posted
I've been checking OTP for the trains we will be on during our vacation daily now for a few weeks. On 6 different days since 5/25, the Silver Star, #91, has been shown to have 'service disruptions" into Florida. Does anyone know what the nature of these "service disruptions" has been?
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I travelled on 91 from WAS to ORL on 30th/31st May when we were 30 mins late out of WAS and arrived just over 2 hrs late into ORL.The only reason advised onboard was freight traffic congestion.
Posts: 28 | From: Bristol England | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
When the AMTRAK "train status" reports say "service disruption," that is usually something much more major than a 2-hour freight delay -- if trains are several hours late due to freight delays, that will be reported on the "train status", but when they say "service disruption," that usually means something much more serious or more regional in nature (like last week when the power went out along the NEC, or it could mean that a train was annulled and was "bustituted")
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
We've been having quite a few large brush fires along the tracks and major highways. Stupid people who throw cigarette butts out the window. Many major highways have been closed for up to 24 hours. That could be the cause of the service disruption.
Posts: 19 | From: jax, fl, usa | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
On Thursday, 8 June, I left NY Penn on 91 Silver Star. We arrived Miami Saturday morning at 12:32, 6 hours 27 minutes late. I rode just to take the trip, so I sure got my money’s worth on my Viewliner roomette.
In Penn Station’s Acela Lounge I sat in an overstuffed chair, enjoying a fresh coffee and a muffin, delighting in the Thursday FOX newscast with details on the death of terrorist Abu-Musab Al-Zarquawi. That perked me up because I still was bummed that my NYYankees vs. Boston Red Sox game had been cancelled (rainout) Wednesday night, and I was leaving the city that never sleeps holding a Yankee Stadium ticket (I bought it online three weeks earlier back in Texas).
Suddenly, DELAYED flashed on the trains' status monitor next to the listing for 91 that drizzly Thursday morning. The train was late leaving the Sunnyslope yard. Once on board, the crew advised that the original Dining Car was bad ordered with a broken refrigerator, so they had to switch it out and couple in a replacement diner (No. 8530).
Apparently leaving NYC 1 hour 30 minutes late doomed us from riding any sort of “slot” CSX dispatch ops may have had for us. We kept losing time and Thursday night the skies had cleared when we were - 2’ 52’ late departing Rocky Mount NC at 10:21 p.m. I sleep pretty soundly so I didn’t catch the times of our two overnight stops. But it must have been a night of long freights because when I awoke a bit after 6 Friday morning, I sure was surprised that the station we departed when I was in the Sleeper shower was Columbia SC at 6:36 a.m. The schedule there is for 1:38 a.m. And so it went.
What’s neat is I got to see sunny daytime views that usually the Silver Star streaks through at night. I heard we weren’t going to Tampa at all, because we were so late, and also heard the SB Meteor had passed us, sticking closer to its schedule. Tampa passengers were bussed at Winter Haven. Because we didn’t even traverse the Lakeland-Tampa spur, we instantly “picked up” an hour and a half, leaving Winter Haven at 7:55 p.m. So I missed those miles but got an extra dinner in the diner and more travel hours. A Miami supervisor was aboard and she had arranged for 100 box lunches coming aboard at Jacksonville for the coach passengers, knowing that the Lounge (28022, South Bend Club) and Dining Car provisions wouldn’t feed everyone the extra meal.
As usual, some people were pretty crabby about the delay; some were resigned; and some like me enjoyed more time on the train. To recap, a 90-minute late NYC departure sort of socked us. We spent a lot of time on sidings waiting for CSX freights to clear.The crew said there were a ton of early morning (dark outside) freights when I was sleeping. Interestingly, around Deland, FL, we headed into a siding, waited for a NB coal train to pass, then we had to back out of the siding back to the main. That was a 30-minute delay followed by a slow order. It is what it is.
The train service crew was fabulous -- friendly, courteous, conversational, efficient. My car (62015, Island View) was fine, although neither sleeper had a coffee maker. Good grief. However the attendant brought coffee from the diner or lounge whenever asked. The other sleeper (62023, Mystic View) seemed a bit warm whenever I walked though it to the dining car but my car was cool. That was important sitting on those sidings in the Southern sun. The menu, of course, apparently is the same on every train (except the Empire Builder). Still, it was a great trip -- except for my Yankees' rainout and me missing the game. Still, I'll catch them back at my home vs. Texas later this summer. Hope this info helps.
If you’re interested, here are some times from that June 8-9-10, 2006 No. 91 Silver Star trip:
SCHED- ACTUAL STATION ULED--Thursday 11:08A 12:38P New York 11:30A 12:54P Newark NJ 12:10P . 1:47P Trenton NJ 12:45P . 2:30P Philadelphia . 1:10P. 2:55P Wilmington DE . 2:00P. 3:50P Baltimore . 3:05P. 4:50P Washington . 3:25P. 5:19P Alexandria VA . 5:19P. 7:50P Richmond VA . 7:29P 10:21P Rocky Mount NC --Friday . 1:39A. 6:36A Columbia SC . 2:36A. 7:47A Denmark SC . 4:24A. 9:22A Savannah GA . 7:15A 12:30P Jacksonville FL . 8:18A. 1:59P Palatka FL . 9:54A. 5:40P Winter Park FL 10:31A . 6:10P Orlando FL 10:55A . 6:37P Kissimmee FL . 1:43P. 7:55P Winter Haven FL . 3:00P 10:00P Okeechobee FL . 4:13P 11:06P West Palm Beach FL . 5:12P 11:59P Fort Lauderdale FL --Saturday . 6:05P 12:32A Miami
quote:Originally posted by The Chief: Apparently leaving NYC 1 hour 30 minutes late doomed us from riding any sort of “slot” CSX dispatch ops may have had for us. We kept losing time and Thursday night the skies had cleared when we were - 2’ 52’ late departing Rocky Mount NC at 10:21 p.m. I sleep pretty soundly so I didn’t catch the times of our two overnight stops. But it must have been a night of long freights because when I awoke a bit after 6 Friday morning, I sure was surprised that the station we departed when I was in the Sleeper shower was Columbia SC at 6:36 a.m. The schedule there is for 1:38 a.m. And so it went.
A couple of observations and opinions based on past experience.......
First observation: Richmond to Rocky Mount on CSX is like a 'Black Hole'. SEE THE TAG WHICH HAS BEEN AT THE BOTTOM OF MY LAST 30 OR SO POSTS! This segment is so congested (and so poorly dispatched) that a train can pop in reasonably close to on-time and emerge two or three hours late on the other side. I see that your #91 really began losing significant time in this area.
Second observation: With the downgrading (and abandonment of some segments) of the old Seaboard mainline, there is no through CSX freight traffic at all left between Raleigh and Columbia. In fact, between Raleigh and the classification yard at Hamlet there is only the Silver Star and one local freight daily in each direction. When I lived in that area in the late 90's the freight would generally take a two hour headstart on the Star southbound. Perhaps something broke down on either the freight or your train between Raleigh and Columbia or perhaps being so far out of your 'slot' you had to wait on a lonely side track for a long time to meet the northbound Silver Star.
OK - first opinion: I am considering a quick three day trip to visit the B&O museum in Baltimore and the Western Maryland Scenic Railway next month. Normal planning would involve a ride on the Carolinian to and from Greensboro, NC BUT CSX's (in)ability to move trains between Rocky Mount and Richmond is so unpredictable that I might actually DRIVE myself to Charlottesville or Richmond and only ride the trains into DC, Baltimore, and over to Cumberland from there. I just can't get excited about any train trip that risks being blown in the 'Black Hole'.
Second Opinion: The person or persons at CSX who made the decisions twenty years ago to A) single-track the old ACL and B) significantly downgrade the old SAL through the Carolinas should be apprehended and flogged.
-------------------- 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
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
