Passenger Trains > Empire builder

I must have missed this.  Why no #8 out of Seattle?  Shows no trains scheduled on track a train.  

No 7 never got out of Spokane this morning as far as I could tell on Dixieland Software Amtrak status maps.
No. 27 ran to Portland so it must have been something on the old GN via Stevens Pass.
Does anyone know the story?

According to the Amtrak long distance twitter alerts 7 terminated at Everett and 8 was to originate there.  28 (25) does show to be running.


Amtrak Alerts
@AmtrakAlerts
13h
Due to a mudslide west of Everett (EVR) Train 7 which departed Chicago (CHI) on 3/23 will terminate at EVR. Alternate transportation will be provided between EVR and Seattle (SEA).

Amtrak Alerts
@AmtrakAlerts
13h
Due to a mudslide west of Everett (EVR), Train 8 which departs Seattle (SEA) on 3/25 will originate in Everett (EVR). Alternate transportation will be provided between SEA and EVR.

Right now, neither 7 nor 8 is showing as operating anywhere between Chicago and Seattle/Portland.

8 of the 25th is showing 5 minutes late out of Libby on Dixieland but doesn't show on Transitdocs.

Does the Empire Builder deadhead to Seattle and back to Everett when there is mudslide ?

When I was there in a similar event, I was told that all passengers are off 7 at Everett and bused but that train deadheads into Seattle for servicing.   Of course, this would not happen if tracks to Seattle were totally out of service.  Amtrak does not want to take a train with passengers through the slide prone areea.  My 7 was unloaded and out of Everett before the bus left.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/20 06:45 by viatrainrider.

viatrainrider Wrote:
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> Amtrak does not want to take a train with
> passengers through the slide prone area.

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Amtrak has no say in the matter. BNSF embargoes the mudslide area track for loaded passenger trains...Empire Builder, Cascades, Sounder...for 48 hours after the most recent slide. BNSF has even rerouted its own officers' train after a mudslide. It's "equal non-opportunity" and rightly so.

Should another slide occur before reopening, the 48 hour clock starts over again. That has happened, too.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/20 07:32 by GenePoon.

Going back a few years I remember that a mud slide came down against the side of the Builder causing damage to some of the cars (I don't remember if it derailed).
I saw some of those cars in Seattle a few days later, fairly well banged up and low level windows knocked out.
Mother Nature can win some of these things....

Is there any solution to this, like retaining walls ? 

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Is there any solution to this, like retaining
> walls ? 

Yes.  Use the Stampede Pass routing, like they used to.  And Auburn gets a new train while Everett and Wenatchee lose theirs.  Asi es la vida/

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Is there any solution to this, like retaining
> walls ? 

Catchment walls are being built each year, of late. 

Stampede pass route, you forgot Yakima and Ellensburg 😉

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