Empire Builder Summer Blues Started Early this year

[JayPea]

The major problems besieging 5 are mostly due to bad luck. Can't do much about mudslides and packs of dogs.

 

[jis]

Wait till you see strident complaints appear here about how Amtrak mismanagement has caused it not to have ordered completely dog proof rolling stock

 

[JayPea]

Wait till you see strident complaints appear here about how Amtrak mismanagement has caused it not to have ordered completely dog proof rolling stock

Wouldn't surprise me a bit.

 

[Slasharoo]

According to BNSF their work schedules revolve closely around the train schedules and often that means they work 24/7. Not a traditional 9 AM to 5 PM workday for some of the track efforts. I have been on the EB this summer several times already and saw BNSF crews, with lights blaring away, working at all hours of the night. Clearly the daytime is the ideal time, but the number and timing of trains passing through a certain area often outweigh the convenience of working during those hours. Being on a track crew is dirty, dangerous and just downright hard work. I think we are just seeing the modest winding down of planned efforts in certain areas, which is allowing the EBs to get thru with fewer delays--today's EB into CHi-town was a "mere" 45 minutes late--hurrah!!

Montana Mike, thanks. I will be traveling through there in a few weeks. It will be interesting to see lights blazing away, especially since I am going home and don't have to make a connection in Chicago. Maybe an early fall snow storm too...

 

[montana mike]

You may get lucky and catch them on their "break time" or a weekend and sail thru close to on time as one of the EB's did last weekend!!!!

Sometimes it is indeed fun though to see what they do with the tracks. I have witnessed up close and first hand how they raise the tracks, apply additional track bed, resurface the tracks, replace ties, align them and "re-set" the tracks. While it is done mostly by modern "hi-tech" equipment these days, there is still an element of danger and a great amount of physical effort involved--especially when they are working on the track bed and have to add literally tons of new stone to the bed.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Argh! 7 (8) is 1:43 late again! And 8 (8) is 1:21 late. Looks like that was just a weekend break, now the delays are hitting the EB again. But at least the 5 has even more delays, 1:53 now for the 5 (8).

 

[montana mike]

Yup, looking like the weekday construction schedule is back in full force. #8 in MN is over 3 hours behind this AM and surprisingly #8 in western MT is already just under 2 hours late-and they haven't even hit the construction zones yet. This one will likely be over 4 hours behind by the time it reaches CHI tomorrow night. C'est La Vie'

 

[Slasharoo]

I just started reading Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad , so it will be interesting to watch "New" techniques as I am sure I will still be reading it in three week's time. (it's kind of a hefty book)

 

[RRUserious]

"Empire Express". Wow, that seems a misnomer these days.

 

[montana mike]

Empire Distress!

 

[Slasharoo]

Empire Distress!

Ha! Thanks for all the great info these past few months. When we determined our route was the Builder, I have been watching this thread with great interest. We are leaving on a Friday the first part of October, so the delays might be mitigated a bit, according to what you have been posting. I will try to post from the train if I get cell service in the delay zones.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Ha! 8 (8) is now 3:23 late and it's almost arrived in CHI. 6 (8) will likely arrive at the same time, now that it's over 5 hours late. Currently both the EB and CZ are suffering massive delays. The 5 trains are also falling behind advertised.

Two heavily delayed trains arriving in CHI at the same time could heavily strain and disrupt connections.

 

[JayPea]

Yeah, it strained connections all right. I was on 6 and we've been here about half an hour. And 8 is just arriving. Just muddling through the mass confusion at Passenger Services as the Cardinal and CL were not held.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

The LSL must be packed tonight with all the emergency bookings. Some others probably had to stay overnight in CHI on Amtrak's dime. The Cardinal dosen't run daily, so passengers to CIN or CHW are screwed over for days.

 

[jebr]

Yeah, it strained connections all right. I was on 6 and we've been here about half an hour. And 8 is just arriving. Just muddling through the mass confusion at Passenger Services as the Cardinal and CL were not held.

Surprised they didn't hold it. Usually they do. Any reason why they wouldn't?

 

[montana mike]

Well, the EB was 4 hours and 15 minutes late to start. Likely also perhaps a light number of connecting passengers as well? That would have meant both the Cardinal and CL would have left CHI well over two hours behind schedule. The pattern of 2 hour (or perhaps less) delays over the weekend and 4+ hour delays during the week has held remarkably constant all summer long.

 

[JayPea]

I don't know why they didn't hold it either. I do know the shuttle bus that took us to our motel was full. Must have been 50-60 people on the bus. With a motel voucher and one for breakfast tomorrow morning, thatsa lotta dimes. . And for Cardinal passengers, they were bussed to Indianapolis to catch it, CZ passengers from Galesburg and EB passengers from Chicago.

 

[montana mike]

Sounds like someone made the call to just put the pax up rather than hold these trains--agree that 50+ pax could have made a strong case to hold them.

Today's #8 in MN is now approaching 4 1/2 hours late--back to the weekday delay schedule--look for this train to arrive about as late as last night's train.

#7/27 in WA and OR not doing well either--looking like they will both be late into SEA and PDX as well, perhaps by as much as 2 hours, which in the past would have been unusual.

 

[MrFSS]

I had friends who were on 27 last Sunday into PDX and they said they arrived 37 min early. So, I guess it can be done.

 

[CHamilton]

All aboard for late-night wait: Amtrak trains rarely on time through Fargo

FARGO - The train is late.

Again.

It’s 2:30 a.m. on a Friday, and the Amtrak train that hauls passengers east was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago.

Seventeen minutes, actually, if you’re a stickler for that sort of thing.

Fifteen people, spread among rows of plastic chairs inside Amtrak’s station in downtown Fargo, busy themselves with the kind of chatter that surfaces when strangers spend time together waiting. The heat and its impact on this year’s harvest. Daughters, sons and grandkids. Two men discuss Montana’s amateur boxing circuit from the ’60s and ’70s.

A whiteboard behind the counter cautions that the train heading west, through Minot and Williston to the Pacific Northwest, isn’t expected until 4 a.m. – 30 minutes behind schedule.

The train heading east is even worse. It won’t be in until 5 a.m.

Amtrak’s Empire Builder, which connects Chicago with Seattle and Portland, Ore., is scheduled to arrive daily in Fargo in the dead of the night. But its actual time of arrival more often creeps close to dawn.

Delays in Fargo, long and often, have made the station and others on the Empire Builder a particular concern for Amtrak, which has struggled for years with delay times on its 15 long-distance tracks.

The eastbound train has not been on time in more than four months and just three times so far this year, according to Amtrak records. It’s been six or more hours late twice as often as that in 2013.

Three times since 2008, it has arrived in Fargo a full day late. The average delay since 2008 is 114 minutes, according to an analysis of the company’s records.

Spokesman Marc Magliari said ongoing track maintenance that requires trains to travel slower has been a big factor, including a major, two-year project to protect the railroad from Devils Lake flooding. He hopes the route will be on-time more often when that work is complete, possibly by November....

 

[aurbo]

I was on the eastbound 8/28 Thursday night into Friday morning. I could not believe how many stretches between Grand Forks and Fargo where I heard "yellow flag 30" on the scanner, stretches where one or two years ago they were sailing at 60-65mph. It also appeared there were signaling troubles right off the bat Tuesday morning on the Devils Lake line just west of the Grand Forks depot, which plagued the westbound EB.

 

[montana mike]

I had friends who were on 27 last Sunday into PDX and they said they arrived 37 min early. So, I guess it can be done.

Looks like it will be 2 hours late arriving today-bummer

 

[montana mike]

I was on the eastbound 8/28 Thursday night into Friday morning. I could not believe how many stretches between Grand Forks and Fargo where I heard "yellow flag 30" on the scanner, stretches where one or two years ago they were sailing at 60-65mph. It also appeared there were signaling troubles right off the bat Tuesday morning on the Devils Lake line just west of the Grand Forks depot, which plagued the westbound EB.

I know they need to do the work, but it is interesting how almost that entire segment is now subject to slow orders (and thus the 4+ hour delays into CHI). I have asked my BNSF contacts about this situation and they have all said while active track work is ongoing it is the railroad's policy to keep those speeds down to an absolute minimum-more so for the safety of the crews working on the tracks. The newly improved track beds and rails do indeed require a short and modest "break-in" period, but not at the very low speeds now mandated for crew safety. It is what it is. The November estimate by Amtrak's spokesperson for the reduction or completion in this year's track efforts appears to be accurate according to my MT BNSF folks. These projects are slated to end in the 2nd week of November and then resume about 5-6 months later next Spring!

Lastly, I was reminded that BNSF is spending more $$ on infrastructure improvements on the hi-line now and over the next three years than at any time in the past 5 decades!!!

 

[montana mike]

I had friends who were on 27 last Sunday into PDX and they said they arrived 37 min early. So, I guess it can be done.

Looks like it will be 2 hours late arriving today-bummer

#8 heading east in MN is now 5 hours late--looks like a very late arrival in CHI tonight--bummer.

 

[JayPea]

I had friends who were on 27 last Sunday into PDX and they said they arrived 37 min early. So, I guess it can be done.

Looks like it will be 2 hours late arriving today-bummer

#8 heading east in MN is now 5 hours late--looks like a very late arrival in CHI tonight--bummer.

I'm in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago now and the reader boards indicate a 9pm arrival for thr EB. I hope those folks on it who miss their connections enjoy the free breakfast buffet at the Willowbrook Holiday Inn as much as I did!