Trip Report: Fear and Loathing in Manhattan (ABQ-ORD-LGA-EWR-ORD-ABQ)

Jim Anderson wrote:

Amtrak... great short distance... Don't place ANY money on sticking to the
schedule over a long distance either. Yes, the airlines have the same issue
but they don't show up 4 to 8 hrs late on a consistant basis.

Here are the November on-time performance stats for the trains he will
be taking. These stats are for the trains' ultimate destinations:

Train 3 (Westbound):

On time (within 30 minutes of schedule) - 76 percent
Average lateness for all late trains - 1 hour 9 minutes
Maximum lateness - 2 hours 22 minutes

Train 4 (Eastbound):

On time (within 30 minutes of schedule) - 52 percent
Average lateness for all late trains - 1 hour 32 minutes
Maximum lateness - 5 hours 10 minutes

A rider should keep in mind that there is a certain amount of schedule
padding at the end of the run, so the on-time performance at the second
to last station will be worse. As an example, Naperville is the last
stop before arriving in Chicago. They allow 2 hours, 4 minutes for that
last 28 miles inbound, but only 1 hour, 2 minutes outbound. The local
commuter trains cover the distance in as little as 33 minutes.

Not everyone is an unemployed bum like you with infinite time to kill (and
troll), Mezei:

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Subject: Trip Report: Fear and Loathing in Manhattan
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The Bill Mattocks wrote:
Amtrak. I'll report back on how it goes, the positives and negatives.

Long distance train travel depends on the passengers having the right
attitude. You have to consider the train to be more of a cruise ship than an
aircraft (getting there is the fun). You have to laugh off the delays.
Contrary to aircraft, mingling with other passengers is part of the experience
in the bar/lounge.

Learn to get off the train whenever there is a stop of more than a few minutes
(especially in your case since you're a heavy smoker). It is best to always
get off and on the train from your sleeping car so that your car attendant is
aware that your out to take a breath of fresh air.

Think of it as a mini vacation where you have no choice but to relax. Worrying
about being late is pointless.

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The Bill Mattocks wrote:

nobody wrote in message
...
In the northeast, when they start to issue PR notices advising pax that
they are waving change penalties due to the predicted storm, it means
that they expect a backlog of a few days. As I recall, those started
coming out on Thursday night.

I will have to remember that for the future. Next week, I'm flying
into ALB on Sunday, working in Pittsfield, MA, driving to Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, working there, and then flying out of BOS on Friday.
Should be fun.


Good Luck. Weather forcast for CT for this weekend is 3-7 inches of snow
starting noontime Sunday, then changing to sleet/freezing rain/rain Sunday
evening and into MOnday.
My best advice for you is to try to fly via Hartford. BDL tends to be open
longest/most often of all the area airports during snow/ice storms. Last
week while you were stuck in NYC, we flew from Orlando to BDL and arrived
ontime at 5:30 PM Sat despite a large number of other flights from Orlando
to providence,islip,boston etc being delayed or cancelled.

Tracey in CT

Tracey wrote in message .com...
Good Luck. Weather forcast for CT for this weekend is 3-7 inches of snow
starting noontime Sunday, then changing to sleet/freezing rain/rain Sunday
evening and into MOnday.

Well, I made it! At least the first leg of the journey. Today I flew
AA FLT 1022 ABQ-ORD, then AA FLT 4047 ORD-ALB. Got my rental car
(Mercury Mountaineer with NeverLost, thank you Hertz) and drove to
Pittsfield. Gotta teach a class tomorrow and Tuesday, then I drive to
Portsmouth, NH and teach two more days. Fly home from BOS on Friday.

My best advice for you is to try to fly via Hartford. BDL tends to be open
longest/most often of all the area airports during snow/ice storms. Last
week while you were stuck in NYC, we flew from Orlando to BDL and arrived
ontime at 5:30 PM Sat despite a large number of other flights from Orlando
to providence,islip,boston etc being delayed or cancelled.

Didn't have a choice, really. Trip plans had been made well in
advance, and our in-house travel person is not in on weekends. Can't
change tickets without using my own credit card instead of company
credit card (that can only go through in-house travel agent).

But the good news is that the snow, which was falling heavily in ALB
when I arrived, seems to have slackened off a bit - the drive was
uneventful.

Hope it stays that way for the rest of the week!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

The Bill Mattocks wrote:
Well, I made it! At least the first leg of the journey. Today I flew
AA FLT 1022 ABQ-ORD, then AA FLT 4047 ORD-ALB. Got my rental car
(Mercury Mountaineer with NeverLost, thank you Hertz) and drove to
Pittsfield. Gotta teach a class tomorrow and Tuesday, then I drive to
Portsmouth, NH and teach two more days. Fly home from BOS on Friday.

I'm flying out of BOS on Friday, too. Looks like the next storm in the
forecast is Thursday, so maybe we'll luck out.

RHess wrote in message ...
The Bill Mattocks wrote:
Well, I made it! At least the first leg of the journey. Today I flew
AA FLT 1022 ABQ-ORD, then AA FLT 4047 ORD-ALB. Got my rental car
(Mercury Mountaineer with NeverLost, thank you Hertz) and drove to
Pittsfield. Gotta teach a class tomorrow and Tuesday, then I drive to
Portsmouth, NH and teach two more days. Fly home from BOS on Friday.

I'm flying out of BOS on Friday, too. Looks like the next storm in the
forecast is Thursday, so maybe we'll luck out.

I'll be on AA 487 BOS-ORD at 6:50 a.m. Assuming I can wake up that early...

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

"RHess" wrote in message
...
The Bill Mattocks wrote:
Well, I made it! At least the first leg of the journey. Today I flew
AA FLT 1022 ABQ-ORD, then AA FLT 4047 ORD-ALB. Got my rental car
(Mercury Mountaineer with NeverLost, thank you Hertz) and drove to
Pittsfield. Gotta teach a class tomorrow and Tuesday, then I drive to
Portsmouth, NH and teach two more days. Fly home from BOS on Friday.

I'm flying out of BOS on Friday, too. Looks like the next storm in the
forecast is Thursday, so maybe we'll luck out.

Ah, hell. Is that right? I'm supposed to fly SNA-ORD-FRA on Thursday, and
this is for my vacation. I don't want to spend it snowed in in Chicago.

The Bill Mattocks wrote:

I'll be on AA 487 BOS-ORD at 6:50 a.m. Assuming I can wake up that early...

Bill: The southbound portion of Boston's Big Dig (I-93 South over the new bridge
and then underneath Boston in the new tunnel) opens this weekend. To prepare for
the opening, there may be road closures and changes (even more than normal!)
especially with the Harbor Tunnels' (which connect Downtown Boston to Logan
Airport) connections to I-93.

The I-93 Northbound tunnel underneath Boston opened earlier this year. The new
I-90 Tunnel which extends the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) all the way to the Ted
Williams Tunnel thence to Logan Airport opened last January.

Just be aware that there may be a lot of construction and detours not only this
weekend, but for several days leading up to it. If coming from the North, you may
wish to access the airport via US Route 1, then Route 1A, rather than via I-93 and
downtown Boston. HTH

http://www.bigdig.com

John R wrote in message ...
Bill: The southbound portion of Boston's Big Dig (I-93 South over the new bridge...

That was very helpful, thank you!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks