations. If you put your curser on an arrow, it will display the train name. If you click on the train name, it will display the trains speed, its compus heading, on time status, originating station and next sttation it is scheduled to stop at and the expected time, plus how late it might be. There is a button to click for detailed train schedule. It can be scrolled up/down to show the entire trip and the times at each station.

As I type this @ 10:05 PM MT, it shows Amtrak #3 that departed Chicago on 7/22/15 doing 90 MPH (thanks to ATS) in Arizon with the next stop to be Kingman @11:54 pm running 15 min late. 

[narig01]

CJtrainguy

GPS is wonderful. I was on the TE 22 coming into Chicago on Monday. Not a really good day for the Texas Eagle. About an hour late to St Louis. Even somewhere around Kankakee it looked like we'd get into Chicago with a couple hours delay. Then it went downhill, having to wait in a siding for 21 on its way south and then waiting on freights and Metra as we got closer to the city. Got into Union Station at 5:13, 3 hours and 21 minutes late. Instead of a nice layover with time for looking around the Loop and maybe dinner, I had time to check out the Great Hall and walk outside Union Station for a few minutes before it was time to board the Capitol Limited, which left exactly on time. At least I made my connection. Heard from several others on the TE 22 who didn't make their connections to other trains. One couple was even trying to catch a flight in Chicago which wasn't going to happen.

 

An hour late into St Louis was pretty common. I haven't been watching the Texas Eagle as closely in the last few months. When I was it tended to run late thru Hope, Ar where I live. Depending on how you classify late. An hour late here I considered on time.

Rgds IGN 

[JC UPTON]

Electroliner 1935

If you go the Amtrak's Track-a-train, .....

 

Where is / how do you get to "Track-a-train"?

[JC UPTON]

Electroliner 1935

If you go the Amtrak's Track-a-train, .....

 

Where is / how do you get to "Track-a-train"?

[Electroliner 1935]

JC UPTON

 

 

Electroliner 1935

If you go the Amtrak's Track-a-train, .....

 

 

 

 

Where is / how do you get to "Track-a-train"?

 

JC UPTON

 

 

Electroliner 1935

If you go the Amtrak's Track-a-train, .....

 

 

 

 

Where is / how do you get to "Track-a-train"?

 

See my post of Friday, July 24, 2015 12:17 AM. where I stated, "On a computer, go to

http://www.amtrak.com/home and it is on the lower left (You may have to scroll down on your screen) where it says

"Check Train Status"

[JC UPTON]

Thanks... that worked! From my iPhone 5s - Safari, I can get to the full web site & from there to the "track-a-train", but panning & zooming is cumbersome... Thanks again..