Passenger Trains > No Amtrak 11 or 14 today

Amtrak cancel 11 and 14 today due to equipment problems.
A lot of Amtrak cars setting around 8 street yard. I know there are 3 or maybe more sightseeing lounges setting around the yard.
Seattle does not have that many spare cars setting around.
Dennis

Posted from iPhone

Seattle had a grand total of one Superliner in the yard when I went by there on Monday evening.

They did have two chargers, parked at different sides of the yard.

Posted from iPhone

I understand canceling one of them but canceling two trains(both the SEA dept and LAX dept) on the same day 1000 Mi apart is puzzling? Where are the missing consists?

Will Friday 14 be double size?
The first day I can go to Seattle is Sunday and coach only.
Dennis

Posted from iPhone

I think they only needed to build a consist in LA. Train 14 to SEA was only 4-5 hours late a normal occurance. Train 11 was the one over 10 hours late

Well Amtrak 11 went by my house about 7:30 (apx!) this morning. So that may be part of the reason!

Flyer92122 Wrote:
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> I understand canceling one of them but canceling
> two trains(both the SEA dept and LAX dept) on the
> same day 1000 Mi apart is puzzling? Where are the
> missing consists?

#11 got into LA this morning about when #14 would be backing out of the yard.  LA would need about 6-8 hours to service and turn the train, which would mean a 6-8 hour delay to 14 today.  That's the missing consist.  Additionally there are major crew shortages in pretty much every Coast Starlight crewbase, which means that the company has little flexibility to patch late trains with extraboard crews.  Much like the auto train, the situation would just compound and get worse until the trains HAD to be cancelled to get everything on time again.

The reasons for cancelling both trains is because if they only cancelled 14 then Seattle wouldn't have a trainset to run 11 in two days, and while 14 wasn't delayed nearly as bad as 11 was by the washout, they were still late and the Portland crew turning in Seattle was still not rested, which would still mean an extraboard crew would have been required to run train 11 today and I kinda covered that above.

Lots can be said about how Amtrak got into its current predicament (And there are plenty of other companies, especially transportation companies, in this situation so it's not uniquely an Amtrak problem), but with the current manpower situation there is simply no flexibility when things get out of whack right now and the easiest solution to line things back up after a disruption like they had in NorCal the other night is just a full reset.

I get screwed by Amtrak again. Now who going to pick up my extra nights in the hotel. You canceled my reservation and refunded my money. The closest airport is a few hours drive. I can not get a new reservation on the train for a few days as all sold out.
Now my cost as gone way up for this trip.
Dennis

Posted from iPhone

I never used to take it seriously, but the current environment for both Amtrak and airlines tells me that buying travel insurance is a very good idea.

I bought travel insurance for my last Seattle-Chicago round trip on the Empire Builder.

First time I ever bought travel insurance, but given the way things were going when I traveled last year, insurance seemed wise.

Fortunately, I didn’t need it.

Posted from iPhone

cajon Wrote:
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> I get screwed by Amtrak again. Now who going to
> pick up my extra nights in the hotel. You canceled
> my reservation and refunded my money. The closest
> airport is a few hours drive. I can not get a new
> reservation on the train for a few days as all
> sold out.
> Now my cost as gone way up for this trip.
> Dennis
>
> Posted from iPhone

Welcome to the new Amtrak.

Posted from Android

I'd rather see Amtrak go to a six day a week operation for its LD trains, than do randomly weekly cancellations. I think this may just get worse. I know they may not be perceived as some as "random" - but to the passengers affected who can't get re-booked and then lose out on hotel and other trip expenses as a result - there's very little consolation that can be offered. 

goduckies Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cajon Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I get screwed by Amtrak again. Now who going to
> > pick up my extra nights in the hotel. You
> canceled
> > my reservation and refunded my money. The
> closest
> > airport is a few hours drive. I can not get a
> new
> > reservation on the train for a few days as all
> > sold out.
> > Now my cost as gone way up for this trip.
> > Dennis
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> Welcome to the new Amtrak.
>
> Posted from Android

Yeah today's Amtrak could care less about their customers, they want the LD Trains gone as soon as possible and this is proof!

toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I never used to take it seriously, but the current
> environment for both Amtrak and airlines tells me
> that buying travel insurance is a very good idea.

I always thought travel insurance was a waste of money, but not anymore.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

the increased possibility of a canceled plane or train trip and related inconvenience is enough to keep me from non-essential traveling in this day and age.........

66

> Yeah today's Amtrak could care less about their
> customers, they want the LD Trains gone as soon as
> possible and this is proof!

Indeed, when I worked for Amtrak, passenger needs were always the last things considered when making choices, if in fact they were ever taken into consideration.