Capitol Limited cancelled in both directions, 2/13/24

[Trollopian]

The result of a Monday-afternoon CSX derailment of four cars carrying caustic sodium hydroxide in WV. From the linked news article, "The derailment resulted in Monday night’s westbound Capitol Limited returning to Washington, D.C., after it had departed there; the rest of that trip was canceled; last night’s eastbound departure from Chicago was also canceled. Both today’s trains have also been canceled, according to the 'Train Status' function on the Amtrak website." The derailment occurred near tiny Magnolia, WV, on the MD border, which appears to be about halfway between the Martinsburg and Cumberland stops on the Limited. As with many such disruptions, good luck figuring this out from Amtrak's website, versus visiting the Site Formerly Known as Twitter, or SFKT.


https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/csx-derailment-in-west-virginia-leads-to-capitol-limited-cancellations/

 

[John Bredin]

If the disruption is east of Pittsburgh in WV, why wouldn't Amtrak run a shortened Cap between Chicago and Pittsburgh? Some people take the Cap only for that portion and the Pennsylvanian for the first part of their westward trip or last part of their eastward trip.

 

[John Bredin]

Let me expand on my preceding post: sending the Monday westbound train east of the incident back to WAS makes sense, but it was short-sighted not to run the Cap from Chicago to Pittsburgh Monday night so there'd be a westbound Cap trainset Tuesday.

 

[chadamfleetrailfan]

If the disruption is east of Pittsburgh in WV, why wouldn't Amtrak run a shortened Cap between Chicago and Pittsburgh? Some people take the Cap only for that portion and the Pennsylvanian for the first part of their westward trip or last part of their eastward trip.

That is very true. When I go to PGH to take the 42, I notice that there are a lot of passengers that detrain on 30.

According to Amtrak's website, it looks like tonight's 29 and 30 are cancelled as well. It will probably be a few days before the CL is restored.

 

[fairviewroad]

Maybe some of the Cap<-->Pennsylvanian connections were rerouted via the LSL and Keystone Service? If you were headed to/from stations east of Harrisburg, it wouldn't be a terrible solution provided Amtrak communicated it to you far enough in advance.

 

[Steve4031]

If they had to return 29 to WAS the derailment happened late enough that it would have been too late to help the passengers already headed west on the Pennsylvanian. It already would have been past Harrisburg.

IMHO it would have been best to send 30 east from Chicago to pick up the passengers connecting from the Pennsylvanian rather than just stranding them.

 

[railiner]

At one time, Amtrak would simply reroute the trains via Harrisburg...

 

[Septa9739]

If the Cap weren’t Superliner equipped that would likely be done. The Superliners can’t fit on the whole route of the Pennsylvanian.

 

[Acela150]

If the Cap weren’t Superliner equipped that would likely be done. The Superliners can’t fit on the whole route of the Pennsylvanian.

Are you sure about that?

Keep in mind that Amtrak had multiple Superliner’s in Philadelphia during the Pope Francis visit and they sent them back west via the PH line.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Lack of effort by Amtrak again. Maybe a bit of multiple freight trains parked or detour around the derailment.

Are they adding cars to the LSL? Or just canceled the train with the customer left to figure out there more than one way to Chicago.

 

[Septa9739]

Are you sure about that?

Keep in mind that Amtrak had multiple Superliner’s in Philadelphia during the Pope Francis visit and they sent them back west via the PH line.

I was more thinking NYP, which is I believe a hard no. I figured you’d need to get there to deal with commissary and all that.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

29 & 30 departed their respective stations last night.

 

[railiner]

If the Cap weren’t Superliner equipped that would likely be done. The Superliners can’t fit on the whole route of the Pennsylvanian.

Are you sure about that?

Keep in mind that Amtrak had multiple Superliner’s in Philadelphia during the Pope Francis visit and they sent them back west via the PH line.

I was more thinking NYP, which is I believe a hard no. I figured you’d need to get there to deal with commissary and all that.

I agree...running the Capitol to Philadelphia, where servicing and support is available, with those destined to NEC points re-accommodated on NEC trains, would be a better solution than canceling or 'bustitution', IMHO.
Even running it just to Harrisburg, where they could transfer to frequent Keystone service, might be better.

 

[MARC Rider]

Are you sure about that?

Keep in mind that Amtrak had multiple Superliner’s in Philadelphia during the Pope Francis visit and they sent them back west via the PH line.

It's possible that the Superliners don't clear the tunnel in Baltimore. Ah, if only the Northern Central hadn't been abandoned....

 

[chadamfleetrailfan]

It's great to see that 29/30 have been restored over the past few days (from what I've been seeing on railcams) and that the derailment did not cause any long-term pauses with the service.

 

[jis]

MODERATOR'S NOTE: The specific incident which is the subject matter of this thread has been resolved, and the thread has started meandering. So it is time to lock this thread and direct discussion about the Capitol Limited to the pre-existing thread on that subject at:

https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/capitol-limited-discussion-2023-q4-2024.86126/

Thank you for your understanding, cooperation and participation.