Train #3(25) is anticipated to arrive into Los Angeles after 1 AM TONIGHT!! (anticipated to be more than 17 hours late) -- what happened? Flooding? AMTRAK web site STILL says that the route of #3 and #4 through the Midwest has been "restored."
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
Glad I was on the one the day before. 7 1/2 hrs late doesn't sound so bad anymore.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
From another site, there's a report that 3 is being routed Chicago-St Louis, then across the Missouri Pacific to KC, thence down the line.
UP (ex Missouri Pacific) across Missouri is not fast, period. It's a major freight route to begin with, and doesn't have enough siding/doubletrack to keep everything moving at speed.
BNSF on its website has the historic Santa Fe closed at Marceline MO account flooding.
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
Does this mean that they missed their connection to the Coast Starlight. Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
I know the UP isn't that fast across Missouri, however, the reroute is the same route that the Lincoln Service and Ann Rutledge take, and the total combined time CHI-KCY on that route is only about 4 hours longer than the direct BNSF route, not 17 hours.
The train arriving in LAX tonight is #3(25) -- how long has the St. Louis reroute been going on, and why hasn't AMTRAK posted a news release about the SWC now obviously missing Princeton, Galesburg, Ft Madison, and La Plata?
Posted by Printman2000 (Member # 4338) on :
I was on #3(26) which was the first and I think the only that got rerouted through St Louis. The 3(25) I believe used its normal route but it was very slow going.
We left KC 6.5 hours behind schedule. We got hit with lots of freight traffic delays then lost both locos in Colorado. One had traction motor problems so they switched it to tun HEP only, then the other auto shut off and they could not restart.
BNSF tacked on a SD70MAC #9515 and that pulled us by itself until my stop in Lamy, NM. Not sure if they switched out for the spare loco they usually keep in Albuquerque or not.
We got off in Lamy 13 hours 40 minutes late.
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
quote:Originally posted by Printman2000: I was on #3(26) which was the first and I think the only that got rerouted through St Louis.
Hey Printman...I got on that train in ABQ, just missed you.
They added a unit at ABQ, and I believe it came from the parked Grandluxe consist that happened to be there. But the engineer wasn't happy with the units performance. Had to keep her in run 7 to avoid overheating on grades.
Posted by Printman2000 (Member # 4338) on :
Thanks for the update. Did they drop the freight unit? Did they drop either of the original Amtrak units or haul them all the way to LA?
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
The freight unit had to be dropped off before ABQ, so possibly Lamy as it wasn't on the train when she pulled in at 9:30 PM. It's possible they dropped off the freight unit at the extreme northern end of the ABQ yards. The Grandluxe was in the station and took up a lot of the available tracks. It was so long it had to be cut and placed on two tracks.
The funny thing is I was telling my sister that I bet the Chief has a freight loco on the point since it's much later then a detour and flooding would explain. And with a freight loco on the point all that great 90mph running is out of the question. They'd be lucky to get up to 70 with a freight unit in the mix. Too much Desert Wind experience with helper freight units I guess
All they did was add a third P42 and haul the baddies back to LA. Can't remember exactly but I think it was #191?...Something like that. And that one wasn't all that great either.
Opps disregard all my posts, stupid me we got on #3 on the 25th out of ABQ. So I'm a day ahead. Sorry for the confusion.
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