FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - How early to arrive at station for a train that is running late?
Old May 26, 2014 | 7:49 am
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hobo13
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Originally Posted by jobtraklite
In checking train status with Julie or Amtrak.com, I would base my decision on when it actually left Ft. Morgan. From the timetable: FMG to DEN takes 2:10 while DEN to FMG 1:15.

So I would expect it to arrive in DEN arround

FMG dparture time + 1:15 + extra time it takes to back into the station.
Originally Posted by CMK10
Exactly. If you see when it left its last station you get a good idea. Last year I was taking the Silver Star from CYN to WAS (Cary, NC to Washington). I woke up at 6:30, saw the train was an hour late, tracked it carefully based on where it should have been and where it was now and rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour.

What is helpful is checking the timetables carefully. For the Silver Star example I just used look at this:

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/19/50/Si...ule-060914.pdf

If you look at the northbound train it shows 39 minutes to get from Cary to Raleigh but that's eight miles. So Amtrak is padding to make up time there. Check carefully to make sure when you're tracking the train there aren't gaps like that.
Thanks for the advice. That is exactly the thought process I was looking for.

So it seems like you are both saying that I am unlikely to know much the night before..... i.e. it would have to be running like 6 hours late out of Chicago to be assured that it would arrive DEN late?

Also, what is the cut-off for checked bags on delayed trains? Does the cut-off get pushed back for a delayed train?

Thanks again.
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