1. LA, being the maintenance base for 3 Superliner trains, is usually able to cobble up a replacement consist. Likely it will be the Sunset's equipment that arrived yesterday and is not scheduled to go out until Monday.I’m scheduled to depart on 4 today (3/15), but the consist from 3(13) which would become my train is 9 hours late.
The fire seems to have gotten bigger, but I can’t tell whether it’s spreading in the direction of the tracks or not.
Trains 3(14) and 4(14) are both running late and each have a “please stand by for more information” status message. Neither have crossed through the Wagon Mound area yet, they’re still a ways out, so I’m curious to see if they get through.
So many questions abound:
Stay tuned…
- Will today’s train 4 run at all?
- If they have to sub in equipment, will there be a 31 sleeper? (Since I’m in that one)
- Will the trains be able to transit the Wagon Mound area?
- Will we make our connection to the Floridian in Chicago?
1. LA, being the maintenance base for 3 Superliner trains, is usually able to cobble up a replacement consist. Likely it will be the Sunset's equipment that arrived yesterday and is not scheduled to go out until Monday.
2. If there's a replacement consist, it will almost certainly be the same equipment roster, so there will be a 31 car line.
3. Fires are fickle and it's more than 24 hours before 4(15) reaches the area, so there's no way to know. Although if Amtrak management genuinely thinks that it's likely that it won't be able to get through, they'll cancel it entirely and it will not depart LA. They will not make that decision until much closer to departure time than 7:45 am PT as I am writing this.
4. Any number of things can affect any trip. There is no way to know that for a train that won't even depart for several more hours. I do not think anyone here is clairvoyant, which would be required to make that call at this time.