Passenger Trains > Amtrak-powered Grand Luxe woes

The following was forwarded to me tonight. Posted here as
followup to prior thread at:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1944208
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> Passing this along to anyone who might be interested.
>
> The following was lifted from a railroad-related computer
> bulletin board that is used primarily by T&E employees. You
> may forward it if you so desire, since it's already on the
> Internet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> (Amtrak) OAK management causes Grand Luxe to run out of
> track, stall on Hill, catch fire, etc.
>
> Anschutz has purchased the AOE/GLE equipment and Amtrak
> attempted to deadhead it from Napa where it had been stored,
> to Denver on Wednesday. The poor bastard is probably kicking
> himself for using Amtrak to move it.
>
> The Oakland management apparently did a wonder with this one.
> Only two engines for the consist that has traditionally run
> with three for years, and everybody forgot to mention to the
> UP that this was running early, instead of the 31st as it was
> originally planned. Every dispatcher down the line had no
> idea the train was scheduled to run that day. The hogs told
> management they needed more than two engines, but they were
> sent on the way with only the two.
>
> The fun began at Suisun-Fairfield with a three-hour wait due
> to the switch to the lead to the main being GONE upon their
> arrival! And they stalled about about 7 times on the Hill and
> had to wait for the engines to cool down each time, plus a
> long wait at Gold Run for MoW.
>
> The Oakland crew made it to Soda Springs with about five
> minutes to spare at 7:30 p.m., where they were relieved by
> the Reno crew. By this time, the HEP had been shut down to
> squeeze every last drop of horsepower out of the units. The
> poor car caretakers were probably sweating the whole way over
> the Hill on the nice hot day.
>
> Despite barely making it over Donner Pass without melting
> away, they went through Sparks without picking-up a freight
> engine. It was decided they could make it to SLC fine on
> their own.
>
> At or around Upsal, NV, around midnight the engineer noticed
> flames coming from underneath the lead engine and the crew
> was somewhat successful at extinguishing them, then it was
> discovered the batteries were also smoldering. Evidently
> there was all sorts of crap wedged underneath the engine
> around the cables and wires including what looked like a huge
> rodent nest. The local fire department from who knows where
> in the Nevada desert responded to make sure everything was
> completly out, and the UP finally decided to send some
> freight power out to assist.
>
> By this time the Reno crew was almost out of time (on their
> supposed 2:45 run), so an additional Reno crew was sent out
> the relieve them. They had a long wait for the freight power
> to make it out, because they didn't end-up making it to
> Winnemucca until around noon - some 17 hours behind schedule.
> The SLC crew no-doubt died waiting for them, and who knows
> where that crew's relief crew died.
>
> All in all, a grand exit fitting for what this train has been
> through the past few years. Any bets on how much money was
> lost instead of gained on this move as a result of managers
> not knowing a 20-car train needs more than two engines?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/09 22:13 by GenePoon.

It's always the employee's fault, it's the Amtrak way.

fjc Wrote:
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> It's always the employee's fault, it's the Amtrak
> way.

Amen. The engineer will probably get thirty days for not doing a proper rodent nest inspection and not filling out form AMRAT 100.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/09 23:05 by irhoghead.

Phil Anschutz moved his new passenger train through 6.2-mile long Moffat Tunnel as Amtrak train 904-27 May 29, 2009. Union Pacific dispatcher 82 kept the train ahead of Amtrak train 6 until Rollinsville, CO, where it overtook UP 5260 East (ex-GrandLuxe Express) train. The lounge observation bar car NEW YORK was about to roll into Moffat Tunnel at Winter Park, CO.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/09 15:46 by cozephyr.

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I'll been gone 5 years & nothing's changed in oakland, not even management....SAD.

Hope Phil has lotsa fun with his new toy (now let's see, how 'bout some power for this baby...). Kurt.

Very glad this equipment has been saved. I wonder what Phil intends to do with it.

Wish Amtrak would lease some of these cars and re-instate a 20th Century Ltd. type service between Chicago & NY. (I know, fruitless dream).

I think this latest move proves that AMTRAK should have NOTHING to do with this operation.

Rodent nest, huh? So how long was this unit stored? I can't imagine that would occur on a unit that's in service.

So how does the Auto Train make it with two locomotives? That's a sh!tload of autoracks to haul in addition to the coaches.

Try using 2 units to pull the Auto Train over Donner Pass. Obviously the grades are quite as severe along the Auto Train route.


CNW534 Wrote:
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> So how does the Auto Train make it with two
> locomotives? That's a sh!tload of autoracks to
> haul in addition to the coaches.

Where will the trainset be stored? I would hope in a secure location!

CNW534 Wrote:
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> So how does the Auto Train make it with two
> locomotives? That's a sh!tload of autoracks to
> haul in addition to the coaches.

But not many grades as in the West.

Reading this case of management negligence, I asked myself: did this happen in a 3rd World county, or the U.S.?

Railroads and their management ranks in the U.S., keep going backwards, compared with the rest of the industrial world.

Coach Wrote:
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> Reading this case of management negligence, I
> asked myself: did this happen in a 3rd World
> county, or the U.S.?
>
> Railroads and their management ranks in the U.S.,
> keep going backwards, compared with the rest of
> the industrial world.

Amtrak basically has no competition. Thus, no incentive to succeed. Think DMV.

U.S. railroads seem to be the best anywhere. I am not referring to Amtrak, but the freight roads. They manage to haul more tonnage more places and do it more efficiently than any other carriers in the world. They make money doing it, too; a huge plus. All with little, if any, assistance from the government. If fact, the industry has improved with less government meddling. Where else in the world is the equivalent of our U.S. tonnage carried by rail as efficiently outside of North America?


Coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Reading this case of management negligence, I
> asked myself: did this happen in a 3rd World
> county, or the U.S.?
>
> Railroads and their management ranks in the U.S.,
> keep going backwards, compared with the rest of
> the industrial world.

Utter stupidity by Amtrak Managment, I don't think those bozoa know what type of HPT Amtrak uses on their P42s after that fiasco! And how many times did that deadhead get patched after all this mess since I know Soilder Summit must of killed them too!

You should hear this story firsthand from the employees working this--definitely a chapter in my Am-book (only to be written upon retirement!).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/09 23:50 by IC_2024.

bitting my till then also...

I dogged the Oakland crew at Soda Springs then I was dogged at Upsal after going dead account the flameage. I know the Winnemucca cre running to Salt Lake was set back to have neough time to make it. I would dare say they did since you have to have a very very bad trip not to make the 8hr or so run time WNN-SLC.