Passenger Trains > Amtrak Hoosier State 850(23) Initial Terminal Delay

850(23) IPH equipment arrived CUS on late inbound 51(22) at 2037 hrs.

850(23) departed CUS at 2132 hrs backing out of station to wye after leaving.

Train departed 3 hrs 47 civilized minutes late.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/15 19:36 by PC1974.

Not Iowa Pacific's fault this time.  Amtrak's.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,3895522



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/15 22:32 by GenePoon.

I hope they made it clear to everyone on board who's fault the late departure was. Would they be better off to dead head the equipment back to Chicago with their own power? Or how about this. Run the dam thing every day keeping the Cardinal only for long distance passengers. That way locals might actually get where they are going on time.

Arrived  Indy,   4.17 am,   4 hrs 27 late. 

Now to see how late 851 will be departing.

Everything in the books are being thrown at this train !

Quote: "Everything in the books are being thrown at this train!"

TRUE.

Another truth. Late trains get later.

It's the "Morning After" and 851(24) is rolled into this delay. They have already lost an extra hour with equipment issues trying to leave Beech Grove. Time for a new thread???

What were the equipment issues?

One example was they started to pull and lost HEP.. There were others.

Amtrak's fault: it all came down to LOW FUEL in the Amtrak engine.

The single engine AMTK 40 would not run well enough at Indy,
where it had arrived only 14 minutes late, for traction.
It was speculated that fuel was low, and sediment/water in
the fuel tank was causing a problem.  A fuel truck was
ordered but wasn't available (Indy is not a regular fueling stop
so why should a vendor have a fuel truck all ready for Amtrak
just in case they call), so Amtrak had to order up a freight
unit from CSX. Train departed with CSX 6503 in the lead but in the
meantime, with Amtrak stopped in the station and various officials
trying to figure out what to do, CSX told them, "SCREW IT" and
released freight trains that normally hold for the Cardinal. With low
fuel, the AMTK 40 was running only to maintain HEP: outside
temperature was 17°F at scheduled departure time and had hardly
warmed up at ACTUAL departure time.

The Cardinal, way out of its slot, had to wait for open track at
Crawfordsville before it could switch onto the Monon. Once there, the
train ran until the crew's Hours of Service ran out at 330pm...the
train then being only to Lafayette, eight hours late. Train held
there for 30 min. waiting for dogcatch crew, then continued, only to
stop at Monon for fuel...even running only HEP, the AMTK 40 ran
out.

At Dyer 11 hours late...into Chicago 10 1/2 hours late (schedule pad)
with the deadhead Iowa Pacific equipment still on the rear of the
train. Quickest way to get the Hoosier State out was to back it off
the Cardinal, on the same station track; it departed an hour after
the Cardinal arrived. in the lead but in the
meantime, with Amtrak stopped in the station and various officials
trying to figure out what to do, CSX told them, "SCREW IT" and
released freight trains that normally hold for the Cardinal. With low
fuel, the Amtrak diesel was running only to maintain HEP: outside
temperature was 17°F at scheduled departure time and had hardly
warmed up at ACTUAL departure time.

The Cardinal, way out of its slot, had to wait for open track at
Crawfordsville before it could switch onto the Monon. Once there, the
train ran until the crew's Hours of Service ran out at 330pm...the
train then being only to Lafayette, eight hours late. Train held
there for 30 min. waiting for dogcatch crew, then continued, only to
stop at Monon for fuel...even running only HEP, the Amtrak unit ran
out.

At Dyer 11 hours late...arrived Chicago 10 1/2 hours late (schedule pad)
with the deadhead Iowa Pacific equipment still on the rear of the
train. Quickest way to get the Hoosier State out was to back it off
the Cardinal, on the same station track and wye it to put the engine,
SLRG 4137, in the lead; it departed an hour after the Cardinal arrived.

Sources, unconfirmed, have reported that Iowa Pacific offered their SLRG
4137 as a lead unit to pull the train.  Amtrak apparently REFUSED the offer.

There is a video showing the Cardinal, ten hours late in the dark, at Rensselaer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztVCVhyNOds



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/15 14:39 by GenePoon.

One short term solution would be for Amtrak to reschedule the Cardinal for overnight service to Cinci metro area from NYP (like the C&O, B&O, NYC, and PRR provided) with thruway buses to Columbus and Louisville, then continue to Chicago. Let IP handle the present slot daily. NEC passengers heading west of Chgo still have the option of CL and LSL. Same for WV and VA passengers using eastbound Cardinal. If volume there, Cinci passengers heading west have thruway connecting to IP.

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