The Underground Brewery Stories about brewing beer and train traveling from Tom Coughlin

August 7, 2014

Our summer of some very late trains

Filed under: Destinations,PV trips — Tom @ 4:06 pm

The Mount Vernon’s July 20-27 trip from New York Penn to Minneapolis was particularly noteworthy for very late trains. The Late Shore Limited left NYC more than six hours late, at 9:30 pm due to a rockslide on the tracks in Peekskill, NY. Arriving in Albany after Midnight, the train was held some additional time due to passengers missing the train in New York City. (Amtrak’s mistake, the train left without any announcements, and passengers had wandered away.)

We've been waiting for about six hours when this picture was taken.

We’ve been waiting for about six hours when this picture was taken.

Toledo used to be fully staffed a few years ago during the Roadrailer era at Amtrak. These days, there's just a couple of water stands and lots of desolation.

Toledo used to be fully staffed a few years ago during the Roadrailer era at Amtrak. These days, there’s just a couple of water stands and lots of desolation.

Then things got weird–the six passengers aboard the Mount Vernon went to bed, and when we woke up, the train was still east of Rochester, NY. We enjoyed our breakfast while riding through Buffalo, and got to see Cleveland in sunlight. Before long, Amtrak made the decision to turn the Lake Shore Limited in Toledo, and send the train set back to New York. Had they continued westward with that train set, there would have been an equipment shortage. The regular Amtrak passengers were put on four busses to Chicago, and another group of passengers heading east came in by bus from Chicago to take their place.

As for the Mount Vernon–the car was cut off here, and parked overnight. Early the next morning, the Capitol Limited arrived and picked us up. So far, so good. We’ve only lost one day. We arrived in Chicago pretty much on time that morning, and Amtrak gave us an unusual same day interchange and attached us to the rear of the Empire Builder, which left Chicago on time.

The Late Train Gremlin attacked again–this time it happened a few hundred yards short of the Milwaukee station, where we sat for hours. After a long wait, the train was pulled into the station, where we sat some more. It was dark when we left, when we finally we arrived in St. Paul in time for sunrise–about eight hours late.

Due to the delays, the locomotive engineer and conductor went over their hours of service, and could no longer operate the train. No replacement crew was immediately available.

Due to the delays, the locomotive engineer and conductor when over their hours of service, and could no longer operate the train. No replacement crew was immediately available.

The Minnesota Commercial Railway switches the Mount Vernon off of the Empire Builder, and on to the St. Paul parking track.

The Minnesota Commercial Railway ALCO locomotive switches the Mount Vernon off of the Empire Builder, and on to the St. Paul parking track.

What’s there to say about catastrophically late trains– train travel is not for people in a hurry to get someplace. Late trains can be ghastly (very overused bathrooms, empty water tanks, running out of food, crews that need to stop working due to hours-of-service rules.) If you’re an Amtrak passenger, Amtrak will usually do their best to make it up to you, and sometimes the make-goods are interesting travel treats. Meg and I once got to spend a night at the Allerton Hotel in Chicago on Amtrak’s tab, due to a missed connection, and they fed us, gave us an allowance for cabs and incidentals. A few years ago, we were very late arriving in Washington, DC and had to ride the overnight Amtrak train (train 66) back home to NJ. Amtrak arranged to have the train make an unscheduled special stop at our nearest train station so we would not need to call a cab.

Of course, if you’re lucky enough to travel on a private car, you’re likely to get extra meals and have a chance to spend some more time sitting in the lounge.

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