Tornadoes and Amtrak

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Sue rout said:
Has there any derailments caused bt tornadoes. Thank you
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Ever, or just in this week's storms? Dunno about either one, but I can tell you there have been major delays, in the past. When the tornadoes struck IN, KY and WV a couple months ago the 51 Cardinal sat safe in HUN station out of danger till it was safe to move on! It sat five hours! Course not only did the storms have to end, but the debris had to be cleared off the tracks. Safety first!
 
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Gad, I was on the cruise site and they were talking rough waves and then I come here and they are talking tornadoes. In a few weeks I am taking a train to go to a cruise trip. Yikes. Tornadoes and rough waves etc.
 
I and another forum member did a round-trip from Chicago to Carbondale (Trains #391 & #392) about this time last year and got caught in a Tornado Warning on the northbound return near the small town of Ashley, IL. I got some video on the tail end of events and posted it to You Tube. I am sure if you search You Tube you will be able to find it.

Pretty much nothing major happened on the train even though we saw the funnel not that far away up in the clouds. We just came to a stop on the CN mainline... the conductor and assistant conductor went up into the engine... while passengers just stayed in their seats or walked about the train looking out the windows. The cafe car guy just kinda sat down on his make-shift crate on the floor of the cafe car bar area.

Again, what can you do?

Because we had about 150 miles of Flash Flood Warnings ahead of us, we got into Chicago around 4-5 hours late... stayed at 25mph for most of the trip... and got in at like 2:30AM.
 
Gingee said:
Gad, I was on the cruise site and they were talking rough waves and then I come here and they are talking tornadoes. In a few weeks I am taking a train to go to a cruise trip. Yikes. Tornadoes and rough waves etc.
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Where will you be traveling from by train? The odds are very very slim that your travel plans will involve tornadoes, but any form of transportation can be affected by them. Amtrak takes weather seriously (as do all forms of public transportation). I'll be traveling through part of tornado alley next week on Amtrak, and I have absolutely no worries about doing so.
 
Thanks for all the input. I will be on southwest chief end of may. Right thru tornado alley. Sheesh
 
Sue rout said:
Thanks for all the input. I will be on southwest chief end of may. Right thru tornado alley. Sheesh
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The thing is, tornadoes can happen any time, any where, no matter what form of transportation you're using (car, plane, train, bus, even ship!). Most tornadoes are tiny little things that do minimal damage, very few are the big F-3, 4 or 5. What I would do is just sit back and enjoy the scenery -- the Southwest Chief will take you through just about every form of scenery there is, from plains, to desert to mountains. There are some neat tunnels, and one or two piggytail curves. I suggest you have your camera handy as you'll see some of America that only those who travel Amtrak have the chance to see (except in pictures). If you're in a sleeper enjoy the meals, if not I'd recommend at least one meal on the train just for the experience, if you've never done so before. You're trip should be just fine. Do you have a connection to make from the SWC? For the most part over the last four weeks it's been averaging 8 minutes ahead of schedule, with one day it was 4 hours late, dunno why.

Like I said, sit back relax and enjoy the moving picture called "America." :giggle: Please do report back after your trip and let us know how it went.
 
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Sue rout said:
Thanks for all the input. I will be on southwest chief end of may. Right thru tornado alley. Sheesh
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I wouldn't worry too much about it. Lots of people live in Tornado Alley and go through their normal lives throughout the summer. While there are days with severe weather outbreaks, they're not daily (or even close to that.) Plus, the general region is usually known beforehand by the Storm Prediction Center, and they release risk maps a few times a day. They also release watches when severe weather seems likely in a given area. Amtrak takes those, along with any warnings that are issued, into account, and makes sure passengers are safe if severe weather does strike.

It'd be similar to avoiding/worrying about going anywhere on the East Coast or Gulf region from July until October-November because there's a risk of a hurricane. While there may be a couple of people that do, it'd be silly to do so, because they don't hit all that often and are known beforehand if they do. While there isn't as much lead time for a particular tornado, there is lead time for a severe weather breakout which may lead to a tornado. Tornadoes also damage a much smaller area, and Amtrak will make sure its passengers are safe should severe weather strike a route.

Frankly, I wouldn't worry about it any more than I worry about driving away from my dorm room/apartment throughout the summer (which I don't.)
 
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I have twice been on the TE when there were tornado warnings along the route. Both times, they stopped and held the train as far away from the area with the tornadoes as possible until the bad weather was safely past. (In one case they held us at a station stop and I presume if things got really bad we'd have been moved to a shelter.)

I think the fact that in this day and age, we generally have fairly long advance warning (I am old enough, and grew up in Ohio, so I remember the horrible deadly outbreak of 1974, which had fairly little warning), and precautions can be taken.
 
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No derailment, but took this picture last August on the westbound Lakeshore LImited, in the Sandusky Bay area.

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Not the same But back in 2008 I took 421 Texas eagle from chi to lax. I forgot where we were but there was a server storm and UP decided to stop us where we were due to the storm as a precaution.
 
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If I was seeking shelter from a Tornado, and a basement wasn't available.....I would take my chances in a railroad car before say a mobile home. The railroad car is much heavier, and better constructed. Even if the car actually got blown over, like those (probably empty) freight cars did in that video, they would stay intact and not crush. Perhaps some broken glass....

In the video, the locomotive was not disturbed by the tornado, other than perhaps derailing. Too heavy, even for a tornado.

I believe a car such as the 'presidential' Magellan, heavily armored, could sustain a direct hit by any tornado....
 
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