Thanks, CSSHEG. For some reason I thought there was a difference.
The OP must want to head back west from Gburg on the CZ.
Still in training.
Lithonia Operator I can't figure out what itinerary the OP is trying to achieve. Ride from the west coast on the SWC as far as Galesburg, then take the CZ the rest of the way to Chicago? If so, why? To score different rail mileage on that leg? Or is the idea to return westward on the CV without having to spend a night in a hotel as opposed to a train?
I can't figure out what itinerary the OP is trying to achieve.
Ride from the west coast on the SWC as far as Galesburg, then take the CZ the rest of the way to Chicago?
If so, why? To score different rail mileage on that leg?
Or is the idea to return westward on the CV without having to spend a night in a hotel as opposed to a train?
I am guessing they eliminated the timetable distribution to prevent confusion with the reservations lady. Also, had to be irritating with people calling in with their own predetermined itenearies only to be told they were not achievable because some segments were sold out. My guess is that is why Amtrak suspended publication of them. I hope post pandemic they bring them back.
I sold someone I work with on riding Amtrak to Chicago to visit from KC where my employer is. He took his wife and two kids and Amtrak put him on the Southwest Chief to Chicago but then the Texas Eagle.....then the St. Louis to KC service back, he hated the last leg of that trip and had to spend an overnight in St. Louis (eck!). He had flexible dates and the agent should have worked with him more to get him a RT on the same train but........then.......this is how Amtrak does business via their 800 reservations number. Take advantage of the public's ignorance to screw them over.
I told him next time to make the reservations further out so he gets a roundtrip on the Chief. He does intend to make the trip again in a few years via Amtrak with his kids again. It's hard for me to push some of the influencers in KC to push for KC to Omaha service when Amtrak routinely treats it's passengers this way. I just get looked at like I am crazy. "Amtrak are you kidding, have you ridden them recently?"
He's going to have to get a screenshot of whatever this is, with a full itinerary.
I have not the slightest clue why he is getting off the eastbound Southwest Chief, which he explicitly mentions, at Galesburg in the first place. First of all, his eastbound Southwest Chief goes to Chicago without any waiting. Second, his connecting California Zephyr train shows as leaving Galesburg seven minutes earlier than his train gets there. Third, as noted, it's the westbound CZ, going away from Chicago, that is in Galesburg at 4:38. Get on that train and I'm not surprised it may be quite a while to see Chicago out your window...
I thought perhaps Amdreck was having fun calculating the 'Chicago arrival time' by adding the carded time from Galesburg into Chicago for one of the two trains (erroneously) to the 4:38 time the screen was supposedly displaying. But neither of those gives 7:15 as a result...
I'm with Multivac and AC on this: "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER".
RailBrunch Since AMTRAK doesn't post schedules anymore, I have to go through a reservation at amtrak.com to get a sense of schedule (unless any of you have other suggestions!) I am looking at the Southwest Chief Eastbound and was shocked to see a Galesburg-Chicago connection to the California Zephyr that runs like a snail...we could walk between Galesburg and Chicago faster. I can't get a screen shot to insert here, but it shows a 4:38 PM Galesburg departure with a 7:15 AM next-day Chicago arrival on the California Zephyr. This was for a July 2022 trip and I tried other days and times in 2021 as well. I looked up some older schedules of the Southwest Chief and it runs all the way through to Chicago w/o this snail-pace last leg. Does anyone know what is going on there? This will be a deal-breaker for my future travel plans, or at least we'll get a Lyft or something. Thank you.
Since AMTRAK doesn't post schedules anymore, I have to go through a reservation at amtrak.com to get a sense of schedule (unless any of you have other suggestions!) I am looking at the Southwest Chief Eastbound and was shocked to see a Galesburg-Chicago connection to the California Zephyr that runs like a snail...we could walk between Galesburg and Chicago faster. I can't get a screen shot to insert here, but it shows a 4:38 PM Galesburg departure with a 7:15 AM next-day Chicago arrival on the California Zephyr. This was for a July 2022 trip and I tried other days and times in 2021 as well. I looked up some older schedules of the Southwest Chief and it runs all the way through to Chicago w/o this snail-pace last leg. Does anyone know what is going on there? This will be a deal-breaker for my future travel plans, or at least we'll get a Lyft or something. Thank you.
I suspect Amtrak is trying to give you a certain (guarnteed) connection. Every time I have been on either, we have met both opposite direction trains between Galesburg and Chicago. Normally, both trains neet their opposites between Chicago and Galesburg, leaving Chicago between 2:00PM and 3:30PM with their opposites Arriving Chicago between 2:00 and 4:00pm. As L.O.'s post shows, the TT shows 158 minutes for the 162 miles. Most of which is run @ 79 mph. It is rare that the connection is not available. But to paraphrase Clint, "Do you feel lucky, RailBrunch."
https://www.railpassengers.org/site/assets/files/20928/california-zephyr-schedule-100520.pdf
https://www.railpassengers.org/site/assets/files/20928/southwest-chief-schedule-101220.pdf
Isn't 4:38 the time the westbound CZ leaves Galesburg?
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