justinslot
Service Attendant
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Ooof...I have a SAS-NOL trip (following a LAX-SAS trip) in late September. Guess I'll be checking Amtrak.com and this thread a lot.
Hurricane Harvey Texas Impacts
- Thread starter bmjhagen9426
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He doesn't fly except intercontinental, so he's talking trains, not planes.Of course there's the chance that trains may not run their full course, but we know they can do short turns under the right conditions.
I am scheduled to fly into BWI on the 10th to begin a trip that includes the Vermonter, NE Regional, Downeaster, and LSL, and a return to Spokane via the Empire Builder. I will be monitoring Irma's path very closely; I should know early enough in advance if I will have to cancel and postpone my trip.
west point
Engineer
Hopefully the Colonial pipeline will be able to restart soon. Otherwise Atlanta is going to hurt for both diesel and jet fuel. Delta's refinery in the NEC will not be able to produce enough.
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The talk I hear is that it takes approximately 30 days for a refinery to come back on line after a shut down. The other issue is that the Houston Ship Channel still had not been opened by the Coast Guard due to the debris floating making it dangerous for the ships. The refineries need the oil from the tankers sitting out in the Gulf just waiting to unload.
No it does not take 30 days to restart a refinery.
Plenty of crude on shore.
Plenty of finished product waiting pick up.
Flood roads and panic buying are stressing the final mile deliver system. Very little truck fuel tanker capacity that can be diverted over to unexpected demand, or lengthy transportation.
Just chill we were complaining about a glut of products driving down the markets just two week ago.
The Beaumont station is likely OK. I talked today to a vendor or ours who had been delivering product to another vendor which is directly across the tracks from the Beaumont station and things were OK, so I suspect the station is OK too.
justinslot
Service Attendant
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The Amtrak twitter account just told me that service has been restored from SAS to NOL, so I won't have to do my backup plan (driving a Hertz rental.)
Cool!
user 12233
Train Attendant
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This is great news! 
Devil's Advocate
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Just when I was starting to get used to having all this extra hardware sitting around.
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Does Amtrak take a while to post an update when service is restored? The latest Amtrak update dated today (Sept 7) still says the Sunset Limited is unable to operate between NOL and SAS.
https://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Alert_C&pagename=am/AM_Alert_C/Alerts_Popup&cid=1251656300218
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fredevad
Lead Service Attendant
It appears that the SL was off the disruption list for a bit, but was back on the list in a day or two. I've been watching it closely as we due to board at NOL on the 13th.
At this point they are saying they will post an update "on or before" the 12th (that's cutting it close), we have a back up plan to catch the SL in SAS if we have to.
I'm guessing they are completing track inspections and/or repairs. Anyone know what the actual issue is?
Sent from my XT1650 using Amtrak Forum mobile app
At this point they are saying they will post an update "on or before" the 12th (that's cutting it close), we have a back up plan to catch the SL in SAS if we have to.
I'm guessing they are completing track inspections and/or repairs. Anyone know what the actual issue is?
Sent from my XT1650 using Amtrak Forum mobile app
Devil's Advocate
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Right now there is a lot of host traffic on the route as delayed shipments and misplaced rolling stock are moved where they need to be. Also, it's not unusual to have partial repairs and faulty signaling on newly opened track that requires radio warrants and slow orders until it receives additional work to bring everything back to full speed. Amtrak could probably push for resumption of service and get it, but they might suffer substantial delays in the process. Perhaps Amtrak prefers to wait for available resources to be repositioned and for the backlog to clear up first.
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nti1094
Service Attendant
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I am booked on the SL on the 11th, arriving from the CONO the day before. After they resumed service a few days ago I booked a hotel room in anticipation. Now I have to try and re-route from MEM up to CHI and yo LA on the chief or TE, but a roomette is going to pay me $600 more! How many trains made it through from SAS to NOL before they cancelled it again? Does anyone know why they cut the train again?
I'd call Amtrak and see if they'll waive the additional charge, especially if they have no alternate transportation and you were originally booked in a roomette. My guess is that they should be able to do that, since there's no practical way for you to take the original itinerary.
nti1094
Service Attendant
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At the moment American Airlines has flights to Dallas for $53, so I think I'll just assume the SL won't run Monday, and fly to Dallas to catch the TE to Los Angeles via San Antonio. I can actually upgrade from a roomette to a full bedroom SAS to LAX, and including the flights to replace the out of service areas not pay any more than before.
nti1094
Service Attendant
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It looks like one train actually departed NOL on Wednesday this week, and arrived on-time in SAS. So the line is obviously clear, it must be freight train interference from backed up traffic that was on hold during the storm and not physical damage to the trackage.
I'm not risking it for my Monday train and just going to fly to DFW and grab the TE there to be safe.
The agents at Amtrak seem to know nothing useful about the situation and in fact one told me "well it can't take that long to cleanup the tracks" while advising I should assume the train will run that day.
I'm not risking it for my Monday train and just going to fly to DFW and grab the TE there to be safe.
The agents at Amtrak seem to know nothing useful about the situation and in fact one told me "well it can't take that long to cleanup the tracks" while advising I should assume the train will run that day.
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Acela150
Super Buff
https://www.amtrak.com/service-alerts-and-notices
Sorry I can't link the actual notice. If someone could help me with that. Thx.
Sorry I can't link the actual notice. If someone could help me with that. Thx.
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Acela150
Super Buff
Thanks Bill.
Tennessee Traveler
Conductor
No trains have traveled between SAS and NOL since Harvey. The No. 1 this past week originated in SAS Thursday morning. It did not travel from NOL. According to this service annoucement posted by Bill, the first westbound no. 1 departing NOL will be Saturday, September 16. Right now there is no equipment for the SL in NOL since it was repositioned back to LAX via the CONO and Southwest Chief soon after Hurricane Harvey. So the first SL to make the full trip LAX to NOL will depart Los Angeles Wednesday, September 13 arriving in NOL September 15 to become the first westbound SL departing New Orleans Saturday, September 16. So if you have plans this week before next Saturday, make alternate travel arrangement to San Antonio to join the SL.
Thirdrail7
Engineer
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The congestion in the area has eased but it is still intense. I suspect there will be major delays along the route.
Devil's Advocate
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That is some terrible news. Rockport was a total disaster from what I've read.We had just bought our retirement house on August 20 in Rockport, Tx. To take possession on September 1. Harvey hit on August 25.
Have not been able to see the damage inside yet.
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