Illinois Amtrak Service

I know. My point is there is possibly potential to shorten the schedule more.
The 305 performed well again last night.
3 mins early at SPI
14 CRV, 14 ALN, 19 STL

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2023 5:28 am Yes, Mr. Ryan, "Historic Route 66" does have stoplights, but at one time, it had full-service restaurants. I remember one in partricular; Streids; located on the bypass around Bloomington.

I'm just young enough that I didn't get to see any GM&O power in person. I remember the RTG Turboliners running on the route in their early days, though. And, of course, old 66 didn't just have traffic lights - it had random intersections and grade crossings as well. I can remember getting stuck at the TP&W crossing on more than one family trip. The Turboliners didn't last long on that corridor and eventually headed east.

Our usual lunch stop (on the way to Missouri, not far beyond Quincy) was the Dixie Trucker's Home in McLean. That was where we headed west to get to Quincy via 136 and 24. There were NO interstates in that part of Illinois back in the day, and even four-lane highways were rare.

Observed 380(5); "the usual".

SC-44, Horizon Business-Cafe, 1 Venture Coach/Business couplet.

Saw the northbound Illini in Champaign today. About 15 minutes late, I think--within normal limits. It was Superliners, just as Mr. Norman saw back in May. A treat for the corridor pax getting long-distance seating, but surely that's not why Amtrak did it. Does the Illini often run with Superliners these days? If so, why? And why now, when new cars are coming in? Is Amtrak retiring Horizons faster than it's replacing them?

I saw a Superliner consist on the Illini once twenty-some years ago, but only once, and from 1996 to 2003 I saw the Illini pretty often.

I’m only finding two Illinois trains plus the Eagle as Carlinville Chicago options this month. Anyone know what’s up?

Maybe I've misunderstood the service. I also have a round trip to Bloomington 11/12-11/14. There is a full set of five offerings for those trips. But checking Carlinville that week, only 2+1.

Do some trains not run south of Springfield? I had thought all were Chicago-St. Louis. Or do the ones that connect with the River Runner skip Carlinville or something?

EDITED -- And... tracking down a timetable, something more like the latter is the situation. It's not dependent on whether it's a River Runner. But two of five trips don't stop in Carlinville. Pontiac and Lincoln only get stops from 4 of 5 daily trains, Summit 3 of 5 and Dwight just 2 of 5. I had not previously realized that.

Do some trains not run south of Springfield? I had thought all were Chicago-St. Louis. Or do the ones that connect with the River Runner skip Carlinville or something?

AFAIK the track in downtown Springfield is about 5 miles of single track. So there is no provision for a layover. Not sure what stage the 11th Avenue corridor project is in that would shift track to the west.

So all trains run Chicago-St Louis but may not stop at every station. Some trains are express so they only make 3 stops on the whole route.

It's tough to find an updated timetable. Assuming "travelswithkev.com is up to date, and it does match my trip, then there are no trains that make only 3 intermediate stops.

The early morning southbound stops at Joliet, Bloomington/Normal, Springfield and Alton. The early northbound adds Lincoln, Pontiac and Summit. Two trips each way are all-stops, and the Eagle and the day's final trips (both NB and SB) hit 7 of 9 intermediate stations, though not the same ones.

ryanwc wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2023 3:28 pm It's tough to find an updated timetable.

Try this. https://juckins.net/amtrak_timetables/a ... ternal.pdf

Thanks for the link. (Good idea on Amtrak's part to put the Lincoln and Mo. River services in one table plus the SW Chief to show all three on the same page, though it's sad to reflect that in the 21st century the sum total of train service in those three corridors can be displayed in 14 columns.)

ExCon90 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 10, 2023 11:08 pm (Good idea on Amtrak's part to put the Lincoln and Mo. River services in one table plus the SW Chief to show all three on the same page, [...]

Amtrak had nothing to do with that table. Itdoes not currently produce PDF or printable timetables. That was prepared by private individuals.

Arborwayfan wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 9:33 pm Saw the northbound Illini in Champaign today. About 15 minutes late, I think--within normal limits. It was Superliners, just as Mr. Norman saw back in May. A treat for the corridor pax getting long-distance seating, but surely that's not why Amtrak did it. Does the Illini often run with Superliners these days? If so, why? And why now, when new cars are coming in? Is Amtrak retiring Horizons faster than it's replacing them?

I saw a Superliner consist on the Illini once twenty-some years ago, but only once, and from 1996 to 2003 I saw the Illini pretty often.

CN require Amtrak to operate Superliners on the Carbondale route in order to operate grade crossing signals and gates. Unlike just about every railroad in the world, CN has trouble with short, light Amtrak trains activating signsls or of course they could just be jerks.

WhartonAndNorthern wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 4:43 pm

ExCon90 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 10, 2023 11:08 pm (Good idea on Amtrak's part to put the Lincoln and Mo. River services in one table plus the SW Chief to show all three on the same page, [...]

Amtrak had nothing to do with that table. Itdoes not currently produce PDF or printable timetables. That was prepared by private individuals.

Now that's really sad. The current Trains has a story about volunteers pitching in at local stations to provide services that are really Amtrak's responsibility; now they have volunteers doing timetables? Good thing Amtrak can't cut costs by eliminating volunteer timetable compilers.

Nah, there's a PDF on demand under https://www.amtrak.com/train-schedules-timetables

It's not very well thought out -- it can only do a single calendar day and route.

Also, Mr. Olesen, it would be nice if it worked.

"If you don't succeed at first, try again" (maybe after my sadistic physical therapist gets through with my hand - really, she's a very nice young gal and as she has said to me "Mr. Norman, for therapy to be effective, it HAS to hurt").

The Bob Johnston article on Midwest Amtrak in December TRAINS sure did tee off. Just that photo of the Eagle at Bloomington was enough to make me say "never again". What with the Sleeper immediately behind the engine making one "listen to the music" all through the night and paying more than a First Class AND "four star" hotel airfare for the "privilege" to do so?

Uh, no thanks.