CS affected by tunnel blockage in Oregon (5-29-18)

[CHamilton]

Trains rerouted after debris falls from Union Pacific tunnel

https://www.heraldandnews.com/ap_news/oregon/trains-rerouted-after-debris-falls-from-union-pacific-tunnel/article_bd038199-0d18-5913-8634-5c1966ea3bf0.html

 

[railiner]

Trains rerouted after debris falls from Union Pacific tunnel

https://www.heraldandnews.com/ap_news/oregon/trains-rerouted-after-debris-falls-from-union-pacific-tunnel/article_bd038199-0d18-5913-8634-5c1966ea3bf0.html

Taking the O.T., eh? By the time I could get out there, they would probably return to regular route....oh well....

 

[bmjhagen9426]

I already have a similar topic that preceded today's events: http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/72913-coast-starlight-service-advisory-528-529-64-65/

This and my topic might be worthy of a merger. It has become, effectively, Coast Starlight Service Advisory (5/28 to ?/?, c. 6/8 +/-2 days)

Edit: Looks like the disruption may last until between 6/5 and 6/10

 

[CHamilton]

Amtrak is apparently bustituting. It sounds like only the freights are taking the reroute.

 

[railiner]

Okay then...I'll wait for another shot at the elusive O. T....

 

[bmjhagen9426]

Taking the O.T., eh? By the time I could get out there, they would probably return to regular route....oh well....

Probably. But then again, probably not. This would be a microcosm of what happened 10 years ago. And also, remember that the Cascades route between KFalls and Eugene was blocked for nearly a day, delaying the northbound CS for about 8 hours, due to the same Tunnel 11 issues, a couple of months ago. Sources claim that the estimated time of repairs is 2 weeks at least. That was a foreshadowing of today's collapse. Prolonging the repairs would make this part of the CS the next Sunset Limited (east of NOLA), the Chaleur (entire route), or the Hudson Bay (north of Gilliam, MB), all canceled due to disrepair and damage, at least partially, so repairs are necessary here. This reminds me of the January 1, 1997 rail truss bridge collapse incident.

 

[Seaboard92]

I think the Starlight is fairly safe. UP uses this ex SP mainline as the mainline from California to The Pacific Northwest. So they will fight to get it back open unlike the two Canadian examples of shortlines on money losing branches.

It'll be back.

 

[MikefromCrete]

I agree. This is Union Pacific's main north-south route along the west coast. They will reopen it quickly. The Chaluer was running on a railroad that had absolutely no freight traffic, so there is no incentive to get it back in service. The Hudson Bay route was split by a disaster and it looks like there is no company interested in restoring the route, since the port at the end of the line is now handling very little freight. There's no comparison between the Coast Starlight route and the Canadian trains.

 

[bmjhagen9426]

I think the Starlight is fairly safe. UP uses this ex SP mainline as the mainline from California to The Pacific Northwest. So they will fight to get it back open unlike the two Canadian examples of shortlines on money losing branches.

It'll be back.

This also reminds of last year's outage of the bridge damage that took almost 3 weeks to repair. I'm going to assume that UPRR will do everything it takes to reopen the route segment as soon as it is possible to do so. This and last year's bridge damage incident would be dwarfed when compared to the Oakridge mudslides 10 years ago.

I agree. This is Union Pacific's main north-south route along the west coast. They will reopen it quickly. The Chaluer was running on a railroad that had absolutely no freight traffic, so there is no incentive to get it back in service. The Hudson Bay route was split by a disaster and it looks like there is no company interested in restoring the route, since the port at the end of the line is now handling very little freight. There's no comparison between the Coast Starlight route and the Canadian trains.

Comparing the CS to the ill-fated Canadian services is comparing apples to oranges. As for the Hudson Bay, a trainset is trapped in Churchill.

 

[CCC1007]

I think the Starlight is fairly safe. UP uses this ex SP mainline as the mainline from California to The Pacific Northwest. So they will fight to get it back open unlike the two Canadian examples of shortlines on money losing branches.

It'll be back.

This also reminds of last year's outage of the bridge damage that took almost 3 weeks to repair. I'm going to assume that UPRR will do everything it takes to reopen the route segment as soon as it is possible to do so. This and last year's bridge damage incident would be dwarfed when compared to the Oakridge mudslides 10 years ago.

I agree. This is Union Pacific's main north-south route along the west coast. They will reopen it quickly. The Chaluer was running on a railroad that had absolutely no freight traffic, so there is no incentive to get it back in service. The Hudson Bay route was split by a disaster and it looks like there is no company interested in restoring the route, since the port at the end of the line is now handling very little freight. There's no comparison between the Coast Starlight route and the Canadian trains.

Comparing the CS to the ill-fated Canadian services is comparing apples to oranges. As for the Hudson Bay, a trainset is trapped in Churchill.

Not trapped any more, shipped home...

 

[Seaboard92]

And in service I might add. I've had a few cars from it when I was on the ocean.

 

[bmjhagen9426]

It looks like the blockage will continue into another week. Link here: https://www.up.com/customers/announcements/customernews/allcustomernews/CN2018-15.html

Here's a sentence from that announcement:

We originally estimated repairs to be completed within 10 days but due to the remote location and severity of the repairs required, we now anticipate the tunnel to be out of service until late next week.

Initial report: https://www.up.com/customers/announcements/customernews/allcustomernews/CN2018-13.html

This is a disturbing news for anyone planning a trip involving the CS for the next two weeks.

Did other discussion boards, such as Train Orders or OTOL pick this recent news up?