Empire Builder and extreme heat Portland

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CoachSlumber

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
266
It's supposed to be over 100 in Portland Wednesday/Thursday and presumably along the route, and I am boarding the EB at PDX Wednesday. Could this lead to cancellation? This is freakish heat.
 
Predicted for downtown Portland next week is a high of 107 F. Looking at the NWS table of extremes for downtown Portland, 106 is the current all-time high. Freakish? Not really but definitely noteworthy. And, as already said, slow orders, not cancellations.
 
Hopefully, the consist AC has been running. Definite, will be late into Spokane with slow orders, though the super heat may not be east to Spokane.
If it's that hot when the EB arrives into Spokane at its scheduled time of just after midnight, I'm moving pronto!!! :lol: Spokane's hottest day (104 F.) is predicted for Friday. And Pasco, at 109 F.is even going to be hotter. Definite heat orders on tap. I know the one time I rode the Baby Builder to Spokane from Portland when heat orders were in place, it was 25 mph most of the way to Wishram. After that, it was 40 mph for a ways before picking up full speed into Pasco. By then the sun had set and it cooled off enough.
 
When I lived out west (about 15 miles north of Needles, CA), it easily got to 115° or higher most summer days! When I went to see the SWC pass thru at 2 am (yeah I was crazy then too!), many times it was in the 90's if not over 100°! :eek:
 
When I lived out west (about 15 miles north of Needles, CA), it easily got to 115° or higher most summer days! When I went to see the SWC pass thru at 2 am (yeah I was crazy then too!), many times it was in the 90's if not over 100°! :eek:
I believe the all-time record high minimum in Spokane is around 77 F. A lot of times here there is a 40 degree difference (or more) between high and low temperatures in the summer months.
 
It's awful here in western NC mountain foothills Asheville area. Supposed to be 80 today. I'll have to move up to Boone where it will be in the mid 70s.

We do have it rough. We even have a couple of inches of snow every year. Uh, do we suffer!
 
I am in Redding California and its 110 everyday. Coast Starlight limps through 2 times a day, plus tons of UP. Whats the beef. This is way out west and heat is a fact of life.
 
I am in Redding California and its 110 everyday. Coast Starlight limps through 2 times a day, plus tons of UP. Whats the beef. This is way out west and heat is a fact of life.
Excuse me for disrupting the order of things. I was under the impression that this was a site where you went if you had a reasonable question about Amtrak. So silly of me to wonder if a possible new high record temperature for Portland might affect an Amtrak train's operation. I hope I never cause a disruption to your facts of life again.
 
Slow orders are place when it is hot where the the steel rail will expand. When can happen? Remember the Capitol Ltd in Maryland outside D.C., the track became out of aliegnment due to the hot summer sun, causing that bad derailment. Everyone is trying to avoid a serious event when the the temps rise. Some areas are having abnormally high heat, so in these areas they have to be especially careful since it is not dealt with everyday.
 
I am in Redding California and its 110 everyday. Coast Starlight limps through 2 times a day, plus tons of UP. Whats the beef. This is way out west and heat is a fact of life.
Excuse me for disrupting the order of things. I was under the impression that this was a site where you went if you had a reasonable question about Amtrak. So silly of me to wonder if a possible new high record temperature for Portland might affect an Amtrak train's operation. I hope I never cause a disruption to your facts of life again.
Me too!!!
 
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