4/12/22 EB Cancellations due to forecast blizzard

[jis]

We just heard from a friend of ours who was visiting Bismarck ND and managed to get out veritably on the last flight out before the storm struck. According to him BNSF is pretty much shut down in ND as is the Interstate and other highways, and of course airports too.

 

[jebr]

Yeah, there's no way to get much of anywhere west of Fargo/Grand Forks even at this point. Roads closed in much of the western half of the state, and even the eastern half is almost completely "no travel advised."

 

[WWW]

These spring storms do not generate that fluffy powder snow a skiers delight but the heavy water laden heart attack type.
Using a broom compared to a shovel - a dusting of sorts versus trying to move a 50 pound weighted blob - muscle power !
Snow that heavy a density can't simply be plowed by truck - needs a bucket loader to remove it chunk by chunk.
A train plowing through it could be raised off the tracks and derailed.
And if out in the middle of no-some-where would have to wait a thaw for the equipment to put it back on

 

[MARC Rider]

To get an idea of what these blizzards can do, read

The Long Winter (Little House, 6): Wilder, Laura Ingalls, Williams, Garth: 9780064400060: Amazon.com: Books

It's one of the Little House on the Prairie Books.
Back-to-back blizzards pretty much shut down the rail network in the Dakota Territory for most of the winter, and people in the little town of De Smet end up facing starvation, but are saved at the last minute. I think they all got their Christmas shipments sometime in May when the trains could finally get through.

 

[JayPea]

To get an idea of what these blizzards can do, read

The Long Winter (Little House, 6): Wilder, Laura Ingalls, Williams, Garth: 9780064400060: Amazon.com: Books

It's one of the Little House on the Prairie Books.
Back-to-back blizzards pretty much shut down the rail network in the Dakota Territory for most of the winter, and people in the little town of De Smet end up facing starvation, but are saved at the last minute. I think they all got their Christmas shipments sometime in May when the trains could finally get through.

I've always been fascinated by the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, particularly "The Long Winter". Every time I hear about trains being stopped for a day or two, and people complaining about it, (not that anyone here is)I always refer to this book for a bit of perspective. In fact I just bought an e-book that specifically dealt with that winter, the winter of 1880-81, which examines the question of was it really that bad that winter?? The conclusion reached in that book was: You'd better believe it!!

 

[WWW]

In the days of steam when you run out of water - well snow problem there - - -
"BUT" when you run out of coal now that is another problem !

Think of maybe having to burn the coaches to fuel the fire - desperation !

 

[Willbridge]

A difference between then and now was indirectly referred to above. That is the commute for crews. In the Railroad Magazine days train crews lived within a long walking distance from their terminals. Ditto with streetcar company motormen. Now the tendency to "drive till you qualify" for a mortgage is often a long trip, encouraged by driving at lightly traveled times. Then it snows and that same commute at 15 mph or so makes it a longgg drive.

Another factor was the mail contracts. In those days, "the mail must go through!" Now, Amtrak runs empty head-end cars (rear-end cars?) and the mail sits unsorted in the post office. My son and his family received no mail in the last big Denver snow for five days at their home, two blocks from the post office.

What still is relevant is that rail and highway routes are not always shut down at the same time. When I-70 in Glenwood Canyon was closed by slides in 2019, Amtrak passengers were able to get a good look at the rubble removal from passing trains. As it happened, the rail line was cleared well before the highway. Pundits talk about 'resiliency' -- one way to get it is to have more than a single mode on major routes.

 

[jis]

What still is relevant is that rail and highway routes are not always shut down at the same time. When I-70 in Glenwood Canyon was closed by slides in 2019, Amtrak passengers were able to get a good look at the rubble removal from passing trains. As it happened, the rail line was cleared well before the highway. Pundits talk about 'resiliency' -- one way to get it is to have more than a single mode on major routes.

Actually this particular case had to do with the railroad being on the less disaster-prone bank of the river. If there was a road there instead of a railroad it would have equally been put back into service way earlier than the other bank.

An opposite case on the same route was that of the Thistle landslide in which case the railroad was closed for many weeks while the roads to work around there were fine. This is the event that cause the new Amtrak California Zephyr to run through Wyoming for many weeks instead of running on its new route by the Moffatt Route soon after its inauguration.

 

[railiner]

To get an idea of what these blizzards can do, read

The Long Winter (Little House, 6): Wilder, Laura Ingalls, Williams, Garth: 9780064400060: Amazon.com: Books

It's one of the Little House on the Prairie Books.
Back-to-back blizzards pretty much shut down the rail network in the Dakota Territory for most of the winter, and people in the little town of De Smet end up facing starvation, but are saved at the last minute. I think they all got their Christmas shipments sometime in May when the trains could finally get through.

Reminds me of this silent era MGM movie...
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016523/

 

[Old MM]

I love the LH books, grew up with them and made sure my kids did too. There are some known inaccuracies in "The Long Winter" but the major themes are not contested. It was a brutal winter and rail activity was shut down. The book is a treasure and I have re-read it so many times. Highly recommended.
In more recent times, there was definitely an aspect to Amtrak travel that was less weather dependent, and to some extent, can still be found. However, this is increasingly less certain. I've enjoyed many a winter excursion on the Wolverine, where driving would have been problematic and airline flights were facing operational challenges. Today, I'm realizing that this bubble, for the most part, doesn't really exist any more, or at least, shouldn't be assumed. There are a host of good reasons why and how. My thoughts on the why and how don't matter, it's more important to adjust expectations.