Passenger Trains > 15 hours late

Train 41, the Forlorn Floridian, is in VA headed south.  A turn at JAX seems logical.  I do have a question though.  If you were in Chicago to board this train on Thursday early evening and were told the train would depart on Friday morning, what would you do?  I would get a flight, most likely.  However, we do not know what info Amtrak gave to passengers, but I doubt folks slept in Union Station.  But you never know.

And a second question:  How many people are actually on board?  My guess is that is less than 50% full because folks bailed out.

This is all Sunday morning fun, so don't take this post too seriously.  Ruminating with coffee is enjoyable...

I don't fly, but at that point, I would look at
renting a car.

Chessie1963 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Train 41, the Forlorn Floridian, is in VA headed
> south.  A turn at JAX seems logical.  I do have
> a question though.  If you were in Chicago to
> board this train on Thursday early evening and
> were told the train would depart on Friday
> morning, what would you do?  I would get a
> flight, most likely.  However, we do not know
> what info Amtrak gave to passengers, but I doubt
> folks slept in Union Station.  But you never
> know.
>
> And a second question:  How many people are
> actually on board?  My guess is that is less than
> 50% full because folks bailed out.
>
> This is all Sunday morning fun, so don't take this
> post too seriously.  Ruminating with coffee is
> enjoyable...

I'd be at O'Hare airport on a flight out, OR, depending on final destination - re-book to the Lake Shore Limited to get to the East Coast and then transfer accordingly. The Floridian is serving dual purpose as a train to get EAST and then a train to go SOUTH. I miss the option of the Three Rivers (Chicago to EAST coast). Not having the Three Rivers/Broadway Limited forces the Lake Shore Limited to leave as the cleanup train out of Chicago......Lake Shore should leave Chicago by 7:00 pm to get into NYP earlier to avoid the rush hour peak and make terminal connections.

I can't imagine that it's running with more than 50% of passengers, especially since if you did want to book online for this "late train" - you can't. I can see Amtrak's point of blocking further sales - to avoid further passengers having nightmares - but it could work for some passengers looking for alternatives in a pinch! Overall, it's a continuation of Amtrak inflexibility.   

Further proof of how unreliable a long distance train can be.

But, since no one seems able (or even wants to)  improve things---
I no longer follow on-time figures

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/26 06:55 by ronald321.

It depends on how far i planned to travel and how important it would be to arrive at a certain time.  No way I'm bailing to rent a car if I am ticketed to Miami, but to Pittsburgh, Maybe.  

Bonus to the person in HQ who had the idea of killing ridership on two trains at the same time.
When the new single level cars arrive they can combine 40 with No. 7.

Train arrived Raleigh 1032, some 15 hours, 2 minute minutes late.    Just departed Raleigh for its continued trek south.  I'll try to catch it in Southern Pines or Aberdeen for sadly what is becoming a more common southbound daylight move.  Good news is the northbound is almost to Rocky Mount only 26 minute late which counts as early for the Floridian. 

What caused it to leave 12 hours late?

Posted from Android

Don't forget #40 (3) which is now over 17 hours late. Why did it sit in Washington DC from 8:28 pm (4)
and depart 9:45 am (5). Maybe to enjoy the fireworks? Or was there a hold on the tracks aheadf.

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,6193854 

Started an entire thread about all these trains yesterday.  But hey, who takes the time to read anymore. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/26 09:31 by Amtrak-P42.

Amtrak 41, CSX P091-04, The Floridian, Aberdeen NC, 12:31pm, 7/5/26, almost excactly 15 hours late.  Someone asked about patronage earlier in this thread - kinda hard to see in video, but seeing in person, it still looked fairly full.  

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            We simplified the situation and no long waste our money on Amtrak and take no chancess of being horridly late or having the train canceled out in the coutry somewhere and hiking.

scraphauler , thanks for the fine video and posting an idea of the number of passengers onboard .

For those wondering about passenger loads sethamtrak wends his late train report that has the passenger count for each delayed train. This is not immediate but I like to see how many people are riding the trains.

Bruce Stikkers
St, Joseph, IL

Finding last minute travel is difficult esp on holiday. O'Hare had groundstops and cancellations Friday and Saturday.DC had closures at Reagan on Saturday. If someone found seats they might have been pricyand no gaurentee a late evening flight was not cancelled.

Weather, mechanical, freight, ped/auto incidents,Amtrak incompetence all impact delays and spiral.

We all know what is needed, and that is a spare set for single level and a Superliner set im Chicago with at leadt 3 sleepers each. We know about viewliners sitting in Miami. The Carbondale trains are sitting up to 21 superliners yet dont believe they are sleepers or diners. So where do these cars come from? Reduce coach consists, get viewliners back in service.

Mardi Gras runs with four amfleet 2 coaches, which other day trains do? The extra set could be out there.

            We simplified the situation and no long waste our money on Amtrak and take no chancess of being horridly late or having the train canceled out in the coutry somewhere and hiking.