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And I just spoke with the #7 Builder Conductor, here in CHI (I am at Union Station waiting to depart on #7) and he said because the #8 arrived over 16 hours late the #7 will be delayed--he don't know how late (the yard refuses to give him a time), but it could be significant--arrrrgh. This route is totally snake bitten. I wonder how late our train will be by the time we supposedly arrive in WFH tomorrow. My guess is we arrive early AM on the 30th. This train has become quite an adventure in 2014.

What frustrates me is we rushed to be sure to arrive in CHI in time, but evidently the Amtrak folks knew early this AM that #7/27 would not leave on time and waited until just 15 minutes before boarding to announce the delays to the pax. The Conductor appeared to be quite frustrated at the mess......

:-(

PS-WE left CHI about 1 hour and 20 minutes late! C'est La Vie'
 
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we just got into pdx on 27(26) about 3:45 late. this was my first trip(spk-pdx) since the amenities cuts fully hit. traveled in coach for the day trip. no schedules available on board, no "empire builder" magazine, no newspapers scattered about the ssl by sleeper folks, coaches seemed a little dusty and ratty. little stuff, only cared about by little kids and me. beautiful trip down the columbia which is a main reason i ride but somewhat less amenities than i had grown used to
 
It looks like there will be no eastbound or westbound empire builders through Rug, DVL, and GFK through next Thursday( 5 Jun). Is the Devils Lake track that bad due to the derailment they cannot run traffic through? You cannot book any trips from any of those cities.
 
There will be no service between MOT & MSP actually.

#8(31) will turn at MOT and #7(1) will turn at MSP.

This is expected to last four days and is at the request of the BNSF.
 
aurbo said:
Is the Devils Lake track that bad due to the derailment they cannot run traffic through? You cannot book any trips from any of those cities.
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They are having problems with mud boils, don't even know what those are, sink holes, sun kinks and other track deviations that have caused derailments earlier this week.
 
Wonder why you cannot book anything from GFK/DVL/RUG to MSP, but can book from FAR to MSP and MOT to MSP those days?
 
and currently the (28)7 is now west of elk river going 77mph according to the Amtrak tracking site.
 
My understanding:

Mud Boils:

Track goes up and down as train past the area (more like dipping). The ground is pounded by the motion. Mud comes shooting up. It start with just a bit, but when the tail of the train makes it past pure liquid mud is shoot up. Very noticeable. Very impressive up close. Lack of drainage is normal the cause. You find them on the sides of grade level crossings first, but can happen anywhere. Sign of poor maintance, lack of fresh ballast.

Base on some lightweight time hang out with the 1205th rail transportation company. Feel free to correct.
 
I was going to make my second attempt to take the EB on the 1st, just found out it got cancelled. FML. Not sure yet if I should ask Amtrak to reschedule me for the 23rd, try and see if they'd get me the Zephyr for the same cost on the 1st, or just request a refund. I've been waiting years to take this train.
 
On 7(28) now going nowhere on the Surrey Cutoff. Our entire trip so far on this stretch has been at about 20-25 mph. Painfully slow, now we are stopped. No word from the crew as to why, but it looks like another late run for #7 as it crosses the Hi-Line--frustrating as heck.

:-(
 
I was on yesterday's #7, which arrived in Minot 6.5hours late. I try to be patient, but the locations of the delays annoyed me. We sat for an hour 2 miles from St. Paul Union Depot, waiting for CP to clear the switch. Worse, I went to the first call for lunch near Surrey, thinking I could always dash when we got to the Minot Depot. No such luck. Almost 3 hours later we were still stopped by the new viaduct East of town. I have never been so tempted to open the door and dash. If only I had had less luggage...

I did see a warhead convoy heading to the base, but I would rather have spent the time with my ailing mother.

We'll see what #8 is like on Saturday.
 
So what is happening to the EB between MSP and MOT? We are scheduled for SEA-CHI leaving CHI tomorrow. What should we expect, besides the unexpected?
 
I am on 7(28) and we have been sitting in ND, east of MOT going nowhere for several hours now. The conductor has stated its freight congestion and track construction and we also have two addition freights ahead of us that are just sitting there as well. The entire transit across the Surrey Cutoff has been at slow and slower speeds--perhaps less than 25 mph on almost the entire route, and now stopped completely for hours. Arrrrgh. We are likely to arrive over 6 hours late in MOT, perhaps more as the crew is getting perilously close to running out of time if we don't reach MOT soon. The crew gave us little encouragement about the rest of the trip, saying massive freight traffic and even more construction awaits us from MOT all the way into eastern MT!!!

This is such a total screw up it's pathetic.

Finally moving (albeit slowly), after sitting in the same spot for just under three hours. I hope the crew doesn't run out of time! We have lost a total of 6 hours trekking across ND so far (about 7 1/2 hours late overall now after leaving CHI 90 minutes late yesterday) and we are still at least an hour out of MOT--moving very slowly once again ....
 
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Finally arrived in MOT--about 7 1/2 hours late. :-(

Observations about the delay today so far:

1. We pulled off onto just about every siding to let one, two or three freights pass each time

2. Most of the rest of the trip was way below the normal track speed for the Surrey Cutoff

3. The "construction" delay of almost 3 hours ended up being three guys tinkering with a siding switch, trying to get it fixed

4. If things remain status quo our #7 appears to arrive in WFH at almost the same time as the #8 train tomorrow morning--around 4:46 AM--Arrrrrgh! The way things are going it would be our luck that they hold us out while they service #8!!!!!
 
montana mike said:
Finally arrived in MOT--about 7 1/2 hours late. :-(

Observations about the delay today so far:

1. We pulled off onto just about every siding to let one, two or three freights pass each time
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Were the freights at least going in the other direction? If they were passing you in the same direction, I think that's grounds for a complaint.
 
All heading East. Ironically we had made up some of the lost time overnight and had left Fargo about an hour late, only to lose 6 1/2 hours transiting the Surrey Cutoff. Interestingly, of all of the freights that passed us by, only one was oil. The others were intermodal and vehicles and one very long grain train.
 
Now about 9 hours behind on 7(28) and we were informed that our crew has run out of time, so Amtrak is flying in a new crew into Williston, ND, where we have been sitting for over an hour now. This has certainly been a "wild ride"!!!
 
Maybe Financial Excellence can get rid of the T&E Crews, it sure will save a lot of money, maybe even more than the nickel and dime cuts these morons have already implemented!

Hope you get home one of these days Mike!
 
A very interesting comment posted on the Facebook Empire Builder group from someone who says they are a BNSF employee. Referring to the standards mandated by PRIIA section 207, which were voided by a court [PDF decision] because they put Amtrak in a regulatory role, the poster says:

All these service standards were thrown out in court because BNSF knew this mess was going to happen long before the Bakken even started producing oil. Now the tracks are so bad from all the freight traffic they are closing the line due to broken rails and sink holes. It really is bad.
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I can't vouch for the accuracy of the statement, but it does seem to make sense, unfortunately.
 
CHamilton said:
A very interesting comment posted on the Facebook Empire Builder group from someone who says they are a BNSF employee. Referring to the standards mandated by PRIIA section 207, which were voided by a court [PDF decision] because they put Amtrak in a regulatory role, the poster says:

All these service standards were thrown out in court because BNSF knew this mess was going to happen long before the Bakken even started producing oil. Now the tracks are so bad from all the freight traffic they are closing the line due to broken rails and sink holes. It really is bad.
Click to expand...
I can't vouch for the accuracy of the statement, but it does seem to make sense, unfortunately.
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BNSF controls the court system?
 
Anyone know what happened to #8 in SBY today? It was on time (even early) when boom--a service disruption!

Arrrrgh. I am putting my future Amtrak adventures on hold until some sense of sanity is restored to this nonsense on the Hi-Line. Both my Empire Builder segments were very late and the train is no longer has any realistic chance of connecting with any other Amtrak LD train, other than perhaps the LSL at least some of the time. Even the members of the crew on yesterday's #7 that I was on sounded down and exhausted. They did a great job, considering the extreme delays, but these folks had about two hours in CHI as a "turnaround" before heading back west.
 
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