# Southwest Chief Delay



## Pam (Jun 21, 2016)

I noticed that the Southwest Chief, both trains 3 & 4, have been heavily delayed in New Mexico & Arizona yesterday & today. Just curious if anyone knew why? I wasn't sure if it was caused by freight trains or if there was some track work going on or something else? I'm due to leave on train 3 on Saturday night, so I of course wondered. I haven't made any concrete plans for the day of arrival, due to the potential for a long delay.

Thanks!


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## CCC1007 (Jun 21, 2016)

Very hot day, slow orders on the faster sections so as not to overstress the tracks on the busy transcontinental line.


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## KmH (Jun 21, 2016)

Today's forecast high temperatures along the SWC route:

109° in Barstow

115° - Needles,CA.

103° - Kingman, AZ

104° - La Junta, CO

102° - Lamar, CO

Temperatures at higher elevations and further east - Williams Jct/Flagstaff, Gallup, Albuquerque, Raton, Garden City - are in the mid to high 90's.


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## acelafan (Jun 21, 2016)

I'm on #3 now, we departed on Sunday 6/19. We had engine problems after La Junta that set us back. Then we waited and waited for eastbound #4 to pass us before we got to Lamy. Then we got into the Albuquerque road runner rush hour mess and couldn't get around any of those guys.

As to why we lost more time after Gallup, I'm not sure. But we've been creepy-crawly for much of the morning. Could be trackwork, but 4.5 hours late stinks. Amtrak did reaccommodate those that are connecting. Just hope I make the 1:05pm bus to catch the San Joaquin to get onto the Starlight at Martinez.


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## Pam (Jun 21, 2016)

Ah, thank you for all the replies. As a train newbie, I wasn't aware of the heat issues. Acelafan, I hope you make your connection! Thanks for the on-train update.


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## acelafan (Jun 21, 2016)

Pam, I think you will have better time keeping than our train. We are now 6+ hours late due to a grade crossing accident near Riverside. So I'll be on the 3 pm bus, catching the CS at midnight in Sacramento. On the flip side, time for a good lunch in LA!


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## acelafan (Jun 21, 2016)

Link for chart of arrival times at LAX over past month:

https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/historychart.php?train_num=3&station=Lax&date_start=05%2F22%2F2016&date_end=06%2F21%2F2016&sort=d_ar&chartsize=2&smooth=0


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## ehbowen (Jun 21, 2016)

In very hot weather, railroads are vulnerable to what is known as "sun kinks"...where the high temperatures cause the rails to expand and, having nowhere else to go, they spring out of line.







Continuous welded rail (the modern standard) is more vulnerable to this, but it occasionally happens even to jointed rail lines. When temperatures are extremely hot the railroads often put on "slow orders" so that trains will be able to stop in time if they encounter one of these.


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## CCC1007 (Jun 21, 2016)

ehbowen said:


> In very hot weather, railroads are vulnerable to what is known as "sun kinks"...where the high temperatures cause the rails to expand and, having nowhere else to go, they spring out of line.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The photo is an extreme example of a heat kink.


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## ehbowen (Jun 21, 2016)

CCC1007 said:


> The photo is an extreme example of a heat kink.


True, I did select the most dramatic photo which I spotted on the first page of the search results. This is a more common example...but still big enough to ruin your whole day if you roll into it at speed:


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## acelafan (Jun 22, 2016)

Looks like #3 arriving into ABQ today is getting hung up by Road Runner operations again. It will be interesting to see if it loses more time overnight.

On Tuesday we were 6 hours late into LA. Amtrak put connecting passengers on a 3pm bus to Bakersfield to eventually catch the Coast Starlight at Sacramento. Boo on missing the spectacular coastal scenery north of LA but it is what it is.


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