Late trains

I've heard a little hubbub about the horrible on-time performance for the Sunset Ltd. train, and I have yet to ask why. So why? Train 2 scheduled to depart on Jul 21 (IIRC) departed 3 hrs. 24 mins. late, and Train 1 that departed today (IIRC), the Amtrak website merely states: Departed, with the arrival and departure columns blued out.

Under what circumstances does the AMTRAK website only say Departed without a time stamp? Also, the Crescent departed 2 hrs and 14 mins late today. Is it gen. because of unprepared equipment?

On another note, I've noticed that the 4:35p Vermonter from NYP to WAS is normally 40 minutes late. Is it just me or why does the continual lateness exist?

Train 1(22) originated in New Orleans today (Friday, 23 July).

I don't know how exactly how the website works, but I will say that frequently their estimated times and their "as of the latest report, at..." statements are worthless.

As for "Departed," I'm going to take a wild stab and say that's when someone reports a time for the train down the line, but hasn't yet reported a time for that stop. For example, if you check "Orlando" and someone enters a time for "New Orleans," without specifically entering into the system that the train originated there (in which case, you'd get a "Service Disruption" notice) then the computer thinks that the train must have already departed Orlando, otherwise how would it get to New Orleans? So, the website will give you "Departed" without a time.

So, why do trains run late? Freight congestion is the biggest culprit, on the Sunset Limited's route in particular. If a train leaves its initial terminal late, there are generally three causes: 1) late servicing/bad order equipment (usually caused by the inbound arriving late), 2) crew rest (again, frequently caused by the inbound running late), 3) another inbound train running late with lots of connecting passengers.

I should note that some of the comments in this message are opinion and speculation, which normally get pointed out as nothing but a rumor. Whatever happened to Matt Fels, anyway?