bryan9
Train Attendant
The following recounts my experience with an Amtrak adventure that culminated in all the passengers being bussed to their destination. Please let me stress that this is a rare occurrence -- I've made long-haul trips on Amtrak dozens of times beginning in 1977, and this is the first time my train failed to reach its destination. Let me stress from the beginning that my point in posting this is not to complain, but rather to praise the professionalism of the Amtrak train crew and their commitment to passenger safety.
Because I took a scanner radio with me on my trip, I was able to listen in on the communications between the train crew and the BNSF dispatcher (as well as between train crew members). I did so privately and discreetly, of course, in my sleeping car compartment.
Times are approximate.
6:00am Awoke to find the train traveling at very low speed (10 mph). Train running two hours behind schedule.
6:30am Conductor uses PA to explain that Iowa experienced very heavy rains overnight and due to concerns about roadbed integrity there were slow orders on some sections. Conductor expressed confidence that we would still make our connections in Chicago.
6:45am BNSF dispatcher notifies engineer that substantial stretches of track east of Osceola will be under a flash flood watch due to 4.5 inches of precipitation falling overnight. Engineer relays this information to conductor and says, "I have a very bad feeling about this."
7:00am Just as the train pulled into Osceola, the BNSF dispatcher notified our Amtrak engineer that "Main 1 and Mail 2 are closed at milepost such-and-such," east of Osceola. The engineer replied, "Could you tell us the reason?" The BNSF dispatcher replied, "ballast disturbance." I recall thinking, "Well, that doesn't sound so bad -- surely they can get this fixed in a couple of hours."
7:30am The train stops briefly at the Osceola station. Passengers are taken onboard, but the BNSF dispatcher notifies the engineer that he cannot give the train permission to continue until crews reach the location of the "disturbed ballast" and assess the situation. Because the train is blocking both of Osceola's main streets, the dispatcher gives the engineer permission to advance the train a little east of town, out of way of the crossing shunts. The conductor uses the PA to explain the situation, noting that he is committed to informing us as soon as he receives information. (And he did.)
10:30am BNSF dispatcher notifies that someone had reached the "disturbed ballast" area and took some photographs, which the dispatcher has seen. "It looks pretty bad," the dispatcher told the Amtrak engineer. "I doubt if we'll be able to fix it before 2:00PM, and that's optimistic." The engineer copies this information to the conductor, who immediately relays it to the pax via the PA system.
Subsequent communication between the train crew, BNSF, and Amtrak's national operations center occurred via telephone. By noon, it was apparent that the problem was much worse than "disturbed ballast" -- both main tracks had been completely washed out by a flash flood. The decision was made to bus the passengers and the conductor announced this immediately via the PA system. He explained that due to Osceola's remote location the busses could not be expected to arrive for several hours, and he'd keep us notified. A crew member was dispatched to the station to watch for their arrival.
2:00 PM Three vehicles pass my sleeper on an access road alongside the track, including a van carrying a replacement crew. Curiously, these were led by a backhoe... presumably, it was needed to clear an obstruction in the access road.
2:45 PM Scheduled arrival at Chicago Union Station
3:00 PM The first of the busses arrived with the train still positioned about a mile east of Osceola. The train crew now confronted a difficult logistical situation. The platform at the Osceola station was situated on the north side of the train, and it is very short (about two Superliner cars) in length. On the south side was another track, making it unsafe for disembarking. Moreover, the pax needed to be sorted into groups, because the various busses were headed for different destinations (some would take the "shorts" -- everything up to and including Galesburg -- while others would take the "longs" -- pax headed for Chicago and nearby locations). Finally, the busses were parked in the station's parking lot, south of the train. They could not be positioned north of the train, which was a grassy (and muddy) park.
3:30 PM It turns out that most of the sleeping car passengers are headed to Chicago, so the decision is made to unload them first. The train backs into town and positions the sleeping cars so that the passengers can disembark on the north side. We get off. It is still very hot, but we stand on the platform with our luggage for a half hour because the train is blocking our way to the busses. At this point I had my radio switched off so I'm unaware of the reasons we were asked to wait so long. Finally, the train pulled eastward again, clearing the way for us to cross the tracks and board the busses. However, once we're aboard, we continue to sit there, since there are "longs" (Chicago-bound) pax among the coach passengers, who have not yet been disembarked.
4:30 PM The train pulls forward again and disembarks all the remaining passengers. Then it pulls west out of town, enabling the the remaining "long" coach passengers, as well as the "shorts," to reach their busses. It seems the "short" busses have not yet arrived. I subsequently learned that some of the "short" busses did not make it to Osceola for another hour. But soon, the "longs" were underway. The trip would take eight hours, we were told. A stop was made at a huge truck stop with numerous restaurants, Pizza Hut, etc., so that we could get something to eat.
1:30 AM Busses arrive at Union Station (nearly 11 hours late).
In sum, listening in on the train crews' radio communications enabled me to see that they were, throughout, determined to keep us informed and safe in the face of imperfect and delayed information and the inadequacies of the Osceola station, and they did so commendably. It's unfortunate that this fact was not apparent to most of the pax, most of whom were extremely annoyed and vowed to avoid Amtrak in the future. I was not exactly thrilled with the experience, of course, but I learned a great deal about the professionalism of Amtrak train crews and I very much look forward to my next Amtrak trip.
Because I took a scanner radio with me on my trip, I was able to listen in on the communications between the train crew and the BNSF dispatcher (as well as between train crew members). I did so privately and discreetly, of course, in my sleeping car compartment.
Times are approximate.
6:00am Awoke to find the train traveling at very low speed (10 mph). Train running two hours behind schedule.
6:30am Conductor uses PA to explain that Iowa experienced very heavy rains overnight and due to concerns about roadbed integrity there were slow orders on some sections. Conductor expressed confidence that we would still make our connections in Chicago.
6:45am BNSF dispatcher notifies engineer that substantial stretches of track east of Osceola will be under a flash flood watch due to 4.5 inches of precipitation falling overnight. Engineer relays this information to conductor and says, "I have a very bad feeling about this."
7:00am Just as the train pulled into Osceola, the BNSF dispatcher notified our Amtrak engineer that "Main 1 and Mail 2 are closed at milepost such-and-such," east of Osceola. The engineer replied, "Could you tell us the reason?" The BNSF dispatcher replied, "ballast disturbance." I recall thinking, "Well, that doesn't sound so bad -- surely they can get this fixed in a couple of hours."
7:30am The train stops briefly at the Osceola station. Passengers are taken onboard, but the BNSF dispatcher notifies the engineer that he cannot give the train permission to continue until crews reach the location of the "disturbed ballast" and assess the situation. Because the train is blocking both of Osceola's main streets, the dispatcher gives the engineer permission to advance the train a little east of town, out of way of the crossing shunts. The conductor uses the PA to explain the situation, noting that he is committed to informing us as soon as he receives information. (And he did.)
10:30am BNSF dispatcher notifies that someone had reached the "disturbed ballast" area and took some photographs, which the dispatcher has seen. "It looks pretty bad," the dispatcher told the Amtrak engineer. "I doubt if we'll be able to fix it before 2:00PM, and that's optimistic." The engineer copies this information to the conductor, who immediately relays it to the pax via the PA system.
Subsequent communication between the train crew, BNSF, and Amtrak's national operations center occurred via telephone. By noon, it was apparent that the problem was much worse than "disturbed ballast" -- both main tracks had been completely washed out by a flash flood. The decision was made to bus the passengers and the conductor announced this immediately via the PA system. He explained that due to Osceola's remote location the busses could not be expected to arrive for several hours, and he'd keep us notified. A crew member was dispatched to the station to watch for their arrival.
2:00 PM Three vehicles pass my sleeper on an access road alongside the track, including a van carrying a replacement crew. Curiously, these were led by a backhoe... presumably, it was needed to clear an obstruction in the access road.
2:45 PM Scheduled arrival at Chicago Union Station
3:00 PM The first of the busses arrived with the train still positioned about a mile east of Osceola. The train crew now confronted a difficult logistical situation. The platform at the Osceola station was situated on the north side of the train, and it is very short (about two Superliner cars) in length. On the south side was another track, making it unsafe for disembarking. Moreover, the pax needed to be sorted into groups, because the various busses were headed for different destinations (some would take the "shorts" -- everything up to and including Galesburg -- while others would take the "longs" -- pax headed for Chicago and nearby locations). Finally, the busses were parked in the station's parking lot, south of the train. They could not be positioned north of the train, which was a grassy (and muddy) park.
3:30 PM It turns out that most of the sleeping car passengers are headed to Chicago, so the decision is made to unload them first. The train backs into town and positions the sleeping cars so that the passengers can disembark on the north side. We get off. It is still very hot, but we stand on the platform with our luggage for a half hour because the train is blocking our way to the busses. At this point I had my radio switched off so I'm unaware of the reasons we were asked to wait so long. Finally, the train pulled eastward again, clearing the way for us to cross the tracks and board the busses. However, once we're aboard, we continue to sit there, since there are "longs" (Chicago-bound) pax among the coach passengers, who have not yet been disembarked.
4:30 PM The train pulls forward again and disembarks all the remaining passengers. Then it pulls west out of town, enabling the the remaining "long" coach passengers, as well as the "shorts," to reach their busses. It seems the "short" busses have not yet arrived. I subsequently learned that some of the "short" busses did not make it to Osceola for another hour. But soon, the "longs" were underway. The trip would take eight hours, we were told. A stop was made at a huge truck stop with numerous restaurants, Pizza Hut, etc., so that we could get something to eat.
1:30 AM Busses arrive at Union Station (nearly 11 hours late).
In sum, listening in on the train crews' radio communications enabled me to see that they were, throughout, determined to keep us informed and safe in the face of imperfect and delayed information and the inadequacies of the Osceola station, and they did so commendably. It's unfortunate that this fact was not apparent to most of the pax, most of whom were extremely annoyed and vowed to avoid Amtrak in the future. I was not exactly thrilled with the experience, of course, but I learned a great deal about the professionalism of Amtrak train crews and I very much look forward to my next Amtrak trip.
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