Passenger Trains > On Board the Snow Drift Train "Empire Builder"

I picked a great time to take Amtrak 28, "The Empire Builder" from Portland, OR to Portage, WI.  After waiting for hours at Minot because of frozen switches all over North Dakota, we were set free.  At about 6:30 am, we were going track speed (79 mph) 5 miles west of Rugby when the engineer saw a big snowdrift and brought the train to a quick stop.  But not quite quick enough.  We hit the drift and packed snow so tightly underneath and around the train that we couldn't get free.  BNSF sent locomotives to help and tried to pull us back, but we were packed in too well.  Then BNSF got serious.  They sent bulldozers, bobcats, and about 50 workers with shovels.  They also sent four freight units to couple on to the front of the train.  They tried several times to jerk us out without success.  Finally after more hand digging we were set free, more than 12 hours after getting stuck.  Most people were bored but happy.  Since I'm a train nerd, I was fascinated over the big show Amtrak and BNSF put on and considered myself lucky to witness it.  The Amtrak car attendant Deb Vann is a real treasure!  She retires at the end of the year and she'll be missed.

Stan Praisewater

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WOW!

Yikes, Always an adventure on Amtrak!

Wild experience - thanks for sharing!! 

How did the bathrooms hold up?

I'm curious on what the chances were of the train making it through still on the rails if the engineer hadn't stopped?

Posted from iPhone

Shades of Donner and the "City" years ago.

Uncle Joe
Seffner,Fl.

Wow, what an experience.

Posted from iPhone

WOW  indeed!!  Think this train nut would have like to have been there.  Thanks for your post.  Hoping we'd hear from someone onboard.  Answers my question on other post about why engineer went into the drift.

Quote: "How did the bathrooms hold up?"

They will not flush until dumped over some waterway in some out-of-the-way place. That should be the first question (oral not written) during the interview for hiring a passenger conductor….. how long would you wait to pull the dump lever on the toilets? Choices being (a) Toilet full of shit. (b) shit all over the floor. (c) wait until gramma slips on shit, falls and breaks her hip on her way to use the toilet.

PC1974 Wrote:
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> Quote: "How did the bathrooms hold up?"
>
> They will not flush until dumped over some
> waterway in some out-of-the-way place. That should
> be the first question (oral not written) during
> the interview for hiring a passenger
> conductor….. how long would you wait to pull the
> dump lever on the toilets? Choices being (a)
> Toilet full of shit. (b) shit all over the floor.
> (c) wait until gramma slips on shit, falls and
> breaks her hip on her way to use the toilet.

They stopped dumping like that years ago.

What about food onboard this train in the Diner and  lounge car, did amtrak extra food at next stop?? bathrooms clean?

railcity Wrote:
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> What about food onboard this train in the Diner
> and  lounge car, did amtrak extra food at next
> stop?? bathrooms clean?

Amtrak bathrooms aren't clean even when they train is running normally - why would this be any different?

Dave

DavidP Wrote:
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> railcity Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What about food onboard this train in the Diner
> > and  lounge car, did amtrak extra food at next
> > stop?? bathrooms clean?
>
> Amtrak bathrooms aren't clean even when they train
> is running normally - why would this be any
> different?
>
> Dave

Not my experience.

 

Ret. Navy Chief Bob Jensen
Manteno, IL

I am VERY relieved that everyone is OK, after being
stuck in the bitter cold for more than 12 hours.  Whew!

And the engines apparently did nort run out of fuel, so
the HEP units were able to keep providing power, which
meant everyone was able to stay warm, and the toilets 
were able to be flushed.

So -- no one had to worry about getting frostbite -- which was
not a sure thing aftrer getting stuck for a long time where it was
bitterly cold.  As Amtrak locomotives once in a wle run out of
fuel -- because diesel locomotives have very unreliable fuel
gauges (this is confirmed by railroaders who posted this info
here on TO) -- there was no way anyone could be sure that this
train's locomotives would not rn out of fuel in a situation like this
where running out of fuel could have had very, very bad consequences
for everyone on board.

And no one had to deal witn toilets that could not flush because the
HEP died, either.  Whew!  That would have been very bad, too.

And I am relieved and very inpreased that the engineer of that freight
train that tried to pull the Amtrak train loose did not pull so hard that
he or she snapped any drawbars.  Good job!!    As a friend likes to
say, "Less is more," sometimes, and it sure was in this case.  

IMO, Amtrak should never have sent this train out into weather 
as bad as that. There is an aviator's saying that applies to other
fields besides aviation: "When in doubt, chicken out.".  Aparently
no one was in doubt.

There is also a very important rule in GCOR that says the same 
thing in a different way: "In case of doubt, the safe course of 
action must be taken."  It seems as though in this case, it was
deemed there was not enough doubt, so the train was not annulled
at Seattle and Portland.  Is this yet another case of poor judgment
on the part of Amtrak management?  Sure seems like it.

I am hugely relieved that no one got hurt because of this train
being stuck for so long -- either the people on the train or those
who worked so hard and got the train unstuck.  Whew!

About toilets on Amtrak: No, they do not dump on the rails at
every flush.  That has been against federal rules since 1990.
All Amtrak trains have holding tanks, but those tanks must be
pumped out at regular intervals.  If a train gets stuck for a long
time, it would be very easy for the retention tanks to get full in a
place where they could not be pumped out.  And overflowing toilets
are a hazard to people.

HUGE tjhasnks for ALL the BNSF workers who risked their safety
and lives to help this train get unstuck!!  They are HEROES!!
 

I believe that Minot is usually a fuel stop for the Empire Builder so probably the tanks were almost full when it hit the drift.

Sounds to me like BNSF did a great job.  Too often we hear of a host RR leaving Amtrak to the dogs, but seems like BNSF did everything they could, good to hear.

From the pictures it appears that the freight cars on the adjacent track acted as a really effective snow fence, allowing the snow to drift deep.

I have to agree, if those cars weren't there it might've been worse!

Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
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> IMO, Amtrak should never have sent this train out
> into weather 
> as bad as that. There is an aviator's saying that
> applies to other
> fields besides aviation: "When in doubt, chicken
> out.".  Aparently
> no one was in doubt.

Margaret, I think this is the first time I have to disagree with you. There was no "weather" to contend with at the time, so that was not a factor.

This was a previosly created (before the train arrived) wind blown snow bank along side a cut of freight cars in an adjacent siding. Had that cut of cars not been there, I am guessing that the snow bank would not have been so big.

ProAmtrak Wrote:
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> I have to agree, if those cars weren't there it
> might've been worse!

Actually you are disagreeing.