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I'm in the process of planning a January trip EKH (Elkhart Indiana) to TUS (Tucson, AZ) and given the really rotten timing of 29 & 49 in Northern Indiana recently, I'm concerned about making the connection in Chicago to the Texas Eagle/Sunset. Since the Sunset doesn't run every day, I could find myself stranded. And given the iffy weather in January, I'm discouraged before I even start.
palmland Member # 4344
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Unless things change dramatically I wouldn't attempt a Chicago connection using 29/49. Drive about 15 miles west to South Bend and catch the South Shore transit into Chicago. You will need to walk or taxi over to Union Station.
Judy McFarland Member # 4435
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From where I live, it's a 40-mile drive to catch the South Shore, so that's not really an option. I'm going to book the trip using AGR points & cancel if late trains would cause a missed connection. It's not a business trip - just an excursion.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Ms. McFarland, even though 29-CHI-21 remains a guaranteed connection, I don't think it is actually 'safe". If you are prepared to cancel the journey on short notice, and your Guest Rewards plan will credit the points back to your account, I guess plan it and hope for the best.
Of interest, Amtrak has now acknowledged "we have a problem" with the performance of both 29 and 49, Capitol Limited and Lake Shore respectively.
After having observed on enough occasions #3, Chief, and #5, Zephyr, "chasing markers", or "fleet", on enough occasions, I have concluded that if Amtrak requests a "hold" on one or both, they will be dispatched as "sections" of one another to Galesburg.
For example, within the past few days, I observed just such on the BNSF. Since I was starting to question if this becoming an operating practice over this very busy piece of railroad, on that same day #29 arrived CHI about 90ML, but 49 arrived 165ML or roundly at 130P. #5 leaves at 2PM - enough time for a passenger fleet footed and without checked baggage to "make it", but hardly for those who need a golf cart ride (I'm not there yet, but........) and/or have checked baggage. Likely Zephyr could have been ready to roll by, say, 230P, but on the day in question, it left at 253P and #3 left at about 305P.
sojourner Member # 3134
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Why not just go in to Chicago a day early and stay overnight? Hotels shouldn't be too high in January.
chrisg Member # 2488
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I would have a friend drive you to the South Shore Station as a plan just in case the trains are really late. That way if the train is running on time you are ok or if they are running late you still get to take you trip. That is what I would do if I was in your position.
DonNadeau Member # 61606
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Interestingly, I sat on a westbound #29 several years ago east of Elkhart waiting for crews to clear a hazmat wreck ahead. We ended up being bused to Chicago.
Channel 7 "Eyewitness News" in Chicago made a big deal of this. Made it sound as if we were the Donner Party waiting for salvation. In fact, we had been sitting in front of the Amtrak station in Bryan, OH, with easy access to a Walmart super center.
>>> Please make your decision before ticketing. Otherwise, if you fail to show up for #29 or #49 and find another way to Chicago, you may find--will likely find--that the entire rest of your trip has been cancelled because of your no show status on sector #1.
Especially in winter and especially with the current delays, I would do (and have done) just as sojourner suggests. Call that overnight stay in Chicago your insurance policy.
Remember too that if South Shore somehow doesn't get you to Chicago on time, that's not Amtrak's responsibility, unlike its own connections. You'd be on your own.
sojourner Member # 3134
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Palmland, Doesn't the Metra go only from South Bend Airport, not the city? And what would luggage be like on it? Also, is all the congestion affecting Amtrak's trains to Chicago not affecting Metra trains?
I am wondering about taking the Cap Ltd or LSL to South Bend, stopping over 1 night to see the sights, and then catching a Metra to CHI next day (although the hotels in South Bend look pretty pricey!).
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Both 29 (6),Capitol Limited, and #49 (6), Lake Shore, are out there with Sandra Bullock (no George Clooney around for a rescue) as "service disruption" is reported at the website. I learned at another discussion site, they can turn at Toledo with a "busteetoot" beyond.
Sooner or later, somebody is going to embargo an LD. It didn't happen during the UP 1996 vintage meltdown, but that was 18 years ago, and LD trains are even less relevant (using market share as a measurement)today.
For myself, I'm not about to even consider an LD ride. I'm not even sure I'll consider Wolverines CHI-ARB come January. For my late Feb Florida trip, I have now learned that the one Auto Train amenity I care about has been whacked - that is ice in the Sleepers. How am I to chill down my own bottle in place of the Happy Hour?
Finally Ms. Sojourner; if Mom and Dad can spring to have Junior attend "Our Lady", you can be sure they are not too worried what a hotel room in South Bend costs. As an aside, they don't seem out of line to me as the range shown by Mr. Google is in line with what I'm to pay in Ann Arbor (Campus Inn for Mariinsky Orchestra concerts).
Oh and one more: South Shore Line, vice METRA.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a staff reported article regarding Amtrak train performance:
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Passengers sitting on the tracks one recent morning near an idled Lake Shore Limited train in Cleveland had a lot of time to kill.
Their eastbound train was late getting out of Chicago Union Station and pulled into Cleveland about 3½ hours after its scheduled arrival of 5:35 a.m.
Then a switch problem or a downed power line on the CSX tracks between downtown Cleveland and Collinwood – reports varied -- meant another delay of five hours before the Amtrak train pulled out of town.
Ed and Rosemary Sobala, heading home to Buffalo after a train trip to the canyon-lands of Arizona, Utah and Nevada, weren't too surprised.
Not one of the Amtraks on their two-week journey was on time, they said. In fact, not one was less than 5½ hours late. When the Lake Shore Limited was stalled in Cleveland, they were headed home to Buffalo -- four hours away by car.
"A number of us riders jokingly referred to an Amtrak schedule as a wish list more than a schedule," Ed Sobala said
I think it is time to start thinking about annullments.
DonNadeau Member # 61606
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I say run both west from Toledo via Ann Arbor.*
That would avoid much of the congestion. If made permanent, a Michigan route would serve a much larger population, including some 44,000 students at UM and some 50,000 at MSU (who currently connect to the CL/LSL route east of Toledo by Thruway), and still be easily accessible from Notre Dame, although I'd like to isolate that university completely from all outside human contact.
*In the interest of full disclosure, I ran into this proposal on another site. The supporting info is mine.
Judy McFarland Member # 4435
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The eternal optimist in me is going to book the trip as scheduled from Elkhart for the original January dates. If I'm stymied by late trains and/or bad weather, my plan is to cancel & try to re-book for mid-February (perhaps with the same results??) This is purely a pleasure trip, so no harm in a delay. The beauty of retirement, I guess. For the rest of the trip, I toyed with a run up to Seattle, then back through Sacramento & Denver, but I've decided instead to stick with warmer weather & go TUS-LAX, then a day trip to San Diego for a nice lunch in Old Town before the SAN-LAX-CHI on the Southwest Chief courtesy of AGR. I'll book all the way to EKH, but if the connection in blown in Chicago, I'll do an overnight on my own dime, followed by a day trip to Milwaukee to visit my old stomping grounds & then book MKE-CHI-EKH without using points.
DonNadeau Member # 61606
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Nice itinerary. You'll love the coast running between LAX and SAN. At San Clemente, the Amtrak station (actually only a platform) sits directly on the beach. The former Nixon winter White House used to look out on this area. Be sure to sit on the right by a window southbound.
Out of Union Station you run along the concrete Los Angeles River. Nearly countless movies and TV shows have filmed here.
Note that on the return Amtrak will pay for your time in Chicago if you miss the EKH connection.
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