Passenger Trains > Empire Builder - 2 Hours to 6 Hours LATE

So the Empire Builder went from being 2 hours late out of Columbus to departing Milwaukee SIX HOURS late. What happened? Did the train hit something? Mechanical problems?

If the crew went "dead" Amtrak should have been able to "dog-catch it" out of Milwaukee. Amtrak Ops would have surely known about the issue. Milwaukee to Chicago is a brand new crew and there is also padding between Columbus and Milwaukee.

Just curious as to what happened to what could have been a train of less than two hours late that turned into a train over 6 hours late into Chicago.

It also seems that #8 and #28 of July 6th has yet to depart from Seattle and Portland respectively. Late turn of equipment? Late train that is being turned in Spokane instead?

The Empire Builder was doing so well (or at least better than last year), but it seems to continously lose time in the Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota area. Lately it's even been late travelling THROUGH various areas of Montana.  

7(4) did not arrive Seattle until well after 2pm.  An equipment turn without mechanical repairs takes about five hours,
which means the soonest that 8(6) could have departed is right around...NOW.

The story is pretty much the same for 27(6) turning to 28(6) though it usually can be turned somewhat faster.

As for losing time enroute, there is an item in TRAINS.com today, "'Empire Builder' timekeeping takes a dive"
about that and about how Amtrak unwisely yanked "a sixth equipment set stationed overnight at Seattle..."

LINK:

Empire Builder timekeeping takes a dive

I'm sure that we are not the only ones who saw this coming.  Problem is, those who could, don't work at Amtrak
any more, having been run off...or don't have any influence there...or aren't allowed to have any influence there,
under the current Amtrak administration.

As for relief crews from Milwaukee, how many are qualified to work west of Milwaukee, and how many
only eastward to Chicago?  A crew member who is only qualified Chicago-Milwaukee is useless for
dogcatching an Empire Builder west of Milwaukee.

 



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/15 19:45 by GenePoon.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 7(4) did not arrive Seattle until well after
> 2pm.  An equipment turn without mechanical
> repairs takes about five hours,
> which means the soonest that 8(6) could have
> departed is right around...NOW.
>
> The story is pretty much the same for 27(6)
> turning to 28(6) though it usually can be turned
> somewhat faster.
>
> As for losing time enroute, there is an item in
> TRAINS.com today, "'Empire Builder' timekeeping
> takes a dive"
> about that and about how Amtrak unwisely yanked "a
> sixth equipment set stationed overnight at
> Seattle..."
>
> LINK:
>
> Empire Builder timekeeping takes a dive
>
> I'm sure that we are not the only ones who saw
> this coming.  Problem is, those who could, don't
> work at Amtrak
> any more, having been run off...or don't have any
> influence there...or aren't allowed to have any
> influence there,
> under the current Amtrak administration.
>
> As for relief crews from Milwaukee, how many are
> qualified to work west of Milwaukee, and how many
> only eastward to Chicago?  A crew member who is
> only qualified Chicago-Milwaukee is useless for
> dogcatching an Empire Builder west of Milwaukee.
>

Well, per Amtrak's schedule of "turning a train" they need five hours. It's been less in the past and should be. I've even seen Chicago Yard turn the eastbound Southwest Chief (and even the Empire Builder) into the eastbound Capitol Limited (in the 2000's) when it was a run-through operation in about three hours. The crew worked on cleaning the train prior to arrival, which helped speed things along. Technically, they are servicing half a train at Seattle and Portland - more in sleeper work though! 

The train to Gaspe on VIA Rail Canada - that train was turned in about an hour MANY times - which included servicing the two Chateau sleepers, the Skyline Dome, the Diner, three coaches, wyeing the train about a mile up the track from the station, and fueling/re-stocking the train. And the attendants onboard vacuumed the WHOLE consist. It was AMAZING to watch. Let's just say we had some messy students aboard! But the train departed on-time! I was worred they were going to "short-turn" the train enroute. But that didn't happen! NEVER would you see something like this on Amtrak. I realize the Chateau sleepers are not equivalent to a Superliner sleeper, but if prep is done before hand - which it normally is - they can minimize the time..........  

And was it the issue of a relief crew? Let's just say I've seen interesting things happen between Columbus and Milwaukee.

I did read the article in Trains and agreed with it. The sixth trainset - since Amtrak doesn't re-allocate the equipment per say (even though they should) - should have been left intact for this season after coming off of a disaster situation last year and the year before etc.

It's amazaing to me that the Strausburg RR out in PA can do a quicker change in power than Amtrak (and that includes adding water to the steam locomotive!).   

Builder #8(6) departed Seattle 7:58PM, 3 hr 18 min late. Pulled by BNSF 7999 in lead, followed by AMT 91, new bagg, and usual consist of 6 cars.

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So the Empire Builder went from being 2 hours late out of Columbus to departing Milwaukee SIX HOURS
> late. What happened?

The euphemism "crew issue" was used to describe something that happened just as the train was pulling out of Columbus, WI.  Train stopped just east of the station and sat there for over 4 hours, presumably until a relief crew arrived.  Crew district is Chicago - Winona, MN.  Train has just arrived at Chicago (1010p, 6 hrs 15 mins late).

Haven;'t they ran 8 with just one engine for a while now? What's up with the BNSF leader leaving Seattle!

Ruh Roh. "Crew issue" usually means somebody got pulled out of service pending an investigation.

ProAmtrak: That is the power a very late #7 crawled into Seattle with this afternoon, although I can't verify engine numbers.

Recent editions of #7 and #8 have been pulled by BNSF power instead of AMT as I observe here in Seattle.

Maybe Mr. Boardman needs to cut more dining cars to afford loco maintenance at Seattle and Chicago?

It isn't hard to mantain engines, it just seems some shops just send an engine out and don't care, Chicago being the worst!

It seems BNSF bamboozled Amtrak into thinking this summer would not be that bad, and Amtrak was stupid enough to take the bait.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/15 04:02 by joemvcnj.

BNSF is not doing well on any of its transcon routes with Amtrak. Of course the Builder is the worst, but the CZ is nothing to write home about either, and the SWC has been regularly taking a two hours or more delay too.

I was on the SWC a couple of days back, and it took over 3 hours delay, none of which was Amtrak's fault, and involved broken signals and getting stuck behibnd a broken down freight train.