4/12/22 EB Cancellations due to forecast blizzard

[NSC1109]

A7-11 will be the last passenger train through Minot today; both A8-11 and A8-12 terminating at Spokane with A7-12 and A7-13 both terminating at MSP.
Couldn’t find delay thread.

 

[Cal]

A7-11 will be the last passenger train through Minot today; both A8-11 and A8-12 terminating at Spokane with A7-12 and A7-13 both terminating at MSP.
Couldn’t find delay thread.

Why?

 

[jis]

Major snowstorm in the Midwest?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Why?

BLIZZARD!!! With potential of 30+ inches of snow!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

 

[NSC1109]

Why?

I was in a work meeting when I got the news. BNSF is pretty much shutting down all local work and are trying to directionally run on the KO and Devil’s Lake subs but they’re expecting significant disruptions due to this blizzard. Trying to send Amtrak through that mess isn’t going to work.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

I saw something earlier about there even being a couple inches in Portland and a lot in the Cascades too.

 

[GAT]

Il be on the eastbound CZ departing EMY tomorrow, I wonder what it's going to be like in Nebraska and Iowa Thursday-Friday. Hopefully it will be calmer by then.

 

[TinCan782]

Il be on the eastbound CZ departing EMY tomorrow, I wonder what it's going to be like in Nebraska and Iowa Thursday-Friday. Hopefully it will be calmer by then.

If I were traveling, I'd check the weather forecasts for the areas I'm passing through and headed to.

 

[Acela150]

I guess they don't want any repeats of January when Train 7/27 got stuck in Wenatchee.

 

[GAT]

Good idea. I will check the forecast for Omaha at least. Also, would Amtrak normally start a route if there was a possibility of severe weather down the line? Granted, these storms are a long way down the line, like two days hence.

In any event, if the train leaves EMY tomorrow, I'm going to be on it! This is a long-planned fun trip, and I don't have any time-constrained appointments along the way. Of course, I wouldn't want to be snowbound and frozen on a stopped train in the middle of nowhere, but I have faith Amtrak won't let that happen. ("Would it?" he said with sardonic humor )

 

[John Bobinyec]

Does this train go through Donner Pass?
jb

 

[Acela150]

Does this train go through Donner Pass?
jb

No.

 

[jruff001]

Il be on the eastbound CZ departing EMY tomorrow, I wonder what it's going to be like in Nebraska and Iowa Thursday-Friday. Hopefully it will be calmer by then.

Google is your friend.

Sunny, highs in the 50s, lows in the 30s.

 

[Willbridge]

Winnipeg canceled school, which they haven't done for around 25 years, but the air quality is fabulous!

AccuWeather:
Excellent
The air quality is ideal for most individuals; enjoy your normal outdoor activities.

Just don't do your normal activities on the highways. Newspaper websites report that the RCMP is closing major roads around Winnipeg.

 

[WWW]

The snow USA/Canada border will be the heavy wet heart attack type and will not melt on contact accumulation in inches
Whereas the South Dakota Nebraska Iowa will have more rain than snow content and it won't last (rain kills snow)
Tornado winds and weather warnings for the southern plains - Iowa South Dakota SW corner Minnesota
Stuff passing off to the east rapidly moving 45-50 mph.

Still yet the lingering after effects will not be spring like for Easter

Business as usual in the upper plains - you no like wait 10 minutes for an instant replay making it even worse !

Good move to terminate EB #7 & #8 out of the fray !*!

 

[railiner]

So much for "all weather transportation", that railroads used to advertise in the mid-20th century...

https://www.railpassengers.org/happening-now/news/blog/snow-doesnt-stop-trains/

 

[MARC Rider]

Winnipeg canceled school, which they haven't done for around 25 years, but the air quality is fabulous!

AccuWeather:
Excellent
The air quality is ideal for most individuals; enjoy your normal outdoor activities.

Just don't do your normal activities on the highways. Newspaper websites report that the RCMP is closing major roads around Winnipeg.

What kind of "normal outdoor activities" would one do in a blizzard?

 

[NSC1109]

What kind of "normal outdoor activities" would one do in a blizzard?

if you’re from the Midwest, drinking beer and playing cornhole while ice fishing comes to mind.

So much for "all weather transportation", that railroads used to advertise in the mid-20th century...

https://www.railpassengers.org/happening-now/news/blog/snow-doesnt-stop-trains/

Railroads are taking a safer approach now than they did in the 20th century. It’s no longer just about running trains, it’s the safety of the crews. I’m not about to ask a crew to drive in and report for duty when the crew vans were pulled from the roads due to the conditions.

 

[MikefromCrete]

So much for "all weather transportation", that railroads used to advertise in the mid-20th century...

https://www.railpassengers.org/happening-now/news/blog/snow-doesnt-stop-trains/

Weather forecasting was not nearly as advanced back in the "good old days." Today, if we know a 30-inch blizzard is heading our way, staying home is the prudent thing to do. Let's say Amtrak decides to send a train out in face of a blizzard or hurricane and that train derails or crashes into another train and rescue crews can't make it to the site for days. Think of the human toll, think of the lawsuits. Times change and we need to adjust to those changes.

 

[jis]

Weather forecasting was not nearly as advanced back in the "good old days." Today, if we know a 30-inch blizzard is heading our way, staying home is the prudent thing to do. Let's say Amtrak decides to send a train out in face of a blizzard or hurricane and that train derails or crashes into another train and rescue crews can't make it to the site for days. Think of the human toll, think of the lawsuits. Times change and we need to adjust to those changes.

Besides, railroads never were all weather transportation except in people's fantasy and false advertising anyway.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Winnipeg canceled school, which they haven't done for around 25 years, but the air quality is fabulous!

AccuWeather:
Excellent
The air quality is ideal for most individuals; enjoy your normal outdoor activities.

Just don't do your normal activities on the highways. Newspaper websites report that the RCMP is closing major roads around Winnipeg.

WOW, it's NEWS when "Winterpeg" cancels anything due to Winter weather!

 

[WWW]

Winnipeg weather - what about Canada Rail VIA - any comments ?

 

[Eric in East County]

So much for "all weather transportation", that railroads used to advertise in the mid-20th century...

https://www.railpassengers.org/happening-now/news/blog/snow-doesnt-stop-trains/

Back during the “golden age” of rail passenger service, major railroads such as the New York Central prided themselves on getting their crack passenger trains through no matter what the weather. (This required a small army of people to ensure that the tracks remained open.)

Many of you have probably seen the famous photo of actress Mae Murry standing beside a Twentieth Century Limited locomotive covered with icicles after forging its way through a blizzard. That photo even inspired a famous poem, which opens with these lines:

The storm king whistled from out the North
As the crack old Limited train set forth,
With a hey nonny nonny.

The snow blew strong through the long, long, night,
And settled on objects left and right,
But the Twentieth Century ploughed on through
As a limited train is supposed to do,
With Buffalo, Syracuse, Canastota,
Beneath more snow than their usual quota,
And a hey nonny nonny.

 

[railiner]

Good points about “then, versus now”. It’s a fact that railroads did indeed employ “a small army of people”, back then. Section gangs are a fraction of what they used to be.
One story I would like to relate, is back around 1970 or so, when blizzard conditions closed I-80 across Wyoming, Greyhound Lines arranged for the Union Pacific to carry Greyhound passengers across that blockage. The railroad was the only thing moving for a period…