Passenger Trains > Whats happened to SWC #4 and CZ #6 today?

Both SWC #4 and CZ #6 show as service disrupted today.What happened?

They ran the old Santa Fe to Galesburg then the CN ( ex-GM&O ) from east of Joliet to CUS today due to track work on the old CB&Q.


Chris

nothing's happened yet, but both trains are to use the ex-ATSF into Joliet
on Tuesday due to M of W

I wonder why that little computer glitch isn't fixable? Every time a train takes a different, temporary route, it just goes into "Service Disruption" mode.

Not always. Often the computer just doesn;t list the times for the stations that are bypassed, which seems like the logical way for the program to work. So the question is: why does it work sometimes and not others? Anybody see a pattern? And, yes, it sure would be nice if Amtrak fixed the glitch.

Will they actually have a station stop in Galesburg? To take the old Santa Fe to Joliet from Galesburg and use the old CB&Q Galesburg station would require a lot of backing up. The two big Wyes and loops west of Galesburg are the easiest way to get onto the old Santa Fe.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Alert_C&pagename=am/AM_Alert_C/Alerts_Popup&cid=1251622883328

phil-s Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not always. Often the computer just doesn;t list
> the times for the stations that are bypassed,
> which seems like the logical way for the program
> to work. So the question is: why does it work
> sometimes and not others? Anybody see a pattern?
> And, yes, it sure would be nice if Amtrak fixed
> the glitch.
=====================================================

The "pattern" is whether a HUMAN realizes something has to be done.

The problem arose last year on the scheduled two-week detours of the Coast Starlight between
Oakland and Los Angeles. The computer system had to be MANUALLY reprogrammed to avoid
the Service Disruption issue on Train Status. As I understand it, there is no current
fix for the issue, given the obsolescent computer infrastructure Amtrak is saddled with.

The division of the company responsible for that function has also undergone a major upheaval
lately, with most of its managers terminated and the department folded into another (this
is NOT the recent layoff of Amtrak managers in IT, due to outside contracting).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/12 10:15 by GenePoon.

Didn't even think to look in the Amtrak Service Disruptions since there's so rarely anything there. But given that it was both #4 and #6 I should have guessed trackwork somewhere east of where the routes merge.

As for the human factor, it makes perfect sense now, in an Amtrak sort of way. Oh dear...

As for the reason, BNSF is replacing the diamonds at Earlville IL.
This is the crossing of the UP's (former CN&W) Troy Grove branch.
Dan Tracy