#5 (11) Held up by flooding in Colorado

[AmtrakBlue]

As to national news, I've been hearing about it on ABC's local & national news here in DE (local station is in Philly).

 

[NW cannonball]

Now 5(12) shows only 12 minutes late west from Reno, and 6(12) 3hours late east of Osceola.

How did Amtrak do that?

 

[jis]

To has reports that say that both 5 and 6 of 12 ran SLC - OMA on UP, with bus bridges to various locations on the regular route. Amtrak flew the Denver crew from Denver to Cheyenne and then used the same plane to fly the crew from Cheyenne to Denver.

It is reported that today 5 is going OMA - DEN - Borie _SLC. But we'll see what happens actually. Apparently the South Platte River Bridge has survived and is usable again between Denver and Borie WY.

 

[eblkheart]

I had to stop watching once I saw the closeup of the tethered horse that would surely by now have been swept away by the moving waters.

Just an fyi, the horse is fine (news flew over the same location and the horse was still there, alive and well. The area is now muddy with some water, so I'm willing to bet the ranchers are going to make it back today.

 

[pianocat]

Thank you for that update !

 

[DaddyJim]

Did # 6 make it out of EMY this am ?

 

[leemell]

Did # 6 make it out of EMY this am ?

Doesn't look like it. It is not on the status map and shows as "Service Disruption".

 

[greatcats]

It does say service disruption, but the app says it departed at 9:31 am.

 

[DaddyJim]

Thanks From the news reports looks like they have a big mess to clean up in Co... The Wife and I will be on #6 10/3 from EMY to CHI

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

The CZ was supposed to pass through here about 30 minutes ago, and I still haven't heard it. There's two grade crossings nearby, the train should blow "long-long-short-long" through each one. I heard a UP frieght about 1 pm.

I can't acess Status Maps for some reason and Amtrak Train Status shows a Service Disruption.

 

[leemell]

It does say service disruption, but the app says it departed at 9:31 am.

Amtrak status says is doesn't know when it will depart and still shows no train.

 

[chakk]

It does say service disruption, but the app says it departed at 9:31 am.

Amtrak status says is doesn't know when it will depart and still shows no train.

Amtrak app on iPhone shows 6(14) departed Elko, NV on time at 9:31PM.

 

[ChrisJ]

I just got off the phone with Amtrak. The plan for today, and the next few (several?) days, is: #5 will turn at Denver (to become #6), and #6 will turn at Grand Junction (to become #5), with bustitution between Denver & Grand Junction. All subject to change at any time, of course.

 

[Montanan]

There's a major washout between Denver and the Moffat Tunnel ... just above Tunnel #2, I think. The line's likely to be out of service for a while:

 

[Nathanael]

Boy. Looks to me like that should be bridged rather than being filled. Need to allow for drainage...

 

[Bob Dylan]

There's a major washout between Denver and the Moffat Tunnel ... just above Tunnel #2, I think. The line's likely to be out of service for a while:

This needs a Bridge, not fill! Poor engineering!

 

[Nathanael]

The levee failed at Fort Morgan and parts of Fort Morgan are flooding.

http://kdvr.com/2013/09/15/platte-river-floods-parts-of-fort-morgan/

FYI, Fort Morgan preemptively evacuated the areas near the riverside.

Fort Morgan is downstream from Greeley on the South Platte River. Greeley, which is at the confluence of the South Platte and the Poudre, was massively flooded yesterday, as the water from all the other floods flows through it.

It's still raining.

It seems that Fort Morgan Amtrak is fairly high uphill so it will probably be OK. But this is just a sign of how far this extends. I doubt that Nebraska will get flooding from this event... but it might.

 

[Agent]

Boy. Looks to me like that should be bridged rather than being filled. Need to allow for drainage...

There's a major washout between Denver and the Moffat Tunnel ... just above Tunnel #2, I think. The line's likely to be out of service for a while:

This needs a Bridge, not fill! Poor engineering!

According to this, there was a bridge there when the line was originally built by the Denver & Salt Lake, but it was later filled in.

 

[PRR 60]

There's a major washout between Denver and the Moffat Tunnel ... just above Tunnel #2, I think. The line's likely to be out of service for a while:

This needs a Bridge, not fill! Poor engineering!

It likely had culverts (that are now down the canyon somewhere). It will likely get culverts again, although almost certainly larger ones.

 

[railiner]

Now 5(12) shows only 12 minutes late west from Reno, and 6(12) 3hours late east of Osceola.

How did Amtrak do that?

By turning the trains at Denver and Cheyenne....

Denver to Salt Lake City for the CZ is normally about 14 to 15 hours....Cheyenne to SLC on the Overland Route is only about 9 to 10 hours.....

 

[Linda T]

So is that actually the Zephyr's route? Wow!

 

[Ringfinder]

So can Amtrak from Chicago to Emeryville get through? Or what kind of a detour is it making and is it by train or bus?

 

[PRR 60]

So can Amtrak from Chicago to Emeryville get through? Or what kind of a detour is it making and is it by train or bus?

The last info I saw posted was that a Zephyr set is running between Chicago to Denver, and a second set is running between Cheyenne WY and Emeryville. Through passengers, along with passengers between Denver and points west are being bussed between Denver and Cheyenne.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

So can Amtrak from Chicago to Emeryville get through? Or what kind of a detour is it making and is it by train or bus?

I can't find any accurate status, but AFAIK, the trains are not getting through. Apparently they're turning the opposite train around at Denver and Cheyenne (detour via Wyoming), with a bustitute to ferry passengers between the two trains. 5 becomes 6, 6 becomes 5. This could get impossible with the flooding near Fort Morgan which was out both I-25 and US 85, the two easternmost roads Denver-Cheyenne. US 287 is obviously impossible because it's even closer to the flooding. Denver forecasts predict more thunder-showers tonight, which could make things go very bad very fast.

Making things worse, there's heavy rains in western Wyoming which could swamp the Wyoming route as well. If that happens, the CZ would be totally suspended infedinitely. Everywhere up and down the Rocky Mountains is being hit by heavy rains.

If you're riding the CZ anytime soon, prepare for the worst, and be ready to scrap and cancel at the last minute.

 

[Ringfinder]

Bummer, we are heading west in the morning out of Chicago to Emeryville. We are supposed to be in LA Saturday for

my nephews wedding. I hope all goes well.

Thanks for the info, I asked Amtrak and they said everything was OK, go figure.

DM