76 replies to this topic

[pennyk]

There are 4 of us booked on the 7/10 westbound cardinal (train 51).  It is way too soon to know when the Cardinal will start running its route through West Virginia, but it is not too soon for some of us to be concerned. 

I think there are only 3 of us now booked on 51.  I got cold feet and panicked and did whatever I could to switch trains.  I am now on 29 (in 2 different rooms because the rooms are virtually sold out and I could not get one the entire route).

[steve4031]

Wow! Where do you have to switch? Sometimes a sca can work it out so you don't have to switch.

[pennyk]

Wow! Where do you have to switch? Sometimes a sca can work it out so you don't have to switch.

Elkhart, which is not too bad.  At first, I thought I would be switching in Toledo at 5am.  The 2 rooms are in the same car, so that will work out.

[BillMagee]

From CSX:

June 28, 2016

CSX Transportation has resumed limited railroad operations through West Virginia following historic flooding in the area. Normal train operations have not yet resumed due to continuing washout conditions. A timeline to resume full service has not been determined at this time. CSX Engineering continues to assess track conditions and anticipates having the main line restored by the end of the week. Customers with traffic through the area should still expect some delays during this period.

Additional updates will be provided as CSX operations continues to monitor and re-evaluate the situation immediately on the ground and rail network.

[steve4031]

Elkhart is no problem at all. The sca will probably have the person using your original room at Elkhart go to the one that you are supposed to switch too. Then you will stay I your roomette all the way to Chicago.

[KevinKorell]

What I think is good news is that 50 of 6/28 out of Chicago left there and as of 11:30 AM eastern time on 6/29 was within an hour of its schedule as it crosses West Virginia. 51 of 6/29 left New York on time, and was close to schedule past Alexandria when I checked at 11:30 AM. Of course let's see how they both do ultimately getting to their destinations. The bad news is that more rain is predicted for WV for Monday 7/4.

[KevinKorell]

Train 50(28) got onto the Northeast Corridor and its ultimate destination of New York around half an hour late. Its worst reported deficit along its entire run was 49 minutes. Not too shabby being the first passenger train through after the flooding repairs. Train 51(29) took about an hour delay before it even got into West Virginia, between Staunton and Clifton Forge. It has since fluctuated around 2 hours, and at last report at Lafayette, was 1 hour 48 minutes down. If it doesn't suffer any more issues, padding between Dyer and Chicago might help it. Comparatively, 29(29) on its non-flooding route has about the same lateness, having suffered its first hour between Alliance and Cleveland.

[BillMagee]

Attached are the charts for the PCRF Amtrak trains June arrivals.

 

Empire Builder #7 arriving Seattle:

 07_6.png   297.13KB   0 downloads

 

Cascades #513 arriving Portland

 513_6.png   470.44KB   0 downloads

 

Coast Starlight #11 arriving Los Angeles

 11_6.png   485.53KB   0 downloads

 

Pacific Surfliner #566 departing Solana Beach

 566_6.png   450.95KB   0 downloads

 

Pacific Surfliner #777 arriving Los Angeles

 777_6.png   489.5KB   0 downloads

 

Southwest Chief #4 arriving Chicago

 04_6.png   503.53KB   0 downloads

 

And, some to and from trains

Capitol Limited #29 arriving Chicago

 29_6.png   498.57KB   0 downloads

 

Lake Shore Limited #48 arriving New York

 48_6.png   489.23KB   0 downloads

 

Lake Shore Limited #49 arriving Chicago

 49_6.png   497.33KB   0 downloads

 

Cardinal #51 arriving Chicago (arrivals April to June)

 51_6.png   423.01KB   0 downloads

 

[KevinKorell]

Thanks, Bill for the updated charts.

 

The next version of 51 (left NYP 7/1. arrive CHI 7/2) also got through very well.  It was at one point 1 hour 17 minutes late, but with shortened dwells in Cincinnati & Indianapolis and the padding into Chicago, ended up just 10 minutes late.   50(30) did not do as well, taking delays in Indiana and Virginia (but not West Virginia!) an ending up limping into New York's Penn Station almost 5-1/2 hours late at 3:22 AM.

 

I don't think anybody from the Fest group is taking 50, but since there are only 6 trains per week to track in both directions, I'm watching it too.  The show starts again tonight with 50(2) out of Chicago and then tomorrow 51(3) out of New York.  The good point is that 51(1) was capable of making up almost an hour of its deficit.

[KevinKorell]

51(3) was as late as 1 hour 48 minutes going through West Virginia (though a good chunk of the delay was taken in Virginia).  However it ended up coming into Chicago this morning just 27 minutes off the advertised.  This was the last Sunday departure of 51 before ours next week.  So if we find ourselves as much as 2 hours behind, there is little cause for alarm.  Again it made up some of its deficit with a shorter Indianapolis dwell.

 

For the record, 50(2) did not do as well (again). It started out of Chicago on Saturday night over an hour late, and was well over 3 hours late at Northeast Corridor stops on Sunday evening.  But the common theme is that West Virginia was not a factor once more.