Empire Builder Summer Blues Started Early this year

[Texan Eagle]

Rode the #7/#27 from CHI to PDX starting on 4th July and, maybe I got lucky, but had an amazing experience, and almost zero delay! Some highlights-

~ The train was stopped short of Minneapolis/St Paul along the river exactly as the city's 4th of July fireworks display started, and we got an awesome front-row view of the entire spectacle from the comfort of our seats/rooms. No idea if the train was stopped due to safety reasons (fireworks exploding too close) or to give passengers a view, but in either case, this was great.

~ We gathered delay through ND and were 2 hours down at Havre, MT but then managed to recover most of it and pulled into Spokane only 30 minutes late, and finally pulled into Portland bang on time at 10.10am!

~ When we were 2 hours down at Havre, we all thought we won't get to see Glacier National Park in daylight, but then BNSF came as a savior- they did some amazing section controlling and let us pass non-stop at full speed passing 3 long freight trains that were pulled over for us from Shelby MT to East Glacier Park, and beyond all the way to Whitefish MT. This let us see the beautiful stretch in late evening/twilight. Thanks BNSF!

~ The sleeping car attendant (very nice lady named Dorothy, say hi to her if you're on the EB) told that Devil's Lake in ND has water level rising due to melting glaciers and global warming, with water level now dangerously close to the tracks due to which BNSF has put permanent slow orders in that section, so EB will lose about 1-2 hours there daily. Can't confirm if this is true, just telling what she said.

 

[jebr]

~ The sleeping car attendant (very nice lady named Dorothy, say hi to her if you're on the EB) told that Devil's Lake in ND has water level rising due to melting glaciers and global warming, with water level now dangerously close to the tracks due to which BNSF has put permanent slow orders in that section, so EB will lose about 1-2 hours there daily. Can't confirm if this is true, just telling what she said.

That should have been fixed (or being fixed) with the money for repair that they spent to raise that track a year or so ago.

 

[A historian]

Was on the Builder from July 2 to 4 eastbound. Pretty much on time through Havre. Obvious a tremendous amount of tie replacement going on in Eastern Montana. That is where BNSF had derailment's last year. Lost one hour on way to Minot. 2 more hours overnight. BNSF did a tremendous job dispatching. We were rarely in the hole even with lots of freight traffic. We ended up about 2 hours late into Chicago. Conductors and attendants were superb as was the dining car crew. The problem up there is not really freight congestion from what I could see but slow order for construction. Some of it has to be the continued work raising the track in ND others the Eastern Montana work, but all good progress. 2 1/2 hours is not too bad for all thats going on up there.

 

[OBS]

Rode the #7/#27 from CHI to PDX starting on 4th July and, maybe I got lucky, but had an amazing experience, and almost zero delay! Some highlights-
~ The train was stopped short of Minneapolis/St Paul along the river exactly as the city's 4th of July fireworks display started, and we got an awesome front-row view of the entire spectacle from the comfort of our seats/rooms. No idea if the train was stopped due to safety reasons (fireworks exploding too close) or to give passengers a view, but in either case, this was great.

~ We gathered delay through ND and were 2 hours down at Havre, MT but then managed to recover most of it and pulled into Spokane only 30 minutes late, and finally pulled into Portland bang on time at 10.10am!

~ When we were 2 hours down at Havre, we all thought we won't get to see Glacier National Park in daylight, but then BNSF came as a savior- they did some amazing section controlling and let us pass non-stop at full speed passing 3 long freight trains that were pulled over for us from Shelby MT to East Glacier Park, and beyond all the way to Whitefish MT. This let us see the beautiful stretch in late evening/twilight. Thanks BNSF!

~ The sleeping car attendant (very nice lady named Dorothy, say hi to her if you're on the EB) told that Devil's Lake in ND has water level rising due to melting glaciers and global warming, with water level now dangerously close to the tracks due to which BNSF has put permanent slow orders in that section, so EB will lose about 1-2 hours there daily. Can't confirm if this is true, just telling what she said.

I think this post reflects what is important to note. Despite all the slow orders/trackwork delays going on, BNSF is still trying hard to keep the train as close to schedule as possible, and should be commended.

 

[montana mike]

Still on the Builder this AM in MN. Now over 3 hours behind schedule. :-(

Slow orders from east of Minot all the way thru Fargo, we lost over 2 hours during that stretch. No actual construction going on at that time, just crawling (around 15 mph). Had to stop several times to let freights go by and we sat for 20+ minutes on a siding to let the westbound EB go by. Likely to be at least 2 hours late into CHI today IF all goes well and they can make up some time. The conductor said BNSF has stated this will be the "norm" for the rest of the construction season--losing about 3 hours from eastern MT thru ND, then making up a modest amount of time the remainder of the journey.

 

[amamba]

What is better - slow orders and construction or repeated derailments? I am going to go with the slow orders and construction. Didn't they have 3+ freight derailments in that section last summer?

 

[montana mike]

Do you think the derailments were all caused by "bad" rails? I think not. The two big ones last summer had nothing to do with faulty rails. One was bad wheels on an inter model train and the other was debris.

I am all for good maintenance practices of course, but much of the delays last night were due to freight traffic--very heavy freight traffic

 

[Train Rider]

Rode the #7/#27 from CHI to PDX starting on 4th July and, maybe I got lucky, but had an amazing experience, and almost zero delay! Some highlights-
~ The train was stopped short of Minneapolis/St Paul along the river exactly as the city's 4th of July fireworks display started, and we got an awesome front-row view of the entire spectacle from the comfort of our seats/rooms. No idea if the train was stopped due to safety reasons (fireworks exploding too close) or to give passengers a view, but in either case, this was great.

~ The sleeping car attendant (very nice lady named Dorothy, say hi to her if you're on the EB) told that Devil's Lake in ND has water level rising due to melting glaciers and global warming, with water level now dangerously close to the tracks due to which BNSF has put permanent slow orders in that section, so EB will lose about 1-2 hours there daily. Can't confirm if this is true, just telling what she said.

I was in St Paul near downtown watching those very fireworks. You were stopped for a freight, which was passing through right when the EB was supposed to roll through that particular spot. I then saw your train pass through. It was a pretty good show!

Dorothy is all wet. Devils Lake is a closed lake basin (no exit) and is not fed by any glaciers, regardless of why they are melting. ND has always had periods of wet and dry. In fact, when western ND was settled at the turn of the twentieth century, it coincided with a wet period and folks at the time thought that if one plows the prairies the rains will come. They did for a few years and then were followed by a standard dry spell; the result is that many of those first settlers left the area.

 

[Train Rider]

Still on the Builder this AM in MN. Now over 3 hours behind schedule. :-(Slow orders from east of Minot all the way thru Fargo, we lost over 2 hours during that stretch. No actual construction going on at that time, just crawling (around 15 mph). Had to stop several times to let freights go by and we sat for 20+ minutes on a siding to let the westbound EB go by. Likely to be at least 2 hours late into CHI today IF all goes well and they can make up some time. The conductor said BNSF has stated this will be the "norm" for the rest of the construction season--losing about 3 hours from eastern MT thru ND, then making up a modest amount of time the remainder of the journey.

What have the temperatures been on some of these trips? When I took the EB last August, we were slowed in Montana due to the high heat affecting the tracks.

 

[montana mike]

Rode the #7/#27 from CHI to PDX starting on 4th July and, maybe I got lucky, but had an amazing experience, and almost zero delay! Some highlights-
~ The train was stopped short of Minneapolis/St Paul along the river exactly as the city's 4th of July fireworks display started, and we got an awesome front-row view of the entire spectacle from the comfort of our seats/rooms. No idea if the train was stopped due to safety reasons (fireworks exploding too close) or to give passengers a view, but in either case, this was great.

~ We gathered delay through ND and were 2 hours down at Havre, MT but then managed to recover most of it and pulled into Spokane only 30 minutes late, and finally pulled into Portland bang on time at 10.10am!

~ When we were 2 hours down at Havre, we all thought we won't get to see Glacier National Park in daylight, but then BNSF came as a savior- they did some amazing section controlling and let us pass non-stop at full speed passing 3 long freight trains that were pulled over for us from Shelby MT to East Glacier Park, and beyond all the way to Whitefish MT. This let us see the beautiful stretch in late evening/twilight. Thanks BNSF!

~ The sleeping car attendant (very nice lady named Dorothy, say hi to her if you're on the EB) told that Devil's Lake in ND has water level rising due to melting glaciers and global warming, with water level now dangerously close to the tracks due to which BNSF has put permanent slow orders in that section, so EB will lose about 1-2 hours there daily. Can't confirm if this is true, just telling what she said.

The Devil's Lake issue doesn't have anything to do with melting glaciers--That basin has no good outlet. The lake levels rise and fall periodically. Unfortunately for them, it has been rising slightly, but steadily for the past several years.

 

[montana mike]

Temps yesterday were very pleasant--70's and low 80's no heat issues at all. Finally in MSP--about 2 hours and 40 minutes behind. If no other issues I think we will roll into CHI around 6:25 this evening.

 

[TraneMan]

Wonder what happend to tonight's EB? #7-8

Over 4 hours late out of TOH.

 

[saxman]

Wonder what happend to tonight's EB? #7-8
Over 4 hours late out of TOH.

It lost 3 hours between MKE and CBS. Now running 4.5 hours late. Of course its the one I'm waiting on here in Essex to make my connection to the Starlight in PDX. I've pretty much already accepted the fact I'll miss that connection. Maybe I'll be on a bus from SPK? Hopefully it's only to PDX and not something like Klamath Falls. Ugh!

 

[Texan Eagle]

Wonder what happend to tonight's EB? #7-8
Over 4 hours late out of TOH.

It lost 3 hours between MKE and CBS. Now running 4.5 hours late. Of course its the one I'm waiting on here in Essex to make my connection to the Starlight in PDX. I've pretty much already accepted the fact I'll miss that connection. Maybe I'll be on a bus from SPK? Hopefully it's only to PDX and not something like Klamath Falls. Ugh!

Don't lose all hope just as yet. Even if it manages to gather an hour more of delay and reach Havre, MT around 5.5 hrs late, it can cover two hours between Havre and Portland (my #7 on 5th July was 2 hrs late at Havre, reached on-time in PDX) and reach PDX around 1.30-2.00pm that would still give you your Starlight connection, with a little dash across the platform.

 

[saxman]

Wonder what happend to tonight's EB? #7-8

Over 4 hours late out of TOH.

It lost 3 hours between MKE and CBS. Now running 4.5 hours late. Of course its the one I'm waiting on here in Essex to make my connection to the Starlight in PDX. I've pretty much already accepted the fact I'll miss that connection. Maybe I'll be on a bus from SPK? Hopefully it's only to PDX and not something like Klamath Falls. Ugh!

Don't lose all hope just as yet. Even if it manages to gather an hour more of delay and reach Havre, MT around 5.5 hrs late, it can cover two hours between Havre and Portland (my #7 on 5th July was 2 hrs late at Havre, reached on-time in PDX) and reach PDX around 1.30-2.00pm that would still give you your Starlight connection, with a little dash across the platform.

Right now it's about 6 hours late between Fargo and Grand Forks. I'm not sure about the track work in ND and MT either. I did just watch #8 come through ESM right on time this morning.

 

[jebr]

Wonder what happend to tonight's EB? #7-8
Over 4 hours late out of TOH.

It lost 3 hours between MKE and CBS. Now running 4.5 hours late. Of course its the one I'm waiting on here in Essex to make my connection to the Starlight in PDX. I've pretty much already accepted the fact I'll miss that connection. Maybe I'll be on a bus from SPK? Hopefully it's only to PDX and not something like Klamath Falls. Ugh!

Any idea why it lost so much time? That seems to be an odd place to lose time.

 

[TraneMan]

Wonder what happend to tonight's EB? #7-8

Over 4 hours late out of TOH.

It lost 3 hours between MKE and CBS. Now running 4.5 hours late. Of course its the one I'm waiting on here in Essex to make my connection to the Starlight in PDX. I've pretty much already accepted the fact I'll miss that connection. Maybe I'll be on a bus from SPK? Hopefully it's only to PDX and not something like Klamath Falls. Ugh!

Any idea why it lost so much time? That seems to be an odd place to lose time.

Just read else where..

"It died in a cornfield west of Watertown."

Then, they had medical issues so it had to stay at the Dells till it was taken cared of.

 

[Fan_Trains]

I just saw on the Amtrak Status that there was a service disruption on train 7. can anybody tell me what happened?

 

[CNW]

My sister and husband are on #7. Haven't heard anything...afraid to ask. They have reservations at Glacier Park....

 

[JayPea]

I just saw on the Amtrak Status that there was a service disruption on train 7. can anybody tell me what happened?

If I had to make a SWAG, I'd say that it has been determined that #7 will be so late into Spokane that it will turn there and passengers will be bussed from Spokane to Seattle and Portland and points in between. When that happens, it shows up as a service disruption.

 

[gmushial]

Those with some miles under the belt: when a LD Amtrak train suffers a "mechanical," how do those tend to break down, ie, mostly truck bearings, mostly motivation power, mostly xxxx, or just scattered all over the place? And related: and even if only a WAG and not a SWAG - how many were probably foreseeable? eg, "that bearing's starting to make noise... but it should make another roundtrip"... and it doesn't? I know nobody has the statistics (other them Amtrak management)... but is there one thing that tends to be responsible for "died in the cornfields west of xxxx" type events??

 

[saxman]

I just saw on the Amtrak Status that there was a service disruption on train 7. can anybody tell me what happened?

I just spoke with Amtrak and they said #7 will continue to SPK and turn there. What stinks is that now the website won't post estimates of arrival times anymore. They said ESM at about 2-3 am, and since I already checked out I'm sitting here in the Izaak Walton without a room to at least relax in. No car either. Even when they take people off at SPK, I assume they'll have to bus connections to #11 to something like Chemult or Klamath. Wish there were a reasonable way to Whitefish, so I could just fly outa here. So my plan is to just ride an hour to Whitefish and fly to SEA or PDX early in the morning and try to catch up with the Starlight there. I wish I had boarded last nights #7. It was ONLY 1.5 hours late.

 

[CNW]

This what my sister is looking at. Crew is out of hours she says. We were born and raised in a town like this so didn't need to ride a train to see it! Somewhere near Minot ND.

 

[saxman]

Just left Minot at 6:33 PM, about 9.5 hours late.

 

[pennyk]

Just left Minot at 6:33 PM, about 9.5 hours late.

Chris, you have had some bad luck lately. I hope weather cooperates and I get to see you next week.