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Anyone notice that Amtrak.com doesn't list half way reports anymore starting today? They just give an estimated arrival no last report. You can't tell where the train is! Anyone know what led to this?
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Mr. Schillinger, as I noted at another forum at which we both participate, the traveling public doesn't give a rodent's hindquarters where the train is - just when it is expected to arrive at a queried station.
Train Status is there to give the traveling public necessary information to avoid unnecessarily long waits at stations for arriving and departing passengers. Much as it is used by many here (myself included) for other than that stated purpose, it is not some kind of "aid to railfanning" device.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Although its not on the website, you can still "get details" from Julie and she will tell you where the train is.
Posts: 34 | From: Kansas City, MO | Registered: Feb 2005
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That's too bad. I for one DO want to know where the train is NOW, if it's going to be late at MY station. Sometimes the "estimated arrival times" are not quite accurate, but if I know where the train is before it gets to the station I'm interested in, that info helps in making my estimate of when the train might really arrive.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:Originally posted by RRRICH: That's too bad. I for one DO want to know where the train is NOW, if it's going to be late at MY station. Sometimes the "estimated arrival times" are not quite accurate, but if I know where the train is before it gets to the station I'm interested in, that info helps in making my estimate of when the train might really arrive.
I 100% agree RRRICH, the "estimated arrival" is usually way off. It typically predicts a train will make up time when usually it loses more time. I hope you can still call "Julie" and say "Get Details".
Posts: 1082 | From: Los Angeles, CA. USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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The estimated arrival is the earliest it could conceivably get there. If you want a rough idea of where it is, you can always enter earlier stations and see when it departed. The train will be somewhere between the last station departed and the next station with an estimated arrival time.
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Mr. Toy is right - there can be no other logical answer as that would require an intimate level of knowledge of the dispatchers' brains - and the usage of a fortune teller to work out what could possibly happen between now and the earliest arrival time. Note that the estimated time usually take into account the padding (or recovery) time built into the schedules.
However, it could perhaps be made more obvious that it's the earliest time rather than the estimated time.
Geoff M.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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