Amtrak #5(01) Set Out Coach at Ottumwa

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Agent

Conductor
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
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1,644
Location
Iowa
The westbound California Zephyr that left Chicago on Tuesday was stopped near Batavia, Iowa that evening after being told by the dispatcher to inspect a warm bearing. The last car on the train, coach AMTK 34064, was the afflicted car. The crew reported that one bearing was 160°F (78°C) and the rest were 130°F (50°C). The BNSF defect desk told them that, since this was an FRA defect, the coach would have to be set and they could only travel at 10 mph. The nearest siding that could be used to set out the coach was the scrapyard siding in Ottumwa which was fourteen and a half miles away. At one point, I heard over the radio the question of whether the crew could do switching with passengers onboard or not. I didn't hear what the answer was. This all ended up delaying #5 about two and a half hours.
 
On Tuesday, Amtrak #6(06) picked up the coach at Ottumwa and took it to Chicago on the end of its train.

On Monday, YouTube user Bobby Harvey filmed the coach being moved around the Ottumwa Yard by the Burlington Junction Railway's resident GP7u yard engine.

 
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