EB mess

[montana mike]

Given the performance so far under the "new" schedule, and as the BNSF people have told me now on several occasions over the past two weeks, the reality of the big time delays on the Hi-Line (if you add the current delays to the padding you come up with 7-8 hour delays off the "old" schedule, which is what was common a few months ago so no real change) this new schedule isn't going away any time soon. In fact BNSF has told Amtrak that with continued increases in freight congestion and construction delays to increase this summer the current padding is likely woefully inadequate.

:-(

 

[montana mike]

Does anyone know what has happened to 7/27, currently sitting just east of SPK? It was about 6 hours behind schedule before it stopped just outside of SPK.

:-(

 

[orion]

It seems that (4)7 is travelling the KO this morning. Anybody know what is going on?

 

[aurbo]

It looks like BNSF is setting up its directional system through ND this summer. Westbound EB will be travelling the KO with bus service to GFK, DVL, and RUG and the eastbound will be on the Devils Lake/Hillsboro sub.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Nice so BNSF makes Amtrak and the state give them money to keep a route open, and now they can only use it one way.

Has BNSF given the money back yet?

Or are they claiming it only during the construction season.

 

[Ispolkom]

Nice so BNSF makes Amtrak and the state give them money to keep a route open, and now they can only use it one way.

Has BNSF given the money back yet?

I don't think that North Dakota ever came up with its share. At least, I never saw any appropriation past the $10 million TIGER grant, which is, of course, federal money. Also, did Amtrak actually pay money to BNSF? The last I saw (and this is almost 2 years ago) BNSF was "financing" Amtrak's share. My dear hope is that BNSF finds it politically inexpedient to dunn Amtrak and North Dakota and gets stuck with a much larger share of the $100 million project's cost.

I am lucky not to have the three bypassed cities as my destination, and I assume that the Empire Builder can be just as late on the KO sub as on the Hillsboro/Devils Lake route, so maybe on one of my trips to Minot I'll finally have the joy of going through New Rockford by train.

 

[neroden]

Also, did Amtrak actually pay money to BNSF? The last I saw (and this is almost 2 years ago) BNSF was "financing" Amtrak's share.

Very interesting. This ought to have shown up on Amtrak's books as a loan if it's correct.

 

[George Harris]

BNSF is spending serious money on expanding capacity. And this is THEIR MONEY, not Uncle Sugar's

Go through this: http://www.rtands.com/index.php/freight/class-1/bnsf-2014-capital-program-progressing-with-northern-corridor-projects.html?channel=Array&utm_source=WhatCounts+Publicaster+Edition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5.5.14&utm_content=Full+Article+

I would like to quote large chunks of it, but think I might be treading on thin ice in the copyright world if I did.

 

[Ryan]

That's why you only quote excerpts.

The bottom line:

"Following our record capital investment in 2013 of $4 billion, we are making the most significant capital investment in our history of approximately $5 billion this year," said Carl Ice, president and chief executive officer of BNSF. "Our capital investments along the Northern Corridor are critical to expanding our capacity to support the region's rapidly growing economy, improving our ability to meet our customers' expectations and ensuring our railroad remains the safest mode of ground transportation for freight."

I don't think anyone doubts that they're spending a pile of money. The problem is they should have done this 3-4 years ago.

 

[yarrow]

8(5) is off to a bad start. dead engine at evr awaiting a replacement. possibly will leave evr around 6:50pm. 4+ hours late

 

[Phil S]

wondered what happened. Thanks. Looks like we're doing well on the rest of the route, though - both ways.

8(5) is off to a bad start. dead engine at evr awaiting a replacement. possibly will leave evr around 6:50pm. 4+ hours late

 

[Ispolkom]

That's why you only quote excerpts.

The bottom line:

"Following our record capital investment in 2013 of $4 billion, we are making the most significant capital investment in our history of approximately $5 billion this year," said Carl Ice, president and chief executive officer of BNSF. "Our capital investments along the Northern Corridor are critical to expanding our capacity to support the region's rapidly growing economy, improving our ability to meet our customers' expectations and ensuring our railroad remains the safest mode of ground transportation for freight."

I don't think anyone doubts that they're spending a pile of money. The problem is they should have done this 3-4 years ago.

But then they were double tracking the southern transcon, and triple tracking Cajun Pass. You can't do anything at once, and as a native of the Hi Line, I'm used to living on the line that gets ignored. Plus, let's face it, most people didn't believe that the Baaken would get this big, this fast. If the guaranteed shipments had been there, pipelines would already be under construction.

Still, it sucks to be happy to only be 2-3 hours late.

 

[yarrow]

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/freight/class-i/northwest-congestion-spurs-intermodal-shift.html

good article about hi-line problems and solutions

 

[montana mike]

Yes, very good article. And as the local BNSF folks have said all along--when BH took them over it was all about the "bottom line" and not how to best run the railroad. For the first three years cuts were made across the board on many existing and planned maintenance and track improvement projects in order to show the Mr. Buffett's minions what a great job he did in buying BNSF. BH is paying a severe penalty for their lack of vision. The only reason profits weren't down more was that rate increases partly offset a downturn in customers. I had mentioned earlier the efforts of a number of Ag Coops in MT to seek out alternative means of transportation for their grain. I do believe at least some of the grain normally shipped by BNSF will move via the Canadian railroads this Spring and Summer just because of the extreme delays that BNSF has created.

This mess will indeed be fixed at some point, just sad to see how bad things have gotten.........

 

[JayPea]

Here's an article from yesterday's Spokane Spokesman-Review regarding BNSF's $235 million investment in Washington, particularly as it relates to work here in Eastern Washington.

A couple of points from the article:

1) It mentioned double-tracking near Tokio on the BNSF line from Spokane to Wenatchee. Now, nobody but myopic nerds like myself with no lives would notice this :lol: but that's in error, as Tokio is on the Spokane-Pasco line.

2) It mentioned traffic volumes are growing (no kidding!) but that they were still below the levels of 2006. I wonder if that meant locally, because I sure don't remember gridlock on the BNSF system in 2006, particularly in North Dakota. I sure don't remember any real problems with the EB as far as timekeeping goes.

Yesterday, while passing through Cheney on the way back to my mom's house from a day's outing in Spokane we noticed sidings packed with construction equipment and in fact a lot of work going on right in Cheney itself. Looked like they were geared up for a lot of work to be done. I wonder if BNSF is beginning to rue the day the then-BN abandoned (and removed the rails from)almost all of the 130 miles + of the old SP&S line from Spokane to Pasco in 1987. This line was used almost exclusively for eastbound BN traffic, (and eastbound EBs) and the current NP route was used for almost exclusively westbound traffic. I guess it's obvious though they couldn't foresee in 1987 the amount of traffic that the lines would generate 25+ years in the future.

 

[montana mike]

Ah, I knew it was to good to be true. #8 left MSP only 34 minutes late this AM, but has somehow managed to drop over 3 1/2 hours in Wisconsin today!!! It's almost as if the gremlins along this route coordinate their actions to make sure this poor train is at least 4 hours late almost every day into CHI no matter what!!

Oh, well,

:-(((

 

[yarrow]

gene poon just posted a bnsf press release on TO. highlights i saw include bi-directional running in north dakota through 9/30 and the fact that smilin' joe boardman is to visit the area later this week

 

[Ispolkom]

I do believe at least some of the grain normally shipped by BNSF will move via the Canadian railroads this Spring and Summer just because of the extreme delays that BNSF has created.

This mess will indeed be fixed at some point, just sad to see how bad things have gotten.........

Alas, the Canadian railroads are in a similar mess.

 

[CHamilton]

Cars Pacific Cape and Beech Grove are behind me on 7(6) tonight. We left Chicago 20 minutes late, apparently due to issues getting the power hooked up, but we haven't lost much more time approaching LaCrosse. Oh, and I overheard one of the Chicago cart drivers say 'Hello, Mr. Gallagher.'

 

[jimhudson]

Sounds like the Amtrak Suits might actually be going up on the Hi-Line to take an eyeball look @ the ingoing Mess!

There was a thread on train orders that Joe Boardman was going up to check it out for himself! Wonder if Beech Grove has cut real dishes, flowers and gourmet food?

 

[George Harris]

That's why you only quote excerpts.

The bottom line:

"Following our record capital investment in 2013 of $4 billion, we are making the most significant capital investment in our history of approximately $5 billion this year," said Carl Ice, president and chief executive officer of BNSF. "Our capital investments along the Northern Corridor are critical to expanding our capacity to support the region's rapidly growing economy, improving our ability to meet our customers' expectations and ensuring our railroad remains the safest mode of ground transportation for freight."

I don't think anyone doubts that they're spending a pile of money. The problem is they should have done this 3-4 years ago.

Maybe their crystal ball needed a tuneup. Three to four years ago the surge in traffic was not anticipated. Also, where would the money be coming from? BNSF is not a government and cannot act like one in that they can choose to spend money they do not have.

 

[Ryan]

Berkshire Hathaway has plenty of money, they were just too tightfisted to spend it. There were plenty of BNSF folks saying the money needed to be spent and were told no.

The BH folks got greedy, and it's biting them in the ass.

 

[Blackwolf]

Cars Pacific Cape and Beech Grove are behind me on 7(6) tonight. We left Chicago 20 minutes late, apparently due to issues getting the power hooked up, but we haven't lost much more time approaching LaCrosse. Oh, and I overheard one of the Chicago cart drivers say 'Hello, Mr. Gallagher.'

If you were on tomorrow's #7 I would suspect that the occasion was the official opening up of SPUD for Amtrak service. But perhaps, as others have stated, this really is an inspection of the line to see how things are. Keep us posted, Charlie!

 

[Ispolkom]

The BH folks got greedy, and it's biting them in the ass.

Nah, they guessed wrong and it's biting in the ass.

If the demand for oil transport was so obvious years ago, why aren't there pipelines being constructed now? Several proposed pipelines didn't leave the blueprints because the proposers couldn't get guaranteed shipments, and therefore couldn't get funding. It's clear that the case for long-term demand for oil shipments from North Dakota is a hard one to make, at least with the people who matter. (That is, the ones with money.)

Couldn't the same be true for BNSF and CP?

It's way to easy to be a Monday morning quarterback.

Here's an interesting take on the issue.

For me the money quote is this:

"Making a pipeline volume commitment is like getting married. Shipping by rail is like a one-night stand," said Baird's Mr. Bellamy. "Right now I suspect producers would rather stay bachelors."

 

[CHamilton]

7(6) is waiting for a freight somewhere south of St. Paul. The conductor announced that once it goes by, we will go to SPUD, where we will disconnect the private cars (15 minutes) then proceed to Midway for the usual smoke stop, the last scheduled passenger stop there. I believe that it will continue to be used for service stops for a while.