Delay to 92(13)

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92 left Miami 3H 25M late and according to Amtrak Alerts, it was due to mechanical troubles. It now has only one engine. What were the details of the delay? It shouldn't take 3.5 hours to set out an engine.

jb
 
If it ran all the way with only one engine I guess that could explain why it was 4 hrs and 52 min late at Petersburg, Va ... although, since the engine swap at DC it seems to making up some of that time.
 
If it ran all the way with only one engine I guess that could explain why it was 4 hrs and 52 min late at Petersburg, Va ... although, since the engine swap at DC it seems to making up some of that time.
Would one engine really affect the running time all that much?
 
Wow...that sounds like a repeat of my trip on 98 on 12 July...left Miami over 3 hours late due to swapping out a diner. And we also left with one engine, until we reached Sanford, where they picked up a second one. We also lost more time due to losing our 'slot' with meets. We arrived NYP 4 hours and 56 minutes late...
 
Would one engine really affect the running time all that much?

I'm not really sure but it doesn't seem like they would normally run with two if running with one works just as efficiently as running with two - so, I would think that only having one could impact on their ability to make up lost time ... also, like @railiner said, starting out that late could have had an impact of fitting back into an open slot on the track schedule
 
Having a second engine, could marginally save time accelerating from stops, or speed restrictions, with a heavy train. Wouldn't make any difference in top speed, especially in flat country like in Florida.
 
At the present the reliability of P-42s is abysmal. A second engine should be along to protect any train's passengers for HEP and traction. If you follow Amtrak delays you will find at least one loco failing almost every day. Usually when failures out west in mountainous regions when one P-42 fails a freight unit is added. Another reason for freight units is for the example of SWC today since transcon is blocked by a BNSF derailment.. The train was reversed and both Amtrak units then were facing the wrong direction when put on the rear of the train. No wye available for the reverse with another hour delay if later in trip wye possible that could take an hour delay with no HEP for passengers. So BNSF provided a freight unit to lead.

Now in predicted snow along a route a third P-42 may be added especially the Empire Builder. The DC traction motors of P-42 often fail when snow ingested.
 
You never see a P42 out of the Windsor-Quebec City corridor anyway. I want to say something with CN claiming the locomotives weigh too much and would wear the rail down. But that doesn’t really make sense either. I’m shocked they haven’t tested them on the Ocean in the summer.
 
Getting back to the original post ....

My wife was on that train. It was raining hard in Savannah and she heard the engineer say something to the effect that "this was the only engine they could find that works, but they didn't put sand in it." So it sounds like there are a lot of crippled engines in Hialeah.

jb
 
You never see a P42 out of the Windsor-Quebec City corridor anyway. I want to say something with CN claiming the locomotives weigh too much and would wear the rail down. But that doesn’t really make sense either. I’m shocked they haven’t tested them on the Ocean in the summer.
It's infrequent, but I'm pretty sure I've seen a picture of one as second unit on a long-distance Budd consist in the past. Whether it was a test or last-minute substitution I have no idea. In the meantime, they do occasionally venture outside the corridor - like to Albany, as shown in this 2011 shot from Canadian Railway Observations:

amtrakviapeterwarwick.jpg
 
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