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#21 KevinKorell

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Posted 02 May 2016 - 03:34 PM

Thanks, Bill.  I am assuming that with #7, there were no mudslide related suspensions of service between Everett and Seattle.



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#22 KevinKorell

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Posted 10 May 2016 - 01:20 AM

Those who have already reserved a trip on Train 777 (SAN-LAX) on July 18th may have received on Monday an updated e-ticket showing a revised departure time from San Diego of 11:57 AM (3 minutes earlier) and revised arrival time in Los Angeles of 2:40 PM (5 minutes earlier). There does not appear at this time to be any change to the schedule of Train 566. Therefore I deduce that the 35 minute dwell we had in San Diego is reduced to 32 minutes. A little less, but still a comfortable margin. There may be a short restroom time, but it is highly likely we get off 566 and get right on the line for 777.


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#23 pennyk

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Posted 10 May 2016 - 07:10 AM

Those who have already reserved a trip on Train 777 (SAN-LAX) on July 18th may have received on Monday an updated e-ticket showing a revised departure time from San Diego of 11:57 AM (3 minutes earlier) and revised arrival time in Los Angeles of 2:40 PM (5 minutes earlier). There does not appear at this time to be any change to the schedule of Train 566. Therefore I deduce that the 35 minute dwell we had in San Diego is reduced to 32 minutes. A little less, but still a comfortable margin. There may be a short restroom time, but it is highly likely we get off 566 and get right on the line for 777.

This morning I received an updated e-ticket for 566 with an arrival time in SAN of 11:35 (10 minutes later).  If my math is correct, the dwell time in San Diego is now reduced to 22 minutes.



#24 BillMagee

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Posted 11 May 2016 - 07:06 AM

There is always the option to bail out at Solana Beach if #566 is running more than a few minutes late then board #777.  Pacific Surfline coach is unreserved, so there should not be an issue boarding #777 one stop up the line.  Business Class might be a problem (canceling a "no-show"), but I doubt that would happen over 30 minutes. There is a time out built in.

 

There is also #579 back from SAN at 1:40pm that gets to LAX at 4:25pm.  That leaves 1:45 cushion at LAX before the 6:10pm departure of the Chief which should be more than enough in a pinch.  Point is that there is a Plan B and Plan C if Plan A goes belly up.



#25 KevinKorell

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Posted 11 May 2016 - 11:45 AM

There is also #579 back from SAN at 1:40pm that gets to LAX at 4:25pm.  That leaves 1:45 cushion at LAX before the 6:10pm departure of the Chief which should be more than enough in a pinch.  Point is that there is a Plan B and Plan C if Plan A goes belly up.

True, Bill. We did take #579 SAN-LAX last time in 2009, and made #4 same evening.... the same #4 you somehow disappeared from in Kansas City later in the trip. :) Doing #579 would mean approximately 2 hours in San Diego... perhaps time for a spin on the Trolley but not too far.



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#26 pennyk

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Posted 11 May 2016 - 12:29 PM

There is also #579 back from SAN at 1:40pm that gets to LAX at 4:25pm.  That leaves 1:45 cushion at LAX before the 6:10pm departure of the Chief which should be more than enough in a pinch.  Point is that there is a Plan B and Plan C if Plan A goes belly up.

Does "number expert" Bill know if 579 is ever delayed more than an hour into LAX?



#27 KevinKorell

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Posted 11 May 2016 - 12:39 PM

One might have a Fullerton option, if #579 was very late, to switch to #4 there.... but if we leave our luggage in the lounge in Los Angeles as I expected we would, that would pose a problem. If we took our luggage with us, could we call Amtrak with the situation to not be marked as no-shows on #4 if we boarded at Fullerton?

No matter what we choose, any long round trip has its risks, including some idiot parking or driving a car on the tracks or a suicidal person doing something even worse without a car. For that reason, I would feel more comfortable if we were able to make #777 going back. But we'll see what develops.


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#28 KevinKorell

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Posted 17 May 2016 - 01:55 AM

OK , so you thought all was settled with the Amtrak trip on Monday, July 18th? Think again. Now that Amtrak changed trip times for Trains 566 & 777, they rendered the dwell time in San Diego to be too tight. Among some of the alternative options discussed last night on the Chat session, we could turn back at Solano Beach (which is 45 minutes less trip in each direction), extend our time in San Diego to the next train (which allows a little time to take a spin on the Trolley), or leave even earlier from Los Angeles on Train 564 at 7:25 AM.

 

I developed 9 potential options, Plans A through I. The current choice, 566 southbound and 777 northbound is Plan D. This option only allows 22 minutes layover in San Diego, which is uncomfortable. Plan A has us on 564 southbound and 573 northbound, but it yields a similar short layover. Plans B & E give us a longer San Diego layover. Meanwhile, Plans C, F, G, & I involve turning around in Solana Beach. Of these, Plan G has a little over 1-1/2 hours layover, while the other three are under half an hour. I therefore deduce that Solana Beach should only be an option if we are severely late. Besides the dwell times, I don't know what is in that area, and another downside is that we may not get preferable seats for the northbound trip by boarding there.

 

So among the San Diego options, Plans A, B, D, E, & H, if we rule out the dwells at the southern end that are under half an hour, we are left with B & E. Plan B is Train 564, which departs Los Angeles 7:25 AM. I don't know how popular that might be, as it means very early awakening and probably skipping hotel breakfast most are entitled to. Plan E is the discussed Train 566 southbound and 579 northbound, which gets back into Los Angeles at 4:17 PM. This allows a little under 2 hours leeway until the Southwest Chief departs 6:10 PM.

 

The chart this analysis is based upon is attached.Attached File  Pacific Surfliner.jpg   83.01KB   0 downloads



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#29 pennyk

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Posted 17 May 2016 - 07:49 AM

Thank you Kevin for chart and analysis.  Do you want those of us who will be around on Monday and plan to leave on 4 the same day to express our opinions?  Do YOU (Kevin) have a preference?

 

I think there are only a handful of us that will be leaving on the Southwest Chief.  It would be great if we all agreed on a plan (or would that be like herding cats? LOL).



#30 KevinKorell

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Posted 17 May 2016 - 11:31 AM

I didn't do this as a poll because we don't get 100% participation among those who will be involved. This way everyone can see what the choices are and yes, comment. Do I have a preference? Based on the chart that Bill presented at the Chat showing that in I believe a 2-month period the 579-to-4 connection was made all but one day, I would be confident in making that connection in Los Angeles. However, we know from all the news stories I post that things can go wrong, so it's a risk. But it is less of a risk than trying to make a known connection of 20-25 minutes to turn around in San Diego. The earlier 7:25 AM LAX departure would resolve those issues, but I don't expect it to be highly popular. So I would then choose Plan E -- 566 and 579. Now, any others wish to weigh in?


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