Michael061282
Lead Service Attendant
What in the world happened to #21 yesterday? It lost over 11 hours between Chicago & Joliet!
21(7)
- Thread starter Michael061282
- Start date
Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:
- Status
Construction crew broke Natural Gas Line between Chicago and Joliet resulting in delays and reroutes for all Lincoln Service Trains and #22.
Supposed to be repaired sometime today?
#21 almost certainly will be turned in Ft Worth or Dallas when it eventually gets there sometime tomorrow morning! ( Sunday)Looks like bustitutions between SAS and the DFW Metroplex!!!
The Texas Eagle is having a bad luck summer. Yes, the CHI-STL track work delays were expected, but flooding in TX, equipment breakdowns, and now a ruptured natural gas line near the tracks. Oh well, it still doing better than the CZ in average delays.
Appears that the gas line break in IL might have resulted in a cancelled TE. Status Maps shows 21(8/07) going only as far as STL, arriving 12 hours and 46 minutes late (not a fun trip). Did that trainset get past STL? That train would have arrived at Austin on August 8 and been turned around for 22(8/09). However, 22(8/09) is shown as a service disruption. Anyone know if #22(8/09) will originate at Fort Worth or Dallas or has been cancelled entirely?
OlympianHiawatha
Engineer
I was on that Texas Eagle and we arrived DAL about 0200 this morning (Sunday); the train was annulled in FTW and anyone heading further south was Bustituted. In my case a very nice Suburban Limo was waiting at DAL to run me back up to Norman, filling in the Heartland Flyer portion of my itinerary.
The day before, we were an hour late leaving Chicago because of problems with the Diner's AC. Interestingly, had we departed on time, we well may have been passing the site of the gas leak right when it happened! Instead, we were stopped at the Metra platform in Lemont and remianed there for about 3 hours. We were allowed to step off the train and several pax right away chose to bail. Others walked across the street for pizza or Chinese while others ate in the Diner as normal.
When authorities realized this was a serious leak, we were pushed back to CUS (some Train Attendants expressed their surprise the train could back up so far) and waited there until a Metra pilot and Conductor came available just past midnight to reroute us to Joliet via the Rock Island. When we finally left, the final southbound Lincoln Service set was on our point. My berth made hardly a ripple as we made the night run between CHI and STL on that smooth UP main.
All this time, Amtrak personnel did all they could to keep everyone informed and comfortable, even going so far as to declare a Beef Stew Emergency Saturday evening, giving Coach pax a chance to eat before arriving Marshal TX. Even then, a handful of folks continued to whine and moan while the rest of us remained happy and up spirited.
Sure beats being stuck in an airliner on the tarmac for 12 or so hours!
The day before, we were an hour late leaving Chicago because of problems with the Diner's AC. Interestingly, had we departed on time, we well may have been passing the site of the gas leak right when it happened! Instead, we were stopped at the Metra platform in Lemont and remianed there for about 3 hours. We were allowed to step off the train and several pax right away chose to bail. Others walked across the street for pizza or Chinese while others ate in the Diner as normal.
When authorities realized this was a serious leak, we were pushed back to CUS (some Train Attendants expressed their surprise the train could back up so far) and waited there until a Metra pilot and Conductor came available just past midnight to reroute us to Joliet via the Rock Island. When we finally left, the final southbound Lincoln Service set was on our point. My berth made hardly a ripple as we made the night run between CHI and STL on that smooth UP main.
All this time, Amtrak personnel did all they could to keep everyone informed and comfortable, even going so far as to declare a Beef Stew Emergency Saturday evening, giving Coach pax a chance to eat before arriving Marshal TX. Even then, a handful of folks continued to whine and moan while the rest of us remained happy and up spirited.
Sure beats being stuck in an airliner on the tarmac for 12 or so hours!
Last edited by a moderator:
Sounds like Amtrak made Lemonade out of the Lemons that the Eagle was handed in CHI!!
Best way to roll to Oklahoma, in a Limo!!!
Best way to roll to Oklahoma, in a Limo!!!
fillyjonk
OBS Chief
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2011
- Messages
- 582
I was supposed to be on that train. When I saw it going "backwards" on Track-a-Train (I was to get on in BNL), I mildly freaked, called Amtrak, talked to a very nice and knowledgeable guy (Bruce) who told me there was ONE roomette left on the August 8 train....and he substituted it for the one I was to have for me. As I'd have had to stay up all night monitoring to see when the train was arriving in BNL (and then wake my mom to get her to take me to the station), I think that was preferable....but it sounds like Amtrak did their best for the people who were stuck on the delayed train.
I was laughing when I was at the station waiting on the train Saturday - it was 45 min late and there was a guy there griping about how late it was. I wanted to tell him, "better than 11 hours late" but he looked grumpy enough that I didn't think he'd appreciate it.
I was laughing when I was at the station waiting on the train Saturday - it was 45 min late and there was a guy there griping about how late it was. I wanted to tell him, "better than 11 hours late" but he looked grumpy enough that I didn't think he'd appreciate it.
All of this bad luck with the TE, I feel fortunate with my trip on 22 (31) technically 422(29) out of LA..."only" 1:28 late into Chicago on the first! Made my connection to the Cap Limited no problem.
Last edited by a moderator:
- Status
