6 replies to this topic

[JayPea]

I've been noticing the Empire Builder has had an abysmal on-time record into Chicago the last few weeks---this from a train that has always had a good record. One day last week it was nearly 13 hrs. late. Anyone have any explanations????

[AmtrakFan]

There were several late turns of Equipment plus several other things go wrong with Freight Trains, Engines in a STATE OF GOOD REPAIR. My Mom and Brother's 8(25) arrived over 8 Hours late due to a comedy of woes, all was well til they hit Stanley, ND, where a person decided it was her time to "expire" and had to call the corner in that took 3 Hours, then Twice the Crews ran out of Hours, then Freight Trains plus Signal Woes. It gave new mean to the word Poseidon Adventure, but it didn't take nearly as long as the 20 Years Poseidon trip took.

Edited by AmtrakFan, 01 August 2007 - 02:27 PM.

[Foodman53]

My wife and I were on the #7-27 of July 14th. We went dead(both engines crapped out) in 100 degree heat near Havre, MT....and had to be towed the next 1,000 or so miles into Seattle by a BNSF freight unit, arriving over 9 hours late!

I think that the equipment for the #7 turns into the #8 in that same day. If on time, that's about a 7 hour turn around. Obviously, the #8 missed its slot because we were so late, and was annulled for that day. Now, that was over 2 1/2 weeks ago, but it could have started the problem for several days to come(??)

From the Florida Funnel(now back home)
Foodman53

[MrFSS]

My wife and I were on the #7-27 of July 14th. We went dead(both engines crapped out) in 100 degree heat near Havre, MT....and had to be towed the next 1,000 or so miles into Seattle by a BNSF freight unit, arriving over 9 hours late!

Did the A/C stop when the engines died? That must have been miserable!!!

[Foodman53]

In our case, the A/C kept running.....thank God!! The interesting thing was that on the EB, there are several "smoke stops" built in along the route. However when the train stopped, the PA told everyone not to get off because of being right next to BNSF's two track mainline.....and, because of "rattlesnakes"!!

Before that wait was over, I'm sure there were some smokers who would have opted to brave the rattlers


From the Florida Funnel
Foodman53

[AmtrakFan]

My family and I were on the EB from Seattle that arrived in Chicago
7 hours late on Friday, July 27. (11 pm versus 4 pm)

The root cause of that delay was that an elder passenger died
Thursday night. The train was stopped in Rugby ND for several
hours while the authorities sorted it out. (It is never a good thing
when there is a PA announcement asking if a doctor or an EMT
is on board...)

By breakfast, we were 4 hours late. Add another hour at a siding
in the "middle of nowhere" because the engineer turned into a
pumpkin at the end of his shift.

The remaining 2 hours were due to waiting for traffic in front
of us to clear.

Yep that is correct, my Mom and Brother were on that train. They were just happy to get off that thing, when I saw them at home the next morning.

Edited by AmtrakFan, 02 August 2007 - 02:19 PM.