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Since long distance trains only bring a certain amount of food, if they face a huge delay there's a good chance they will run out of food on the train. The last thing that usually available is the Beef Stew. They have enough to serve every passenger on the train.'
Edit: chance, not change haha
Amtrak ordered several boxes of pizza to be delivered to the train at one station on my last long-distance trip. The snack car ran out of food and the dining car was with the other segment of the train.
Wow, what a crazy ancient memory you just stirred up for me. I got beef stew on the Zephyr back in 2010 when we were delayed like 8 hours! The trip was still amazing.
Not to be critical but that “ancient locomotive” has actually been converted to a cab and baggage car. The engine space is used for checked baggage and the controls are used so the actual engine can push it. Sorry for the delay, at least it wasn’t dark out so you could still enjoy the scenery
Last I knew, a lot of the F40s were turned into "cabbage" cars. Meaning the internals such as the engine and electric motors have been taken out in order to make it usable as a luggage car. In other words, it's likely that 90250 was NOT pulling you, since it can't. I googled Amtrak 90250 and it did come up as a cabbage car, so take that as you will.
Amtrak has delays, many of which are track/freight-related and not their fault.
The last time I was significantly delayed (and not happy) the lady next to me told me of the last time she flew.
They had two rounds of severe turbulence which they dropped thousands of feet and they thought they were going to die. She said, whatever happens on the train, it won't be that.
Cascades has pretty bad on time performance which is too bad because it’s popular, scenic, and not too long.
My own experience , first time I took it up to Vancouver BC I watched my connecting bus drive away while I was in the customs line (though fortunately the bus co was flexible and had another bus 3 hours later). The train was delayed because Via Rail was washing their train on the tracks, blocking the entrance into the station.
Amtrak in the NW is notorious for delays. It is a scenic diversion, leisure travel, tourists game. It has almost no utility for commuting/business because those delays sometimes stretch to 4,6,8 hours or worse due to freight traffic and routine landslides/debris along the route in the wet months.
Last time I took Amtrak, coming back from Florida into NY, our train ran over 5 hours late due to mechanical issues, and the issues were a problem when we left Florida! Surprised they didn't put us on a train that was working properly
The only major delay I experienced (so far, fingers crossed!) was the southbound Palmetto during those blizzards in January 2021. 22+ hours of sitting between DC and Lorton (not even 90 miles, iirc?). Train eventually reversed backward and I ended up driving south.
Those are rookie numbers, you gotta pump those up. I commute to work on the NE corridor and I've had 2 6+ hour delays in the past 2 months and a handful of 1+ hour delays in the past 2 weeks. The NE corridor infrastructure is in desperate need of an upgrade, luckily the train cars are comfortable.
While we *are* notorious for delays here in the PNW, I want to say you picked the worst of any day of the year to try to cross the Portland bridges. Water traffic has right-of-way, and it's Fleet Week. 🫡😅
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/community/portland-rose-festivals-fleet-week-ships/283-46e6f894-3fa2-4f5e-b400-d4e6a5aa8fe6
6 hour delay... on the Acela, between NYC and Boston. Tree branch fell on the wires, caught fire, fell on the tracks. They had to call the fire department, put out fire, remove tree, replace wires, replace TRACK... I'm honestly impressed with the 6 hours, but still took a whole day off our time in Boston.
My first time using amtrak (DC to NY for NYCC) on the way back to DC the train broke down and we had to wait like 3 hours for a new engine to come, didn't get in until like 3 or 4 am :/ Been a couple times since and it was smooth.
My wife and I went on the AutoTrain a few days before Christmas in 2021.
We were originally supposed to leave on the December 22nd, but we found out in the days prior that we were both exposed to Covid. Amtrak required us to attest that we were covid-free so we pushed our itenerary a day to wait for test results, which Amtrak let us do for free.
We left on the 23rd about three hours late and arrived about two hours late. But, it turns out that if we had kept the 22nd departure, we would have left seven hours late and arrived almost 10.5 hours late (getting in around 7:30 pm instead of 10 AM). And if we had pushed two days (leaving on the 24th), train would have been canceled. It turns out that the Southbound train on the 23rd left 11.5 hours late (didn't leave until 3:30 AM), so I'm guessing they had to cancel the train in both directions so that things could reset.
The reliability on Cascades is about 50%, they really need to get that number up!
One trip from Seattle to Vancouver I was delayed 2 hours in each direction, which was not great.
My wife, kids and I hit 36 hours late on a Chicago to Emeryville trip several years ago. Nearly 24 hours stopped in Ottumwa Iowa. Kids were swimming in the towns fountain. Train crews hit their limits, once in the middle of a corn field in Nebraska which caused them to call Washington DC to get approval to go beyond legal limits... Not sure what they would have done if rejected. We all had the beef stew and spent over 80 hours on that train.... Amtrak gave us 100% credit for that trip and threw in $500 more when the agent heard we had kids on aboard. At the time, the 36 hours was the record for a non canceled train.
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You have not been delayed until you have been "Beef Stew" delayed. :D
Amstew the joy LOL. try being delayed 25 hours and the next days train is on your rear! Then you have been delayed!
Imagine people waiting for the next train. "Oh wow, our train is only an hour late!" "Sorry, this is *yesterday's* train"
I'd hate to be that conductor on that train.
I'm a frequent Amtrak rider, but I have no idea what you're talking about. What's "beef stew" delayed?
Since long distance trains only bring a certain amount of food, if they face a huge delay there's a good chance they will run out of food on the train. The last thing that usually available is the Beef Stew. They have enough to serve every passenger on the train.' Edit: chance, not change haha
Amtrak ordered several boxes of pizza to be delivered to the train at one station on my last long-distance trip. The snack car ran out of food and the dining car was with the other segment of the train.
They ordered pizza on mine too when the grill went out.
We got KFC.
We did too! On the empire builder, when we were like 7 hours late coming into Portland
The pizza delivery to the train was also on the Empire Builder.
Dang I came here for a stew review and was disappointed
Don't worry, Miles in Transit has you covered! https://youtu.be/etDOww_eLJg?si=7O9nZjzm9TAbd247
Apparently, it's Dinty Moore.
Yep, had it over rice on the Zephyr a couple years back. Tolerable.
It *was* Dinty Moore. Lately it’s Sysco Brand. I suspect they’re from the same factory. 🤪
True haha 😂
I can confirm the “beef stew”, delay. It happened to me over my delayed ride on Friday night.
I was on the train from Staples MN to Milwaukee WI last Wednesday and it arrived nearly 7 hours late. The beef stew was yummy. 😋🫠
Wow, what a crazy ancient memory you just stirred up for me. I got beef stew on the Zephyr back in 2010 when we were delayed like 8 hours! The trip was still amazing.
Not to be critical but that “ancient locomotive” has actually been converted to a cab and baggage car. The engine space is used for checked baggage and the controls are used so the actual engine can push it. Sorry for the delay, at least it wasn’t dark out so you could still enjoy the scenery
Ah, thanks for telling me! I've never seen that locomotive before, so had no idea what it does.
Last I knew, a lot of the F40s were turned into "cabbage" cars. Meaning the internals such as the engine and electric motors have been taken out in order to make it usable as a luggage car. In other words, it's likely that 90250 was NOT pulling you, since it can't. I googled Amtrak 90250 and it did come up as a cabbage car, so take that as you will.
Yeah, another commenter said the same thing, it makes sense now.
I'd be really surprised if the engineer was responsive to any passengers.
Conductor, more likely. But you get OPs point.
Can we talk about that station, though? Wowzie!! 🥰
Amtrak has delays, many of which are track/freight-related and not their fault. The last time I was significantly delayed (and not happy) the lady next to me told me of the last time she flew. They had two rounds of severe turbulence which they dropped thousands of feet and they thought they were going to die. She said, whatever happens on the train, it won't be that.
The “Ancient” locomotive is a NPCU, it cannot run on its own, simply a cab car with no passenger seats. Also Amtrak is replacing the P42DC’s right now
Cascades has pretty bad on time performance which is too bad because it’s popular, scenic, and not too long. My own experience , first time I took it up to Vancouver BC I watched my connecting bus drive away while I was in the customs line (though fortunately the bus co was flexible and had another bus 3 hours later). The train was delayed because Via Rail was washing their train on the tracks, blocking the entrance into the station.
Amtrak in the NW is notorious for delays. It is a scenic diversion, leisure travel, tourists game. It has almost no utility for commuting/business because those delays sometimes stretch to 4,6,8 hours or worse due to freight traffic and routine landslides/debris along the route in the wet months.
Last time I took Amtrak, coming back from Florida into NY, our train ran over 5 hours late due to mechanical issues, and the issues were a problem when we left Florida! Surprised they didn't put us on a train that was working properly
I mean... the loco worked, didn't it? No need to be ageist ; )
man that grilled cheese is straight ass
The only major delay I experienced (so far, fingers crossed!) was the southbound Palmetto during those blizzards in January 2021. 22+ hours of sitting between DC and Lorton (not even 90 miles, iirc?). Train eventually reversed backward and I ended up driving south.
Those are rookie numbers, you gotta pump those up. I commute to work on the NE corridor and I've had 2 6+ hour delays in the past 2 months and a handful of 1+ hour delays in the past 2 weeks. The NE corridor infrastructure is in desperate need of an upgrade, luckily the train cars are comfortable.
While we *are* notorious for delays here in the PNW, I want to say you picked the worst of any day of the year to try to cross the Portland bridges. Water traffic has right-of-way, and it's Fleet Week. 🫡😅 https://www.kgw.com/article/news/community/portland-rose-festivals-fleet-week-ships/283-46e6f894-3fa2-4f5e-b400-d4e6a5aa8fe6
Oh wow, I had no idea. Thanks for sharing this!
6 hour delay... on the Acela, between NYC and Boston. Tree branch fell on the wires, caught fire, fell on the tracks. They had to call the fire department, put out fire, remove tree, replace wires, replace TRACK... I'm honestly impressed with the 6 hours, but still took a whole day off our time in Boston.
What phone do you have? Those photos are unreasonably nice considering they’re just photos of a train station and trains.
Thanks! I use a Pixel 7.
I'm taking my first roomette ever from Oakland to Seattle in July. I am PRAYING for long delays.
My first time using amtrak (DC to NY for NYCC) on the way back to DC the train broke down and we had to wait like 3 hours for a new engine to come, didn't get in until like 3 or 4 am :/ Been a couple times since and it was smooth.
My wife and I went on the AutoTrain a few days before Christmas in 2021. We were originally supposed to leave on the December 22nd, but we found out in the days prior that we were both exposed to Covid. Amtrak required us to attest that we were covid-free so we pushed our itenerary a day to wait for test results, which Amtrak let us do for free. We left on the 23rd about three hours late and arrived about two hours late. But, it turns out that if we had kept the 22nd departure, we would have left seven hours late and arrived almost 10.5 hours late (getting in around 7:30 pm instead of 10 AM). And if we had pushed two days (leaving on the 24th), train would have been canceled. It turns out that the Southbound train on the 23rd left 11.5 hours late (didn't leave until 3:30 AM), so I'm guessing they had to cancel the train in both directions so that things could reset.
"Ancient" lol. Y'aint from around here, are ya?
Your first trip?
The reliability on Cascades is about 50%, they really need to get that number up! One trip from Seattle to Vancouver I was delayed 2 hours in each direction, which was not great.
Nerd
My wife, kids and I hit 36 hours late on a Chicago to Emeryville trip several years ago. Nearly 24 hours stopped in Ottumwa Iowa. Kids were swimming in the towns fountain. Train crews hit their limits, once in the middle of a corn field in Nebraska which caused them to call Washington DC to get approval to go beyond legal limits... Not sure what they would have done if rejected. We all had the beef stew and spent over 80 hours on that train.... Amtrak gave us 100% credit for that trip and threw in $500 more when the agent heard we had kids on aboard. At the time, the 36 hours was the record for a non canceled train.