Passenger Trains > The Empire Builder in Minot: What's Going On?

I've noticed several times the westbound Empire Builder arrives in Minot, ND early and departs very late. What's going on? For instance, today, the Builder arrived 11 minutes early and departed 1:05 hours late.

Stan Praisewater

I don't have any inside knowledge, but it is a crew change point. If #7 was late arriving the night before, there might be a crew rest issue.

I don't know about today, but yesterday we arrived on time and were held for 2.5 hours for crew rest due to a very late #8 the day before. I suspect that played out again and the dominos fall...

Minot is a crew change, but it is the away-from-home turnaround point for crews from both St. Cloud, MN and Shelby, MT. No Amtrak T&E crews are based there.

If a crew from either direction arrives too late to be properly rested, then their return train is usually held until they are rested rather than deadhead a relief crew (which would have to be done far enough in advance for the relief crew to get rested in Minot, as deadheading counts against Hours Of Service when it's done as part of a continuous tour of duty).

Since the layover for the St. Cloud crews is normally a good bit longer than that of the Shelby crews, it happens far more frequently with No. 7 waiting on a Shelby crew to be rested than No. 8 waiting on a St. Cloud crew.

NZ

Would shifting the turn-around point from Minot to Williston be feasible or even things out ?

Thank you. That certainly makes sense.

Stan

NebraskaZephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Minot is a crew change, but it is the
> away-from-home turnaround point for crews from
> both St. Cloud, MN and Shelby, MT. No Amtrak T&E
> crews are based there.
>
> If a crew from either direction arrives too late
> to be properly rested, then their return train is
> usually held until they are rested rather than
> deadhead a relief crew (which would have to be
> done far enough in advance for the relief crew to
> get rested in Minot, as deadheading counts against
> Hours Of Service when it's done as part of a
> continuous tour of duty).
>
> Since the layover for the St. Cloud crews is
> normally a good bit longer than that of the Shelby
> crews, it happens far more frequently with No. 7
> waiting on a Shelby crew to be rested than No. 8
> waiting on a St. Cloud crew.
>
> NZ