EB mess

[Mitch]

Received a call from Amtrak yesterday. On our upcoming trip to SEA in June, the departure time leaving SEA has been moved three hours earlier to 1:45 PM. Hopefully this will provide some hope for making some connections East at CUS. Now they have about 6 hours padded into the schedule so we should be asking when is enough, enough?

 

[CHamilton]

Now they have about 6 hours padded into the schedule so we should be asking when is enough, enough?

That extended schedule has been in place for over a month now. I haven't run the numbers, but it seems as though it's not enough. The EB has been running anywhere from 2-8 or more hours late from the extended schedule, and there seems to be no end in sight.

 

[andersone]

So now we are all set. We still arrive in Glacier on the 8th.

i shall be a day ahead of you,,, originally schedule to arrive on the 8th, moved it up a day

 

[CHamilton]

8(21) is almost 8 hours late, and has not yet arrived in St. Cloud. jebr, here's your chance for a daylight points run

 

[jebr]

8(21) is almost 8 hours late, and has not yet arrived in St. Cloud. jebr, here's your chance for a daylight points run

Too bad I'm stuck inside at work, otherwise I would be!

 

[amamba]

Received a call from Amtrak yesterday. On our upcoming trip to SEA in June, the departure time leaving SEA has been moved three hours earlier to 1:45 PM. Hopefully this will provide some hope for making some connections East at CUS. Now they have about 6 hours padded into the schedule so we should be asking when is enough, enough?

Doubtful. Even with the new schedule the train is still running late and missing connections to the CL, CONO, LSL, etc.

 

[CHamilton]

Train derailment brings laughs

A train derailment in Crossport, Idaho, left 235 Amtrak passengers stranded in Libby on Thursday morning.


“There’s worse places to be stuck,” Nico Lopez, 18, said while sitting on a park bench near the delayed train. “It’s pretty here. I just spent four months working in the Bakken. It’s nothing but rolling hills out there.”

Delayed passengers were surprisingly jovial, impressed by the small-town hospitality to which they awoke. Pam Zimmerman, director of Achievements Inc., which operates Park Side Thrift Store, noticed the train as she opened shop.

“It looked pretty darn inconvenient,” Zimmerman said. “We made coffee for them and got doughnuts and cookies from Rosauers. If my family was stranded, that’s how I would want them treated.”

Fishes & Loaves Café owner, Star Phillips, provided hot dogs, hamburgers and refreshments.

Amtrak conductor Jason Berg said Libby was the most helpful town of the 10 he has been stuck in during his five years on the job.

“The police and the Emergency Management Agency showed up and gave us a lift to get more ice and milk for the passengers,” Berg said. “Libby really has our back in this.”

 

[JayPea]

I work for the Rosauers grocery chain. I can guarantee the donuts and cookies were the best they've ever had!

Nice to see Small Town America stepping up to make a bad situation as good as possible for the passengers. I bet I know what the news from Libby will be in our next company newsletter.

 

[amamba]

Train derailment brings laughs

A train derailment in Crossport, Idaho, left 235 Amtrak passengers stranded in Libby on Thursday morning.


“There’s worse places to be stuck,” Nico Lopez, 18, said while sitting on a park bench near the delayed train. “It’s pretty here. I just spent four months working in the Bakken. It’s nothing but rolling hills out there.”

Delayed passengers were surprisingly jovial, impressed by the small-town hospitality to which they awoke. Pam Zimmerman, director of Achievements Inc., which operates Park Side Thrift Store, noticed the train as she opened shop.

“It looked pretty darn inconvenient,” Zimmerman said. “We made coffee for them and got doughnuts and cookies from Rosauers. If my family was stranded, that’s how I would want them treated.”

Fishes & Loaves Café owner, Star Phillips, provided hot dogs, hamburgers and refreshments.

Amtrak conductor Jason Berg said Libby was the most helpful town of the 10 he has been stuck in during his five years on the job.

“The police and the Emergency Management Agency showed up and gave us a lift to get more ice and milk for the passengers,” Berg said. “Libby really has our back in this.”

That sounds much nicer than when we were stuck in Glasgow, MT for 20 hours.

 

[andersone]

i have a story about catching the EB in Libby in the middle of the night in the 70's. Unfortunately it is not PG. But I do remember Libby fondly.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Nice small town story! And lots better than when we sat on #6 without HEP for 8 Hours outside McCook,Neb after hitting a hurd of cattle @ 79 Mph!

We arrived into CHI @ 1AM after an evening meal of Amstew and Bottled Water!

 

[CHamilton]

From the Empire Builder group on Facebook:

Sometimes the Builder just can't get a break. Already 4+ hours [late] into St Paul [8(22)], when ready to depart, a reverse moving BNSF/CP coal train derailed east of electric switch. Builder backed from SPUD to St Anthony Tower, and ran the Midway sub in its way to Chicago.

 

[andersone]

My dogma ate my mantra

just checked the new schedule effective June 9 - pushed back EB8 depature from GPK to 9:45 AM - could have stayed in Apgar another night,,, alas,,, mr. anticipatory pulled the trigger too quick,,,,

 

[AmtrakBlue]

My dogma ate my mantra

just checked the new schedule effective June 9 - pushed back EB8 depature from GPK to 9:45 AM - could have stayed in Apgar another night,,, alas,,, mr. anticipatory pulled the trigger too quick,,,,

The time did not change back. Try a test booking. The timetable has not been updated with the new schedule.

 

[montana mike]

That is correct the "new" schedule that is currently in place is going to be there for quite a long time. Even some discussion for further "tweaks" if the construction projects make things even worse. It hope not.

 

[MrFSS]

That is correct the "new" schedule that is currently in place is going to be there for quite a long time. Even some discussion for further "tweaks" if the construction projects make things even worse. It hope not.

Pretty soon the SEA-CHI trip may become a three night affair!

 

[yarrow]

was reading on another site that the new dot-111 tank cars that will haul bakken crude have 14% less capacity than the current tank car. due, i guess, to thicker steel in the new cars. thus 14% more rail traffic to haul what is being shipped today. poor old hi-line

 

[jis]

If the original train was carrying 100 units of crude, with the new cars the original train would be able to carry only 86 units of crude. For capacity to get back to 100 units it will take 100/86 of the old train with is about 1.162 times, i.e. a bit over 16% more.

 

[Stellar1]

I am on a west bound EB (#27) that left Chicago on Sunday, May 25th, due in to Portland on Tuesday. May 27th. Left Chicago on time, half hour late into MSP, but departed on time. Departed Minot 35 minutes late, departed Williston almost 2 hours late, Havre departure also running 2 hours late. Made up some time, quick stop at East Glacier Pqrk, only running 22 minutes behind. The train split in Portland, Seattle portion left, we departed only 15 minutes late. Only had a few brief stops along the route so far, no long delays. Hoping we make it to Portland with no complications

 

[CHamilton]

Stellar1, thanks for the good news. Weekends still seem to be less crowded.

Meanwhile, this does not seem to have affected the EB.

Tornado Hits North Dakota Oil Workers Camp
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

May 27, 2014 4:40 AM ET

A tornado struck a workers camp in North Dakota's oil patch on Monday, injuring nine people — one critically — and destroying at least eight trailers where workers had been living, an emergency management official said.

The twister touched down at around 7:50 p.m. at a camp about 5 miles south of Watford City, which is in the west of the state and about 30 miles southeast of Williston, the city at the heart of the state's oil boom.

McKenzie County Emergency Management Director Jerry Samuelson said crews sifted through a large amount of debris at the camp, but that he was confident that nobody was missing. He said there were a lot more trailers at the camp just a few days ago, so the situation could have been a lot worse had it happened earlier.

 

[mwmnp]

For those wondering about the service disruption on 8-25, derailments on both the Devils Lake and Surrey Cutoff lines on Memorial Day closed down both of BNSF's lines east of Minot. 8-25 arrived in Minot at about 1:30 AM, but has been waiting there ever since for at least one of the lines to reopen. Likewise, 7-26 has also been delayed west of Fargo waiting for a route to become available.

 

[andersone]

am i nuts? this is from the Amtrak site effective June 9

which shows GPK to 9:45 AM

 

[JayPea]

I have a trip from Spokane to Seattle to Glacier Park and back to Spokane scheduled beginning June 23rd. Last week I got emails with attached revised etickets, reflecting the current schedule staying in place. So the above timetable is incorrect. Unless the email is....... :wacko:

 

[andersone]

I should have listened to Al Gore: don't trust anything on the internet,,,,,,

 

[CHamilton]

For those wondering about the service disruption on 8-25, derailments on both the Devils Lake and Surrey Cutoff lines on Memorial Day closed down both of BNSF's lines east of Minot. 8-25 arrived in Minot at about 1:30 AM, but has been waiting there ever since for at least one of the lines to reopen. Likewise, 7-26 has also been delayed west of Fargo waiting for a route to become available.

Via Facebook:

Train [8] sat at Minot from 1:24 am until 11:52 am then detoured on the KO Sub. They were almost 18 hrs late out of Staples.