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Well Dilly, I think the railroad you are traveling on does make a difference. Your odds are much better for an OT arrival on the BNSF routes than about any other, except maybe the City of New Orleans/CN.
Our recent trip to Seattle on the EB and then Cascades to and from Vancouver were all on time. In the case of the EB, we arrived King St. station just as the digital clock on the platform changed to 10:20 - the scheduled arrival time. The BNSF does do a better job of dispatching than about anyone else. On a trip on the Sunset we were 'lucky' and it was only 4 hours late.
That said, the worst can happen so scheduling a close LD connection (ie. same day) is not a good idea
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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Interestingly, in more than 33 years now of riding scheduled passenger trains, I have only twice missed a connection. Both of those were changing to Hiawatha service trains for Milwaukee....once coming off a three hour late 'Cardinal' and the other time off a four hour late 'Southwest Chief'. (That was due to an Amtrak engine failure, not BNSF dispatching)
In both cases I actually made it to the north departure gate at Chicago Union Station in time to see the marker lights of the train I had hoped to catch swing out of sight around the curve.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Twin Star - We go to the Bosque every year, this will be our fourth. We actually go the week after the Crane Festival to avoid the crowds and stay in a lovely B&B in San Antonio, NM. Have stayed in the Econolodge too. "Some migration" is actually the wintering place of about 15,000 Sandhill Cranes and 50,000 Snow Geese. One goes out at dawn (brrrr, real cold) and dusk to watch them fly out and back from the fields they dine in during the day. All leave at once at dawn, a fabulous sight and sound. Glad to hear about the SW Chief, that will be our planned initial route for the Twin Cities/Empire Builder trip.
-------------------- Vicki in usually sunny Southern California Posts: 951 | From: Redondo Beach, CA | Registered: Aug 2006
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Wow, this thread has gone a lot of directions from San Joaquin, some of them delightfully silly.
Vicki, I know what you mean by brrrr. The overnight temp in New Mexico in March is actually lower than here in Minnesota. But the days are hot (to a Minnesotan).
I have often passed through San Antonio, NM on my way to Alamogordo and White Sands. It looked like a neat little town and I have been tempted to stop there for a burger or a beer. I love to escape winter in SW New Mexico because not too many people have discovered it yet.
I suppose you know you are stuck with a 22 hour layover in Chicago when you try to connect to or from the Empire Builder from any other western train. That is why I always drive to Iowa or Missouri to go to the Southwest by train. (The Twin Star Rocket is the train that would have connected me from St. Paul to the Chief in the pre-Amtrak days.)
I have never heard anything but extreme praise for the Isaak Walton Inn. There is no checked baggage at Essex if that is a concern. If you want checked baggage and a car, Hertz and Budget meet you at the Whitefish depot. If you don't want to drive, I think the wonderful red busses that tour Glacier pick up at the Isaak Walton.
------------- Jerry in perpetually gray, cold and damp Minnesota.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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For those who may not know: The Hilton Hotel chain originated in San Antonio, NM. No, there was never a Hilton in San Antonio but that is where the Hilton family first became hotel ownwers and operators.
And there was once a cafe there to which all of the locals, 50-100 miles, came to eat. I have not been there for 40 years. Also, there was a bar in Socorro which had (in the 1950'S) a variety of beers that was astounding.
Posts: 467 | From: Prescott, AZ USA | Registered: Mar 2002
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Twin Star - yes the red "jammer" busses DO in fact pick up passengers at the Izaak Walton Inn for Glacier Park tours, but you need to make reservations ahead of time.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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RRRich- Do you know if the red busses operate in the winter. I know the E. Glacier lodge is closed but do the busses operate from other lodges with an Issac Walton pickup.
Both the lodge at E. Glacier and the Issac Walton looked so appealing on our recent trip, that I thought it might be fun to take a winter time trip to Glacier NP and use the Issac Walton as our base.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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Ain't Google grand? Downloading the brochure gives the most info. They evidently only run May-Sept.
I have heard people cross country ski from the Isaak Walton. Glacier gets pretty snowed in for the winter. Sometimes the Going-to-the-Sun highway is not passable til mid-June. Whitefish is home to a major downhill ski area called Big Mountain, so there is lots of transportation from Whitefish to the mountain.
Y'all from SC gotta realize that in winter you only move around up here when old man Winter lets ya.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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Thanks Twin Star. We don't do so well in cold weather anyway. But you know being snowed in at the Issac Walton wouldn't be too bad. Sit there with a hot buttered rum and watch the trains roll by.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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The Izaak Walton Inn is open year-round, and yes, they do have a cross-country ski area adjacent to the Inn across the footbridge over the BNSF line.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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On the subject of being snowed in, we had a three day blizzard in St. Paul around Thanksgiving about 22 years ago. The airport, Greyhound, and city bus service was shut down for 3 days. The only thing moving was the Empire Builder, which arrived on time or early all 3 days in both directions. The problem was that the Amtrak passengers that got here couldn't get out of the depot as easily as they could get here from Chicago or Seattle.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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Hmmm -- how did we get from the topic "San Joaquin trip" to a discussion about the Izaak Walton Inn, jammer busses, skiing, and being snowbound in St. Paul?
Hee-hee......
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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The answer,RRRich, is quite simple. The regular posters on this forum have become friends. As such the discussions flow back and forth along with comments and kidding as if we were all sitting around in someone's living room. I assume not having an alert moderator helps too. But fear, not sooner or later someone will pull the discussion back from wence it started.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by TwinStarRocket: Does it ever snow on the San Joaquin route?
Surprisingly (considering the source), that's a very good question.
Snow has been known to fall upon the tracks of the San Joaquin's (note the focus on the rail portion, not the pavement portion). But it's very unusual. About as rare as hen's teeth, or the Cub's winning the World Series, or spending a summer evening in Bemidji MN without seeing a mosquito. But, maybe once a generation, it does snow (to use technical terms, an "itty-bitty-bit"). Sissy stuff for people with zip codes of 5-something. But it has been known to happen.
But many foreigners (those from zip codes other than 9-something) are easily misled when they see rotary snow plows and blowers when they travel along the route of the SJ's. They just assume these plows and blowers are staged along the line for snow removal. We 9-Zippers find that very amusing ("Hey, Billy Bob, I think we got a Zip 5 here.").
The plows and blowers are staged along the line for tule fog removal. In early winter, this thick ground fog can get so bad you can't see your main squeeze's face when you're doing a lip lock procedure. (It's similar to the distances you can see in a mosquito swarm in July on Turtle Lake north of Bemidji, though the lip lock example probably wouldn't apply under these conditions). In fact, this area is the second most foggiest in the world (the most foggiest being Washington D.C.).
This tule fog can cause havoc to most means of transportation. Planes can be grounded for days. Chain reaction accidents on valley highways involving hundreds of cars are common. Horses (even ponies) can get disoriented, tempermental, and skittish. But Amtrak...Ah, the railroads have these plows and blowers. Even though it is not their intended purpose, they are put to work to drill a sight-hole through this miserable muck.
Yes, these plows and blowers just blow a path (old rails call it a "peep hole") through the fog so the engineer (that'd be "driver" for our friends across the pond and Thomas the Tank Engine junkies) can see and stay on track.
Of course, what's really needed are fog sheds. And unlike similar protective structures over Donner, these sheds would not degrade the scenic quality of this particular route. If Americans would just chip in $1.47 per person, we could have them. But our elected leaders can be so short-sighted. The rotary fog plows and blowers will just have to do for now.
So, Mr. Rocket, I hope I answered your question. If you ever travel on the San Joaquin's, and recall what I've said here, maybe you can pass as someone from someplace other than zip 5-something.
Posts: 445 | Registered: May 2002
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I love the San Jquains when I am making the connection from SJC to the Soutwest Chief going down as the darn Surfliner requires a 6 hour bus ride which I did this last time(on a free Guest Rewards trip with Business Class). I like the San Juaqins because you only go on a 90 min bus ride from SJC to Stockton where you wait 25 minutes relaxing and walking around and then a 2 hour bus ride to LAUS. So all in all it's mostly on the train.
I have noticed that they operate this train like a high speed Talgo and at times you are going around 80 miles an hour. They don't usually stop for another train. And it arrives Bakersfiled usually 10-15 mins early.
Posts: 259 | Registered: Jan 2005
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train lady - I really didn't expect anyone to reply to that last post of mine, but thanks anyway!!! I was just making a philosophical observation. I too enjoy these periodic "diversions" from the topic of interest.
So let's continue our discussion about the "tule fog!"
Har-har!!
P.S. Who is the "driver" for Thomas the Tank Engine?
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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