Passenger Trains > The saga continues for the Wenatchee Builder

Yesterday's multiple attempts ended in failure, mostly in part of the lack (zero) of plowing by BNSF. #7 stalled just above Winton, where it was stopped for several hours before being pulled back to Wenatchee by a BNSF crew. 

Overall, a pretty terrible state of affairs and definitely going to add a healthy amount of "never againers" to the growing list over the last 2 weeks. 

I think a few will take it as adventure memory understanding the problems involved and good faith efforts. In the other case   being stuck in one place for 30 hours near a station, maybe not so much.

I wonder about the not being plowed tho, if the line had not been cleared a train with passengers should not have been sent out.  Wonder  when did the last train go through.
How heavy is the current snowfall.

Bob

robj Wrote:
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> I think a few will take it as adventure memory
> understanding the problems involved and good faith
> efforts. In the other case   being stuck in one
> place for 30 hours near a station, maybe not so
> much.
>
> I wonder about the not being plowed tho, if the
> line had not been cleared a train with passengers
> should not have been sent out.  Wonder  when did
> the last train go through.
> How heavy is the current snowfall.
>
> Bob

This train was stuck behind MULTIPLE freight trains for HOURS trying to get over Stevens Pass before being brought down to Wenatchee twice I now presume. It even had a BNSF coal train de-railed in front of it as part of the multiple freight trains it encountered. 

If these folks are NOT off the train by now and in Seattle, Amtrak's gotta figure out a way either to get it back to Spokane and fly these folks - private charter whatever. I presume the highways are still closed over Stevens Pass. Or they can send the train down to Portland. Regardless, this saga has been going on since Tuesday. Time for it to end! They are out of food, the cars have got to have their tanks full. Surprised they are even figuring a way to fuel the engines. So Amtrak needs to figure this out and make for an ending.........

It sounded like the passengers were dropped off in Wenatchee and now a BNSF crew is slated to take it East to Spokane. 

Wenatchee Airport is closed still, along with all of the mountain passes. Possible to go via I-84 and North to Seattle currently. 

Brian

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> robj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I think a few will take it as adventure memory
> > understanding the problems involved and good
> faith
> > efforts. In the other case   being stuck in
> one
> > place for 30 hours near a station, maybe not so
> > much.
> >
> > I wonder about the not being plowed tho, if the
> > line had not been cleared a train with
> passengers
> > should not have been sent out.  Wonder  when
> did
> > the last train go through.
> > How heavy is the current snowfall.
> >
> > Bob
>
> This train was stuck behind MULTIPLE freight
> trains for HOURS trying to get over Stevens Pass
> before being brought down to Wenatchee twice I now
> presume. It even had a BNSF coal train de-railed
> in front of it as part of the multiple freight
> trains it encountered. 
>
> If these folks are NOT off the train by now and in
> Seattle, Amtrak's gotta figure out a way either to
> get it back to Spokane and fly these folks -
> private charter whatever. I presume the highways
> are still closed over Stevens Pass. Or they can
> send the train down to Portland. Regardless, this
> saga has been going on since Tuesday. Time for it
> to end! They are out of food, the cars have got to
> have their tanks full. Surprised they are even
> figuring a way to fuel the engines. So Amtrak
> needs to figure this out and make for an
> ending.........

I believe the word that fits this poor saga is fiasco.  And in my humble and sad opinion, (as someone who loves a good train ride & worked for Amtrak briefly) Amtrak's bottom line of providing safe and dependable transportation must be questioned.  

It is one thing for this to be an isolated event.  But multiple back & forths as well as multiple trains stacking up goes beyond a sudden / unexpected service disruption.  Yes, I know there is plenty of blame to go around - plenty of different sources for the fiasco.  I hate to say it, but Amtrak cannot and should not maintain the illusion that they can provide safe & dependable transportation by rail.  If they do not have the crews, they don't have the ROW and they don't have equipment they really should stop running the train.   I hope some level of investigation from the DOT, FRA or other body is a result of this fiasco.

Pangborn Airport (EAT - Wenatchee) is open and its only carrier, Alaska Airlines (its Horizon subsidiary), is operating. AS/QXE 2488 operated EAT-SEA this morning, on time. It is not known whether any Amtrak passengers were aboard.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/22 10:38 by GenePoon.

robj Wrote:
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> I wonder about the not being plowed tho, if the
> line had not been cleared a train with passengers
> should not have been sent out.  Wonder  when did
> the last train go through.

Umpteenth verse, same as the first:
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,5388344,5388546#msg-5388546 Date: 12/27/21 12:04 Re: What a way to run a railroad! Author: TAW

TAW

Hou74-76 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I believe the word that fits this poor saga is
> fiasco.  And in my humble and sad opinion, (as
> someone who loves a good train ride & worked for
> Amtrak briefly) Amtrak's bottom line of providing
> safe and dependable transportation must be
> questioned.  
>
> It is one thing for this to be an isolated event.
>  But multiple back & forths as well as multiple
> trains stacking up goes beyond a sudden /
> unexpected service disruption.  Yes, I know there
> is plenty of blame to go around - plenty of
> different sources for the fiasco.  I hate to say
> it, but Amtrak cannot and should not maintain the
> illusion that they can provide safe & dependable
> transportation by rail.  If they do not have the
> crews, they don't have the ROW and they don't have
> equipment they really should stop running the
> train.   I hope some level of investigation from
> the DOT, FRA or other body is a result of this
> fiasco.

In the case of the Empire Builder - as a person who was onboard these past week in round trips - the onboard staffing (crews) was not the issue. The derailment on the SP&S and then not having Stevens Pass open through the Cascades - due to coal train derailment and weather - put the nail in the coffin. Amtrak could easily shutdown the Empire Builders for a few days, and then re-start them from Whitefish, MT to Chicago and STILL have good load factors!!!! Some trains should have been turned at Spokane and a "reserve" train set kept at Spokane that would get passengers through when the line was ready to go. But throughout last week, Amtrak did a good job at dog-catching crews and having crews available for trains at various places that they normally would not be. Saw it, and was there. 

I do believe that some sort of investigation should happen. One of the things the investigation is going to reveal is that this train - the Empire Builder is needed due to the heavy load factors it has over its entire routing. The investigation should also reveal that Amtrak needs to properly staff its extra board, and not cheapen out here! The T&E and onboard crews of the Empire Builder last week, I think did a great job, considering the adversity they face from above. We actually had EXTRA onboard service folks on the Empire Builders I was on!

Guarantee Amtrak management in Washington DC tries to alter this and lead to more days of cancellation for the Empire Buidler, beyond what is needed. Management in Washington DC couldn't even provide for a stub train to go from Spokane to the West Coast or MSP to Chicago!

Hou74-76 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I believe the word that fits this poor saga is
> fiasco.  And in my humble and sad opinion, (as
> someone who loves a good train ride & worked for
> Amtrak briefly) Amtrak's bottom line of providing
> safe and dependable transportation must be
> questioned.  
>
> It is one thing for this to be an isolated event.
>  But multiple back & forths as well as multiple
> trains stacking up goes beyond a sudden /
> unexpected service disruption.  Yes, I know there
> is plenty of blame to go around - plenty of
> different sources for the fiasco.  I hate to say
> it, but Amtrak cannot and should not maintain the
> illusion that they can provide safe & dependable
> transportation by rail.  If they do not have the
> crews, they don't have the ROW and they don't have
> equipment they really should stop running the
> train.   I hope some level of investigation from
> the DOT, FRA or other body is a result of this
> fiasco.


Yeah I'll never book amtrak in the winter again... back in the day they flew me home from Reno... I doubt they will this time.

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/22 11:02 by goduckies.

The train is being pulled back to Spokane with the passengers. They'll have to figure out arrangements from there. Out of Trinidad loop a bit ago.

Macster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The train is being pulled back to Spokane with the
> passengers. They'll have to figure out
> arrangements from there. Out of Trinidad loop a
> bit ago.


Crazy Amtrak won't help.... they are useless now.

Posted from Android

I wouldn't call this weather really any worse than past events (well other than Leavenworth breaking it's single day snowfall record).  But the railroad isn't prepared to deal with the snow as they were in the past. Since everyone is so worried about budgets, they set themselves up for failure avoiding some costly work that may or may not be needed during the winter. The dry winter last year has everyone off guard this year as weather forcasters were prediciting a repeat of last year to a degree. Even the WashDOT highway department is getting their arse handed to them due to a variety of issues, tight labor markets, vaccine mandates, covid restrictions and a greater reluctance to place anyone in danger than in the past. So all the Washington State mountain passes remained closed until Sunday. Even Hwy 2 west of Coulee City is closed as are some other highways in that area. And several highways in southwest Washington are also shut down due to flooding. A crazy start to 2022 to be sure.
 

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

What happened to being prepared just in case, that sure has gotten thrown out the window!

Posted from Android

ProAmtrak Wrote:
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> What happened to being prepared just in case, that
> sure has gotten thrown out the window!
>

That might cost too much.

TAW

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ProAmtrak Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What happened to being prepared just in case,
> that
> > sure has gotten thrown out the window!
> >
>
> That might cost too much.
>
> TAW

And they wonder why things went down hill as fast as the Super Chief!

The equipment move between Wenatchee and Spokane, being led by a single BNSF unit, as seen at Stratford, WA. Bringing up the rear were the 3 Amtrak units.

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Nice photographs! Great setup!