Passenger Trains > Amtrak alert: NS affected by "Power Issues, Communication Issues"

"Capitol Limited Train 29 which departed from Washington (WAS) on 2/22 is currently stopped west of Sandusky (SKY) due to power issues in the area. We will update as more information becomes available."

"Wolverine Train 351 is currently stopped east of Chicago (CHI) due to power issues in the area. We will update as more information becomes available." (10:47am)

Now there are a bunch of twitter alerts for any train that is on NS, calling it a "communication issue"
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/20 10:10 by inCHI.

Train 29 is stopped in Port Clinton, Ohio at 1pm eastern (CP 268). It might not even make it to Chicago before dark.

Posted from iPhone

> Now there are a bunch of twitter alerts for any
> train that is on NS, calling it a "communication
> issue"

NS was going to have a planned UTCS (dispatching system) outage 2/23, so they park the entire RR while they do maintenance.
Ain't technology wonderful?

Interesting, that explains it.

No, it doesn't explain it.  The initial delay to 29(22) was 3 1/4 hours lost between Pittsburgh and Alliance.  It lost another three hours between Alliance and Cleveland. After that the train was well out of its slot.  Whatever plans had been made to accommodate the passenger train during the maintenance process on NS went out the proverbial window.

There's more: a report from aboard the train, by a passenger who admits he slept through the delay prior to Alliance, is that it struck a vehicle.  Once on NS, the pilot plow on the lead unit (reported power AMTK 71 and 154) was striking pavement at grade crossings and the train was ordered stopped.  This could be the "power" issue.

A more positive report from him is that the Contemporary Dining on the train has improved since his prior trips in 2019.  Not a real diner by a long shot, but improved..."noticeably better in taste and presentation."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/20 13:07 by GenePoon.

They're just following one of Murphy's Laws. No plan survives the first contact with reality.

Train #29 was planned to only serve dinner leaving Washington DC on its way west, then breakfast before arriving into Chicago. Hope there was enough food onboard to serve lunch today for the passengers! Or while Amtrak was figuring out the "power issues" they got lunch delivered to the train! If it was a semi-light train (weekends usually aren't though, especially Capitol Limited), maybe the Sightseer Lounge/Cafe car didn't sell out of sandwich/dinner food, as they usually do, just past Cumberland!

Hopefully they won't need dinner too! Train is still trying to make it's way to Chicago, and will arrive after 5 pm (central time) or 6 pm (Eastern time). 

nsrlink Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> NS was going to have a planned UTCS (dispatching
> system) outage 2/23, so they park the entire RR
> while they do maintenance.
> Ain't technology wonderful?

The issue is not technology.  It's how the technology is implemented and planning, or lack thereof, to ensure that delays of this magnitude do not occur.

RuleG Wrote:

> The issue is not technology.  It's how the
> technology is implemented and planning, or lack
> thereof, to ensure that delays of this magnitude
> do not occur.
=============================

And then Murphy steps in and screws up the whole works!

The Murphy's Law story about the huge delay to the Capitol Limited, 30(22), from the passenger on board:

29 finally arrived in Chicago about 5:10, cst.  What we found out during the day:

First, it hit a car near Columbiana, OH, a little after 1:00 am.  After about a three hour wait it started up and ran for about an hour maybe, past Alliance.

Second, somewhere around 30 miles out of Cleveland, someone decided the plow was dragging and we stopped.  As best we could tell from trying to overhear the conductor, NS wanted the train to proceed to Cleveland at 20 mph, while Amtrak insisted that NS send someone to fix it where it was stopped.  That discussion went on for about 45 minutes.  Amtrak won.  We waited another hour or so for NS mechanical to find us. They apparently cut the plow off and we proceeded slowly, anyway, to Cleveland.

In the meantime, afraid that the crew would run out of hours, they drove the Toledo replacement crew to Cleveland--one of the two things that made some sense all day.

Third, about 20 miles before Toledo we stopped and the original story was that the signals were out and we would move shortly.  Later, well over an hour into the wait, the story changed to be some kind of power outage affecting the whole line.  One eastbound freight went by right after we stopped, but we didn't see any other traffic until after we finally got to Toledo.

The crew that was supposed to join us in Toledo, but actually got on in Cleveland, was replaced in Toledo.  The news guys brought Subway flatbread sandwiches and chips for the sleeping car passengers.  And the leftover dinners from the previous night were also distributed, so there was "food" available for lunch.

I'm not certain because I didn't pay attention when boarding and detraining, but I think the consist was two engines, transition sleeper, one regular sleeper, diner, lounge, and two coaches.  I've taken 29 at about this time of year four of the last five years and I think they've generally had two regular sleepers in addition to the transition.

And they sent all the passengers with missed connections to the South Loop Hotel (25 rooms), not somewhere I would consider staying on my own or walking outside.

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hope there was enough food onboard to serve lunch today for the passengers!

It was six superliners when it stopped in Elkhart at 4pm Sunday afternoon.

> And they sent all the passengers with missed
> connections to the South Loop Hotel (25 rooms),
> not somewhere I would consider staying on my own
> or walking outside.

Last summer, I stayed a few days in a hotel in that part of Chicago (next to the McCormick Place Convention Center) and didn't have any problems and walked outside quite a bit.

As for the South Loop Hotel, not Chicago's best, but not its worst, either.  Trip Advisor has 2,281 reviews, of which 822 rate their experiences as "Excellent" and 902 rated their experiences as "Very Good."

RuleG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > And they sent all the passengers with missed
> > connections to the South Loop Hotel (25 rooms),
> > not somewhere I would consider staying on my
> own
> > or walking outside.
>
> Last summer, I stayed a few days in a hotel in
> that part of Chicago (next to the McCormick Place
> Convention Center) and didn't have any problems
> and walked outside quite a bit.
>
> As for the South Loop Hotel, not Chicago's best,
> but not its worst, either.  Trip Advisor has
> 2,281 reviews, of which 822 rate their experiences
> as "Excellent" and 902 rated their experiences as
> "Very Good."

I agree. I've played sports at a park near there with no issue, there is an excellent sandwhich shop nearby (Ricobene's), and you could walk to Chinatown. It's not that bad. 

29 passed by me in Port Clinton, Ohio at 1104 am. I was up to see this as my house is literally right next to the Chicago Line. I am look right out the bedroom window and there it is let alone from the front and upstairs if I so choose to.

From when it sped by my house, I couldn't see much damage on the lead unit from the car vs train In Columbiana, and figured it was in fact a fatality.

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI

It was indeed a fatality.  Separate post, crossreferencing this thread:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4964147

"Third, about 20 miles before Toledo we stopped and the original story was that the signals were out and we would move shortly.  Later, well over an hour into the wait, the story changed to be some kind of power outage affecting the whole line.  One eastbound freight went by right after we stopped, but we didn't see any other traffic until after we finally got to Toledo."

It was not a power outage. NS took the dispatching computer system down sometime between 10:00 and 11:00 for some sort of maintenance. It was planned, because I heard a dispatcher mention it to somebody wanting track time before it started, and it was supposed to be for 90 minutes. It ended up being more than three hours. Trains that already had signals lined could proceed on signal indication, but dispatchers could not see where the trains were or line any more signals. Amtrak #29 ended up caught behind a parade of four or five westbound freight trains whose leader was stopped somewhere east of Toledo (probably Millbury).

Had 29 and 49 gotten to Chicago on time, they would have been out of the way before 10am. 

inCHI Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RuleG Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > > And they sent all the passengers with missed
> > > connections to the South Loop Hotel (25
> rooms),
> > > not somewhere I would consider staying on my
> > own
> > > or walking outside.
> >
> > Last summer, I stayed a few days in a hotel in
> > that part of Chicago (next to the McCormick
> Place
> > Convention Center) and didn't have any problems
> > and walked outside quite a bit.
> >
> > As for the South Loop Hotel, not Chicago's
> best,
> > but not its worst, either.  Trip Advisor has
> > 2,281 reviews, of which 822 rate their
> experiences
> > as "Excellent" and 902 rated their experiences
> as
> > "Very Good."
>
> I agree. I've played sports at a park near there
> with no issue, there is an excellent sandwhich
> shop nearby (Ricobene's), and you could walk to
> Chinatown. It's not that bad. 

Walking to Chinatown is exacty last what I did Last June to spend a late afternoon and early evening watching trains cross the lift bridge over the South Branch of the Chicago River.  Ping Tom Memorial Park is a great place for trainwatching.