Raton Pass Closed

[printman2000]

I just read a report on a list the Raton Pass has been closed because of wildfires. #4 has apparently been turned back to Albuquerque.

 

[yarrow]

not surprising. i can imagine how fire could roar through there. glorieta pass too, might be an exciting trip back to abq

 

[henryj]

Amazing, that leaves the Eagle/Sunset as the only western LD train still running.

 

[railiner]

There is still the VIA Canadian, when it runs, if you want to consider it as an alternate to the EB.

 

[Amtrak George]

THE DEVIL MUST BE AFTER AMTRAK: First the Builder, then the Zephyr, now the Chief. Floods to the north, fires to the south. Lord help us. If there is any consolation, I saw elsewhere that the BNSF Transcon (via Amarillo) is still open so I hope they can detour the Chief that way.

 

[GlobalistPotato]

They can always reroute the Chief south via Amarillo. They've done that before when something happened on the Raton Pass.

 

[printman2000]

If anyone gets word of a transcon detour, let me know. Would love to catch it coming through Amarillo.

 

[gswager]

I've checked on NM Wildland Fire Info about it. Yup, it is called "Track Fire" which is located north of Raton. I hope it doesn't burned a lot of railroad ties at Amtrak expense.

 

[rogers55]

We have tickets for the SWC departing LAX tomorrow night. Should be interesting.

The Amarillo route should be a nice diversion, we have been through Raton many times.

How will that affect arrival time in Chicago.

 

[Ryan]

Looks like Amarillo it is.

 

[Rail Freak]

Looks like Amarillo it is.

How will that affect #3 into ABQ?

 

[gswager]

Looks like Amarillo it is.

How will that affect #3 into ABQ?

It will not be affected into ABQ. It has a wye south of ABQ with conductor in rear of train while the engineer is in the front.

 

[gswager]

Printman2000, I do know what time the train will go through Clovis on an eastbound trip, about 7:00 pm. Do you know what time the westbound will go through Amarillo?

 

[VentureForth]

NOW IS THE TIME TO RUN THE TEXAS EAGLE DAILY TO LAX!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

THE DEVIL MUST BE AFTER AMTRAK: First the Builder, then the Zephyr, now the Chief. Floods to the north, fires to the south. Lord help us.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Sky Beard and Horn Head.

 

[jis]

NOW IS THE TIME TO RUN THE TEXAS EAGLE DAILY TO LAX!

Got $800 million dollars handy somewhere?

 

[printman2000]

Printman2000, I do know what time the train will go through Clovis on an eastbound trip, about 7:00 pm. Do you know what time the westbound will go through Amarillo?

In the past it has been around 9:00am.

 

[VentureForth]

NOW IS THE TIME TO RUN THE TEXAS EAGLE DAILY TO LAX!

Got $800 million dollars handy somewhere?

For what? Equipment? The same equipment that is not being used right now. Crew? The same crew that's getting paid for sitting around waiting for the lines to open. It'd take about a day to reroute equipement sent to the TE to get back to the CZ, and about 2 days to get back to the EB. Possibly less if the timing is right and the trains make it to CHI just right.

Meanwhile, there are folks who want to get to California and with 3 of the 4 arteries in jepoardy, someone's gotta start thinking out the box.

But I'm sure Amtrak is taking advantage of the down time to get some good deep cleaning done on the equipment, performing deferred maintenance, etc.

 

[jis]

NOW IS THE TIME TO RUN THE TEXAS EAGLE DAILY TO LAX!

Got $800 million dollars handy somewhere?

For what? Equipment? The same equipment that is not being used right now. Crew? The same crew that's getting paid for sitting around waiting for the lines to open. It'd take about a day to reroute equipement sent to the TE to get back to the CZ, and about 2 days to get back to the EB. Possibly less if the timing is right and the trains make it to CHI just right.

You seem to have conveniently forgotten that there is no way no how that UP will allow more than thrice weekly service on its tracks without extracting as much money as they can from Amtrak or whoever.

 

[Long Train Runnin']

NOW IS THE TIME TO RUN THE TEXAS EAGLE DAILY TO LAX!

Got $800 million dollars handy somewhere?

For what? Equipment? The same equipment that is not being used right now. Crew? The same crew that's getting paid for sitting around waiting for the lines to open. It'd take about a day to reroute equipement sent to the TE to get back to the CZ, and about 2 days to get back to the EB. Possibly less if the timing is right and the trains make it to CHI just right.

Meanwhile, there are folks who want to get to California and with 3 of the 4 arteries in jepoardy, someone's gotta start thinking out the box.

But I'm sure Amtrak is taking advantage of the down time to get some good deep cleaning done on the equipment, performing deferred maintenance, etc.

Union Pacific has said in order for the Eagle to be a daily train Amtrak would need to pay for 800 million dollars in track work. Now maybe if Amtrak said they just need to do it temporarily until things on the other lines calm down UP could make an exception, but otherwise its going to take at least 800 million to get the daily TE running.

 

[Alice]

Union Pacific has said in order for the Eagle to be a daily train Amtrak would need to pay for 800 million dollars in track work. Now maybe if Amtrak said they just need to do it temporarily until things on the other lines calm down UP could make an exception, but otherwise its going to take at least 800 million to get the daily TE running.

It seems to me that right now there is high demand for tracks, for all users, and low supply, a good time to raise prices, or, like BNSF, say they need 48 hours without passengers "for safety" for even more closed-track events.

 

[jis]

Union Pacific has said in order for the Eagle to be a daily train Amtrak would need to pay for 800 million dollars in track work. Now maybe if Amtrak said they just need to do it temporarily until things on the other lines calm down UP could make an exception, but otherwise its going to take at least 800 million to get the daily TE running.

Even in the unlikely situation that they do make an exception, I am sure they will make sure that it runs 12 hours late, just so as to be able to say, see, we told you so. We really do need that extra capacity to run it daily.

I suppose one could extract one more day of service out of them since in the past they have run SAS - ALX 4 times a week for a period.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

UP is not in the business of making exceptions. They are much, much larger than Amtrak and have far more political clout than Amtrak could ever dream of. They are currently being sued for everything from price fixing to erroneous fuel surcharges but today's Union Pacific is so large that any judgment against them is unlikely to hurt them enough to cause any serious pain. They are virtually guaranteed to remain solvent regardless of any wrongdoing they may or may not choose to engage in.

 

[frugalist]

Looks like Amarillo it is.

Three questions:

1. What scheduled stops will this detour miss?

2. Any guess as to when the regular route will be reopened?

3. How will this affect arrival time into LAX?

 

[colobok]

I just read a report on a list the Raton Pass has been closed because of wildfires. #4 has apparently been turned back to Albuquerque.

Oh no! I have a reservation for 06/20. I was particularly interested in seeing Raton Pass because I read a lot of speculations that this route will be gone soon. I understand that detour route doesn't have much scenery, if any, correct?

Where can I read about projections how long Raton Pass will be closed?

Amazing that amtrak.com doesn't show any info about detour at all!