Trains 5 and 6 in California Jan 20 - Service Disruption

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Tennessee Traveler

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Location
Franklin, TN
Does anyone know what the service disruption both east and west bound California Zephyr experienced today? Was it weather related or mechanical or simply Union Pacific staging all the trains over the Sierra Nevadas. Westbound Zephyr was apparently arrived ahead of schedule and was held for five hours in Reno. The east bound Zephyr departed Emeryville 1 hour 40 minutes late and was held for some time in Roseville. Both trains are crossing the Sierras slowly now between Truckee and Colfax.

I board westbound CZ #5 in Chicago next Wednesday(1/25) bound for Emeryville for two night stay and then on to LAX on Sunday's CS @11. If several hours late, I may try the inland route through Bakersville and bus to Los Angeles Union Station. Last time I rode a late #11 and was 3AM finally getting to my hotel at LAX Airport.
 
None of the above, There was a track obstruction which prevented through movements.

I'll leave it at that.
 
They said they thought that this would be the snowiest Jan. on record for the Sierras. An old timer in Truckee (62 years) said all of the snow so far was "wearing thin".
 
According to train orders it is a UP freight derailment. Here is the quote from trainorders:

"I just learned both 5&6 will be taking delays today- the UP derailed something at Switch 9. This is near Emigrant Gap where the RR changes between double and single track. Not a good spot to go on the ground!"

This makes sense as the Status Report now report Train 5 arrived in Reno basically on time is now in "service disruption" with unknown time for the remaining stops to Emeryville. Yesterday's 5 arrived in EMY 3:54 AM this morning 11 hours 44 minutes late. How long does it take UP to clean up a freight derailment? Certainly, today's No. 6 will be delayed starting and then lose more time trying to cross the Sierras. Would not be surprised to see Amtrak turn the train in Reno to be today's no. 6 and then send the equipment now in Oakland out as tomorrow's No. 6.
 
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It's already cleaned up although it was hindered due to the weather. Now, the weather is a problem and there are track patrols, spreaders and closures as a result.
 
Expecting another 6 feet of snow accumulation at Donner Pass over the next 36 hours
And the winds are also rising:

Winter Storm Warning
Code:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGENATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV334 PM PST SAT JAN 21 2017CAZ072-NVZ002-221400-/O.CON.KREV.WS.W.0005.000000T0000Z-170123T1200Z/GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA-INCLUDING THE CITIES OF SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, TRUCKEE, STATELINE,AND INCLINE VILLAGE334 PM PST SAT JAN 21 2017...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST MONDAY...* TIMING: MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL RETURN BY AROUND MIDNIGHT  AND CONTINUE INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING.* ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL THROUGH MONDAY MORNING: WEST OF HIGHWAY  89...3 TO 4 FEET WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. EAST OF HIGHWAY  89...2 TO 3 FEET WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE NEAR MOUNT ROSE.* WINDS: SIERRA RIDGE WINDS INCREASING FROM 70 MPH TO WELL OVER  100 MPH ON SUNDAY. GUSTS 30 TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE IN THE LOWER  ELEVATIONS. WINDS MAY DAMAGE TREES AND POWER LINES.* IMPACTS: DANGEROUS CONDITIONS FOR OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES AND TRAVEL  WITH PERIODS OF WHITEOUT CONDITIONS FROM TONIGHT TO MONDAY  MORNING. AVALANCHE DANGER WILL INCREASE. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO  TRAVEL AROUND THE TAHOE BASIN ON SUNDAY. STAY HOME...STAY SAFE.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...AVOID TRAVEL IF POSSIBLE, YOU COULD BE STUCK IN YOUR VEHICLE FORMANY HOURS. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TRAVEL ON SUNDAY. IF YOU MUSTTRAVEL, USE THE BREAK IN THE STORM THIS AFTERNOON TO GATHERSUPPLIES, REMOVE SNOW FROM ROOFS, ELEVATED DECKS AND NEAR PROPANETANKS. BE PREPARED FOR EXTENDED POWER OUTAGES.
 
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Looks like there will be sunny skies Wednesday through Friday so I'm hoping my #5 gets through on Friday. I'm staying two nights in Emeryville so I'm not concerned if we are several hours late -- don't really want to be 14 hours late as it was this morning. Looks like it took 11 hours to get from Reno to Emeryville last night once the train left Reno around 7 PM
 
Wind gusts of 140 mph reported in the Sierra Nevada today. The CZ's are running more than 5 hours late.
 
I-80 was closed for a long while last night due to heavy snow. The weather's been dominating the news here for the last couple of weeks. On the bright side currently it looks like there will be no rain/snow in the region for the next week.
 
Don't forget to factor in recovery time, which is about 24 hours. Me thinks it is a bad idea to semi-permanently cut short the Zephyr, just like they did with the Sunset Limited.
I'm not sure I understand where you are coming from on this. I've not heard any suggestion of cutting back the frequency of the CZ's. As far as I can tell only one no. 6 was cancelled and that was because the equipment was out of place and was pulled back from Oakland to Chicago on one of the no.6's a few days later.
 
#5 went thru Truckee, CA over 9 hrs late yesterday, and #6 went thru 11 hours late. But #5 is expected to be less than one hr late today.
 
If the previous day's #5 was way late getting to EMY (like yesterday) that eats into the time frame they have to turn the train so it can be the #6 and leave on-time the next day,
 
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