Imagine you are a passenger on Amtrak #3, having just departed Chicago less than an hour earlier when your train is stopped by a red signal at West Eola for over thirty minutes! Why you ask, well train BRCGAL was at Bristol switching out over forty cars in that town and a coal train had just gone west and was taking up that main…while Amtrak #'s 6 and then #4 were both coming eastbound within ten minutes of one another on the other main track…SO the dispatcher had no other choice but to have #3 wait at West Eola for about thirty five minutes until both of the eastbound Amtrak trains went by. This was actually good for us watching all of this at Eola as #3 had a “deadhead” car behind the power and in front of the baggage car in the form of Amtrak California car number 6903 (“Point Magu”) just returning from repairs at Beach Grove in Indianapolis so we got a close look at her while she cooled her heels on #3. I’ll bet the passengers (not to mention the crew) of #3 were saying “what next” to themselves after that wait after so little time passed into their cross country trip.
Criminy. [:(]
Chief DS may have some explaining to do on that move.