Snow on western routes?

[Rail Freak]

I'm seriously wanting to take a trip from Florida to Denver ( SM-CL-EB-CS-CZ) in the next few weeks! Any current travelers out there experiencing snow on these routes? That's my objective, to see as much snow as possible!! Thanx in advance!!!

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

It's been a very warm winter. There is still snow in the mountains and along parts of the EB and LSL but not much else on the LD network right now. If you want snow on the CZ you should continue beyond Denver.

Attached is a snow cover map for today from WeatherStreet.com

 

[Rail Freak]

It's been a very warm winter. There is still snow in the mountains and along parts of the EB and LSL but not much else on the LD network right now. If you want snow on the CZ you should continue beyond Denver.

Attached is a snow cover map for today from WeatherStreet.com

Aren't you from Largo? Adapting well,LOL!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

It's been a very warm winter. There is still snow in the mountains and along parts of the EB and LSL but not much else on the LD network right now. If you want snow on the CZ you should continue beyond Denver.

Attached is a snow cover map for today from WeatherStreet.com

Looks like he plans to approach Denver from the west.

 

[pennyk]

In early December, I went the opposite direction. CZ westbound, CS and EB eastbound. I did not see a lot of snow in Colorado, but saw a lot of snow in the Sierras and in Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota on the EB route. Below is a photo of my feet in snow during a fresh air stop on the EB route on 12/11/19.

 

[chakk]

In early December, I went the opposite direction. CZ westbound, CS and EB eastbound. I did not see a lot of snow in Colorado, but saw a lot of snow in the Sierras and in Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota on the EB route. Below is a photo of my feet in snow during a fresh air stop on the EB route on 12/11/19.
View attachment 16416

plenty of snow on the CZ route this week in Colorado above 7,000 feet elevation.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Who knows if they'll actually operate the train if snow is expected?

 

[F900ElCapitan]

My wife and I are going to ride the EB from Seattle to Minneapolis/St. Paul on Feb 4th with the expectation of seeing lots of snow. We’re really looking forward to it.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Aren't you from Largo? Adapting well,LOL!

Yes, I lived in Florida for 13 years. I always liked the cold so it wasn't hard to adjust to; I've actually been really disappointed with all the mild weather recently!

 

[Siegmund]

My little corner of Montana (just a few miles from the north portal of the Flathead Tunnel) finally got snow on the ground this past weekend, and it's expected to stay, though it's not deep. Spokane, north Idaho, and other parts of MT have much more.

Who knows if they'll actually operate the train if snow is expected?

The Builder, at least, has a lot more trouble with summer flooding in North Dakota and the occasional sun kink or heat-related speed restriction than it does with snow. It has to be a realllllllly bad blizzard around East Glacier/Browning, or an avalanche across a place without a snowshed on Marias Pass, before snow interferes with the train.

 

[NES28]

The Builder was canceled both in and out of Chicago today due to "inclement weather" I.e. snow in Washington state! Hard to justify.

 

[Palmetto]

The Builder was canceled both in and out of Chicago today due to "inclement weather" I.e. snow in Washington state! Hard to justify.

"

What's hard to justify is that they didn't run to at least Havre. Or worse: to St. Paul. Route 2 has been close on Stevens Pass, so things must be bad there.

 

[Old MM]

Looks like the approaching system will be significant indeed for Chicago-Detroit, enough to cause travel disruptions.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The Builder was canceled both in and out of Chicago today due to "inclement weather" I.e. snow in Washington state! Hard to justify.

Can't be late if you never left in the first place.

 

[basketmaker]

I'm seriously wanting to take a trip from Florida to Denver ( SM-CL-EB-CS-CZ) in the next few weeks! Any current travelers out there experiencing snow on these routes? That's my objective, to see as much snow as possible!! Thanx in advance!!!

If you're looking for the white stuff go at least to Glenwood Springs or Grand Junction on the CZ. We're

I'm seriously wanting to take a trip from Florida to Denver ( SM-CL-EB-CS-CZ) in the next few weeks! Any current travelers out there experiencing snow on these routes? That's my objective, to see as much snow as possible!! Thanx in advance!!!

Go at least to Glenwood Springs or Grand Junction to see the white stuff. Denver is kinda barren right now.

 

[oboedeb]

The Builder was canceled both in and out of Chicago today due to "inclement weather" I.e. snow in Washington state! Hard to justify.

pretty easy to justify if there are downed trees and power lines over the tracks, and they have to wait until BNSF (or whoever it is) can get personnel and equipment in to clear it.

 

[niemi24s]

Here's a link to a site listing various webcams featuring railroad scenes: https://www.railserve.com/RailCams/ Maybe you can find one that shows some snow. If not, the best I can do to placate your craving for snow is this shot out my back door an hour ago:


Just got our 100th inch of snow a few days ago, but are located about 300 miles North of Chicago and the closest Amtrak gets is Milwaukee, about 225 miles from here.

C'mon up. You can have all the damn snow you want!!

 

[oboedeb]

Here's a link to a site listing various webcams featuring railroad scenes: https://www.railserve.com/RailCams/ Maybe you can find one that shows some snow. If not, the best I can do to placate your craving for snow is this shot out my back door an hour ago:

View attachment 16492
Just got our 100th inch of snow a few days ago, but are located about 300 miles North of Chicago and the closest Amtrak gets is Milwaukee, about 225 miles from here.

C'mon up. You can have all the damn snow you want!!

I was just up at my cottage must be in your vicinity. LOTS of snow, and leaking roof!

 

[niemi24s]

Sorry about your leaky roof - a common problem up here. The cure here was to replace the shingles with EPDM rubber membrane roofing. No leaks from any ice dams and the snow occasionally just slides right off:


Gotta tunnel through to let in some light though.

 

[railiner]

There was plenty at Winter Park...

 

[F900ElCapitan]

Marias Pass was just gorgeous today, but cloudy, snowing, and the train has very dirty windows...so no good pics.

So we are on the Empire Builder headed to MSP. We were booked to depart out of Seattle, but the inbound 7 (2/4) flat-spotted a wheel on an engine that had to be set out in Libby, so it got cancelled from Spokane but they ran 27 to Portland. Fortunately I found out about it early enough to get a re-route to Portland on the Coast Starlight.

The crazy thing is early Tuesday morning they locked the inventory on 28 too. I just don’t get this because there was/is lots of empty seats and we are the only ones in a bedroom.

 

[niemi24s]

I hope the ski hills in the Winter Park area have more snow than what's shown in Post #20. What's shown is far from "plenty" to this Yooper!

 

[oregon pioneer]

That's not very much snow for Winter Park!

So if you want to see what the snow looks like on the EB route, here are the road cams. Just zoom in and click on any cam in a green (National Forest) area:
Montana https://www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/weather/rwis_google.shtml (click on triangle, scroll down to see cam in the popup).
Washington https://www.wsdot.com/traffic/Cameras/default.aspx
Idaho US 2 https://lb.511.idaho.gov/idlb/cameras/route.jsf?route=16:8&view=state&text=m&textOnly=false

 

[chakk]

I hope the ski hills in the Winter Park area have more snow than what's shown in Post #20. What's shown is far from "plenty" to this Yooper!

Winter PARK received 21 inches of snow from the storm of Feb 6-7.

 

[Siegmund]

Lucky them!

The grass has been showing for the past few weeks in Kalispell and Libby. In Whitefish it's probably hidden under a few inches of crusty ice.