I got on at MSP going to EVR, it should have been Saturday near 10 pm and it was Sunday near 6 am when we left Saint Paul. Got there roughly 8 hours late. The employee in charge of my car said they were just leaving the Chicago station and 2 cars came off the track - a baggage car and a sleeper. The passengers were not told anything but had to carry everything they had and went back to the station. The rear of the train was still at the end of the platform. They were placed in a room for a few hours before re-boarding. If I got this right, the rear majority was unhooked, pulled back to station, a new locomotive and sleeper attached. All checked luggage was put in the last car headed to Portland.
I have no idea how long it would take for NTSB investigation, clear the tracks, and fix the tracks. I was shown a couple pics by a crew member and it occurred near a siding splitter and the rail was damaged where wheels crossed the wrong way.
The entire route was roughly 8 hours late (including day light savings). The crew was tired because they did not get much sleep at that turn around. The guy in charge of my car said he had been up 24 hours straight. The weather was very nice and I saw stuff that usually was in the dark on that route. A large group got off at Whitefish and were going skiing. At western Montana area on Monday morning, everyone was given a 'complementary' breakfast but they went by car. Passengers were told that the train was stopping in Spokane and that we would be bused the rest of the way It usually splits and half goes to Seattle the other half to Portland. They had 2 buses, one for the north route and another for the south.
On the bus heading the north route, there were near 25 passengers. We left around noon. They had Subway sandwiches, Pepsi, Mug root beer and bottled water for us. The sandwich choices were ham and turkey. I grabbed a ham and when I finally ate it, there was not any ham but lettuce tomatoes and cucumbers. I had never been the bus route and it was a nice sunny day. The stops were Ephrata, Wenatchee (we picked up a couple passengers), and Leavenworth before heading over Stevens Pass. The train tunnels through the Cascades so on the bus I saw avalanches on sides of peaks, funnels down summer creeks, and the ski area I went to as a kid. The bus got to Everett a little after 5 pm. There was 1 passenger going to Edmonds and they had him get off and they got a taxi for him. The people heading east had to be bussed to Spokane as well I assume. They should have been leaving shortly after we arrived.
