Passenger Trains > California Zephyr disruption question

This truncation scenario is exactly what I was asking about in an earlier thread.
Why can't service be maintained with LAX/OKJ etc crews who are UP qualified but are not route qualified.
They would have to have UP pilots every inch of the way and they would have to get rest after deadheading where they will be used prior to actually working. But they could run.
Of course the other question is whether this would be worth it and the answer is probably not.

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if you need to go just take a train to LA and catch the chief to Denver

INTLRAILTRAVELLER Wrote:
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> Of course the other question is whether this would
> be worth it and the answer is probably not.

Dingdingding, we have a winner here folks.

Same reason 11 and 14 will be cancelled the next two weekends, instead of being detoured.

INTLRAILTRAVELLER Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This truncation scenario is exactly what I was
> asking about in an earlier thread.
> Why can't service be maintained with LAX/OKJ etc
> crews who are UP qualified but are not route
> qualified.
> They would have to have UP pilots every inch of
> the way and they would have to get rest after
> deadheading where they will be used prior to
> actually working. But they could run.
> Of course the other question is whether this would
> be worth it and the answer is probably not.  YOU THINK? 

#s 11 & 14 are crewed with two train crews and three or four engine crews between Los Angeles and Oakland.  One crew is home in LA, the other in Oakland.
When I retired, #s 5 & 6 were crewed between Emeryville and Reno, Reno to Winnemucca, and  Winnemucca to SLC.

So you are proposing we deadhead an LA crew to Oakland today for service out of Emeryville tomorrow between where and where?  Let's just say it's between Emeryville and Reno.  What do we do for the crew from Reno to Winnemucca?

Next question:  The freight districts between Emeryville and Reno are Emeryville to Roseville, and Roseville to Sparks, both home in Roseville.   So we deadhead a pilot out of Roseville to Emeryville today for service tomorrow, and tomorrow when #6 gets to Roseville, the Cal-P pilot gets off, and a Mountain pilot gets on.  (Just have to remember to call one!)

Next, the freight districts on the desert side are Sparks to Elko, and Elko to SLC, and 5 & 6 don't stop at Sparks anymore, so they will have to stop at Sparks to change pilots, as a desert pillot probably won't be familiar with the trench.   But if ATK didn't have a crew between Emeryville and Reno, where does a Reno-Winnemucca crew come from?  Say a crew comes out of thin air, and 6 gets to Winnemucca where it needs another ATK crew, (came in on 5 last night) all is well, as the pilot who is home in Sparks is good to Elko.  Now you need a pilot from Elko to SLC who is home in SLC and would have to have been deadhead to the former Oak Tree Inn at Elko the day before also.

I don't think the UP is going to offer an AFHT (away from home terminal) engineer who arrived on a freight train more than eight hours before, as then they will be short a crew to go back East...

Maybe this is why they don't do it?  Not to mention the LA extra crew is gone for four days, what is LA going to do?
G

This thread and its responses makes me ask if keeping #3/ # 4 running to provide essential service between Chicago and SoCal would be preferred by the Feds  ? Could the same be true for #7/# 8 and #1/# 2 ? 

amtrak trains have been deemed a essential federal service to deliver stuff to small communities it was said in another thread; Department of Homeland Security has declared Amtrak long distance trains "critical infrastructure".  They will continue to operate on regular schedules with regular crews and reduced consists except in special circumstances like the Zephyr.  Think about this; Amtrak can move large volumes of medical professionals and their supplies across the country in hours into towns that don't have airports.

The other thing to consider is you need a while crew, not just an engineer. The impression I got was everyone (engineer, conductor, cook, sleeping car attendant, etc) was potentially exposed and that is why the cancellation. It is just too many people to round up from elsewhere. And the ridership between Denver and Reno is probably very small at the moment.

Nathan

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