EB Mess - 2

[montana mike]

There are a couple of car rental places in East Glacier that I am aware of--Avis and Dollar. I believe both stay open until 9 PM at night, perhaps later if the EB is running late. You may want to check with them. They are just across the street from the Amtrak station in East Glacier.

 

[JayPea]

There is also a Budget Rent a Car in East Glacier, which I wasn't aware of until we went into one of the stores along the main drag in East Glacier and saw the sign in the store. The name of the place escapes me at the moment. Also, we rented from Dollar this time and found out that if the EB is running late you can leave your car at the station and drop the keys off in a drop box on the side of the station. They will pick the car up from there and settle the paperwork at a later time.

 

[montana mike]

Weekend is over--the "normal" delays of 5-7 hours back in the mix for #7 and #8 in ND and MT tonight-bummer....

 

[andersone]

from the road status map (can't post the link from this computer) it appears that GTTSR is still closed from Avalanche on the west to Jackson Glacier on the east....

 

[RalphCT]

from the road status map (can't post the link from this computer) it appears that GTTSR is still closed from Avalanche on the west to Jackson Glacier on the east....

Park Service says they hope to have the entire Going to the Sun Road open by the Fourth of July.

A Montanan who enjoys train travel.

 

[montana mike]

A cautionary note. Even if it does open there is still going to be construction on parts of the road, along with some fairly extensive repairs where avalanches damaged the newly rebuilt road--it was a tough winter in the Park. The goal is indeed to have the road open by this weekend, but it's a day to day thing.....

 

[TraneMan]

We are doing good for time on #8 and they have to get a pumper truck to clear a clog. Some tried to flush a whole roll of toilet paper down the toilet!

-Sent from my iPhone 5 using Amtrak Forum App,

 

[TraneMan]

-Sent from my iPhone 5 using Amtrak Forum App,

 

[Bob Dylan]

Looks like a promising career field! LOL

 

[Ryan]

Never a shortage of raw materials!

 

[NE933]

How many hours does it take to:

1. drain a coach, and to drain a sleeper, of toilet sewage

2. fill a coach, and to fill a sleeper, and to fill a diner, of fresh water?

 

[andersone]

Just checked the status of #7 to GPK,,, only 45 minutes late !!

There is a god?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Just checked the status of #7 to GPK,,, only 45 minutes late !!

There is a god?

And the god is called "Holiday Weekend".

 

[Phil S]

Well, who would have thunk -- the EBs are doing substantially better than the CZs. And here I made my Sept. res from PDX east via CZ so as to be more likely to make the Cardinal connection. Somebody tell me this is due to flooding along CZ and holiday (lack of) traffic along the Hi-Line and that all will be back to "normal" by the fall?

 

[neroden]

This is due to holiday lack of traffic along the High Line and flooding on the CZ route.



Not gonna promise you that there won't be more flooding on the CZ route, though...

 

[montana mike]

Well, who would have thunk -- the EBs are doing substantially better than the CZs. And here I made my Sept. res from PDX east via CZ so as to be more likely to make the Cardinal connection. Somebody tell me this is due to flooding along CZ and holiday (lack of) traffic along the Hi-Line and that all will be back to "normal" by the fall?

I was just in conversation with several BNSF folks about how well the EBs were doing over the past few days. They said a combination of perfect weather, almost no construction, lower freight traffic and an "extended effort on the part of dispatchers to move the Empire Builders along" appeared to have made a big difference.

He assured me that the BNSF dispatchers will continue to work hard to keep the EB's moving, BUT that construction will once again ramp up this week thru October (except for Labor Day weekend) and freight traffic will be returning to more normal levels this week as well. He still feels 3-5 hour delays on average are likely, with some days doing better, especially over the weekends, when construction efforts are reduced. He felt that absent "external issues", the days of 10-12 hour delays should be behind us..........I truly hope so!!!!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Appreciate you keeping us up to date with inside info on the Builder and the Hi-Line Mike!!!

 

[JayPea]

Here is a photo I took last Friday while at Glacier Park: Perhaps a harbinger of better times for the EB?????? The rainbow arches over the Hi-Line near East Glacier. I hope so; I can live with 3-5 hour delays. Maybe I shouldn't; maybe I should hold BNSF and the EB to a higher standard and storm and bitch and whine and refuse to ride the EB and tell everyone else to not ride it either. I'm not sure what that would accomplish other than to make me look like a petulant 3 year old, though

 

[Bob Dylan]

Great pic Jeff! And while the Mess on the Hi-Line isn't the best thing since sliced bread, anyone that takes it should be fully informed BY AMTRAK of all possibilities that can arise and what Amtrak will due for them when delays and Cancellations arise! Said people should Not be in a hurry!

If at all possible these trips should be scheduled on weekends and their trip planning should allow for all eventualities and include flexibility!!!

I Love the Builder and the High Line but probably won't ride it again until the fixes being slowly worked on by the Railroads and Amtrak are farther along! (Say maybe next year!!!)

 

[andersone]

Jay you made my day with that pic,,, in exactly a month i hope to see the exact same thing - although i can survive withouit the rainbow,,,, were you headed east or west? and if i might ask, what time did you arrive in GPK ? ( i am guessing that is a morning pic eastbound?)

 

[CHamilton]

An interesting article is on Trains News Wire (behind their firewall, alas) about the Havre vendor of chicken dinners, and how they are coping with the perennially-late Builder.

 

[montana mike]

I bet it is indeed a challenge. The very erratic timing of each Builder must be driving them nuts. And as others have stated, no one wants a fried chicken dinner at 2 AM, well, not many people at least!! This was such a nice "local" touch. I would hate to see it disappear.

 

[JayPea]

Jay you made my day with that pic,,, in exactly a month i hope to see the exact same thing - although i can survive withouit the rainbow,,,, were you headed east or west? and if i might ask, what time did you arrive in GPK ? ( i am guessing that is a morning pic eastbound?)

Actually, this was taken from our rental car. We were westbound on our way to West Glacier. It was in the morning, so we were actually heading into the rain. And rain it did.....it was pouring by the time we got to West Glacier. We arrived from Seattle via the EB about half an hour late. Just late enough we were able to have breakfast. We left East Glacier westbound the same night this was taken....about 1:40 late, not too bad for the EB.

 

[montana mike]

Strike up the band and celebrate. #8 arrived in CHI "only 37 minutes late" today (well, we just have to ignore the extra 3 hours of travel time tacked on on top of this for now). It will be interesting to see how the EBs do after the big Holiday weekend. So, with perfect weather (warm but not too hot), no floods and construction and freight track just gearing back up today that weekend #8 just sailed on thru the Hi-Line!!!!

Bravo!

 

[adt1982]

#8 from yesterday just left Minot on-time!

It arrived in Minot 8 minutes early after leaving Stanley 44 minutes late.