Worst Service Disruption

Greetings All,

I've been traveling on Amtrak long-distance for about 30 years with relatively minor schedule delays. My brother has been through two derailments and more than one bustitution. Maybe I've been lucky, but I'd love to hear about any significant delays you have experienced.

I was delayed on the Cardinal due to a freight derailment up the line, and eventually bustituted around it. I eventually arrived at CVS "on time" at 2:47!

The only problem - it was 2:47 AM and not 2:47 PM!

Worse I had was the Cap which was 3 hours late and almost missed the connection to 94 which was on-time even though it was coming from NPN. The second time this happened we didn't even bother to try the connection we just booked on 2172.

Stephen

I encountered many of what we railroaders call "the trip from hell." But the worse one was a trip where the train #97 "Silver Meteor" I was working arrived into MIA a day late but on time! That is 21:46 the following night making the trip a two and a half day trip from NYP instead of the usual one and a half day trip.

This was back in the days the "Meteor" would turn around the same day out of NYC. At that time the scheduled arrival into NYP on #98 was 10:00, and the outbound departure of #97 was out of NYP at 19:05 the same day. The train (#97) was due into MIA at 21:46 the following night (and usually an hour late at least almost every trip).

Happy Thanksgiving 2009 everyone....

OBS gone freight...

This past June we were traveling to CUS on the Capital Limited when we experienced heavy rain over night. The next morning we were stopped for several hours and then for about five hours we traveled no faster than 20 MPH. There was concern about track washouts. We had reservations on the SWC and they held that train about a half hour until we arrived.

It was a very long day with much confusion about the connection. At one point we were to be bussed from Gary to somepoint in IL and bypass CUS completely. Then that idea was scrapped. Then we were told that the 20 MPH restriction was to be lifted and then it was back again.

Other than the stress and concern about our connection and missing a meal in Chiago, no harm done! Plus we have a story to tell when my wife and I get together with our fellow travelers, my 3 sisters and their husbands!

I hope all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving!

Bob

the worst for us was the great coyote mtn slide in the oregon cascades in january 2007 on the route of the cs. we were stuck in san francisco with no alternate transportation available from amtrak to get back to eastern washington. i believe it was several weeks before amtrak resumed any transportation between northern california and portland and several months before train service was resotred

Pastor Dave said:

Greetings All,
I've been traveling on Amtrak long-distance for about 30 years with relatively minor schedule delays. My brother has been through two derailments and more than one bustitution. Maybe I've been lucky, but I'd love to hear about any significant delays you have experienced.

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I will take that award.

In May, my CS connection with San Joaquins was delayed from in Albany, OR 4:00 PM to 2:00 AM. A bus sat outside the train running for most of the delay, making it impossible to sleep. By the time we left and got into Bakersfield on the connection, the Las Vegas Thruway bus was long gone. They put me up in a brand name hotel with no elevator to the second floor and the AC was out. The room was a bake oven.

Pastor Dave said:

Greetings All,
I've been traveling on Amtrak long-distance for about 30 years with relatively minor schedule delays. My brother has been through two derailments and more than one bustitution. Maybe I've been lucky, but I'd love to hear about any significant delays you have experienced.

Click to expand...

Story # 2 for me was the mudslide on the CS route. They sent me the long route from SPK-CHI (hotel at my expense) then the SWC to Las Vegas, round trip. That vs. EB to CS to Bakersfield to Las Vegas.

I've got two. I was on a 15 hour late 97, but I picked the train up towards the end of the trip after connecting from 98, so it wasn't too bad for me.

Then there was the day 91 derailed in 2004. I took 98 north and was going to attempt to make a very tight connection at SFD. We got put in the hole, and 91 pulled south before I could make it. So I took a walk over to the Auto Train yard to kill time before 97 got down. Well, while I was in the yard we found out that 91 went on the ground at Auburndale in the middle of the Can Yard connection. Nothing overturned, nothing major, but enough to kill the train on the spot. So the Auto Train boys pulled out a P-40 and they were going to tack it on to the head end of 97. The plan was to take 97 down to Auburndale, have it pick up the cars that didn't go on the ground, run railroad south to Lakeland on the Carters Sub, wye the train, and then run back to Auburndale and run through McDonald Connection and head south as normal. Meanwhile an Auto Train crew would grab the engine and bag car that went on the ground and deadhead it back to Sanford after we cleared up. Well we were running south just around Lake Alfred when the dispatcher came on and informed us that a local job had a fatality on the Carters sub, blocking us from running down to Lakeland. So they scrambled and re-railed the derailed engine and bag car, made repairs to the can yard connection. We coupled up to the empty cars from 91, and then we moved over the derailment spot at walking speed under watchful eyes from CSX and Amtrak Mechanical folks. About this point it was around 2 in the morning and the crew was going to be going on the law pretty soon. A dog catch crew from Miami was trying to find us in the middle of freaking nowhere, which took a good half an hour. Needless to say I got off the train in FTL around 5 in the morning. So it was only 9 hours late, but that was a ROUGH 9 hours.

My worst Amtrak horror story was Jan 2005--FIVE DAYS late. I was in a hotel in SF trying to get to Philadelphia. The CZ was shut down due to a mud slide. The SWC was shut down due to flooding in LA. Departed EMY one day late on the CS to connect to the EB. Then the EB was late into Chicago. They put me up there 2 nights so I could connect to the Cardinal. Finally got to Philly 5 days later than planned.

I was put on BUS OVERNIGHT between Kansas City, MO and Raton, NM. Thanks to a brush fire.

Wont take the prize but my biggest delay was on the EB #8 from SEA-CHI, the Cascade tunnel was shut down due to a freight being dead in the tunnel so we sat for 5 hours. Finally got going 5 hours down which was OK since we got to see

lots of Cascade scenery in the daylight (this was in July) instead of the dark! Once we got to Glacier a freight had derailed so we held for 3 more hours waiting to hear what was going to happen? The SCA told us that none of the phones worked but that they thought we MIGHT get bussed to North Dakota sometime as soon as busses could arrive!

We were allowed off the train even though it was in the middle of nowhere which the AC told us was not usual practice!

Eventually the all aboard was sounded and we rolled out heading east now 8 hours down, the conductor told the OBS to spread the word that wed run the rest of the way and try to make up time as we went! Meals were served, the train was a normal ride, just 8 hours down!

Eventually we were told that in MSP Amtrak would let all the pax know what they were going to do as to connections in CHI/local pax etc. When we reached MSP we only stayed about 20 minutes, rolled out and they announced that Amtrak staff would board in CBS to inform us of what they planned? The MSP pax had already been bussed to CHI that normally boarded here! Since it was now approaching noon we knew we that the chances of making lots of connections in CHI was slim and none, the diner staff told us beef stew would be served to all pax that wanted it for dinner! When

we reached CBS Amtrak staff did board and went to the diner where everyone with connections in CHI was told to go line up for info on what was gonna happen!

We were fairly far back in line ( there were only 2 agents for like 400 pax), but I listened as folks were being told, youll be bussed, youll be put up for the night in hotels in CHI with transportation and meals paid, (the Cardinal and CAP Ltd.

pax were this group), the LSL pax were told the train would be held if we werent anymore late , hopefully wed gain time

to CHI! When my turn came, they said we were the only pax aboard for the CONO which left @ 8PM, wed have to see

how it went, come back after Milwaukee! We pulled in Milwaukee, only a very brief stop to detrain pax and rolled out fairly fast!

The run to CHI was very fast, we never stopped again, pulled into the yards, rolled up under the shed and they had golf carts and staff and redcaps waiting, it was now 8PM so the CL pax and LSL crowd were taken to the Lounge and we were

led to the CONO, put aboard, given a Bedroom (C!!! )instead of our roomette, we were sent to the diner by our SCA and we very shortly rolled out for NOL while eating a nice hot dinner even if it was a CCC!! The bourbon pecan pie was great, the trip was non eventful, once we got home I contacted Customer Relations, was sent a voucher for $100 for future travel so even though the trip was an adventure and worrisome for everyone, we were lucky that it worked out and the Amtrak staff did a great job!!! (so we ended up only 3 hours down on time into CHI which is fantastic!!)

Bronze:

Winter '07 trip to Chicago on Capitol Limited in Coach: Due at 840am, arrived at about 345pm. Hit considerable frieght congestion between Toledo and Chicago, including several prolonged stops of up to an hour. Food was in supply though, and the plus was that we could check into our hotel directly on arrival. Main minuses were the considerable boredom from sitting for extended periods and seeing others miss their connections to western trains.

Silver:

Fall '06 trip from Chicago to Pittsburgh on the Capitol Limited. Supposed to arrive early morning, but due to landslide west of PGH, train took detour routing that wound up on the south shore of the river, leaving us to ride to Connellsville and be bussed back, arriving about 1030am or so. The plus was of course the new and unusual mileage from the detour, including a ride right through the Station Square. The big minus was spending the entire day wondering what happened to our cell-phone-less friend who took Megabus to Cleveland that morning and who was going to meet us enroute, as our train skipped Cleveland on the detour.

Gold:

The Winter '07 return from the "bronze" Chicago trip above, aboard the Cardinal in coach from Chicago to Baltimore. The train was late getting into Chicago as it was, so instead of leaving at 5:45pm, we kept getting more and more delays as they took hours to try to clean and thaw the train, not leaving until 1130pm. We only had hot water for about 3 hours of the trip in the height of the next day, and experienced HEP problems enroute as well, once stopping for a considerable time outside of Prince to repair one instance. Arrived in Baltimore at 418am instead of the scheduled 738pm the prior day. Pluses were seeing Cincy in daylight and taking an interesting ride through the New River Gorge in snowfall as the light began to wane. Minuses were crews that treated us "coachies" as steerage, and having to walk 45 minutes instead of 15 from the available buses in town at the time of arrival.

jimhudson said:

Wont take the prize but my biggest delay was on the EB #8 from SEA-CHI, the Cascade tunnel was shut down due to a freight being dead in the tunnel so we sat for 5 hours. Finally got going 5 hours down which was OK since we got to seelots of Cascade scenery in the daylight (this was in July) instead of the dark! Once we got to Glacier a freight had derailed so we held for 3 more hours waiting to hear what was going to happen? The SCA told us that none of the phones worked but that they thought we MIGHT get bussed to North Dakota sometime as soon as busses could arrive!

We were allowed off the train even though it was in the middle of nowhere which the AC told us was not usual practice!

Eventually the all aboard was sounded and we rolled out heading east now 8 hours down, the conductor told the OBS to spread the word that wed run the rest of the way and try to make up time as we went! Meals were served, the train was a normal ride, just 8 hours down!

Eventually we were told that in MSP Amtrak would let all the pax know what they were going to do as to connections in CHI/local pax etc. When we reached MSP we only stayed about 20 minutes, rolled out and they announced that Amtrak staff would board in CBS to inform us of what they planned? The MSP pax had already been bussed to CHI that normally boarded here! Since it was now approaching noon we knew we that the chances of making lots of connections in CHI was slim and none, the diner staff told us beef stew would be served to all pax that wanted it for dinner! When

we reached CBS Amtrak staff did board and went to the diner where everyone with connections in CHI was told to go line up for info on what was gonna happen!

We were fairly far back in line ( there were only 2 agents for like 400 pax), but I listened as folks were being told, youll be bussed, youll be put up for the night in hotels in CHI with transportation and meals paid, (the Cardinal and CAP Ltd.

pax were this group), the LSL pax were told the train would be held if we werent anymore late , hopefully wed gain time

to CHI! When my turn came, they said we were the only pax aboard for the CONO which left @ 8PM, wed have to see

how it went, come back after Milwaukee! We pulled in Milwaukee, only a very brief stop to detrain pax and rolled out fairly fast!

The run to CHI was very fast, we never stopped again, pulled into the yards, rolled up under the shed and they had golf carts and staff and redcaps waiting, it was now 8PM so the CL pax and LSL crowd were taken to the Lounge and we were

led to the CONO, put aboard, given a Bedroom (C!!! )instead of our roomette, we were sent to the diner by our SCA and we very shortly rolled out for NOL while eating a nice hot dinner even if it was a CCC!! The bourbon pecan pie was great, the trip was non eventful, once we got home I contacted Customer Relations, was sent a voucher for $100 for future travel so even though the trip was an adventure and worrisome for everyone, we were lucky that it worked out and the Amtrak staff did a great job!!! (so we ended up only 3 hours down on time into CHI which is fantastic!!)

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Great outcome Jim

Amtrak OBS Gone Freight said:

I encountered many of what we railroaders call "the trip from hell." But the worse one was a trip where the train #97 "Silver Meteor" I was working arrived into MIA a day late but on time! That is 21:46 the following night making the trip a two and a half day trip from NYP instead of the usual one and a half day trip.

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For, it was a northbound Silver too.

A freight train derailed, tearing apart a critical section of track.

Both northbound Silvers were stopped just north of Jacksonville for almost 24 hours. Then, after we finally started moving again, the crew "timed out" and the train coasted to a stop in the middle of some swamp, where we stayed waiting for a replacement crew for a few more hours. I remember we ended up being like 28 hours late.

Luckily (if that's the word for it), we were in sleepers, and the crew took very good care of us, including making sure we were all well fed. I heard that it was far worse in the coach cars, with the toilets full and most people had neither brought an extra day's of food nor extra money to buy food in the Dining Car.

BTW, I did get a call from Amtrak CS the following Monday morning at work. I didn't have to initiate contact. They offered an apology and a full voucher.

Are there limits on the text this forum can handle?

Suffice to say, a lot of my train-riding was done my last couple of years in High School, when Amtrak was still running a lot of "rainbow" trains, and equipment was, to put it mildly and kindly, "A Friggin' Nighmare"

One day you'd be riding beautiful SantaFe High Levels, then the next day north on the CS, you could find yourself in an old heavyweight coach.

On the CZ east in late 70's I think, we were re-routed due to freight derailment(s), got some nice new trackage thru Perry Iowa, and such, but train ran out of food a few times. Was fun watching pizza's and KFC be delivered to train at grade crossings that hadn't seen PAX train in a few years. People actually came out to watch the Amtrak go by....... But we ended up ALMOST exactly 24 hours late into CUS.

In all my years traveling, (knock on wood) have never been bustituted, but when CZ derailed in Glenwood Canyon, (1988???) they did fly us to destination. PDX And gave us crisp Benjamins......

(OK, I lied, they did bustitute us to Denver first)

While Pastor Dave did further clarify his title in his opening post, technically if we took the topic's title at face value, then the "Worst Service Disruption" would be the Sunset Limited which has now been disrupted for more than 4 years east of NOL. Sadly.

Thankfully no one has been stuck on that train for all this time. :lol:

Hanno said:

This past June we were traveling to CUS on the Capital Limited when we experienced heavy rain over night. The next morning we were stopped for several hours and then for about five hours we traveled no faster than 20 MPH. There was concern about track washouts. We had reservations on the SWC and they held that train about a half hour until we arrived.
It was a very long day with much confusion about the connection. At one point we were to be bussed from Gary to somepoint in IL and bypass CUS completely. Then that idea was scrapped. Then we were told that the 20 MPH restriction was to be lifted and then it was back again.

Other than the stress and concern about our connection and missing a meal in Chiago, no harm done! Plus we have a story to tell when my wife and I get together with our fellow travelers, my 3 sisters and their husbands!

I hope all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving!

Bob

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I was on the LSL at that same time and we were limited to 15 miles per hour and were about 5 hours late. The pax with connections were bused to CHI. My final destination was Chicago so I stayed on the train and "enjoyed" a lunch of dinty moore stew.

I was on Silver Meteor 97 in Jax when one of the coach attendants was not paying attention and the train started to leave without her. She jumped onto the train and lost her footing and fell. The train ran over her foot. To say the least, we were delayed for paramedics, etc. It was pretty awful.

Tony said:

Amtrak OBS Gone Freight said:

I encountered many of what we railroaders call "the trip from hell." But the worse one was a trip where the train #97 "Silver Meteor" I was working arrived into MIA a day late but on time! That is 21:46 the following night making the trip a two and a half day trip from NYP instead of the usual one and a half day trip.

Click to expand...

For, it was a northbound Silver too.

A freight train derailed, tearing apart a critical section of track.

Both northbound Silvers were stopped just north of Jacksonville for almost 24 hours. Then, after we finally started moving again, the crew "timed out" and the train coasted to a stop in the middle of some swamp, where we stayed waiting for a replacement crew for a few more hours. I remember we ended up being like 28 hours late.

Luckily (if that's the word for it), we were in sleepers, and the crew took very good care of us, including making sure we were all well fed. I heard that it was far worse in the coach cars, with the toilets full and most people had neither brought an extra day's of food nor extra money to buy food in the Dining Car.

BTW, I did get a call from Amtrak CS the following Monday morning at work. I didn't have to initiate contact. They offered an apology and a full voucher.

Click to expand...

Oh I remember those, that was B-A-D BAD!

AlanB said:

While Pastor Dave did further clarify his title in his opening post, technically if we took the topic's title at face value, then the "Worst Service Disruption" would be the Sunset Limited which has now been disrupted for more than 4 years east of NOL. Sadly.
Thankfully no one has been stuck on that train for all this time. :lol:

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Aloha

But just how many are stuck off trains and on buses, or planes. As a national Rail System Amtrak must do better.

MAhalo

Eric

well you don't hear in the news too much about people aboard amtrak train XXX stuck at CUS for hours onboard the train like you do with the airlines lately(airlines flight xxx stuck on tarmac for 8 hours with passengers on board etc etc etc). i say the FRA can do better and allow a spare crew to ride in a the sleeper or close by SO IT DOESN'T TAKE 9 HOURS FOR A NEW CREW TO ARRIVE.

I don't know if this is exactly what you were looking for in your question, as it is not about a trip I was on; but I remember back in 1983, when Amtrak had just changed from the San Francisco Zephyr to the California Zephyr route there was a massive mudslide at Thistle, Utah that closed the D&RGW route for many months. The train was routed back onto the UP across Wyoming with some 'bustitution' serving missed stops.

After hearing your stories, all I can say is "ouch." Sounds like some day the odds are bound to catch up with me!

In comparison to some of these experiences I have not really experienced any significant service disruptions. "Deep Freeze" conditions throughout the northeast and midwest in FEB 2006 caused all kinds of delays going in and out of Chicago. Inbound, our train experienced progressive delays west of Pittsburgh. We were about 2 hours behind by the time we hit Toledo, which is not so bad in the grand scheme of things. We lost another 2 hours between Toledo and Chicago, which at the time I found a bit frustrating. From what I understand, the problems were related to frozen switches and difficulty navigating around freight traffic. We experienced similar problems outbound - accumulating a 2 hour delay fairly soon after departing Chicago and ending up with more than 6 hours by the time we arrived in Washington. I thought the Amtrak staff did a pretty good job keeping us informed and doing what they could to alleviate everyone's concerns. Albeit a bit frustrating, these delays are simple inconveniences in comparison to some of your bustitutions, re-routing, missed connections, de-railment nightmares.

Old timers on here have heard my tales of woe many times.

But briefly, here are some:

Just last summer I was bustituted on the Crescent from Anniston, Ala., to Atlanta. This due to a freight wreck. It was a trip from Birmingham to Atlanta. Got to ATL about 2 hours late, well taken care of,not much of a probem. I had ridden southbound to visit with railfans from another forum. Otherwise, it was not a serious trip with any deadline.

Once on the Sunset Limited westbound I was eight hours late into LA. Just the usual freight delays which used to plague that route badly.

Then I have some pre-Amtrak goodies, which I will repeat in brief form.

One, there was a trip from Nashville, to NOL, to Jacksonville, to Miami , back to Nashville which was screwed up at various times due to Hurricane Camille, 1969.

Then there was my first trip west, on the CZ Christmas 1965. Track washed out in the Feather River Canyon. We were put on buses and arrived SF nine hours late.

There was a trip from SF to Chicago to Chattanooga in which I arrived Chattanooga nine hours due to a freight derailment.

There may be more which I do not now remember.

Noteworthy: being stranded in New York for the Big Power Blackout 2003 in the Northeast and part of Canada. That was my first trip to meet AlanB, one of our Fearless Moderators. He was helpful to me in several ways but mostly by staying in touch with me and finding out much more easily than I could that my departure back to Atlanta would go as scheduled.

Things like the above, IF you do not lose life or limb or money or luggage (permanently), are a nuisance at the time. But they make great stories for afterwards IF AND WHEN all turned out well and everybody is safe and sound at the end.