Passenger Trains > 5(6) - Mechanical Delay

Power issues in the diner on 5 at departure time. Estimated 17:00 out of Chicago. 

Operation normal... highball!

sethamtrak Wrote:
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> Power issues in the diner on 5 at departure time.
> Estimated 17:00 out of Chicago. 
>
> Operation normal... highball!

5:55 and still hasn’t left. 😢

Posted from iPhone

As usual, Chicago Mechanical probably let the set sit there all day instead of making sure it was ready to get released to the station without this crap!

Reported at another site: Passengers were on the train waiting to depart when the diner had a power issue. The passengers had to get off the train so the diner could be switched out (luggage left on board). Sleeper passengers went back to the Metropolitan Lounge where they were offered an open bar.  Reboarded at 6pm and the train left at 6:57pm CT.

Question of the day:  How does the workforce at Amtrak Chicago keep their jobs?  These failures are commonplace, and tell me that defects are simply not addressed at the coachyard.  Only when the consist is in the station and loading passengers are those defects addressed.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

agentatascadero Wrote:
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> Question of the day:  How does the workforce at
> Amtrak Chicago keep their jobs?  These failures
> are commonplace, and tell me that defects are
> simply not addressed at the coachyard.  Only when
> the consist is in the station and loading
> passengers are those defects addressed.
>


I wonder how many vacancies they have per shift for guys that got in the car to go to work and discovered the gas tank was empty. I wonder how many of them are managers.

TAW

TAW Wrote:

> I wonder how many vacancies they have per shift for guys that got in the car to go to work and
> discovered the gas tank was empty. I wonder how many of them are managers.
>
> TAW

Brilliant analogy. Well stated.

agentatascadero Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Question of the day:  How does the workforce at
> Amtrak Chicago keep their jobs?  These failures
> are commonplace, and tell me that defects are
> simply not addressed at the coachyard.  Only when
> the consist is in the station and loading
> passengers are those defects addressed.
>
> AA

How do they keep their jobs? Easy. They say they tried the best they can with the staff they have. Then move on to its hard to keep equipment this old in working condition when it needed to be replaced long ago. Back that up to an organization that goes through the motions with no repercussions.

agentatascadero Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Question of the day:  How does the workforce at
> Amtrak Chicago keep their jobs?  These failures
> are commonplace, and tell me that defects are
> simply not addressed at the coachyard.  Only when
> the consist is in the station and loading
> passengers are those defects addressed.
>
> AA

Yesterday we learned that Amtrak managers (likely at all levels) receive bonuses for meeting performance standards. OK if you manage the Chicago yard, your goal may be to get trains out to the station on schedule 95% of the time. So what is your incentive to discover problems with cars that prevent you meeting your goal.  As an employee in the coachyard you keep your job by not screwing up your manager's so-called performance.

WP17

For one thing, they need to contract out maintenance of Charger locos, corridor and intercity, to Siemens. 
Amtrak obviously cannot or will not do it right themselves, being that Chicago is west of Harrisburg

WP17 Wrote:
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> Yesterday we learned that Amtrak managers (likely
> at all levels) receive bonuses for meeting
> performance standards. OK if you manage the
> Chicago yard, your goal may be to get trains out
> to the station on schedule 95% of the time. So
> what is your incentive to discover problems with
> cars that prevent you meeting your goal.  As an
> employee in the coachyard you keep your job by not
> screwing up your manager's so-called performance.
>
> WP17

I can't speak for today but in my time the bonus was
based on whatever was upper management's "flavor
of the day". For a while it was "safety", injury ratios, etc,
That was on freight railroads. In my time at Amtrak
there were no mgmt bonuses, you were lucky to get a
raise.

When entering mgmt they low balled you by basing your
salary on your craft position.  So someone working in 
a relatively high paid craft would enter with a higher
salary than someone from the clerk's union, even if
the clerk had held responsible positions, such as train
dispatcher, on other railroads. I had people working
for me that made more than I did.

There was a way to give favorites further salary increases.
One was to send them to Choo Choo U. and get them
"engine qualified".  I never got to go, but that didn't keep
them from sending one of my subordinates. More than one
real engineer told me they would feel safer with me running
the engine than with the Choo Choo U. graduate.

I was also begged to help out with a special project on another
division. Spent almost 6 months out of town. When it came time
for the annual raise there was no money. 

So I didn't feel at all bad when I got a DS job on another road and
left. I called my Amtrak boss after starting the new job and told
him I quit.

Last Sunday's #6(31) departed Emeryville with a Cross-Country Cafe as the diner - a first in my frequent travels on the Zephyr. The refrigeration failed a few hours later. Lunch and dinner were normal on day one but meals were a patchwork of grocery store and sandwich shop/fast food fare for the balance of the trip. The diner staff did pretty well considering the conditions. Most of the original stock of meals was lost.

Is the kitchen in a CCC and a regular diner the same ? 

hopefully they called a shelter /food program for the meals that were thawing in nevada to meet them at reno/elko/slc or something,

Did it in denver when i worked for amtrak, but amtrak rented a uhaul to do this, may have been my managers idea .

And you guys who are jumping on the chicago workers,  who is to say they are not doing it right, they are just so understaffed they  don't have a chance, and stuff that would should get done at Beech Grove is happening on the ready tracks too, as BG maybe needing a great deal of workers,

and blame rests squarely on the head of amtrak not doing the work during covid, and tri weekly schedules, as an ideal time get stuff done.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Is the kitchen in a CCC and a regular diner the
> same ? 

Essentially comparable.... Before the coming of flex meals, the Capitol Limited and City of New Orleans operated with a Cross Country Cafe (CCC) on a regular basis and served regular full traditional dining. This was after they scrapped the CCC concept. Amtrak had 17 of the CCC's to deploy so the Capitol Limited, Texas Eagle, and City of New Orleans would often get the CCC's. A couple were kept out in LA as backups or to use as spares, particularly for the Pacific Parlor Cars. That's all now ancient history. But it should be clear that they need to keep the regular dining and CCC cars in operation. The CCC's are renovated Superliner I Diners. Point being, they can sub for regular Superliner dining cars without major issue, but the CA Zephyr should really have its full Superliner Sleeper back from repairs........ 

TAW Wrote:
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> agentatascadero Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Question of the day:  How does the workforce
> at
> > Amtrak Chicago keep their jobs?  These
> failures
> > are commonplace, and tell me that defects are
> > simply not addressed at the coachyard.  Only
> when
> > the consist is in the station and loading
> > passengers are those defects addressed.
> >
>
>
> I wonder how many vacancies they have per shift
> for guys that got in the car to go to work and
> discovered the gas tank was empty. I wonder how
> many of them are managers.
>
> TAW

Vacancies? Chicago Mechanical's been getting a bad rap way before the COVID Crap happened, that answer is just a lame blame excuse!

When David Gunn ran the NYC Transit Authority, he was known for late night, Sunday afternoon etc visits to bus and subway depots and workshops. Invariably, the place would be half empty, people sleeping in cars, not on the premises, playing cards, etc. Supervisors and managers not to be found.

Working the with TWU leadership, he established clear expectations, rewards, and consequences for non-performance. Employees received raises and productivity bonuses. Shop output and quality rose.

Workers can and will get the job done with proper enouragement, incentives, and expectations