Cascades in a mess

[AC4400]

Over the weekend and Monday, I noticed that Cascades were in deep trouble. The only exception was 510-517.

I understand that heavy snow was causing the 4-5 hours' delay and even service disruptions on Saturday and Sunday, but why were they still running very late today?

An extreme case is today's 506, which departed PDX on time but arrived in SEA 5 hours late (9 hours PDX-SEA!). Because 509 shares the same trainset as 506, 509 also departed 4 hours late (departed at the time when it should have arrived)

What's happened?

 

[Phil S]

I don't have any specifics but I live there, so....it's a mess everywhere. 6-24" of snow in an area that isn't well equipped to handle it. Then ice on top of that. Now it's raining. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that the main problem was getting crews to and from the trains and maybe getting passengers between the station buildings and the trains. Ie, it didn't seem like enough snow or ice to affect the trains themselves. Then again, temps were low and I suppose none of the switches around here are heated so that may also have been a problem.

Anyone with actual info wants to pitch in, that would be great.

Right now in Corvallis only the main roads have been cleared. There are snowpiles at intersections that will still be there in March. The rest of the city is a swamp. Apparently we need to increase yet more the Mayor's slush fund. .

 

[CHamilton]

According to the Amtrak_Cascades Twitter feed, today's [2/10] delays were due to "signal problems." No idea about the specifics.

 

[AC4400]

I had a reservation last Friday from SEA to ALY and then picked up from there to Corvallis. But because of the mass cancelation, I had to cancel it at the last moment, as well as the trip (508) back on Sunday.

I don't have any specifics but I live there, so....it's a mess everywhere. 6-24" of snow in an area that isn't well equipped to handle it. Then ice on top of that. Now it's raining. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that the main problem was getting crews to and from the trains and maybe getting passengers between the station buildings and the trains. Ie, it didn't seem like enough snow or ice to affect the trains themselves. Then again, temps were low and I suppose none of the switches around here are heated so that may also have been a problem.

Anyone with actual info wants to pitch in, that would be great.

Right now in Corvallis only the main roads have been cleared. There are snowpiles at intersections that will still be there in March. The rest of the city is a swamp. Apparently we need to increase yet more the Mayor's slush fund. .

 

[SP&S]

As a native, I can vouch that the Pacific Northwest, west of the Cascade Range, is ill prepared for a major snow and ice storm. Considering that the last major storm was 5 years ago, spending the money to be well prepared would be a waste. During this one, hardly anybody was getting anywhere and I doubt that crews could be assembled. Getting around was so bad that there was even a TV "news" story about search and rescue teams using their rigs to deliver medical personnel to a local hospital so it could keep running.

I have no knowledge of the signal problems but I do know that if overhead wires are involved, ice causes nothing but grief. It weights them down, possibly breaking them, but when it melts it slips off in big chunks and can cause the wires to break as the snap back up.

But as I say, it doesn't happen that often and it generally only lasts several days, so the money to address this is better spent elsewhere.

 

[FrozenSwitch]

Last Saturday (2/8) evening was pretty bad for the Cascades 508. My boyfriend was headed from ALY to VAN but I ended up picking him up in Portland. According to him (and the radio chatter I heard) it sounded like the switches they needed were frozen and had to be manually changed or thawed out for them to get to the station. 508 ended up sitting in union station for quite some time (at least until 11:30pm) due to more frozen switches and traffic north. I think the freezing rain was to blame for most of it and it seemed to blindside the guys trying to keep things working.

The nice thing is, Amtrak sent him a voucher for $50.00 as compensation for the delay. We're both pretty understanding when it comes to weather and delays like this, but it was a nice gesture.

 

[Nathanael]

Most reports are saying the main problem is frozen switches, which are slow to thaw out if you don't have the right equipment. Sub-freezing weather is rare enough in the Pacific Northwest that they don't install switch heaters. They probably don't stock the "manual" eqiupment used to thaw switches either (the old "oilpots" used on the LIRR for instance). Now that it's melting out it should get back to normal (...from Seattle south, anyway, there are other problems north of Seattle).

 

[AC4400]

(...from Seattle south, anyway, there are other problems north of Seattle).

Mudslide? Flood? :huh:

 

[EB_OBS]

Most reports are saying the main problem is frozen switches, which are slow to thaw out if you don't have the right equipment. Sub-freezing weather is rare enough in the Pacific Northwest that they don't install switch heaters. They probably don't stock the "manual" eqiupment used to thaw switches either (the old "oilpots" used on the LIRR for instance). Now that it's melting out it should get back to normal (...from Seattle south, anyway, there are other problems north of Seattle).

Frozen switches and signal failures combined then crew running out of Hours of Service, then running out of extra board train crews to relieve crews that run out of Hours of Service. Basically the Perfect Storm.

 

[fairviewroad]

For what it's worth, the Cascades finally seem to have gotten things straightened out. All five morning trains running

pretty much right on the advertised today.