6(16) - 7 hours late

[KmH]

Engine trouble?

At Colfax was 1 hr late

Reno - 3 hrs late

Winnemucca - 6.5 hrs late

Salt Lake City - 7 hours late.

 

[JayPea]

I have heard some sort of debris strike at Sparks delayed it further past Reno.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

Also, CZ 5 was "disrupted" in same area and is running 3 plus hours late.

 

[Agent]

Second post here says the damage from the debris strike led to the lead unit, AMTK 117, getting replaced by a freight engine.

 

[hessjm]

So the Gathering gets extended for a couple of us.

 

[Agent]

YouTube user chi74v filmed this train at La Vista, Nebraska running without the UP freight unit.

 

[hessjm]

I think they pulled the freight off in Denver, we've been hitting top speed quite a bit.

 

[chakk]

Lucky that engineer didn't get pulled off service immediately for blowing through that grade crossing with no horn. Or does Nebraska have a "whistle-optional" ordinance?

 

[Agent]

#6(16) was just about nine hours late when it came through Agency, Iowa. Nice engineer on it.

 

[Agent]

Lucky that engineer didn't get pulled off service immediately for blowing through that grade crossing with no horn. Or does Nebraska have a "whistle-optional" ordinance?

Based on the raised median, it's possible that crossing is a quiet zone.

 

[Broadway Ltd]

I was on that train between Sacramento to Reno. It arrived in Sacramento a little over 30 minutes late which I guess was a bit of an omen for what was to come.... I think we were west of Soda Springs when the train came to a quick halt just before one of the tunnels. Apparently a boulder fell between the tracks and the first engine went over it before coming to a stop with the boulder located between the first and second engine. As the conductor later explained, the Amtrak crew including the engineer, conductor, etc tried the move the boulder but were unsuccessful. It was pouring rain at that time. That area received over 7 inches of rain that day. A bit later a UP track inspector showed up on scene from Truckee. With the help of a jack, and now 5 of them, they were able to move the boulder off the tracks. I think they separated the two engines to access the boulder. There was minor damage to the lead engine including a bent snowplow. The power to the coaches went off and on several times during that stop. I figure that was related to separating the engine from the rest of the train a couple of times.

It gets better ;-) .... We came to another stop about a 1/2 mile west of the Reno station (just before we entered the canyon through downtown Reno). We were told the front engine hit another object and we lost air pressure rendering the braking system unusable. I wonder if it was damage from earlier that worsened the situation. Around that time the Sacramento to Reno segment Amtrak crew timed out. So another crew (I figure the crew that runs the train between Reno and SLC) were driven to our train. While we sat motionless for close to 2 hours, our coach attendant passed out a small snack package and a bottle of water. That was an appreciated gesture as many of us were planning on eating dinner in Reno and were quite hungry. Power to the coaches went off several times rendering the bathrooms temporarily closed. The two women behind me found this to be hilarious and jokes about the misadventures kept most of us in our coach laughing. We ended up leaving the lead engine where we stopped, backed up to the closest switch, moved over to the north track, continued east passing the Reno station to the next switch (near GSR), switched back to the south track then backed into the train station. We officially arrived to Reno close to 5 1/2 hours late (@9:30pm). Looking at the videos in this post, it looks like our train continued to Chicago with one engine like the conductor said they were thinking of doing before leaving the broken lead engine west of Reno.

It was quite an adventure but as a semi-regular Amtrak passenger, just another day on the railroad. I wouldn't want it any other way, I suppose. You appreciate the days the train arrives early, like the westbound train I rode to Sacramento did the day before (Saturday). Now I have quite a story to tell friends and family Hats off to all the Amtrak employees, they were very professional considering everything that went on.

 

[Thirdrail7]

It was quite an adventure but as a semi-regular Amtrak passenger, just another day on the railroad. I wouldn't want it any other way, I suppose. You appreciate the days the train arrives early, like the westbound train I rode to Sacramento did the day before (Saturday). Now I have quite a story to tell friends and family Hats off to all the Amtrak employees, they were very professional considering everything that went on.

Bent snowplows/cow catchers are extremely problematic. They get tangled in the grade crossings, hit switches, rails and frogs. Sometimes I wonder if they are worth the effort...and then some train hits a boulder. :blush: