The Coast Starlight

[Anonymous]

What is causing the Coast Starlight to be running so far behind schedule so much lately? Does the UPRR have a "thing" against Amtrak?

[kenneo]

Well, the UP is not real happy with Amtrack sine it proposed operating the Pioneer (25-26) with about 50 box cars from Ogden to Seattle. That would have been 50 box cars of freight forwarder traffic that the UP was then hauling. UP was this happy ---- they abruptly cancelled the operating agreement with AMTK to operate trains 25 and 26.

But why is 11,12,13,14 running late (I think the Coast Starlight is the only train with 4 schedule numbers)? UP is filled to capacity with traffic. Always creates delays.

[jchnhtfd]

I doubt that UP has a thing about Amtrak, although they are hardly friends, any more than CSX has a thing about Amtrak. However, that said, neither line regards an Amtrak train as having any particular priority -- and both railroads are really pinched on capacity, so everything is running late. Including Amtrak.

[Anonymous]

Please tell me more about train 12 and 13. I am not familiar with them.

[MichaelSol]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jchnhtfd
...and both railroads are really pinched on capacity, so everything is running late. Including Amtrak.

Notes from some colleagues on UP this week:

"Sounds like my buddy here in Dunsmuir. They got
called to dogcatch an MEURVX at Andesite siding
which is MP361,(Dunsmuir is MP322).
He was called onduty at 0725 in the morning
and off they went to Andesite.
12 hours later the new relief crew showed up at Andesite
and relieved them, never turning a wheel while
there..... Boy , now that's great crew utilization if I ever saw it !!!"

On the other end of the system:

"I was ordered for an AGBMI-05 at 1325 on Friday. I met a crew member who
was ordered ahead of me and told me they busted his call and was sending him home account nothing moving on the mainline. I got to our train at Broadview on the IHB and sat behind an AGBSE for almost 2hrs. We were then told that we were going to get taken off the MI train and put on the SE train, account that crew was almost 6hrs old and hadn't moved. I was monitoring our road channel while sitting on the Harbor and there was a stack train on track 1
around Lombard that a UDE, and couldnt get its air back. To make a long story short, a vent valve had sheard off a car, and the conductor wound up bleeding off
everything behind the defective car to get the train into Proviso. The trains
on track 1 behind it were ones that were stuck and had nowhere to go. UP had
no choice but to run the scoots down 2. I finally got off the Harbor at
1920hrs, 6hrs old. Saw the "Illini" bunch and the dog at Elmhurst. For an 82
car, 8000 ft train with only two units that thing ran pretty nice.

"I got to Elburn and the disp had eastbounds sitting on track one and two
there, so he ran me up track three. Only problem with that was I didnt fit at
Elburn, and by the time you see the signal for Y043 its too late to stop at
Pouley, the only place Id fit. Getting these dispatchers to tell you anything
these days is like pulling teeth. So I slowly pulled up to Y044 and
sat...while blocking the platform at Elburn, hence preventing Metra 65 from
getting in there.

"Meanwhile, on the west end of the railroad, I guess they were having their
own difficulties out there since the bridge had been open quite a bit during
the day with boat traffic. We got relieved at Round Grove, as well as several
trains ahead of us. All in all, 23 recrews on Friday."

Please note, these comments are all in quotes. I am the recipient of the notes, not the sender.

Best -- Michael Sol

[METRO]

Almost makes me nostalgic for the days of Conrail when it comes to Amtrak, wait no, that's just crazy talk.

Cheers!
~METRO

[Chris30]

I went through Winfield on Friday and noticed the mess. I was northbound on Winfield Rd and I got stuck waiting at the light just south of the tracks at @1355. Metra scoot #33 (based on the time) running at least 20 down pulled accross Winfield Rd on track #3 at @5mph - in other words, very slow. When I got up to the tracks I noticed that #33 had parked it right on the marker of the stack train in front of it. Usual Friday mess. One train falls down on the Geneva Sub and the rest of the dominoes start to go with it. I'll bet that was a happy turnover at the Omaha DS 11 desk on Friday at @2!

CC

[TheS.P.caboose]

QUOTE: Originally posted by adacocrj

Please tell me more about train 12 and 13. I am not familiar with them.

This all started with the Southern Pacific. San Francisco is where their headquarters were. All trains heading towards San Francisco were considered to be westbound and all trains heading away from San Francisco were eastbound. Westbound traffic had odd numbers and eastbound traffic had even numbers.

Amtrak train #11 from Portland and Los Angeles was an SP westbound train from Portland to Oakland and was SP train #11. From Oakland to Los Angeles Amtrak train #11 was an eastbound train and was SP train #12.

Amtrak train #14 from Los Angeles to Portland was a westbound train from Los Angeles to Oakland and was SP train #13. From Oakland to Portland Amtrak train #14 was an eastbound train From Oakland to Portland and was SP tarin #14.