EB - Lateness Problems This Summer

[Ispolkom]

Does anyone know how much longer this track work is going to continue?

I can't imagine more than another 4-6 weeks. I mean, BNSF track crews are tough, but November is Winter on the Hi-Line.

 

[montana mike]

Does anyone know how much longer this track work is going to continue?

I can't imagine more than another 4-6 weeks. I mean, BNSF track crews are tough, but November is Winter on the Hi-Line.

Perhaps with the upcoming El Nino (supposedly mild across the north) they will be able to work well into the winter!! I hope not.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Does anyone know how much longer this track work is going to continue?

I can't imagine more than another 4-6 weeks. I mean, BNSF track crews are tough, but November is Winter on the Hi-Line.

Perhaps with the upcoming El Nino (supposedly mild across the north) they will be able to work well into the winter!! I hope not.

That may not be bad because that could improve tracks and reliability.

 

[montana mike]

I agree completely--but does anyone know what they are doing that is causing BOTH EBs (east and west) to lose up to three hours in such a short run between Malta and Glasgow each day this entire week?

 

[montana mike]

Just happened to look at todays eastbound #8 as it chugs along--now almost 4 1/2 hours behind schedule in Wisconsin. Just when we thought things were getting better the EB's are going back to the bad times of the summer. This one will miss just about every connection in CHI tonight-bummer. Meanwhile on the west coast the 7/27 trains are pulling into SEA and PDX about 2 1/2 hours late-a legacy of the 3+ hour slowdown in MT the day before. I would not be surprised if both did not depart late this evening for their east bound journey. This route just cannot catch a break.

;-(

 

[yarrow]

we were lucky. last week eastbound we just were delayed 30 min or so by the slow orders for track work around glasgow. coming home yesterday, we were on time out of minot. ran into freight congestion just west of minot, more sidings for freight later on, the glasgow track work and then an out of hours crew west of havre. things added up to about 3 hours late into spk

 

[montana mike]

Bummer--even in the "old" days there was enough fluff in the schedule to handle most of those issues and still arrive close to schedule. Today's trains are being effected almost as bad as earlier in the summer. The eastbound #8 will likely pull into CHI around 5 hours late-ouch! Surprisingly they turned the departures from SEA and PDX around for on-time departures despite both of those trains arriving very late. Amtrak should not have ended the "delays" message arbitrarily on 8-30, obviously BNSF continues with some significant track work well into September (and my local sources say now into October), so these trains will be chronically late for some time to come. I just hope I am not 4 hours late when I take the EB in October, since I have to connect with the CONO.

;-)

 

[montana mike]

Does anyone know what has happened to BOTH train 7 and train 8 today. AMTRAK is now showing service disruptions for each one. More problems for this very troubled route. Arrrrrrrrrgh.

:-(

 

[yarrow]

eastbound disruption out of whitefish, westbound out of rugby. odd

 

[TraneMan]

Does anyone know what has happened to BOTH train 7 and train 8 today. AMTRAK is now showing service disruptions for each one. More problems for this very troubled route. Arrrrrrrrrgh.

:-(

Read else where that there is a grain train derailment at Lohman, east of Havre.

 

[montana mike]

Does anyone know what has happened to BOTH train 7 and train 8 today. AMTRAK is now showing service disruptions for each one. More problems for this very troubled route. Arrrrrrrrrgh.

:-(

Read else where that there is a grain train derailment at Lohman, east of Havre.

Wow--nothing is going right for these trains on the hi-line. :-(

My BNSF contact locally just confirmed the derailments too!! He said this has been the worst year for "rail incidents" in decades and the BNSF big wigs are besides themselves, since they have lost hundreds of millions in freight delays and losses. They can't blame the heat anymore--just poor overall track and rolling stock maintenance. So I guess our AMTRAK mess with the poor Empire Builder is far down the list.

:-((

 

[CHamilton]

Read else where that there is a grain train derailment at Lohman, east of Havre.

AP story: 14 cars of grain train derail in north-central MT

BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas says cars 26 through 40 of the 106 car train derailed at 5 a.m. Friday as the train pulled out of a siding about 15 miles east of Havre in Blaine County, blocking both the siding and the main line.

Some cars were on their sides and some remained upright. No one was injured. Melonas says the cause of the derailment is under investigation.

 

[Ispolkom]

Lohman, east of Havre.

Once again, a BNSF derailment adds to my knowledge of eastern Montana. Havre, of course I know. Chinook? You bet. Filled up with gas there once. But Lohman, I can't imagine how many times I've driven on U.S. 2 or ridden the Empire Builder and never noticed the town.

Remarkably, the 1951 Great Northern timetable shows that Lohman was an actual honest-to-goodness stop on a local train, not like the even smaller Adams and Toledo, which were flag stops.

 

[Phil S]

Does anyone know what has happened to BOTH train 7 and train 8 today. AMTRAK is now showing service disruptions for each one. More problems for this very troubled route. Arrrrrrrrrgh.

:-(

Read else where that there is a grain train derailment at Lohman, east of Havre.

Wow--nothing is going right for these trains on the hi-line. :-(

My BNSF contact locally just confirmed the derailments too!! He said this has been the worst year for "rail incidents" in decades and the BNSF big wigs are besides themselves, since they have lost hundreds of millions in freight delays and losses. They can't blame the heat anymore--just poor overall track and rolling stock maintenance. So I guess our AMTRAK mess with the poor Empire Builder is far down the list.

:-((

Mike - Did your contact say that heat was no longer a factor? I just wonder if the effects of the heat couldn;t continue to crop up for months after the temps actually tapered off. But, yes, what a mess. -- Phil S

 

[TrainLoverJoy]

Wow--nothing is going right for these trains on the hi-line. :-(

My BNSF contact locally just confirmed the derailments too!! He said this has been the worst year for "rail incidents" in decades and the BNSF big wigs are besides themselves, since they have lost hundreds of millions in freight delays and losses. They can't blame the heat anymore--just poor overall track and rolling stock maintenance. So I guess our AMTRAK mess with the poor Empire Builder is far down the list.

:-((

Mike - Did your contact say that heat was no longer a factor? I just wonder if the effects of the heat couldn;t continue to crop up for months after the temps actually tapered off. But, yes, what a mess. -- Phil S

I leave on the #7 today. I'm excited, but was hoping all the lateness would have resolved itself by now! Coming back on the #8 October 2.......have no idea what will happen then. I have only 2 hours between connections....I'd say less than a 50% chance I'll make it

 

[montana mike]

Wow--nothing is going right for these trains on the hi-line. :-(

My BNSF contact locally just confirmed the derailments too!! He said this has been the worst year for "rail incidents" in decades and the BNSF big wigs are besides themselves, since they have lost hundreds of millions in freight delays and losses. They can't blame the heat anymore--just poor overall track and rolling stock maintenance. So I guess our AMTRAK mess with the poor Empire Builder is far down the list.

:-((

Mike - Did your contact say that heat was no longer a factor? I just wonder if the effects of the heat couldn;t continue to crop up for months after the temps actually tapered off. But, yes, what a mess. -- Phil S

Yes, he said the slow orders due to heat had been lifted (temps on the hi-line back closer to normal for this time of year), but quite a few for construction still ongoing.

 

[yarrow]

i see 8 due into chi this afternoon is running over 7 hours late. looks to have been incrementally losing time since spk. anyone know why?

 

[fairviewroad]

i see 8 due into chi this afternoon is running over 7 hours late. looks to have been incrementally losing time since spk. anyone know why?

Don't know if this is the specific problem, but there's a serious winter storm moving through ND:

http://www.grandfork...icle/id/246275/

 

[montana mike]

They were over 5 hours late before they anywhere near the bad weather--which is mostly to their north anyway.

#8 is now approaching 8 hours behind schedule. Interestingly-the Westbound EB only lost about 40 minutes over the same stretch.

i see 8 due into chi this afternoon is running over 7 hours late. looks to have been incrementally losing time since spk. anyone know why?

Don't know if this is the specific region, but there's a serious winter storm moving through ND:

http://www.grandfork...icle/id/246275/

 

[MARC Rider]

I would never schedule something that you have to be at a certain time on the day of arrival on a long distance train!

Even on a plane it's a chance. I remember once flying from Chicago to Providence, RI - and the "flight" took 8 hours! It is normally a 3 hour flight - and it included 3-4 hours on the ground before takeoff due to heavy thunderstorms on the way!

My brother once took 3 days to fly from Chicago to Washington because of thunderstorms in the Washington area. The longest delay I've had on Amtrak is 10 hours on the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Washington due to winter weather that shut down all the rail traffic in northern Indiana. (Funny, on that trip I came into Chicago on the Empire Builder, and it was a more or less on-time arrival.)

 

[montana mike]

Looks like around 8 1/2 hours late in CHI--bummer. the EB was doing better over the past several weeks until this one. I still wonder what happened, since they lost considerable time at several points on the trip, not just in one location. All of the other EB's on the map appear to be running within a reasonable timeframe except for this one today. Just sorry for those folks trying to make connections. C'est la Vie'

 

[johnny.menhennet]

Looks like around 8 1/2 hours late in CHI--bummer. the EB was doing better over the past several weeks until this one. I still wonder what happened, since they lost considerable time at several points on the trip, not just in one location. All of the other EB's on the map appear to be running within a reasonable timeframe except for this one today. Just sorry for those folks trying to make connections. C'est la Vie'

I know the 6th consist was allocated until mid-September. EB_OBS or anyone else with this direct info have any idea on whether it's still together, because it's definitely needed!

 

[montana mike]

I spoke too soon. The Eastbound EB chugging thru ND this AM is now over 4 hours late--again! The delays are mostly occurring in the same general stretch of the EB's route (eastern MT and ND). I travel on this train quite a bit and this is a congested and slow area to be sure, but something more is happening to cause these very long delays, since in the past the EBs usually managed to make up at least much of the lost time from these slowdowns--anyone have some thoughts concerning the reason(s) behind these continuing extensive delays (yesterday's EB arrived in CHI well after 11 PM)? Or is it just a combination of an "all of the above" set of circumstances where the freight traffic, heavier passenger loading, construction and weather have all come together to push the EB's schedule off the "cliff"?

 

[Exiled in Express]

Looks like around 8 1/2 hours late in CHI--bummer. the EB was doing better over the past several weeks until this one. I still wonder what happened, since they lost considerable time at several points on the trip, not just in one location. All of the other EB's on the map appear to be running within a reasonable timeframe except for this one today. Just sorry for those folks trying to make connections. C'est la Vie'

I was following this one too, had the day off and was considering using the delay to do a points run. Tickets were available MSP-RDW ubtil about 10AM, I checked again at noon and they were removed. Given the degree of the delay I thought they might be turning in MSP or bustituting local passengers and running detour to Chicago.

 

[Trogdor]

I was following this one too, had the day off and was considering using the delay to do a points run. Tickets were available MSP-RDW ubtil about 10AM, I checked again at noon and they were removed. Given the degree of the delay I thought they might be turning in MSP or bustituting local passengers and running detour to Chicago.

No detour unless track is blocked for some reason. They ran buses for local passengers. Those on the train stayed on the train, which ran normal route (after all, there are folks who boarded west of MSP who were destined to places like WDL and POG and whatnot, not to mention the need to pay BNSF to provide pilots for a detour that would essentially save no time).