Passenger Trains > Winter Weather in CHI

Just checked the overnight forecast for CHI.. 4th day with no precipitation and overnight low in the Loop was 22 degrees... Tough times for equipment setting in the yards..

So far this am, that weather has taken it's toll with the following ITD's...

329 dep 1 hr 57 mins late
301 dep 59 mins late
381 dep 37 mins late

February overnight low in Chicago of 22 is not that bad



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/23 07:00 by joemvcnj.

We got down to about 15 at night in Seattle recently and had no problems that I remember

[sarcasm] This is somehow the freight railroads fault. [/sarcasm]

Both Hiawatha sets have dash-8s facing south today. The cabbages seem to keep blowing up or not functioning due to MU issues. Midwest chargers are also having a bad winter. 500 and 519 working all southbound runs today. 

If no cabbage and no cafe car, that means no Wifi ? 

Trains 333 and 336 cancelled due to mechanical issues.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> If no cabbage and no cafe car, that means no Wifi
> ? 

Correct. Cafe cars have been hard to find lately. Hiawatha is now 3 or 4 Horizons on either trainset. No wifi unless a cabbage is present. In all reality, the double charger sets with a dinette worked fine for a long time. When the 90200 and 90221 show up is when things get bad with the Hiawatha. 

Dash-8's are the oldest locos they have, pitch-hitting for Siemens playthings, and closest on their continuum to a freight loco.Food for thought on what future loco purchases could be. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/23 15:29 by joemvcnj.

Amtrak should have joined Metra in the purchase rehab of older EMD units.  Metra has IINM recently received one for burn in/acceptance testing.  
On a more radical basis, Amtrak might well consider outsourcing loco maintenance to a third party.  Chicago seems to have hadproblemsfor a long time. 

Every winter they've been having issues with the Chargers since they bought them, what else is new!

Posted from Android

Worth repeating:

Amtrak, Michigan, and Illinois: Moe, Larry and Curly.

PC1974 Wrote:
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> Worth repeating:
>
> Amtrak, Michigan, and Illinois: Moe, Larry and
> Curly.

Hey!!! Some of us like the Stooges, go use somebody else for your put down.

Has everyone forgotten the 4th Stooge?
Shemp?


wdkerr, Tacoma

How do know that the problems in the yard aren't due to lack of spare parts! I know that's a major problem with Greyhound not having mostvparts readily available and cannibalizing other units to make service!

Posted from Android

wdkerr Wrote:
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> Has everyone forgotten the 4th Stooge?
> Shemp?

That would be Wisconsin. 

beebopper Wrote:
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> How do know that the problems in the yard aren't
> due to lack of spare parts! I know that's a major
> problem with Greyhound not having most parts
> readily available and cannibalizing other units to
> make service!

Why was that not an issue in 2019 ? 
How does Metra put out service without resorting to much cannibalism when they still have cars from the 1950's and 1960's in service ? 

Comparisons with Greyhound don't matter. They are slowly dying. They got rid of lots of older buses in their drastic US downsizing and ending all operations in Canada. The only valid excuse for lack of spare parts is that they didn't buy them. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/23 05:27 by joemvcnj.