New cancellations for March winter storms?

[tim49424]

I am surprised the CZ is moving as fast as it is.  I live just North of Hastings and we had 70 MPH wind gusts last night.  Not much snow here but over a foot out west with higher winds.  

We’re currently in McCook. It’s usually not a smoke break but the conductor deemed it to be one because we’re running so far behind and he anticipates losing considerable additional time into Denver. We’ll be leaving here at over 6 hours late. No ETA yet for Denver but we’ve been going 15-20 mph since after Omaha, with the train having to stop many times due to the high winds.

 

[Amosite]

These days, the main stream media are treating every rain/snow storm that's coming across the country  as if it's the 'Storm of the Century'.  Like...we've never had heavy rain, snow, or tornadoes before?

"The sky is falling!     The Sky is falling!!!   

If they tell big enough lies, often enough, and long enough, they become truth!   Yea!   Right!

This storm system is unprecedented.  We had record long cold streak with above average snow so we already had some flooding this week.  Add in the two days of rain, increased snow melt and the blizzard and I would say it's as bad a storm system as we have had in decades.  There have been 5 dams breached or over topped, dozens of bridges washed out, more than a dozen levees breached, the Loup Power canal failed, and dozens of small towns evacuated and wide spread flooding across the state. 

The blizzard with 12-20 inches of snow and 80 MPH winds that closed I-80 and state highways on the entire west half of the State isn't even the big story right now.  I have a crew stranded in Norfolk, NE that I can't get back to Grand Island because there are so many roads washed out we would have to send them to Yankton, then Sioux City, to Omaha, and back west on Interstate 80. 

It's bad.  This is an undoubtedly historic storm. 

The Zephyr is running through the south part of the State so flooding is minor and as soon as the blizzard is over things should get back to normal pretty quick.

I don't post much so please let me know if I beached any rules.

 

[Agent]

Here's a video by Mike Jensen 80701 of Amtrak #6(12) leaving Fort Morgan, Colorado nearly ten hours late.

 

[Rover]

Track Your Train shows #6/12 running at 5 mph headed to McCook, NE. Departed Denver 9:14 late at 4:24am.

The ETA to depart McCook is 12:00pm CT, at 12:11 late.

 

[chakk]

All snow has moved into northern NE and SD. Expect clear conditions for the remainder of #5 journey westbound (except for the occasional snow drift or avalanche).

 

[flitcraft]

I was scheduled to be on #5 tomorrow Denver to Emeryville and at 11 pm last night got the email it was cancelled. No reason given, but I can guess. Flight to Denver now a loss, hotel room too late to cancel. Nobody to blame, but I am out about a thousand dollars and no rail trip. Color me seriously bummed.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Maybe the Climate change deniers and their political stooges could be considered as partially to blame??

Stuff happens, but were doing NOTHING about increasingly Violent Weather!

Facts matter!

 

[tim49424]

Welp we’re way past the storm area.....the winds were a bit unnerving in Western Nebraska until Denver. We’re down 12 hours 6 minutes into Elko, NV. Zero chance that I’ll be making #14 out of Sacramento tonight. I’ll talk to the conductor sometime after the last crew change in Reno to see what they have in mind for me.

 

[Rail Freak]

Tim, I would highly recommend calling Amtrak ASAP to arrange your accomodations on the CS & EB. (assuming you're in a sleeper) If you wait until you get to your connection city, you could be forced to take coach!!!

 

[Bob Dylan]

The #6 (3/12) out of EMY is currently running 35 Hours Late in Iowa with today's (3/15) Cancelled out of Chicago.

Looking like this Train might just grab the Record for the Latest Amtrak LD Train away from the Old Sunset Ltd. that ran Coast to Coast back in the day!!!

 

[Rover]

The #6 (3/12) out of EMY is currently running 35 Hours Late in Iowa with today's (3/15) Cancelled out of Chicago.

Looking like this Train might just grab the Record for the Latest Amtrak LD Train away from the Old Sunset Ltd. that ran Coast to Coast back in the day!!!

I was wondering, if you had purchased a room on this train, that included meals, then you are served meals at the appointed times each day, at no extra cost, no matter long the train stays in service ??

 

[keelhauled]

I was wondering, if you had purchased a room on this train, that included meals, then you are served meals at the appointed times each day, at no extra cost, no matter long the train stays in service ??

Yes. What you get served is an open question...Amtrak stocks some type of emergency ration (usually beef stew) that all passengers get served if the train is late enough to hit an unscheduled meal period, but I would think they'd have run out of that by now and are ordering in fast food or something similar at this point.

 

[oregon pioneer]

Yes. What you get served is an open question...Amtrak stocks some type of emergency ration (usually beef stew) that all passengers get served if the train is late enough to hit an unscheduled meal period, but I would think they'd have run out of that by now and are ordering in fast food or something similar at this point.

I was on a 16 hour late EB #7 last year, and we did not get beef stew -- we got Kentucky Fried at Pasco. No accommodations for special diets. I could eat a little of it, but there were some who were eating their own emergency snacks and got nothing else.

 

[tim49424]

Tim, I would highly recommend calling Amtrak ASAP to arrange your accomodations on the CS & EB. (assuming you're in a sleeper) If you wait until you get to your connection city, you could be forced to take coach!!!

It wasn’t necessary to call anyone. I was informed that all passengers who were connecting to the CS were to be taken by van from Reno to Sacramento. The van made it to Sacramento with 50 minutes to spare, so my connection was saved! We’re approaching Portland on my way to Seattle. Also I’m spending tonight and tomorrow night in Seattle so there isn’t going to be any connection problems there. The only challenge left is the usual Empire Builder to Pere Marquette, but that’s not a huge deal either. I’ve told people back in Holland I’ll be back on Wednesday or Thursday. It’s all good! Well, maybe for last night’s meal of Amstew on 5....the first time that’s reared it’s ugly head in my many long distance train trips. LOL

 

[oregon pioneer]

It wasn’t necessary to call anyone. I was informed that all passengers who were connecting to the CS were to be taken by van from Reno to Sacramento. The van made it to Sacramento with 50 minutes to spare, so my connection was saved! We’re approaching Portland on my way to Seattle. Also I’m spending tonight and tomorrow night in Seattle so there isn’t going to be any connection problems there. The only challenge left is the usual Empire Builder to Pere Marquette, but that’s not a huge deal either. I’ve told people back in Holland I’ll be back on Wednesday or Thursday. It’s all good! Well, maybe for last night’s meal of Amstew on 5....the first time that’s reared it’s ugly head in my many long distance train trips. LOL

Looks like you had a spectacularly beautiful day for your trip through the Oregon Cascades. That's some compensation for traveling through the Rockies and Sierras in the dark. Did you get to see Utah's Wasatch Range in daylight? That's some gorgeous country, and most times the train travels through it in the dark!

 

[tim49424]

Looks like you had a spectacularly beautiful day for your trip through the Oregon Cascades. That's some compensation for traveling through the Rockies and Sierras in the dark. Did you get to see Utah's Wasatch Range in daylight? That's some gorgeous country, and most times the train travels through it in the dark!

I am not exactly sure what the Wasatch range is but am convinced I probably did. We went through Utah all in daylight. I loved it! That in itself made up for missing the Rockies, which ironically was a major part of my timing for this trip. I’m not very disappointed about missing the Rockies except for not being able to stop at Dave’s Depot in Grand Junction. I love that place even though I’ve only been there once. They sell Amtrak stuff there and I bought a shirt there when I was there five years ago.

As far as Oregon goes, I’ve been there many times. I have family in Portland and will be doing a return trip there in June via the Empire Builder with my sister. As a matter of fact, today was the first time I’ve passed through on the train. I had to fight the urge not to go into Union Station. I’ve now done the trip from PDX-SEA twice, once on the Cascades and once on the CS. I’ll break the tie on the June trip when we make our return trip home on the Builder via Seattle. My sister and I are doing that because we want the diner. She and our late mom did that a couple of years ago, part of her final train trip.

 

[oregon pioneer]

I am not exactly sure what the Wasatch range is but am convinced I probably did. We went through Utah all in daylight. I loved it! That in itself made up for missing the Rockies, which ironically was a major part of my timing for this trip. I’m not very disappointed about missing the Rockies except for not being able to stop at Dave’s Depot in Grand Junction. I love that place even though I’ve only been there once. They sell Amtrak stuff there and I bought a shirt there when I was there five years ago.

The Wasatch Range is the part you go through between Helper and Ogden, and then it's on your right from Ogden till Salt Lake. It continues north to the Idaho border, but the train veers westward after Salt Lake City.

One of the advantages of a late train is the ability to see stuff you would otherwise pass by in the dark. Last year, I got to see the gorgeous Kootenai River in Montana by daylight, first time on my many EB trips. Hopefully, you can take the CZ another time and see the Rockies. But it's rare to get a chance to see the Wasatch in daylight from the train.

 

[jis]

The Wasatch Range is the part you go through between Helper and Ogden, and then it's on your right from Ogden till Salt Lake. It continues north to the Idaho border, but the train veers westward after Salt Lake City.

The following assuming one is headed west on the CZ...

CZ does not go to Ogden unless it is diverting on the Wyoming route. In its normal route Wasatch Range crossing would be between Helper (well a little east of it) and Provo, through Soldier Summit. The Wasatch range would be on the right hand side as you head north between Provo and Salt Lake City.

If it had gone via Ogden on the Wyoming diversion, then the Wasatch Range would be on your left hand side heading south between Ogden and Salt Lake City. Also you would cross the Wasatch through Echo and Weber Canyons between Evanston WY and Ogden UT, and not pass Helper at all.

 

[tim49424]

The Wasatch Range is the part you go through between Helper and Ogden, and then it's on your right from Ogden till Salt Lake. It continues north to the Idaho border, but the train veers westward after Salt Lake City.

One of the advantages of a late train is the ability to see stuff you would otherwise pass by in the dark. Last year, I got to see the gorgeous Kootenai River in Montana by daylight, first time on my many EB trips. Hopefully, you can take the CZ another time and see the Rockies. But it's rare to get a chance to see the Wasatch in daylight from the train.

I didn’t go through Odgen but did Helper for the reasons jis explained.

I remember my first LD trip back in May 2012, a RT from Tomah to Portland on the EB being delayed 9 hours total, getting to see absolutely beautiful stop of Sandpoint, ID and eventually Spokane....I was curious and when I reached SPK that I went into the station instead of watching the splitting process of the train. I regret that but chalk it up to first timer’s disease. I did exit the station in plenty of time to continue on to PDX.

 

[tim49424]

The following assuming one is headed west on the CZ...

CZ does not go to Ogden unless it is diverting on the Wyoming route. In its normal route Wasatch Range crossing would be between Helper (well a little east of it) and Provo, through Soldier Summit. The Wasatch range would be on the right hand side as you head north between Provo and Salt Lake City.

If it had gone via Ogden on the Wyoming diversion, then the Wasatch Range would be on your left hand side heading south between Ogden and Salt Lake City. Also you would cross the Wasatch through Echo and Weber Canyons between Evanston WY and Ogden UT, and not pass Helper at all.

No detour involved....but still beautiful stuff. I took plenty of pictures!

 

[oregon pioneer]

Hmm, I see no way to edit posts on the new software. If I could edit, I would correct the post to say Provo (what I really meant, not Ogden) and east, for the direction of the Wasatch from the train. Glad it was beautiful for you.

AH I SEE IT NOW! THANKS!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Hmm, I see no way to edit posts on the new software. If I could edit, I would correct the post to say Provo (what I really meant, not Ogden) and east, for the direction of the Wasatch from the train. Glad it was beautiful for you.

You should see an Edit link under your post on the left side.
Your "name", time past since post, then Edit

 

[tim49424]

I took less than I thought in Utah, I might have been in the dining car during parts of it. I also don’t take many pictures while not having a signal on my phone because I post them directly to Facebook so I don’t forget the location of where I took them. Yeah, it’s quite a stupid theory, but all I’d remember is the picture was taken somewhere between (insert two intermediate station stops).

I did just try to post those pictures but got an error message.

 

[jis]

One of the more striking pictures possible while approaching from the east headed west (train direction, the track direction is almost straight south to north there as I seem to recall) is around the Castle Gate formation near the ghost town of Castle Gate UT, where it seems like the train is entering a huge castle gate with vertical rock formations on both sides. Hope you managed to get that.

Some photos and a bit of history in this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Gate,_Utah

When I used to work for Novell many moons ago and used to spend the work week in my office at Orem UT (after Novells acquired Word Perfect) and commute home many weekends to NJ, there were some weekends when I stayed on in Orem, and that is when I explored this entire area by car, and came across these quaint ghost towns and spectacular scenery all around. These are recollections from back then in the early '90s.

 

[SubwayNut]

Sitting in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago, luckily waiting to connect the Southwest Chief. The Zephyr #5 scheduled to depart Chicago today (3/17) has been canceled. Around Noon they announced the train wouldn't continue to Denver, about 10 minutes later, they announce the train would be cancelled in its entirity, due to weather. Heard a man arguing with the attendant that the tracks are fine, why is the train canceled.