RAILforum: Avalanches hit BNSF train in Montana, Amtrak's Empire Builder annulled

This is topic Avalanches hit BNSF train in Montana, Amtrak's Empire Builder annulled in forum Amtrak at RAILforum.

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Posted by Fan_Trains (Member # 2874) on :

From Trains.com:
Two avalanches crashed into a 119-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe Freight just west of Essex in Northwestern Montana yesterday afternoon, pushing 15 empty grain cars off the tracks and closing the line until at least Friday. Amtrak, which uses the route with its trains 7 and 8, the Empire Builder between Chicago and Seattle/Portland, will be operating the trains only between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago as trains 807 and 808 until the line is reopened. Except for buses between Portland and spokane and Seattle and Spokane, no alternate transportation is being offeded. Additionally, dangerously cold weather across North Dakota and Montana had resulted in severe delays to the Empire Builder's timekeeping, and the train is annulled west of the Twin Cities at least through Friday, Jan.30.

well gang what is your reaction.

Posted by MontanaJim (Member # 2323) on :

i already posted this info yesterday, and so far, there isnt much of a reaction on this board..............

Posted by CG96 (Member # 1408) on :

Here's a reaction:
When MILW, GN, and NP ran trains, there was service between the Twin Cities and Seattle/Tacoma three times each way every day. Trains such as the Western Star, the Mainstreeter, the Empire Builder, the Olympian Hiawatha, the Pioneer Limited, and the North Caost Limited all went through western Montana. All three railrtoads had to deal with derailments and avalanches in the Rocky Mountains, so this phenomenon is nothing new. However, those railroads took additional measures to ensure the trains got through. to stop all traffic, even for a few days such as what Amtrak has done, would have represented an embargo upon those lines - and that was something that was unacceptable to those railroads. It simply wouldn't have happened (the embargo, I mean).

Don't misunderstand me here, I'm certain that the MOW crews on BNSF are doing everything in thier abilities to get that line back into shape, so the trains can run. It's just that in the past, railroads had more money to spend on maintenance, and there was sufficient manpower to see to it that switches and lines and signals remained operational, even in the most challenging weather. While much of corporate America has figured out that its a bad idea to cut resources so much that it hinders one's operations, railroads cut themselves too much, and when they tought that worked great, they cut manpower some more. This is what happens when management focuses too much upon the short - term (i.e., what will look the best on the next quarterly earnings report) at the expense of the longer term. It has the effect of reducing a still vital industry into more of the transportation un-wanted stepbrother.

The days where one could say that "Nothing can stop a train" are gone. They aren't that far off in the past, either. It used to be that one of the selling points of rail travel in the Northern US (and Canada, too) was that the trains would keep running no matter how bad the weather got. Snow might shut down an airport, or close the local highway, but the trains would still run, because railroads can do that. There are still tales told among the old-head railroaders of trains stopping to pick up stranded motorists along I-84 when the road was closed from the weather. Even UP was known to never shirk from its' humanitarian duties when winter came roaring through the Columbia River Valley. Same with the SPS, NP, MILW, and GN. The railroads had the attitude that the trains had to run - in part out of a spirit of humanitarianism. Yes it made the trains late, but there was that attitude that the RRs had.
They were performing an essential public service - and those motorists needed it!

What about the folks who are in Eastern Montana, North Dakota, or western MN? Amtrak could run trina out to say, Williston, ND, or Minot, and then turn the trains around (or could they?). Amtrak has the equipment to run trains from Seattle to Spokane, and then from Chicago through to Eastern Montana.
When these events happened to the GN, NP, and MILW way back when, they got to work and cleared the lines, or they re-routed the trains wherever possible. They didn't annull the trains, as that would've been unthinkable.

Posted by CG96 (Member # 1408) on :

Good news: the avalanche and derailment were cleared for the most part by 10 pm Thursday evening, January 29. See shanghaiamtrak's post for additional details.