We took the Empire Builder to Seattle. Got there on time. The food was too great. I gained 8.5 pounds. A week later on the 23rd of May, 2015, we left Seattle for Chicago. Somewhere between Spokane and Whitefish, Montana, in the wee hours of the 24th, we were wakened by a loud bang. Since the train was still rolling and nothing seemed wrong, I went back to sleep. In the morning we were stopped.
The crew said we hit 2' rocks that were in a pile four feet high between the rails and that we hit them at 70 mph. Some of the crew wondered if the rocks were deliberately set. At the time we were disabled, we were in wilderness. The conductor let us out to stretch our legs but not to go very far.
Crews took the two P-42s to a siding and swapped places. After hooking back up it was determined that neither loco was operable. We waited for a BNSF repair vehicle to come out and weld something back together. It was several hours before we got to the BNSF rail yard in Whitefish. Both P-42 engines were separated from the train, apparently having damaged reserve air tanks. There was a long wait in the rail yard while crews talked with the BNSF police, another locomotive prepared and safety checks performed. One of the P-42s was reattached to the train (probably for head-end power) and a BNSF Dash-9 then pulled us the rest of the way to Chicago. We arrived in Chicago 8 hours and 39 minutes late. There was plenty of food, the toilets worked and we had water so the only inconvenience was being late.
Has anyone heard any follow up?
The crew said we hit 2' rocks that were in a pile four feet high between the rails and that we hit them at 70 mph. Some of the crew wondered if the rocks were deliberately set. At the time we were disabled, we were in wilderness. The conductor let us out to stretch our legs but not to go very far.
Crews took the two P-42s to a siding and swapped places. After hooking back up it was determined that neither loco was operable. We waited for a BNSF repair vehicle to come out and weld something back together. It was several hours before we got to the BNSF rail yard in Whitefish. Both P-42 engines were separated from the train, apparently having damaged reserve air tanks. There was a long wait in the rail yard while crews talked with the BNSF police, another locomotive prepared and safety checks performed. One of the P-42s was reattached to the train (probably for head-end power) and a BNSF Dash-9 then pulled us the rest of the way to Chicago. We arrived in Chicago 8 hours and 39 minutes late. There was plenty of food, the toilets worked and we had water so the only inconvenience was being late.
Has anyone heard any follow up?
