EB delays (2/24) for 7 (22) and 8 (22)

[bmjhagen9426]

I have noticed two EB's goobered up, one eastbound (somewhere in ND), and one westbound (just east of ID), both running about 9 hours late. What caused the hold-up? Was it a freight issue (congestion or derailment), police activity (due to vehicular strike or fatality), weather (storm or blizzard), or track obstruction (avalanches, mudslides, fallen trees, or washed out tracks)?

 

[Seaboard92]

They just cancelled my Empire Builder for tomorrow two hours ago. So I've been moved to the California Zephyr and the Coast Starlight. Even though I have to be somewhere before the starlight arrives so I'll catch a flight in SFO

 

[bmjhagen9426]

Traveled in EB once. Seems as if the EB is one of the most cancellation-prone LD train. What might be the possible causes?

 

[CCC1007]

Major blizzard near browning, mt that caused major delays and closed almost every road in the area. This caused a problem replacing crews on freights and Amtrak in the area.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[willem]

If a crew reaches its hours of service limit and cannot be replaced, can the crew rest in place and then resume service after the required hours of rest?

I suspect this is not a realistic solution in a congested area, because the crews would have reached their hours of service limits at different times. On the other hand, if relief crews cannot arrive, perhaps all the affected crews could be told to start their new hours of service at the same time or at times staggered to allow clearing the congestion. (Of course, if relief crews cannot be delivered to the trains, there might be too much snow for the trains to run at all.)

Would this be possible in theory? Would it ever be possible in practice?

 

[CCC1007]

If a crew reaches its hours of service limit and cannot be replaced, can the crew rest in place and then resume service after the required hours of rest?

I suspect this is not a realistic solution in a congested area, because the crews would have reached their hours of service limits at different times. On the other hand, if relief crews cannot arrive, perhaps all the affected crews could be told to start their new hours of service at the same time or at times staggered to allow clearing the congestion. (Of course, if relief crews cannot be delivered to the trains, there might be too much snow for the trains to run at all.)

Would this be possible in theory? Would it ever be possible in practice?

Theoretically this would have been possible for the eastbound Amtrak train, as it was stopped in the east glacier siding, which is near the center of the tourist town. The crew could have gone and stayed with one of the local families.

 

[west point]

This requiring crews to go off duty by HOS is sometime in the future liable to harm passengers. Bureaucratic intransience.

 

[oregon pioneer]

I was on that train! I believe it was a perfect storm of Amtrak equipment failures, weather, freight congestion, weather, crew failures, and weather. It was not, however, the longest delay I have had on Amtrak (I've had longer ones on the EB during the oil train heyday, and on the Sunset Ltd during the booming LA freight economy). The saga, from my personal viewpoint, is posted here (now with photo link)

If cancelling yesterdays 8/28 allows them to keep a "protect consist" on the west coast for awhile, that would in my opinion be a good thing. Even though it inconvenienced passengers booked for that train, it will inconvenience fewer passengers in the end.

 

[keelhauled]

This requiring crews to go off duty by HOS is sometime in the future liable to harm passengers. Bureaucratic intransience.

Ignoring HoS would be at least as likely to harm passengers. People get dumb when they're tired. After a while you would have better reactions if you were drunk. Closest I've ever come to permenant injury/death was at the very end of a long day when I was exhausted. You do not want people in that state of mind running trains in a blizzard, or at all, really.

 

[Thirdrail7]

If a crew reaches its hours of service limit and cannot be replaced, can the crew rest in place and then resume service after the required hours of rest?

I suspect this is not a realistic solution in a congested area, because the crews would have reached their hours of service limits at different times. On the other hand, if relief crews cannot arrive, perhaps all the affected crews could be told to start their new hours of service at the same time or at times staggered to allow clearing the congestion. (Of course, if relief crews cannot be delivered to the trains, there might be too much snow for the trains to run at all.)

Would this be possible in theory? Would it ever be possible in practice?

The FRA has strict guidelines on where you can declare "rest." A siding along the tracks or even the body of the train would not meet the requirements and would likely put them in limbo time.

Now, if you really need something accomplished, you CAN authorize the crew to violate the hours of service law. This is typically done in extreme cases as there is a fine and a shift in liability that most people wouldn't want to take. Typically, this is done when relief is nearby or in sight.