Western Railroad Discussion > This Morning's #6

The eastbound California Zephyr was just short of 7 hours late into Lincoln, NE this morning.  I haven't heard a reason yet but am suspecting weather may be the culprit. The first three shots attached are near Yankee Hill Brick on the southwest edge of Lincoln.

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I leap frogged #6's station stop at Lincoln and got a couple more shots about a mile and a half east of Waverly.  I-80 makes this manuever do-able without risking life and limb (for me or anyone in my path).  Looking at the engine and cars, this train has been through some heavy snow somewhere and it hasn't been warm enough to melt it.

(2 more)  

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Going thru Waverly, I noticed BNSF 9126 and 5436 were in the center siding with an eastbound mixed freight.  After #6 passed, the dispatcher let them proceed.  These last 2 shots are on the east edge of Waverly.

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Cooool--really like #1 and #4 shots.
Brian Stevens

Amtrak #6 was 4 hours and 17 minutes late getting into Reno on Wednesday. Part of the problem was it had to wait for a flanger escort over Donner pass. The first flanger crew ran out of hours and Amtrak had to wait for a new crew to escort them over the mountain. What was interesting to me, was that UP ran an eastbound empty grain train by us at the Depot in Truckee at about the same time as the scheduled station stop for Amtrak. There wasn't a flanger escort for the grain train.

Mark
Sparks,NV

sp1827ml Wrote:
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> Amtrak #6 was 4 hours and 17 minutes late getting
> into Reno on Wednesday. Part of the problem was it
> had to wait for a flanger escort over Donner pass.
> The first flanger crew ran out of hours and Amtrak
> had to wait for a new crew to escort them over the
> mountain. What was interesting to me, was that UP
> ran an eastbound empty grain train by us at the
> Depot in Truckee at about the same time as the
> scheduled station stop for Amtrak. There wasn't a
> flanger escort for the grain train.
>
> Mark
> Sparks,NV

It's pretty standard practice for UP to run flangers ahead of Amtraks 5 & 6 during snow storms.

I'm sure stranding several hundred passengers in the high country during epic snow storms due to derailments or snowslides isn't  high on UP's wish list.