[pct-l] PCT - FLIP FLOP

[jgus at sunbow.org (Gustafson)]

> I took a look at the AMTRAK site and found this info.. Bakersfield to
> Vancouver (BFD - VAN) on June 25 had a low
> fair of $81.00  Departs at 3:45pm and gets into Vancouver the next day 
> at
> 4:28pm.  This is reserved Coach.... This is early enough If you get in 
> on time that
> you can catch the Cannook Grey Dog ?? to Manning Park

Amtrak is not likely to be "on time" ... I took the west coast train 
from Santa Barbara CA to Portland OR last summer to begin a cross 
country bicycle trip, and had arranged for a shuttle to pick us up in 
Portland for a ride to Astoria, the ride start.  Amtrak got us in to 
Portland 3-1/2 hours late, which was rather an inconvenience, to say 
the least.  We had to pay for the shuttle's sit-and-wait time.  The 
explanation was (and will still apply) that trains in the west are all 
dispatched and controlled from a central location somewhere in the 
midwest (I don't remember where -- Chicago???) and that freight 
trains--and most trains ARE freight trains--take precedence over 
passenger trains.  So if there is a conflict in routing on a leg of 
your trip, your passenger train will sit and sit while the freight 
train(s) co-opt the tracks.  If your schedule thus slips even ten or 
fifteen minutes for this reason early on, it will be compounded on and 
on up the line as your train misses its "time slot" and sits for 20 to 
30 minutes here and there while freight trains go through.  There's 
nothing really wrong with this if you know about, and expect, it --just 
don't make your connection plans in concrete.  Be flexible.  The train 
is fun, as long as  you're not sitting there chewing your fingernails.

Two Legs