Canadian Railroads > CP Congestion

Hello all,

I've been noticing lately that the CP mainline between Vancouver and Chicago has been extremely slow. Trains that would normally take 5-6 days to make the journey are now taking 10+ (mainly 198 that I'm monitoring I believe). What gives? I know there was a derailment near Moose Jaw a little over a week ago, may have been some flooding issues, and Vancouver got slammed with a glut of imports from shippers attempting to avoid the potential labor issues in LA/LB, but these long transit times seem to be persisting. Any ideas from north of the border? Is there a significant amount of oil traffic up there that is gumming things up too? I know once 198 gets south of Portal, that becomes a big issue for sure. Just curious!

Thanks for any info,

NLS

198/199 often sit for 12 plus hours waiting for a crew to take it to st paul from Enderlin. One day the train is hot, the next day its just another train. blows me away

centerbeam Wrote:
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> 198/199 often sit for 12 plus hours waiting for a
> crew to take it to st paul from Enderlin. One day
> the train is hot, the next day its just another
> train. blows me away

Does it occasionally carry cargo that has a penalty for late delivery? CP

It's been "normal" lately for 198 to take 2+ days just to get through North Dakota. I figured the oil traffic has got that piece tied up pretty good. Just wondering if there was anything else at work here? Right after EHH took over they began promising 5 days Vancouver-Chicago transit times, and were actually delivering that most of the time. Now 10 days is good.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/14 08:15 by nls.

Enderlin, ND to St.Paul, MN is two crew districts with a change at Glenwood, MN. Once they get to Minneapolis they have to make a setout and pickup at the Shoreham Intermodal Center, then they have to get in line to use BNSF's congested trackage to St. Paul. The normal route is via BNSF's St. Paul Sub(ex-NP), but in the last few months some has been routed via BNSF's Midway Sub(ex-GN). Hopefully making it to the area of CP's St. Paul Yard and then making a crew change on the joint mainline, normally somewhere between Hoffman Interlocking and Oakland Interlocking on Main Track #2. Crew Van unavailability has been an issue sometimes. Also there has been lots of delays caused by MOW work in the area, some from the work is related to the opening of SPUD, some to tie replacement across the area from Minneapolis all the way to St. Croix Interlocking, various switches at Hoffman Interlocking failing and having to be hand operated, trains sitting due to BNSF crew shortages, etc. It has been a mess around the Twin Cities since February. CP has refurbished the trackage of their Belt Line around the Twin Cities to get west bound trains off of as much BNSF trackage as possible, but Soo Line Jct. is still a hand-throw switch and there isn't always a switchtender available. Plus the route is single track all the way to Shoreham.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/14 09:01 by SOO6617.

The simple answer is lack of crews trains hold on the Weyburn Sub and in Portal yard waiting for rested crews out of Harvey N.D.

"Enderlin, ND to St.Paul, MN is two crew districts with a change at Glenwood, MN."

True for all trains but 198/199. It has its own pool (SE Pool) and runs with one crew between Enderlin and Shoreham.

CPengineer Wrote:
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> "Enderlin, ND to St.Paul, MN is two crew districts
> with a change at Glenwood, MN."
>
> True for all trains but 198/199. It has its own
> pool (SE Pool) and runs with one crew between
> Enderlin and Shoreham.

No wonder it struggles to make it to St. Paul Yard for its crew change.