EB Mess - 2

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Three of the four EB's currently chugging along are very late again, only yesterday's #7, which should arrive on time in SEA/PDX is making good time. #8 into CHI today is likely to be 5 hours late-pretty much as expected for this summer's travel time.

:-(
 
Of course Monday's #8 was not helped by the 3 hour+ delay due to freight problems at Minot and a 3 hour+ delay west of Leavenworth on yesterday's#8. I think it's more a case of extenuating circumstances for them more than anything else.
 
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And I think I jinxed #7 in WA this AM. Now running about 90 minutes behind. Bummer. BNSF says the construction is back in full swing and freight traffic is back to pre-holiday levels as of today, so it will indeed be interesting to see how the EBs fare in the coming weeks of summer. One thing we haven't seen a lot of are heat restrictions-until now. Temps in western MT are forecasted to approach 90+ over the coming week.
 
montana mike said:
Actually, last year BNSF started these restrictions at 85 degrees.

:-(
Click to expand...
The heat restriction is not put in place at the same temperature everywhere. The number will be higher on much of the Southwest Chief route because the high/low/average temeratures are higher. Heat restriction is for the purpose of reducing the force the train applies to the track laterally as at higher temperatures the rails are in compression which gives them a tendency to shift sideways when pushed by the back and forth forces of the trains. These forces happen even on straight track because the world is not perfect.
 
I just got off the eastbound Empire Builder this afternoon in St Paul at 1:30 (boarded in Minot last night at midnight). Over breakfast this morning I was talking to a lady who boarded in Seattle. She said the Seattle section was stopped in a siding and couldn't get enough power going to get over the Cascades. Twice they backed down to a nearby town to get a running start, yet they still faltered. The third time they had a BNSF engine help pull them over. A couple other people in the lounge confirmed this story.

I'm not too sure how traffic went on the Hi-line as I slept from Rugby to Fargo. From Fargo to Wadena we crawled along at about 30mph, and was able to pick up some speed afterwards but still kept loosing time.

The crew went dead outside Little Falls, and the replacement crew was there in just a few minutes. However we were delayed for about 20 minutes as the new crew couldn't get ahold of the dispatcher via radio or phone to release the train.

One note about breakfast was that the omelette was quite good and the breakfast potatoes were crisp and hot. The service was good, but I felt bad for the crew because of the table settings they had to work with. We all know how the Corelle plates are gone as well as the flowers and the linen napkins & table cloths. While they used glass juice glasses, the coffee mugs were just the paper ones from the cafe and didn't come with a lid or sleeve. Also the menus were black and white photo copies of the real menu on plain paper which I was surprised at. Are paper coffee cups and photo copied menus the new norm?
 
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Speaking of heat, Wenatchee is forecast to hit triple-digit highs for at least 5 consecutive days starting Sunday. Add to that is a wildfire just north of Wenatchee

that is filling the area with smoke. (though the fire itself is well north of the tracks)
 
And #8 arrived in CHI 5 hours and 40 minutes late today--pretty much as one would expect for a weekday EB these days. I wonder if they held the LSL--I would hope so.

:-(
 
There were extenuating circumstances here, too: the EB lost 3 1/2 hours in the Cascades because it didn't have enough power to get over Stevens Pass. Had to back down and make a run for it three times before giving up and having a BNSF engine attached to it. It was over 3 hours late out of Spokane. Absent that, it would have "only" been a couple of hours late. And the LSL was held for it I understand.
 
Appears the LSL left CHI only a half our after EB's arrival, so apparently did hold.

Seems like it would be quite a dash to get the appropriate luggage and passengers transferred.
 
Re Trainhopper's and JP's posts on not having enough power: Is Amtrak that short of engines? With all the other, non-controllable problems with the EB, why would they not supply enough power to pull their train? That seems to be something within Amtrak's control and easily calculated.

If Amtrak is really that short of equipment, that's very disconcerting. Or was this related to some freak mishap such as having lots of engines needing repair at one time?

Just surprised at the "I think I can, I think I can..., oops, I can't!" scenario.
 
The problem, which is really a typical pattern for Amtrak due to its starvation budgets, is this:

- Amtrak ordered just enough locomotives to cover its current services plus a little bit of expansion.

- Then, over the years, various locomotives got wrecked in crashes or fires or whatever.

- Simultaneously a whole bunch of new state-funded services started, meaning more demand for locomotives.

This is a recipe for a locomotive shortage. The new state-funded locomotives should help when they arrive, which unfortunately won't be for several years.
 
Good news for anyone taking the EB in the next week:

A large trough of cool air is descending over the upper great plains, and the midwest. This is due to the atmospheric disturbance caused by the mega-typhoon hitting Japan. It will result in many areas experiencing temperatures 10-20 degrees F below average.

Hopefully this means that the EB will avoid having to deal with too many heat restrictions, at least for the next week.
 
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