Passenger Trains > CZ Early

I've said it in a few threads, but it bears repeating. The early arrival of the CZ should at least be noted and appreciated given the issues in the past year. And, yeah, I know there is a lot of padding, and I know that it *should* be on time or early given the schedule - but, given the railroad for the last day is the same one being pilloried (rightfully or wrongfully) for the Builder issues (BNSF), a little appreciation is warranted.

It *is* a good time of year for that route in terms of weather, schools, no skiers, etc. Great to see it working!

rswebber Wrote:
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> I've said it in a few threads, but it bears
> repeating. The early arrival of the CZ should at
> least be noted and appreciated given the issues in
> the past year. And, yeah, I know there is a lot
> of padding, and I know that it *should* be on time
> or early given the schedule - but, given the
> railroad for the last day is the same one being
> pilloried (rightfully or wrongfully) for the
> Builder issues (BNSF), a little appreciation is
> warranted.
>
> It *is* a good time of year for that route in
> terms of weather, schools, no skiers, etc. Great
> to see it working!

It seems to float from train to train: the Sunset does very well now, too, but the EB is getting worse again.

I took the Zephyr east from Emeryville on October 7. We were early at nearly every stop and sat in the station several times waiting for scheduled departure. We arrived in Chicago early.

I observed not much conflicting traffic west of Denver. If the CZ is late, is it due to traffic across Iowa and Illinois?

Stan Praisewater

As often as not, more due to rock slides and derailments in CO as well as flooding in IA & IL. And snow & ice ....but, it depends on how BNSF is shooting trains - they *can* relieve some tension on the Builder route but it's more roundabout (not that that is necessarily bad) and then there is the coal & CZ to contend with. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

If the capacity and railroads from the early 60s were still in place, it would be a different scenario. The MILW and/or Rock, had they been kept for just a little longer, would have made a valuable passenger-only route in places (though, how to pay for maintenance and such would be even more problematic - use by freights would help, but then you lose the passenger-only routing).

You can sit and play a whole lot of what-ifs with routes from the '50s to those today. What if the UP had been able to get the Rock when it was still viable? That particular domino played out across the West for decades after (both in what happened and what didn't happen). But it's mostly a fool's errand, as the time for that is long gone, and hindsight is 20-20. While you could say the railroads were overbuilt throughout the mid-west, you could look at traffic now and question that. But...questioning is one thing, looking at the capital to maintain, improve and connect some of those routes would be prohibitive. Fun to think about, as long as you don't get too analytical.

How early? Best i have seen is 53 minutes early from Galesburg!!

cutboy2 Wrote:
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> How early? Best i have seen is 53 minutes early
> from Galesburg!!


It seems we are talking about west and eastbound, but I at least know the CZ #5 has been nearly an hour early into Emeryville quite a few times!

Ptolemy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> rswebber Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I've said it in a few threads, but it bears
> > repeating. The early arrival of the CZ should
> at
> > least be noted and appreciated given the issues
> in
> > the past year. And, yeah, I know there is a
> lot
> > of padding, and I know that it *should* be on
> time
> > or early given the schedule - but, given the
> > railroad for the last day is the same one being
> > pilloried (rightfully or wrongfully) for the
> > Builder issues (BNSF), a little appreciation
> is
> > warranted.
> >
> > It *is* a good time of year for that route in
> > terms of weather, schools, no skiers, etc.
> Great
> > to see it working!
>
> It seems to float from train to train: the Sunset
> does very well now, too, but the EB is getting
> worse again.


I doubt the EB is getting worse, 24 minutes late today into Chicago!

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cutboy2 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > How early? Best i have seen is 53 minutes
> early
> > from Galesburg!!
>
>
> It seems we are talking about west and eastbound,
> but I at least know the CZ #5 has been nearly an
> hour early into Emeryville quite a few times!


The last station that #5 must hold for departure is Roseville, Calif. All stops west of there are for detraining only, and there is at least 45 minutes of padding built into that schedule. And if no one is scheduled to get off the train at Davis, Martinez or Richmond the train may proceed through those stations without stopping. Same is in theory true for Sacramento, but I have never seen the Sacramento stop skipped, and usually the conductor allows continuing passengers to use it as their last smoke stop of the journey also.