NW mudslide season 2019-20

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CHamilton

CHamilton

Engineer
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
5,304
Location
Seattle
"Gus Melonas, a spokesman for BNSF, said all train traffic south of Tacoma, Washington, had been suspended Friday morning because debris from a landslide covered one set of tracks. Melonas, who said crews hoped to restore non-passenger train service by Friday afternoon, said debris from the slide was 3 feet deep and 50 feet wide. Passenger train service would be suspended for at least 48 hours."
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article238584508.html
 
Came here expecting a thread from CHamilton, and was not disappointed. ;)

So..."south of Tacoma."

I assume this would be along the section of track that will (someday) be bypassed by Amtrak trains? (And would currently be bypassed by Amtrak trains, were it not for the deadly crash two years ago...)

I guess it depends on how far south of Tacoma the slide happened, since the "old" and new routings do join back together at some point.
 
PTC has been fully operational on the Point Defiance Bypass since March. I know they have to train the Amtrak engineers better than they trained them before... but it's been nine months already. The behavior of Washington State is inexcusable; they're making service worse for no reason at all. I guess it's up to advocates in the region to push them to use the tracks they built.
 
neroden said:
PTC has been fully operational on the Point Defiance Bypass since March. I know they have to train the Amtrak engineers better than they trained them before... but it's been nine months already. The behavior of Washington State is inexcusable; they're making service worse for no reason at all. I guess it's up to advocates in the region to push them to use the tracks they built.
Click to expand...

We've been pushing exactly that. https://www.aawa.us/posts/restoring-cascades-service-levels/
 
CHamilton said:
https://www.oregonlive.com/commutin...mporarily-suspended-because-of-landslide.html
Click to expand...
Was this on the Point Defiance portion of the line? Amtrak just says between Tacoma and Lacey.

If it was, then it's another object lesson why the bypass must reopen. At some point, luck will run out and a landslide will hit a passenger train. :eek: The hand-wringers and NIMBYs who fret that the bypass should not reopen until all is perfect ignore that the status quo has significant risks.
 
I was trying to notice in particular on my last Cascades trip where there were places susceptible to landslides, and there is even a deep cut right outside Portland that could have a service-disrupting landslide. This Statement from the Weather Service covers all the usual areas prone to landslides:

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Seattle WA
801 AM PST Thu Jan 23 2020

...HEAVY RAINFALL TODAY INTO FRIDAY WILL LEAD TO AN INCREASED THREAT
OF LANDSLIDES IN WESTERN WASHINGTON...

https://forecast.weather.gov/showsi...tement&lat=48.6356&lon=-122.7944#.XinUlRNKhZ0
 
Yeah, my wife and I got bustituted yesterday and today trying to ride 517 from VAC to EVR and then from EVR to SEA. We thought about arriving early and catching 7 into Seattle today, but we wanted to spend some more time with a friend we were staying with. The worst part was crossing the border, a BoltBus had arrived just ahead of us and the overnight CBP crew was still on. Things were very slow until the day shift got going, but it still took 90 minutes to get through customs. The nice part of the Vancouver to Everett leg was we had 6 pax on our bus for the intermediate stops, 3 for Bellingham, 1 for Mount Vernon, and us for Everett and the CanTrail bus was quite new and nice so not bad. Today’s bus that picked up all the intermediates heading to Seattle was much fuller but we still got two seats together.

But yes, all the rivers and lakes are very full. The Skagit, Stillaguamish, and Skykomish Rivers were all at the tops of the banks or over and full of trees and debris.
 
Have SEA-VAC booked next Friday. If the train ends up canceling, do they normally do a bustitution and if so, does it leave at the same time as the train was supposed to?
 
atm79 said:
Have SEA-VAC booked next Friday. If the train ends up canceling, do they normally do a bustitution and if so, does it leave at the same time as the train was supposed to?
Click to expand...

Yes, they will bustitute if they cancel the train and it will leave at the same time. Going to Vancouver you should get on a non-stop bus but the biggest draw back will be having to clear customs at the boarder instead of the station.
 
And...we've now had measurable rain in Seattle for 43 of the past 50 days, including another inch and a half today. More tomorrow. Roads and rivers flooding, landslips have closed the bike trail near my house (not that anyone wants to bike in this weather)...and the Sounder commuter train is cancelled due to mudslides north of Seattle. (Bustitution for the commuters). It's anyone's guess whether (or more likely, when) there will be cancellations on Amtrak due to mudslides.

I'm ready for a break from this--I'm afraid I'm getting webbed feet! Luckily I don't have a train booking till the beginning of April...
 
If Sounder north of Seattle is cancelled, Amtrak Cascades to/from Vancouver and Empire Builder will be without question. Same BNSF tracks, same BNSF 72 hour passenger embargo after slide policy. They'll likely bustitute Cascades completely and run an Everertt-Seattle bus bridge for the Builder.
 
I just saw the builder pass my office here in Seattle so at the moment it doesn’t look like anything should be cancelled.... yet.
 
Amtrak isn't showing service disruptions for either this mornings Builder or nb Cascades. Sound Transit's website says Sounder North is cancelled due to possibility of mudslides. Apparently not actual mudslides. BNSF appears open to passenger moves and has not invoked the 72 hour post slide moritorium, apparently because there has not really been a slide so far today. Amtrak is operating normally.

Never seen Sound Transit cancel when BNSF is open to passenger moves before.
 
Last edited:
It should be noted the Sounder is crewed by BNSF engineers and BNSF Conductors. So in essence it’s a BNSF train paid for by Sound Transit.
 

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