My guess is he has never been on an Amtrak Long Distance train that skipped a service stop or was more than 6 hours late. Not a 100% enjoyable place to be. I would not force a paying passenger to endure that discomfort at their financial risk of not doing so meant they lost the price of their tickets.
Something, something, Anderson, something, something, private car, something, something.
Huh?
For the most part, correct. Obviously, there are going to be adjustments in infrastructure over a 39 year period, equally obvious is that current infastructure is sufficient, including that added by Amtrak.
Again, not my argument at all. But indeed BN/BNSF has added a lot of capacity on the route since 1979. The improvements are too numerous to mention here, but they include that St. Paul to Williston is effectively a double track (2 MT CTC) railroad, addition main tracks added in numerous locations in Montana, Idaho, and Washington, sidings were extended, and crossovers and yard tracks added. I don’t know what Montana Rail Link has to do with the Empire Builder, but it has also added infrastructure in numerous locations on its railroad and has greater capacity than ever.
&nbs
True. However, what you describe would require a series of bizarre coincidences that need to happen simultaneously, i.e., the train would not be able to proceed; the locomotives would all need to have run out of fuel and died; and the storm so severe that any type of emergency travel to or from the station could not be made, even by a machine built to operate in snow. Within the realm of possibility, but statistically unlikely.
As I stated earlier, living in Montana for years, I never experienced where travel could not be possible in some form within a community. When, in the past, Amtrak passengers have had to be taken off the train (due to derailment, for instance), school buses were used to move people to a local shelter. Indeed, you can always dream up a scenario where the absolute worst can happen, but the Empire Builder’s reputation as all-weather transport is based on actual operational history, not "what-if"s.
[quote user=“Electroliner 1935”]
Don’t know whether Weather (pun intended) stabbed the California Zepher but it lost 12 hours in Western Nebraska, Eastern Colorado this morning.
| 06 | HLD | Holdrege, NE | 2:34A | 4:09A 4:11A |
Arrived 1 hour 35 minutes late. Departed 1 hour 37 minutes late. |
Station |
|---|
Did you experience any rocking of the train from the winds? Did the four unit BNSF return to Denver with the train?
And you got an extra meal(s) for your fare. I presume the passengers were in a good mood.
No, I felt no rocking. I do not know how far down the track the wind was blowing too strongly for safe travel by superliner.
I did get breakfast this morning on board. I have the impression that coach passengers had to pay for additional meals.
The light engine, so far as I know, followed us in.
Many passengers had to change their travel plans because they missed connections in various places. Those with whom I talked did not seem angry.
VerMontanan, glad to give you today’s laugh.
Yes I live in the lake-effect snow belt of Northern Michigan. During my 35 year career I drove around the oil field roads in all sorts of snow and morass, and had to dig my self out of situations. However, I am retired now, and if I traveled on the Empire Builder in winter, I would not want to have to pack a snowmobile suit to meet my “ride” at the station.
The storm was of historic proportions. I don’t know what it was like on the CP part of Wisconsin, but Green Bay had its second deepest amount of snow (23+“) in history. Northern Michigan had some spots with 24”. My area only had a few inches of sleet, which 50 mph gusts caused to drift. State Police advised only emergency travel. Even Lake Michigan had a seiche causing an 8 foot storm surge.
My experience with signal problems was on the “Canadian” when it was still routed on the CP. Rain had knocked them out, and we traveled very s-l-o-w.
I would guess that Amtrak didn’t want to put its passengers in any potential danger or discomfort that would have required heroic efforts to safely resolve.
Yes, 21.5 inches in Appleton with barreling winds. 29 inches 10 miles north. At Manitowoc, Lake Michigan Ferry road to Ferry ramp washed out by pounding surf.
I suspect surviving passengers on the Titanic may have had to change their continuing travel plan upon arrival in New York to.
You didn’t think Rentzenburger was going to keep a crew van between the ditches on US-34 out there across the flat half of Colorado ? [:-,]
Imagine the light engine hop dog-caught something between McCook and Brush after that.
For those unfamiliar with the term, here’s an introduction…
Just as a meteorological nit-pick, “storm surge” is usually associated with reduced air pressure under a large storm like a hurricane, whereas as I understand the Lake Michigan situation the higher level was the result of fetch.
So much for trains being all weather service.
They have enough trouble doing that in sunny and 80 degree weather.
The storm also did damage on the Wisconsin side, to the ex-carferry Badger pier in Manitowoc.
We sort of look at Amtrak weather cancellations as un necessary. After a full review of reports including MSP light rail unable to operate due to multi stalled vehicles unable to clear the light rail tracks. Probably a very good idea that Amtrak cancelled, It appears that any malfunction of a Builder would not have had any rescue possible.
Why? See above. When the California Zephyr was in trouble east of Denver, the rescue happened. Why not possible with the Empire Builder? And remember, the spokesperson for BNSF said it was “business as usual” on their railroad, and no exceptions noted for CP, either. (I have a friend who worked in Downtown Minneapolis from 1500 to 2300 Saturday…he made it to work and back home to Coon Rapids OK - roads were not great, but people made it work at his 24-hour office; also the SPUD webcam no. 2 showed rail activity through the night.)
With regard to the stalled vehicles on the light rail in the Twin Cities being a reason not to run the Empire Builder: The light rail runs really really close (sometimes on) streets, so encounters with stalled cars between St. Paul and Minneapolis would probably be exponentially more likely than finding same along the Empire Builder route from La Crosse to St. Cloud where encounters would be limited to grade crossings. Also, when it came to busting through snow and or ice, two P42s (8400 HP) and an 11-car Empire Builder in the 1100 to 1200-ton range might have a bit better go of it than a 300-ton Green Line light rail train.
In the event your post was a 15-day-late April Fool’s Day posting: Late, but really funny.
As to the CZ rescue, there was nothing on the track to inhibit travel; the problem was the possibility that high winds might topple the train. Freights were running past, in both directions. The dispatcher, in his discretion forbade the movement of the Superliner.
On a freight you have two persons, conductor and engineer, who do it for a living. On an Amtrak train there are perhaps 200 passengers who paid for the trip, and that makes a huge difference.
On the other hand I see Amtrak LD trains more as tourist trains. They might be usefull in some corridors for local people but delays makes using the almost unpredictable.
Regards, Volker
You need a road trip. To Northern Montana. In the winter.