Transfer at.... Wilmington?

I found it to be particularly odd that Amtrak.com offered to sell me a ticket to Washington from New York with a transfer at Wilmington (between 2 trains that are both Northeast Regional trains to Washington). Sounds like a pretty funny bug in the website.

Very odd indeed. Could 83 be sold out south of Wilmington?

Station Aficionado wrote:Very odd indeed. Could 83 be sold out south of Wilmington?

That was my first thought too but 83 is listed as a through train right above it. What date was this?

Why wouldn't you want to transfer at WIL? This station is big f---ing deal.

Mackensen wrote:

Station Aficionado wrote:Very odd indeed. Could 83 be sold out south of Wilmington?

That was my first thought too but 83 is listed as a through train right above it. What date was this?

This was for Friday September 19th. Both trains had tickets available, with the price of the 2 trains being the same (And the price of the ticket with the transfer being the same).

It would be interesting if Amtrak could put you on 2 trains between NY and Washington because one is sold out part of the way. It would also be interesting if the website could suggest finishing your trip via commuter rail if a particular ending segment was sold out (IE, Amtrak Washington - Metropark and then NJ Transit to NY Penn).

Some transfer points are better than others. I'd like to know if Wilmington DE is a place one would choose to spend a few hours to change trains. I always plan on about three hours for a connection. I have gone west on the Cardinal starting from the NEC a few times and as they parallel for a long distance there lots of spots they connect. In June I rode from Florida to WVA. Amtrak ticketing defaulted to a connection in D.C., even though the two routes I used met south of there in Alexandria VA. I contacted an agent over the phone who told me to just buy separate tickets to make the arrangement I preferred, assuring me the fares would be the same; they were.

Wilmington is a good location to spend a few hours between trains. A waterfront path starting a couple blocks from the station is a scenic walk which takes one past a number of restaurants and bars. The photogenic former B&O passenger station is also a block away.

Second that. The station itself, the building across the street which was once headquarters of the Delaware Railroad, and the B&O station posted by chuchubob were all designed by Frank Furness in pretty much the same style. In between is a big parking garage, and to avoid spoiling the total effect, it was built in the same red brick as the Furness buildings and looks very much like a parking garage might have looked in 1908, if they had had parking garages in 1908. If you're interested in tall ships, a replica of the Kalmar Nyckel, the first Swedish ship to reach the New World (in the 17th century) is usually moored farther along the waterfront path mentioned above.

Thanks for the thumbnail about Wilmington station. I only knew what I'd seen from the window til now. Perhaps I'll change at that place some time.
With regard to Amtrak ticketing I have, well, reservations about the way the system defaults to transfers at DC Union station. It seems to me that if I am making a trip on routes that run parallel for a distance, the best bet is to transfer from the origination route to the destination route at the first opportunity. That was one reason I wanted to avoid going into and out of DC on a trip to WVA from the south. Doing so would narrow my window for the transfer between routes.
I'm guessing that in writing my own ticket I did so at my own risk. Am I correct that compensation for a missed connection is assumed by Amtrak only if the through ticket is written by them, with transfer at the point of their choice? In my case it seemed to increase the chance of missing my train.

saw this too earlier before reading about it on the forum trying to book tickets from Stamford to Norfolk (va beach) my impression was what the $&#^?

theozno wrote:saw this too earlier before reading about it on the forum trying to book tickets from Stamford to Norfolk (va beach) my impression was what the $&#^?

Well that makes more sense, since there are some trains that only go NYP - Norfolk. Although Wilmington is a surprising transfer point, surprised it didn't offer NYP.

hi55us wrote:

theozno wrote:saw this too earlier before reading about it on the forum trying to book tickets from Stamford to Norfolk (va beach) my impression was what the $&#^?

Well that makes more sense, since there are some trains that only go NYP - Norfolk. Although Wilmington is a surprising transfer point, surprised it didn't offer NYP.

Nope, Norfolk's one train a day is a Boston train, as are Newport News' trains, and Lychburg's. The Richmond/Petersburg trains are the only Virginia ones that originate at NYP.