Passenger Trains > Wintry weather woes (Roanoke trains and Silver Star blanked)

Due to this weekend's threatened snowstorm, no Roanoke service on Sunday/Monday. Northbound Silver Star of the 8th also blanked.

I won't dignify those silly winter storm marketing names by repeating them.

 

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

---

Ice, sleet, and up to a foot of snow are expected in some places.

Posted from Android

In addition:
73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, and 80 of the 9th are annulled.
20 and 92 of the 8th are annulled.
19 and 91 of the 9th are annulled.
Source: NCDOT.

ctillnc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In addition:
> 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, and 80 of the 9th are
> annulled.
> 20 and 92 of the 8th are annulled.
> 19 and 91 of the 9th are annulled.
> Source: NCDOT.

OK. Thanks. At 3:15 Amtrak put out a service advisory. Cardinal of the 8th out of Chicago and 9th out of NYP is also canceled.

Modified Operating Service in Advance of Severe WeatherDecember 07, 2018 03:15 PM ET

Modified Operating Service in Advance of Severe Weather:
Operations south of Washington, D.C., impacted

Dec. 7, 20182 p.m. ETDue to severe weather expected to impact South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, Amtrak is modifying service through Tuesday, Dec. 11.

For the safety of our customers and employees, the schedules for several trains will be adjusted.

• The Cardinal 50 (Chicago - New York) will operate Chicago to Indianapolis on Saturday, Dec. 8.
• The Silver Star 92 (Miami - New York) will operate Miami to Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday, Dec. 8,  and Sunday, Dec. 9
• Northeast Regional 145 (New York to Roanoke, Va.) will operate New York to Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Dec. 9.
• The Silver Star 91 (New York to Miami) will operate from Jacksonville, Fla., to Miami on Monday, Dec. 10, and Tuesday, Dec. 11.
• Northeast Regional 176 (Roanoke, Va., to New York) will operate Washington, D.C., to New York on Monday, Dec. 10.
• The Cardinal 51 (New York – Chicago) will operate Indianapolis to Chicago on Monday, Dec. 10

Bus transportation will not be provided for trains operating on modified service.
Anyone planning to travel should check their train status on Amtrak.com or our smartphone apps prior to departing, allow extra time to get to the station and be extremely careful in stations and on platforms.
Customers with reservations on trains that are being modified will typically be accommodated on trains with similar departure times or another day.
Amtrak will gladly waive additional charges for customers looking to change their reservation during the modified schedule by calling our reservation center at 800-USA-RAIL.

[edited to improve formatting]

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/18 13:24 by Dcmcrider.

1 foot of snow.. Come on....nothing for a train...

It's a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Widespread power outages are anticipated, given winds of 25 mph+ that will blow on ice-loaded lines. Many switches down here don't have heaters, and the switchpoints will freeze. 

ctillnc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
> Widespread power outages are anticipated, given
> winds of 25 mph+ that will blow on ice-loaded
> lines. Many switches down here don't have heaters,
> and the switchpoints will freeze. 

Yep, it is a smart safe move.

Posted from iPhone

The snow forecast Sunday for Roanoke has lessened somewhat, the worst should stay south.  But it still could be significant.  Time will tell.

Dcmcrider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I won't dignify those silly winter storm marketing
> names by repeating them.
>
===================

Thank you!!

Posted from Android

Typhoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ctillnc Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It's a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
> > Widespread power outages are anticipated, given
> > winds of 25 mph+ that will blow on ice-loaded
> > lines. Many switches down here don't have
> heaters,
> > and the switchpoints will freeze. 
>
> Yep, it is a smart safe move.

No longer the all-weather mode that it once was.  Better take the "Snowflake" mentality and retreat to your Safe Space if there's any sign of potential trouble based on a forecast. 

Jimbo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The snow forecast Sunday for Roanoke has lessened
> somewhat, the worst should stay south.  But it
> still could be significant.  Time will tell.

And that's the problem. Amtrak issued all these warnings and cancellations 48 hours in advance of the storm when the track of it was still not well defined. Amtrak could still have likely operated the northern end of the trains. But this was a great excuse to cancel anything in the "predicted" path! Trains north of Richmond could likely have run....... 

Plenty of trains run north of Richmond. They don't need the Carolinian and the Silver Star for that. Amtrak is running the Star intrastate within Florida. Partly this reflects the low on/off counts for the Star in Savannah, the SC stations, and Southern Pines. The Palmetto and Silver Meteor haven't been affected. As for the Crescent, there isn't much ridership between Atlanta and New Orleans, and the best place to turn the NB train and head south would be Charlotte which is within the weather zone.
 

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jimbo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The snow forecast Sunday for Roanoke has
> lessened
> > somewhat, the worst should stay south.  But it
> > still could be significant.  Time will tell.
>
> And that's the problem. Amtrak issued all these
> warnings and cancellations 48 hours in advance of
> the storm when the track of it was still not well
> defined. Amtrak could still have likely operated
> the northern end of the trains. But this was a
> great excuse to cancel anything in the "predicted"
> path! Trains north of Richmond could likely have
> run....... 

The forecast now, as of 3:30 PM EST, is for 8 to 12 inches of snow beginning before dawn Sunday morning in Roanoke.  This is up from an estimated 5 to 8 inches as of this morning.

Topfuel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Typhoon Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ctillnc Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > It's a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
> > > Widespread power outages are anticipated,
> given
> > > winds of 25 mph+ that will blow on ice-loaded
> > > lines. Many switches down here don't have
> > heaters,
> > > and the switchpoints will freeze. 
> >
> > Yep, it is a smart safe move.
>
> No longer the all-weather mode that it once was. 
> Better take the "Snowflake" mentality and retreat
> to your Safe Space if there's any sign of
> potential trouble based on a forecast. 

It is much better to take the safety of your employees and passengers seriously in such an event. If that means that an internet foamer can’t use the term all-weather transportation whhen he is wearing a railroad T-shirt two sizes too small while sitting behind a computer in his mom’s basement, so be it...

Posted from iPhone

In the mid Atlantic we don't do powdery snow that's easy to plow and easy to drive in. We do heavy wet snow and when it freezes it turns to solid ice. Switches without heaters cannot be operated at all and it would take you hours to break up the ice. We just gotta stop at some point and let some meltation occur. 

Topfuel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No longer the all-weather mode that it once was.  Better take the "Snowflake" mentality and retreat to your Safe Space if there's any sign of potential trouble based on a forecast. 

All those railroads that used to do that are bankrupt, broken up, and scrapped.  America "voted with their feet" to go down a different path.

Perhaps you could provide the millions of dollars a year it would take to hire enough employees to return to yesteryear.

Brian

Over 1,000 airline flights cancelled at Charlotte, NC on Sunday/Monday due to this snowstorm.

VTyphoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Topfuel Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Typhoon Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > ctillnc Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > It's a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing
> rain.
> > > > Widespread power outages are anticipated,
> > given
> > > > winds of 25 mph+ that will blow on
> ice-loaded
> > > > lines. Many switches down here don't have
> > > heaters,
> > > > and the switchpoints will freeze. 
> > >
> > > Yep, it is a smart safe move.
> >
> > No longer the all-weather mode that it once
> was. 
> > Better take the "Snowflake" mentality and
> retreat
> > to your Safe Space if there's any sign of
> > potential trouble based on a forecast. 
>
> It is much better to take the safety of your
> employees and passengers seriously in such an
> event. If that means that an internet foamer
> can’t use the term all-weather transportation
> whhen he is wearing a railroad T-shirt two sizes
> too small while sitting behind a computer in his
> mom’s basement, so be it...
>
> Posted from iPhone

Another classic post!   Thank you for the dark humor.