Per newswire there will be a couple days of no EB originations so the train can get back on some kind of schedule. All news seems to indicate that the EB is considered essential service so Amtrak really needs to get its act together. Several news articles seem to place equal blame on BNSF & Amtrak. Several points.
1. Several sources indicate that another train set is being put together to enable more on time starts. Anyone know if this is at CHI or SEA / PDX ?
2. Weather certainly has had some cause for delays and some may be :
3. Lack of crews to operate all BNSF trains in a timely manner causing many sidings to be plugged ?
4. One would suppose that BNSF would have a hard time to get additional crews to transfer TDY and even so to qualify ?
5. The Amtrak P-40s and P-42s may be getting a lot of ground faults on their DC tractions motors from snow. Anyone know if the present snow storms are mainly fine snow ?
6. If Amtrak locos are experiencing snow and / or cold delays maybe it needs to bite the bullet to short term lease a couple AC traction locos from BNSF for each train set ? That would give the EB better acceleration out of stops and snow drifts ?
7. There is not an indication of how many Amtrak crews are out lawing and having to be replaced by BNSF crews which would only make the BNSF crew problem worse. ?
8. Other comments possible problems ?
It sounds like the long delays at terminals like Minot are causing the Empire Builder to fall behind. Once it gets 12 hours or so behind that doubles the number of Amtrak crews needed to move the train east or west. In addition, the trainset is not available for the next departure at the end points. We have had very cold weather thru MT, ND and MN for the last week and many places where track work has slowed BNSF. I think all of this forms the "perfect storm" on a railroad where they are already at or near capacity.
Unlike the airlines, the freight railroads can't tell their loads to get on another flight. Thus freight just keeps building up and increasing delays even more. Once terminals and sidings are full there is not much that the dispatcher can do. I suspect that the Empire Builder is doomed to disaster as the high-line freight increases. Maybe another route thru SD is the answer.
Since the EB is unreliable in cold, snowy winter weather and the line is near capacity, perhaps it should run as a seasonal train only, running in winter only as far west as ND.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Of the various reports that are out there for public consumption right now, this one seems to cover most of the highlights:
http://www.narprail.org/news/narp-blog/2470-empire-builder-schedule-slashed-by-half-until-dec-15
In my neck of the Northwest, the sections of the Sandpoint-Spokane Funnel where there are two main tracks have actually been operating as single track much of the time since October. As the NARP assessment states, there have been MANY dead trains occupying sidings, yard tracks, and main tracks. There have also been one or two "incidents" which further delayed Amtrak through this territory. BNSF's congestion is also impacting UP traffic, because UP trains use BNSF trackage between Napa Street in Spokane and UP Jct./Fish Lake in Marshall Canyon. BNSF currently has capacity improvements under way in Washington, Montana, and North Dakota, but it's going to be a long time before it catches up with the level of business they're carrying right now. And there's even more business about to enter the scene.
As for not running the Empire Builder in the Northwest during winter, the ski resorts at Sandpoint, ID, and Whitefish, MT, are huge markets for Amtrak this time of year. And to a lesser extent, the Izaak Walton Inn at Essex, MT.
In a certain rail publication, the amount and variety of traffic being conveyed over BNSF's northern corridor has been routinely understated. Judging by their most recent example, it seems the traffic that moves onto and off of MRL at Sandpoint was virtually ignored.
petitnj Maybe another route thru SD is the answer.
Maybe another route thru SD is the answer.
Whitefish is an attractive station. Annual ridership (FYI 2013) 66,840 = 183 per day, boardings + alightings.
However, Sandpoint, ID annual ridership is only 9,196 = 25 per day, boardings + alightings.
Essex, MT was only 3869 = 10.6 per day.
My real point in suggesting terminating the EB in ND during the winter months is that it simply is not possible for it to offer reliable transportation (for whatever reasons) December through March in MT, ID, and eastern WA..
schlimm My real point in suggesting terminating the EB in ND during the winter months is that it simply is not possible for it to offer reliable transportation (for whatever reasons) December through March in MT, ID, and eastern WA..
This simply hasn't been the record, year in and year out, so I wouldn't make policy based on one season's bad luck. Also, patriotic resident as I am, I'd still regard N.D. as an eccentric start/end point for a passenger service that doesn't want to lose more money than it does already.
Schlimm, thanks for digging up those Whitefish, Sandpoint, and Essex numbers. Most interesting. Now, instead of spreading those annual numbers out to an averaged daily figure, I wonder if you can find actual daily or monthly numbers for these stations in December and January vs. July and August. Granted, western Montana and north Idaho are popular destinations for summer tourists, but could it be that more folks ride to these points by train in winter than in summer?
I did not include northern Idaho among the states where BNSF is currently increasing capacity because, at this time, they have no major projects of that type under way there. However, they are on the horizon. A highway bridge in Rathdrum, ID, is currently being replaced and grading and other prep work have been done for the next phase of doubletracking on the Funnel. This will involve adding second main track to the roughly 11-mile section from Rathdrum east to Athol, absorbing the siding at Ramsey in the process.
That will leave only three critical areas of single track on the Funnel: 1) Irvin to Otis Orchards, WA; 2) Cocolalla to West Algoma, ID, and 3) East Algoma to Sandpoint Jct. Each of these has a significant hurdle to adding a second main track. 1=construction of a second bridge over the Spokane River, with large approach fills. 2=widening right of way on a steep and narrow shelf that's tightly crammed between Lake Cocolalla and U.S. Highway 95. 3=the existing mile (+\-) long bridge over Lake Pend Oreille would be an environmental and public relations nightmare to duplicate (to say nothing of the cost). The more likely solution there, already being considered, is for some BNSF traffic to use UP between Sandpoint and Athol. UP, in turn, would run on a new third main on the BNSF right of way between eastern Spokane and Athol. We're probably many years away from seeing that come to pass, especially considering the amount of work UP is now investing in its existing track between Spokane and Sandpoint.
AFAIK, those numbers aren't published for the public by Amtrak.. One could look at monthly ridership on the EB and use that as a guide, but that might not be accurate for any specific town.
I would also opine that since ski resorts are largely the playground of the rich, probably most of those fly in.
I was disappointed by the most recent item on News Wire regarding the Builder's problem. I understand the time to turn the train in Seattle (6 plus hours) is tight when the arrival is delayed, and Portland isn't much better. However, Chicago is another matter. If an arriving Builder is to go out as the next Builder, the layover is about 22 hours. If it is to go out as the next City of New Orleans, the layover is 4 hours; but I don't think they do that as the City has been leaving pretty much as scheduled lately. It appears to me there is plenty of time in Chicago, even when the incoming cars have unexpected problems.
My conclusion is that car availability should not be a problem, even without the spare train set that the article indicated existed.
The article mentioned crew scheduling, and I can understand that could be a problem given the number of crew change points, but I wish we had more detail regarding it.
Ski resorts can indeed be playgrounds for the wealthy, but the ones in western Montana and northern Idaho are every bit as popular among the not-so-wealthy. A day pass on our local slopes typically runs you less than a day at Disneyland. What attracts so many middle- and upper-income skiers from the Seattle and Portland areas to ride Amtrak to Whitefish is the convenience (when 8 and 28 are on time) to leave town on a Friday evening, get a night's sleep on board, and arrive just a short distance from the slopes first thing Saturday morning.
Here's some additional reading:
http://www.whitefishpilot.com/whitefishpilot/article_26efb1d8-ae67-5c8b-a2b1-2ef3352f48fe.html
So far as I know, the Texas Eagle and City of New Orleans are the two trains that exchange equipment in Chicago.
Johnny
One of the big impediments to Amtrak keeping their fleet of trains operating consistently on schedule is a lack of spare equipment - they don't have enough equipment to put together a train set to protect a on time origination when the equipment that is scheduled for the origination is seriously delayed. They either have to cancel a trip or try to run the equipment back on time - which doesn't do their network or their passengers any favors.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
It is December after all, and a very snowy and cold one in Minnesota and North Dakota at that. Let's be honest, the GN and NP had trouble running their trains on time too in wintertime. Minnesota and North Dakota are flat and the wind blows; check out the wind chill tempertures sometime and see what railroaders have to work out in. Detouring through South Dakota if it were possible would present the same problems. TC&W has enough trouble with the idiot politicians in Minneapolis and doesn't need a detouring Amtrak Empire Builder too.
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