Passenger Trains > 4:46

The southbound Texas Eagle, Amtrak #21, left Chicago 45 minutes late today.  The train arrived at St. Louis 3 minutes late at 7:16 pm, a run time CHI-STL, of 4 hours and 46 minutes.  That is a good run.  Must have had good meets and 90 MPH running.  Great to see!  For old heads who will make GM&O comparisons, remember that the GM&O  trains had to pass by St. Louis Union station and back in.  While I am pleased to see Illinois improvements, the GM&O still had them beat.  They often equalled that time with the back-up move.  It takes longer to get from Chicago to Joliet than it did in the 60's and 70's.

Pontiac-Bloomington/Normal 32.2 mid in 24 min, 80.5 MPH AVG, and better than 70 between each station pair south of Dwight, 
except for the slow crawl Alton-STL
Andy
 

Seems like the St. Louis trains are not having the same frequency of problems the Detroit side is having.

Posted from Android

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the baggage car on the tail end.

This  willl only  get  beter. Nut  after  (?)  COVID  need  more  frequency.

regalstream1516 Wrote:
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> The southbound Texas Eagle, Amtrak #21, left
> Chicago 45 minutes late today.  The train arrived
> at St. Louis 3 minutes late at 7:16 pm, a run time
> CHI-STL, of 4 hours and 46 minutes.  That is a
> good run.  Must have had good meets and 90 MPH
> running.  Great to see!  For old heads who will
> make GM&O comparisons, remember that the GM&O 
> trains had to pass by St. Louis Union station and
> back in.  While I am pleased to see Illinois
> improvements, the GM&O still had them beat.  They
> often equalled that time with the back-up move. 
> It takes longer to get from Chicago to Joliet than
> it did in the 60's and 70's.

Amtrak schedules 50 minutes for Chicago to Joliet.  In 1959, the GM&O's top two trains were carded for forty.  The best Amtrak timing for St. Louis to Alton is 41 minutes, identical to the GM&O's best.  Although as you point out, Amtrak doesn't have to navigate Union Station's trackage.  I wonder what kind of timings are anticipated on the north end if Amtrak moves over to the former Rock Island route as,long term plans envision.

BTW, the GM&O's fastest schedule from Chicago to St. Louis in 1959 was 5:10.  Amtrak currently schedules anywhere from 5:06 to 5:28, so not as bad as I might have thought.  Sure, the GM&O was probably more reliable, and the food better, but Amtrak does offer slightly better frequencies.  Of course, in 1959, the Wabash and IC also offered service between Chicago and St. Louis, so the frequency comparison is somewhat apples to oranges.

Dave