CZ vs Rocky Mountains

[JBnWaverly]

Just completed short (lol) Den- GSC via non-berth roomette. Out on 01/20. Return next day 01/21. First the bad, CZ one hour late arrival in Denver, no worries. Then an abrupt stop in Gore Canyon around 2PM due to a rock between the rails which flat-spotted some of drive wheels in the ensuing emergency application. Another hour plus delay to formulate a plan. Next was a 12 mile crawl to closest siding to set out the power and borrow one from a waiting #6 at Radium, now four plus hours behind. Engine swap completed and were ready to go, but crew wasn't. Dead on hours, and apparently someone failed to realize how long crew was on duty, so we then waited hour plus for relief crew from GJT. Obviously some serious bad luck with the rock slide to make it through detector fence without alert, and to happen after track inspector, but before we our passing. Worse part of experience was I had my twin grandsons on their first rail trip after months of negotiations with mom. Let me share that my first contact in over eight hours with a frantic mother was tough. We originally intended to detrain and spend night in Grand Junction, but at 11PM and 15 hours with two completely worn out 4 year olds, I bailed at GSC. Thankful that no one was injured, and conductor worked his best to balance mechanical issues with the fate of 200 some passengers. Good part... return was uneventful (though #6 arrival was 60 minutes late to Glenwood), and we enjoyed the spectacular trip dropping from Moffat into Denver. The worse of my damage is most likely the end of train travel with the grandkids. JB

 

[jb64]

Crew going dead on hours is the one that burns me. Lots of the other stuff cannot be helped, but someone should anticipate when a crew is going to go dead. It happened to me last summer on the Empire Builder and we sat in flooded Minot for two hours while a new crew was flown in.

Maybe you will be able to travel by train with grandkids when they are a little older and the Mom doesn't worry so much.

 

[George Harris]

Crew going dead on hours is the one that burns me. Lots of the other stuff cannot be helped, but someone should anticipate when a crew is going to go dead. It happened to me last summer on the Empire Builder and we sat in flooded Minot for two hours while a new crew was flown in.

A one to two hour wait for a relief crew does mean that the "dead on the law" was antiicpated. Crews are not exactly just sitting around waiting for the call. It can easily take, and probably usually does, a lot more that 2 hours to get a relief crew, which also means a crew qualified on both the territory and the equipment, called brought onto duty and transported to the train.

Chance are the one hour delay was not to "formulate a plan" but to do a train and track inspection and to get the rock out of the way.

The twelve mile "crawl" was probably due to the size fo the flat spot. Generally a flat spot that measures over three inches long says run no more than 10 mph.

I realize that most of this stuff would not be obvious to the passenger, but that does not make it any less real. Perhaps it could have been explained better, but the the first function of the train crew is to make things right not to explain what went wrong.

I will not even get into the mommy paranoia. That is a family issue, not a railroading issue.

 

[JbnWaverly]

Thanks for your insight into some of the issues. I did have a scanner with me so I was able to listen in on radio traffic, not basing my recount on annoucements. You are correct Eng that the speed limit was forced by the size of flat spots being 4" which limited to 5MPH. It was definitely audible even in sleeper 7 cars back from power. The entire train completed a closely inspected roll-by over the rock, it was then we were given the "high ball" by the conductor. That is when the flat spots were quickly discovered. It was after the second inspection that he worked on getting authority to move the damaged power to somewhere off the main. Have to admit, it was definitely a little uncomfortable looking up at 1000ft of granite in a wet snow storm. Crew was on foot during the entire time and it took b---s to do that. The exasparated conductor was doing all he could, (based on listening to scanner), and I commend him for that. He did a good job of communicating problems and intended plans to passengers when he could, in a professional and calm manner. As far as crew going dead, just sayin' the relief crew was most likely the crew scheduled to take train in GJT anyway. We hit the rock around 3PM and GJT stop scheduled for 410PM. The crew showed up after 800PM and we were less than maybe 140 miles by road from GJ. The mom paranoia deal? There's only so many positive things a mom can run through her mind, but somewhere around 6-8 hours of not hearing from loved ones can bring that on. Your right that it was a family deal, but is a no more grandkids on the railroad issue now. JB