Tornados and SWC4 and CZ5

Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I, too, am getting ready to take a train trip. I take the Zephyr from Roseville to Galesburg, Ill and transfer to the Eagle to ultimately arrive in Austin. I can't seem to find much info on what Amtrak does to assure our safety in the event of tornados. Anybody else out there have any thoughts?
 
The Host Railroad will for certain be keeping your Engineer and Conductor advised of any Critical Weather in your area and will do their best to keep you from wandering into it. Obviously they are not going to knowingly allow any trains, be them Freight or Passenger to venture into harm's way. If you have a scanner be sure to throw it in your grip because in addition to monitoring the Railroad Frequencies you can monitor the NWS channel(s) as well.
 
General statement. Tornados can strike any place, any time. Freight railroads have weather services that track storms. If a storm past over the tracks, trains are stop in the area.

Amtrak trains have been cancelled enroute due to damage from storms, and train service has been nulled for days.

Get a direct hit by a tornadoe to a passenger train has yet to happen. Best of my knowledge. The result would be like any other derailment, a lot of ambulance, fire trucks, and a small town mobilizing to welcome 300 people who are having a bad day.

Things happen, this is why your mother told you to wear nice, clean, and hole free underwear when going out. The EMS/Hospital folks are going to cut off all your clothing, and someone going to see your wholly, dirty pair of transformers shorts.

Opps there goes the sirens, got to run and find some shelter now.
 
The once trusted but now candy coated short skirt pearly white teeth botox boosted authority on sports, entertainment, know everything but weather, Weather Channel, took a hit when its tornado chaser vehicle and tv personality Mike Bettes got more than what they bargained for. Vehicle was struck by debris and thrown several hundred yards and the occupants received what are called 'minor injuries'.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just-Thinking-51 said:
Get a direct hit by a tornadoe to a passenger train has yet to happen. Best of my knowledge. The result would be like any other derailment, a lot of ambulance, fire trucks, and a small town mobilizing to welcome 300 people who are having a bad day.
Click to expand...
No Amtrak train has been hit by a tornado, but the Empire Builder was derailed by a tornado in 1931. My favorite line: "five of the coaches were torn loose from the engine and lifted bodily from the rails, the farthest one being hurled 80 feet away"


In any case, I'd be much more concerned about my trip being canceled because of track conditions than about actually encountering a tornado.
 
ScottC4746 said:
I am leaving from LAX on SWC 4 to CHI Monday 3 June and then leave CHI on 6 June for EMY on the CZ5. I am getting concerned. Should I be.
Click to expand...
The National Weather Service's medium-range weather forecasts (i.e., out to 6 days in the future), show some rain showers moving through the Midwest on June 5 and 6, but currently there are no forecasts for thunderstorms in the Chicago area for those dates. And the forecasts for CAPE "Convective Available Potential Energy") are not particularly high on either the route of the SWC or CZ for those two days. CAPE is forecast to be higher in New Mexico and Texas for those days. So, my guess is that you might see some lightning around ABQ and Santa Fe, I don't think that there will be any significant tornado threat for Tornado Alley of eastern Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska for the specific dates of your travel.
 
A good source for severe weather forecasts is the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center. Convective forecasts (severe thunderstorms and tornadoes) are available up to eight days out (days four to eight as a general outlook map).

NWS SPC
 
If your train becomes airborne, will the TSA become involved?

"I am sorry, sir, but we will have to confiscate your prohibited knife. Sir? Sir, please try and stay awake or you will be arrested for interfering with the TSA. Sir, stop bleeding on the ground and put your blood in a quart bag."
 
me_little_me said:
If your train becomes airborne, will the TSA become involved?
"I am sorry, sir, but we will have to confiscate your prohibited knife. Sir? Sir, please try and stay awake or you will be arrested for interfering with the TSA. Sir, stop bleeding on the ground and put your blood in a quart bag."
Click to expand...
Sick, But very funny :lol:

Aloha
 
Know of two cases of train engines get hit with lightning. One had no effect, the other one the engine die, and the breakers had to be reset, before the engine restarted.

Seen an tractor trailer get hit by lightning, driver inside was OK, but his truck seem to glow for several hours after. Think it was the paint. Just a bit strange. The truck started with out issues the next morning, and the driver got himself a hotel room that night.
 
WellTrained said:
Anyone been on a train hit by lightning?
Click to expand...
Train: No. Plane: Yes. Approaching Atlanta. I sensed a blue ball of "something" go down the aisle during the process, but this might have been an optical illusion. Pilot came on the P.A. shortly afterward to confirm the strike but reassure passengers and crew that he and copilot still had full control of the plane. Although, after we landed, the plane was taken out of service and I observed maintenance workers examing the top of the vertical stabilizer.
 
chakk said:
WellTrained said:
Anyone been on a train hit by lightning?
Click to expand...
Train: No. Plane: Yes. Approaching Atlanta. I sensed a blue ball of "something" go down the aisle during the process, but this might have been an optical illusion. Pilot came on the P.A. shortly afterward to confirm the strike but reassure passengers and crew that he and copilot still had full control of the plane. Although, after we landed, the plane was taken out of service and I observed maintenance workers examing the top of the vertical stabilizer.
Click to expand...
Same for my boyfriend. He always loved flying and wanted to be a pilot when he was a kid, but his plane was struck by lightning when he was eight or nine, and he's been terrified of flying ever since. (The plane was fine, but it was kind of iffy with lots of jolts for a little while.)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top