Passenger Trains > 7/9th.

I looks like 7/9th might have had engine trouble after CHI.

Ed Burns
AKA NP EDDIE

That is correct.  I heard he broke down one block short of the Glenview, IL station.  Eng 311 leading.  Others who were in Glenview this afternoon may have more details.
Line-of-road failures like this near Glenview are often problems with the cabling between the locomotives.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/23 20:35 by illini73.

Yeah but this is more common with the Lemons compared to the P40/42s!

Another Empire Builder that died just miles out of Chicago with a Charger.... shocking! And it's not even winter yet!

I am reminded of stories told about the C&NW's Falcon IM trains.   The claim was that when the train was made up a brakeman went along with gaffers' tape and reinforced the air hose couplings at each joint.  Very few BIE account disconnected hoses.  
In my trade,I made up extension cords with "twistlock" plugs.    For the DIY crowd, hardware stores sold a plastic strip designed to prevent  straight plugs coming apart.  

If cabling issues are really the problem, some simple restraints should be added to the lemons. 

Nearly every trip these past two years that I've taken on the Empire Builder - and lets just say it is frequent - there's been an air hose issue or some connectivity stemming from the locomotives that's caused us to have to stop and engineer/conductor make a fix. Thankfully each time, they've been able to resolve it. But it still causes delays (20 to 50 minutes on average). Typically it has happened on my trips between Chicago and Milwaukee or in Minnesota. On the flip side - between Portland and Pasco.   

Left CUS 20 minutes late. Late release from the yard. Got to Morton Grove where they had trouble. Finally got going again and almost got to Glenview where they broke down again. Air issues and I think loading issues too. Finally left Glenview an hour and 15 down. 

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This is terrible, especially since the Buildter is Amtrak's most popular train for crying out loud!