Service disruptions

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Henry Kisor

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Amtrak Status is reporting service disruptions for both No. 3 and No. 5 departing Chicago today. Anyone know if they ever got out of Union Station?
 
My read at the moment is that everything got held up horrifically amid late train arrivals and so forth. I don't have a clear read as to what (if anything) got out of anywhere.
 
Actually, 3 may not have left the station. There was apparently speculation among the crew on 4 tonight that they may get turned at KCY.
 
Actually, 3 may not have left the station. There was apparently speculation among the crew on 4 tonight that they may get turned at KCY.
Unconfirmed report is that #4(6) will not go east of ABQ and #6(6) will not go east of DEN. Speculation is that today's #3 and #5 have been cancelled.
 
Also seems like they're turning yesterday's 51 as 50 in IND, not CHI, tomorrow. Looks like they just threw up a big firewall around CHI.
 
Amtrak has gotten themselves into this position by making Chicago the only connecting point for Western trains.
 
Amtrak has gotten themselves into this position by making Chicago the only connecting point for Western trains.
This shows how fragile and skeletal Amtrak's network really is. They have managed to provide the most basic of nationwide services for years, but -- as we have seen -- it doesn't take much for it to fall apart.
 
For connecting service from the east to the west, it certainly doesn't help that this is during the annual cancellations of Crescent service to New Orleans, meaning that Chicago is *really* the only way to get from West to East.

The network is actually severed right now, with no way to get from the West to the East on Tuesday. Capitol Limited, Lake Shore Limited, Cardinal, and Crescent are all cancelled!

It looks like Amtrak is still taking it one day at a time and hoping to have everything back on Wednesday, which seems optimistic.
 
And the Cap is cancelled for tonight. I managed to bag a roomette on the Cardinal...which I'm hoping is still the "Capitol Cardinal" they ran out the other day. Also had to shell out for a one-way on Enterprise (and in a rarest of rare moves, I'll be paying for insurance in light of the weather).
 
For connecting service from the east to the west, it certainly doesn't help that this is during the annual cancellations of Crescent service to New Orleans, meaning that Chicago is *really* the only way to get from West to East.

The network is actually severed right now, with no way to get from the West to the East on Tuesday. Capitol Limited, Lake Shore Limited, Cardinal, and Crescent are all cancelled!
Ironically, Anderson and I have been talking about exactly this fragility. We feel that rail advocates need to be pushing for alternative services that would relieve bottlenecks in places like Chicago and the High Line. Restoring the Pioneer, the North Coast Hiawatha, the Sunset East, and east-west services through STL and/or KCY are keys to a more robust network.
 
Why the heck is the Crescent cancelled? They should at least run it from NOL to WAS, but I'm not aware of anything as severe along that route as what they are experiencing along the LSL, SWC, CZ, IZ, TE, and the NEC.
 
Why the heck is the Crescent cancelled? They should at least run it from NOL to WAS, but I'm not aware of anything as severe along that route as what they are experiencing along the LSL, SWC, CZ, IZ, TE, and the NEC.
Usual Winter Track Work between ATL and NOL!!! North of Atlanta in the NC Mountains its Darn Cold also!!!
 
Shouldn't we be blaming the legacy railroads of the 1860s for running everything through Chicago? And who's going to finance the alternative services?
 
I think it was the fall of St. Louis by Amday that made EVERYTHING go through Chicago.

If the Crescent was running, NOL would be the alternative East-West gateway. And if the Sunset Limited could get back to being a cross country train, Jacksonville would be another gateway.
 
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I think it was the fall of St. Louis by Amday that made EVERYTHING go through Chicago.
Yeah.

At the moment, the most useful former train to have around would be the National Limited / Spirit of St. Louis, in its incarnation running Kansas City - St. Louis - Indianapolis - Pittsburgh - Philadelphia - New York. The severe decline in St. Louis business relative to Chicago is the ultimate reason for the loss of this train, as it is the reason why this track was allowed to fall apart, which is why this train was not able to run decently in 1979 when the Carter Cuts hit Amtrak.

This route could be set up as a corridor train (Indianapolis-St. Louis), but the problem is, with no intermediate population centers in Illinois (Effingham's the biggest I think), Illinois won't pay for it; Missouri won't pay for a route which is almost entirely outside the state; and it's going to be hard to convince Indiana to pay for anything, even though Terre Haute - Indianpolis is sensible on its own. Only national funding can give us a sensible national network.

(To clarify another matter, the Crescent is running north of Atlanta, but the annual NS planned trackwork means it usually runs Atlanta - New York; it is only running from Atlanta to New Orleans on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.)
 
Just curious:

Did the 1/6 train 21 (or, for that matter, today's - 1/7) ever leave Chicago? All the Amtrak website reveals is "service disruption" which either means crazy late or it was cancelled.

I'm starting to worry about my Thursday trip. I kind of need to be back before Monday the 13th, that's when I start class again. (Professor, not student, so my skipping class is kind of a big deal!)
 
The Eagle#21, along with Most other LD Trains, Did NOT Leave Chicago for the Past Two Days! #22, the NB Eagle has Been Running ( Hours Late) so it will be Up to the Chicago Yard Crews to Get the Equipment Ready for Service! I Understand that most of the Equipment is Frozen including the Engines! A Warm Up is On the Way but Everywhere is a Mess for Transportation Right Now! I'd keep Checking all the Train and travel Sites, Call Amtrak etc. etc. Good Luck, its Suynny Down Here in Central Texas and Warmed up into the 40s today, 50s Tomorrow and 70s with Rain for the End of the Week so perhaps the Eagles will start Flying again Soon! Good Luck, keep us Posted! ;)
 
How soon we forget! Just 3 years ago on Feb 1-2 2011, Chicago was hit with a blizzard that dumped over 21" of snow and drifts as deep as 6 feet or more.

Lake Shore drive had over 900 abandoned cars stuck on it. All local transit was suspended.

Amtrak shut down all of its trains from Chicago for 3 days. No service anywhere. I know, as I had a friend returning from LA on #4 in a sleeper and they offloaded all passengers in ABQ where they stayed at a Hotel for 3 days until the route was reopened.

Also the airport was closed for 2 days with over 1500 flights in Chicago cancelled .

Stuff happens. Weather has always plagued all forms of transportation whether we like it or not.
 
Why the heck is the Crescent cancelled? They should at least run it from NOL to WAS, but I'm not aware of anything as severe along that route as what they are experiencing along the LSL, SWC, CZ, IZ, TE, and the NEC.
Usual Winter Track Work between ATL and NOL!!! North of Atlanta in the NC Mountains its Darn Cold also!!!
Minus 8F at 8AM today here in the mountains of western NC, about an hour northwest of Asheville, about 2 hours from the Crescent's stations in Toccoa, GA, and Greenville, SC. Darn cold, indeed! Record-breaking for around here.
 
I hope the folks who keep claiming Amtrak isn't seriously affected by bad weather will take a moment to read this and similar threads. I don't blame Amtrak for being essentially helpless in the face of bad weather, but I also don't understand why a few vocal members take it upon themselves to rewrite history over and over again in order to build up a rather unrealistic image of what is in reality a surprisingly fragile passenger rail network. If the airlines won't get you there and the buses won't get you there then Amtrak probably won't get you there either. Simple to understand, hard to repeat apparently.
 
Devil, I think that the lesson here is two-sided. Well-built, well-maintained, and plentiful passenger trains, serving a redundant network, can be inherently better at dealing with bad weather than any other form of transportation. But Amtrak has none of those features. They have managed to provide national train service for 40+ years with pitiful resources, and even this week, they have managed to do better in many ways than the airlines, the roads and the buses.

But think what they could have done with a robust system! I'm sure we'll be hearing calls for tax money to be thrown at "infrastructure," meaning air and highways, as a result of this week. It's up to us to make sure that our local, state and national elected officials know that rail is a more effective way of spending those dollars.
 
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