NS Aberdeen Derailment 3/5/2022

[daybeers]

Wow, this has been absolutely terribly handled. Do they not have an extra Silver Star consist in Miami? What about all the Silver Meteor cars?! Why do they need to terminate in Jacksonville?! Why does the Cardinal need to terminate in Indianapolis?!

 

[jis]

Here is something more upto date:

https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryla...0220305-erxlcppulzhqvewn2omlvotv4u-story.html
All service between WAS and PHL suspended as of 11am. They were more optimistic than reality apparently permitted earlier on.

Wow, this has been absolutely terribly handled. Do they not have an extra Silver Star consist in Miami? What about all the Silver Meteor cars?! Why do they need to terminate in Jacksonville?! Why does the Cardinal need to terminate in Indianapolis?!

Apparently not enough space in Ivy City to turn more than 2 LD trains as it would seem, at least within the level of innovative operations that Amtrak is capable of to work around issues.

 

[daybeers]

Apparently not enough space in Ivy City to turn more than 2 LD trains as it would seem, at least within the level of innovative operations that Amtrak is capable of to work around issues.

That is absolutely absurd. I would be furious if I was stranded in Indianapolis or Jacksonville.

 

[Oreius]

So sorry about this. I hope things work out for you.

I’m on a call-back with the dedicated AGR Select number. I’m thinking I might be able to leave out of Kissimmee tomorrow.

 

[20th Century Rider]

Apparently they cannot turn more than one LD train in addition to the Cap in Washington DC.

BTW they are thoroughly forked at Aberdeen as the video here evidences....

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/amtrak-service-suspended-freight-derailment-near-aberdeen/39332740
Apparently things have gone further south (no pun intended) since this article and video was published.

From the looks of that video... a lot of rail cars need to be removed and moved away... before track repair can begin... and being on a weekend, could slow things down some more. Looking like it will be mid week before things can get back to 'normal.' And then LD's need to return and get back on sequence.

With NEC being so vital to Amtrak it will be a while before things can get back to normal.

Question... what caused the derailment and can something be learned. Also, if NEC is as important as it is, are there no alternative parallel lines that could be used... as is found in Europe?

 

[jis]

That is absolutely absurd. I would be furious if I was stranded in Indianapolis or Jacksonville.

I agree. This is being handled spectacularly poorly. But these days that appears to be par for the course for Amtrak. I am just waiting to hear what is the excuse du jour.

 

[pennyk]

I’m on a call-back with the dedicated AGR Select number. I’m thinking I might be able to leave out of Kissimmee tomorrow.

When you receive the call back, it likely will not be from the same number you called, so be sure to answer all your calls (especially if it appears it is from the Philly area). Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[daybeers]

I'm supposed to be on 166 out of Wilmington headed to New Haven tomorrow. Now I'm worried.

 

[jis]

Considering that today's departures from Miami, New Orleans and Chicago are going to be short turned tomorrow or later today in some cases), clearly they do not expect to have much runing between Wahsington and Philadelphia tomorrow either. But maybe some Regionals and Acelas will get through later in the day. Who knows?

 

[20th Century Rider]

Geographically this derailment couldn't have happened in a worse location...

 

[jis]

Well, we could count ourselves lucky that it did not happen on the Susquehanna River Bridge.

The actual location of the derailment is not in Aberdeen, but in Perryman MD south/west of Aberdeen, between Aberdeen and Bush River Bridge

 

[daybeers]

I really, really hope they get things up and running in the next 28 hours or so. I don't want to have to deal with the awful SEPTA/NJT connection times, though I suppose I could get on Amtrak in Philly instead of Wilmington.

 

[Oreius]

When you receive the call back, it likely will not be from the same number you called, so be sure to answer all your calls (especially if it appears it is from the Philly area). Good luck. Keep us posted.

Do you think service will be cancelled tomorrow? Not sure how serious this derailment is.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

I really, really hope they get things up and running in the next 28 hours or so. I don't want to have to deal with the awful SEPTA/NJT connection times, though I suppose I could get on Amtrak in Philly instead of Wilmington.

I was thinking of commuter rail as a last resort for you, but then realized if you’re traveling on a Sunday, the SEPTA/NJT connection would likely be even worse than on a weekday.

I also think 166 is an evening train? Could you leave earlier in the day as a precaution against any problems? Maybe SEPTA to Philly early, then there seem to be a lot of choices from there to New Haven.

I’m not familiar with SEPTA south of Philly, but I think they run every hour on a Sunday from Wilmington to Philadelphia?

So far I don’t see any SEPTA alerts for that route (although I may not be looking in the right place).

 

[jis]

Do you think service will be cancelled tomorrow? Not sure how serious this derailment is.

Only Amtrak can give a definitive answer. The derailment is pretty serious. 20 cars blocking all tracks apparently. It all depends on how quickly they can remove the cars and coal that they were carrying.

 

[daybeers]

I was thinking of commuter rail as a last resort for you, but then realized if you’re traveling on a Sunday, the SEPTA/NJT connection would likely be even worse than on a weekday.

I also think 166 is an evening train? Could you leave earlier in the day as a precaution against any problems? Maybe SEPTA to Philly early, then there seem to be a lot of choices from there to New Haven.

I’m not familiar with SEPTA south of Philly, but I think they run every hour on a Sunday from Wilmington to Philadelphia?

So far I don’t see any SEPTA alerts for that route (although I may not be looking in the right place).

I'm visiting family for a medical emergency and would really like to stay as long as possible. 166 leaves Wilmington at 6:52pm.

With the fares on NJT and SEPTA being where they are, and with my U-Pass covering travel within CT (meaning only $10.25 GCT-Greenwich), I might do Greyhound Wilmington-NY which is only 2:20, not bad at all, then MNRR to New Haven. Would save a bunch of cash from the last-minute Amtrak ticket I purchased, minus the cancellation fee, we'll see what happens, maybe they'll waive it.

There wouldn't be any SEPTA alerts, as the derailment is in Aberdeen, MD, south of Wilmington.

 

[moosejunky99]

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/photos-freight-train-derailment-aberdeen-maryland/39334565
i found photos of the derailment. a lot of trains hosed... hopefully they get it back to normal by Monday.

 

[DonNewcomb]

From the looks of that video... a lot of rail cars need to be removed and moved away... before track repair can begin...

I decided to check in after seeing a photo on Facebook showing 20 hopper cars accordioned back and forth across all three tracks. It's a mess. Most of the cars are upright and still holding their cargo. I suppose that's a good thing. I'm not sure.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

I'm visiting family for a medical emergency and would really like to stay as long as possible. 166 leaves Wilmington at 6:52pm.

With the fares on NJT and SEPTA being where they are, and with my U-Pass covering travel within CT (meaning only $10.25 GCT-Greenwich), I might do Greyhound Wilmington-NY which is only 2:20, not bad at all, then MNRR to New Haven. Would save a bunch of cash from the last-minute Amtrak ticket I purchased, minus the cancellation fee, we'll see what happens, maybe they'll waive it.

There wouldn't be any SEPTA alerts, as the derailment is in Aberdeen, MD, south of Wilmington.

I’m so sorry—hope everything will be ok with your family.

Your travel contingency plan sounds a lot better than mine. Good luck with everything.

 

[Oreius]

Only Amtrak can give a definitive answer. The derailment is pretty serious. 20 cars blocking all tracks apparently. It all depends on how quickly they can remove the cars and coal that they were carrying.

Well, I was able to snag a First Class seat from Tampa to Philadelphia tomorrow for a low price. I will then take Lyft from the airport to 30th Street. Then take my original Keystone to Elizabethtown. Was able to get all my points refunded. Oh well..

 

[jis]

Well, I was able to snag a First Class seat from Tampa to Philadelphia tomorrow for a low price. I will then take Lyft from the airport to 30th Street. Then take my original Keystone to Elizabethtown. Was able to get all my points refunded. Oh well..

Glad that you found an acceptable workaround.

 

[Amtrak25]

Sunday looks a little better than Saturday if they hold to that:

https://www.amtrak.com/alert/modified-service-between-new-york-washington.html
I suppose between Washington and Philadelphia, one could have taken 29 (does it run on Saturdays ?) to Pittsburgh this afternoon, and tomorrow morning's 42 !

 

[20th Century Rider]

Just looked on Amtrak NEC service alert update... looks like today and tomorrow all trains are suspended between WAS and PHI... unless something changes. [What a mess!]

https://www.amtrak.com/alert.html#

 

[John Bobinyec]

91 is already canceled out of NYP. Now we see if they start one out of WAS.

jb

The rest of the story:

My wife was to take 91 tonight from Cary, NC, to Orlando. My daughter was to drive from Atlanta to Orlando today, so that they could vacation together in Florida. After we learned about the derailment, it didn't take too long for Amtrak to cancel 91 out of New York - but not out of Washington. Being veteran Amtrak travelers, we knew there would be enough engines in Washington, but probably not enough passenger equipment to make up a train. So instead, my daughter drove to Columbia, SC. And I drove my wife there to hand her off to my daughter. From there they went south and are past Jacksonville as of 7 p.m. I drove back up to Cary. Amtrak canceled the train through here, so I called the Cary agent and got a refund.

jb

 

[joelkfla]

Apparently not enough space in Ivy City to turn more than 2 LD trains as it would seem, at least within the level of innovative operations that Amtrak is capable of to work around issues.

92 is scheduled to arrive at WAS at exactly the same time as 91 is scheduled to depart. Maybe they're turning at JAX so they have time to service 92 and send it back to MIA as 91 reasonably close to schedule. And they can get it back to MIA in time to go out as 92 2 days from now, which I think wouldn't happen if they'd turned at WAS.

I'm having trouble fitting all the logistics into my brain, but I think this way they will have the proper number of trainsets at each terminal when they're needed.