Amtrak Terminating Trains South of DC

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Amfleet

Engineer
Joined
Aug 24, 2002
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Southeastern, Massachusetts
WINTER STORM UPDATE FOR OUR PASSENGERS
Due to the winter storm that hit the East Coast this weekend, some Amtrak trains have been affected by snow and ice conditions.  Most trains between Boston and Washington continued in-service Sunday afternoon.  However, most trains between Washington and Florida were cancelled on Sunday.  Currently, Amtrak expects to continue running most trains between Washington and Boston through Monday.  For the latest and most up-to-date information, please call 1-800-USA-RAIL.
This means there will be no south or northbound Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Palmetto, Crescent, Carolinian, Auto Train, and Acela Regional's and Twilight Shoreliner south of DC. This is mostly due to ice and sleet build on the tacks which can pose major probelms.
 
VRE cancelled service for Monday.

CATEGORY-TMO SUBJECT-D16 ... 16FEB03 1025 3777 PAGE NO 17

01 ******************* NATIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER ADVISORY *************

02 ISSUED 16FEB03 WILMINGTON,DE

03 .

04 AS A RESULT OF SEVERE WEATHER ON THE EASTCOAST THE FOLLOWING SERVICE

05 MANIPULATIONS AND CANCELLATIONS ARE NECESSARY:

06 AT 1220PM-ET, CSX SHUTDOWN THE RAILROAD SOUTH OF WAS. NO ESTIMATE

07 TRAINS 52/53(16) ARE CANCELLED - CSX SHUTDOWN RF&P.

08 TRAIN 80(16) TERMINATED AT RGH - PSGRS ON TRAIN TO HOTEL.

09 PSGRS WILL BE HOUSED ON EQUIPMENT IF NECESSARY.

! 10 TRAIN 74(16) CANCELLED - NO ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION

11 TRAIN 98/92(16) - WILL ONLY OPERATE TO JAX - PASSENGERS NORTH OF

12 JAX WILL BE ****NOT**** BE PICKED UP. THIS EQUIPMENT

13 WILL BE TURNED AT JAX TRAIN 98(16) WILL OPERATE

14 SOUTH ON 17FEB AS TRAIN 91(16). TRAIN 92(16) WILL

15 OPERATE TO JAX AND EQUIPMENT WILL TURN AND OPERATE

16 OUT OF JAX SOUTH AS TRAIN 97(16) JAX-MIA.

&nb! sp;17 TRAIN 89(16) - WILL BE TERMINATED AT WAS AS A RESULT OF CSX RF&P CLOSURE

18 TRAIN 91(16) WILL BE TERMINATED AT PHL AS A RESULT OF CSX RF&P CLOSURE.

19 TRAIN 90(16) WILL OPERATE MIA-JAX AND TURN TO REPRESENT TRAIN 89(16)

20 JAX-MIA. CON'T PAGE 18

CATEGORY-TMO SUBJECT-D16 ... 16FEB03 1140 1282 PAGE NO 18

01 *************************************************************************

02 TRAIN 20(16) WILL OPERATE AT NORMAL ROUTE

03 TRAIN 19(16) WILL OPERATE NORMAL ROUTE

04 TRAIN 90(15) WILL OPERATE THRU TO NYP

05 TRAIN 79(16) TERMINATED AT WAS - RETURN PASSENGERS TO ORIGINATING POINT.

06 TRAIN! 97(16) SERVICE SUSPENDED NYP-JAX

07 TRAINS 88(16), 92(15), AND 90(15) WILL OPERATE NORMAL WITH DELAY.

08 TRAIN 194(16) TERM. AT RVR/ PSGRS TO TRN 90(15) OR RETURN TO POINTS

09 OF ORIGIN.

10 TRAIN 87(16) AND 99(16) TERMINATED AT WAS. NO ALT. TRANSP.

11 TRAIN 147(17) IS CANCELED.

12 TRAIN 88(17) IS CANCELED RVR-WAS. NO ALT. TRANSP.

CATEGORY-TMO SUBJECT-D16 ... 16FEB03 0633 3777 PAGE NO 10

01 ******************* NATIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER ADVISORY *************

02 ISSUED 16FEB03 WILMINGTON,DE

03 .

04 TRAIN 51(16) HAS BEEN CANCELLED AS A RESULT OF SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS

05 THERE WILL BE NO ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION. CALL BACKS FOR ALTERNATE

06 DATES ARE BEING MADE.

07 .

08 KASEY /MANAGER TRAIN OPERATIONS /

09 *************************************************************************

CATEGORY-TMO SUBJECT-D16 ... 16FEB03 0858 1282 PAGE NO 16

01 ******************* NATIONAL OPERATIONS ADVISORY ************************

02 ISSUED 16FEB03 WILMINGTON, DE

03 .

04 TRAIN 66(16) IS CANCELED NPN-WAS. ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION

05 WILL NOT BE PROVIDED.

06 .

07 .

08 .

09 .

10 R.W. LANGER / MANAGER TRAIN OPERATIONS

11 ***********************************************************************
 
When I first read this I thought...whew....glad my trip tp DC was last weekend and not this. But as I read more closely it looks like my train(19 and 20) are operating at least on normal route, whether late or not. Why is this? Is the snow and ice due south of Alexandria, rather than somewhat to the West, as the Crescent goes? Guess it must be...why else.
 
Amtrak's website is saying 19 and 20 are experencing service disprutions which proably means the Crescent is being terminated in South Carolina or cancelled altogether. 20 probably won't leave at all.
 
Wow!! That brings it back full circle----glad I traveled last weekend, not this!! And to think of this as being the President's Day weekend for some(though I personally I am not getting that day off).

Of course is this is irrelevant to people traveling on business who will be off tomorrow anyway---It does, however, screw up the long distance passengers traveling for pleasure, etc. Which is what I would have been.
 
But the NEC itself (Washington and North) is not yet affected, right?

I know the NY Metro area is expected to get 12" +

I would've been in Florida already, had my district not screwed up the Vacation Schedule this year.
 
As long as there is no ice accumulation on the tracks north of WAS then the NEC should be shut down. Remember though this is the first big snow storm for the Acela's so some Express trains may use Metroliner equipment. There also may be some speed restrictions on regional trians if conditions get really bad. The snow is usually in a constant plow with all the trains running preventing drifts. I think we're reliving the blizzard of 96'.
 
Amfleet said:
As long as there is no ice accumulation on the tracks north of WAS then the NEC should be shut down. Remember though this is the first big snow storm for the Acela's so some Express trains may use Metroliner equipment. There also may be some speed restrictions on regional trians if conditions get really bad. The snow is usually in a constant plow with all the trains running preventing drifts. I think we're reliving the blizzard of 96'.
With the volume of snow expected, Amtrak will most likely cancel many if not all Acela's tomorrow. They usually go into a one train per hour in each direction game plan when there is this much snow. In part because of the snow on the tracks, in part because most people just stay home. No need to run empty trains, just to show that you can do it.

Providing minimal, basic service shows that the train is superior to the plane. :) National/Regan has been closed for most of today, as has BWI. Dulles has only one runway and is barely operating.

It should be noted that all the trains south of DC are at the mercy of the freight RR's and are not under Amtrak's control. I'm sure however that part of the problem is the fact that southern Virginia is having an ice storm as are the Carolina's.

Philly currently has around 11 inches of snow, it's just started here in NY at around 6:05. Silver Springs, MD has over 22 inches as of 5:00pm today. So expect more airports to go down.
 
I just saw a video on Channel 4 WNBC news at 11:00, showing workers at NYP shoveling snow out of the vestibules on an Amtrak train that had just arrived from DC.

It was pretty neat, there was at least six inches if not a foot of snow in the vesitbule. All from snow blowing up from the roadbed. :)
 
AlanB said:
I just saw a video on Channel 4 WNBC news at 11:00, showing workers at NYP shoveling snow out of the vestibules on an Amtrak train that had just arrived from DC.
It was pretty neat, there was at least six inches if not a foot of snow in the vesitbule. All from snow blowing up from the roadbed. :)
The point is, that train made it to New York. Not true for airline passengers.
 
Superliner Diner said:
The point is, that train made it to New York. Not true for airline passengers.
Quite true, as I mentioned before anything near DC airplane wise is shut down. Newark International is up to one hour delays as of 11:30 PM. JFK and LGA are holding there own right now, although various airlines are already cancelling flights into the area.

Amtrak however is still running. :) I just went through their site around 10:30, the average delay was around 1 hour and a half. The trains vary from about 20 minutes late to 2 - 1/2 hours late, but again they are arriving. They may be late, but its far better than the airlines are doing out of DC which is nothing.
 
AlanB said:
I just saw a video on Channel 4 WNBC news at 11:00, showing workers at NYP shoveling snow out of the vestibules on an Amtrak train that had just arrived from DC.
It was pretty neat, there was at least six inches if not a foot of snow in the vesitbule. All from snow blowing up from the roadbed. :)
The 10:00 news on Channel 5 (Fox) did have a negative spin when they showed NY Penn Station. They showed the departure board with all the "cancelled" and "delayed" messages next to the trains, and then they interviewed somebody at roughly 3 PM, and the guy said that if he was lucky he would get a train out a 7 or 8 PM. They did not say where he was headed, though.
 
Superliner Diner said:
The 10:00 news on Channel 5 (Fox) did have a negative spin when they showed NY Penn Station.  They showed the departure board with all the "cancelled" and "delayed" messages next to the trains, and then they interviewed somebody at roughly 3 PM, and the guy said that if he was lucky he would get a train out a 7 or 8 PM.  They did not say where he was headed, though.
Well I'm betting that half those cancellations were trains that ran south of DC, plus a few NJT cancellations. When I ran through the train Status system, I only hit about 3 or 4 NEC trains that had no status. (Read they were probably cancelled).

On the other hand The Weather Channels Mike Seidel, has been plugging Amtrak all day. They've been doing live broadcasts with him since at least 11:00 AM through 10:30 PM. Every time he gives a rundown of current conditions, a quick rundown of closed highway's, the fact that National and BWI will be closed to at least noon tomorrow (MON) and Dulles is barely operating.

He then closes with the line that "the only way out of town (DC) is Amtrak, otherwise just stay home because you won't get where ever it is that you're going."

I must have watched him say that line at least a dozen times today, and I'm sure that I missed many of his broadcasts as I was at work. So I only caught some of his reports on the TV at my client's site. Thanks for the plug Mike. :)
 
Here's the snow update as of Monday morning at 9:00 AM.

Amtrak:

NYP-BOS: Basically running on time with 4 trains on route at present. They are reported to be between on time and under 30 minutes late. (Note: 3 of those trains have just left within the last half hour.)

NYP-WAS: 4 trains reported on the rails at present. Delays range from on time to 1.5 hours late. (Again note that the on time trains just left their home stations) Three trains out of DC have no status and are assumed to be anulled. Only one of the 4 trains on track is running from DC to NYP, the other three are southbound.

No word on why there are so many cancellations northbound from DC. Could be no one is traveling, could be problems in the yard.

Commuter:

LIRR - Reports 30 minute delays, runing on holiday schedule.

Metro North - No delays reported, running on Sunday schedule.

NYC Subways - By and large running on time. A trains to the Rockaways are suspended.

NJT - 15 to 30 minute delays, no Midtown Direct service. Buses are a disaster.

Septa - No reports on commuter, Market St subway operating with major problems, Broad St subway running. Most trolley's cancelled.

MARC - All service suspended, includes commuter, subway, light-rail, and buses.

VRE - Suspended.

DC Metro - Running, but only serving stations below ground on 30 minute headways. No above ground service at all.

Boston - No delays reported, yet.

Airlines:

LGA, BWI, and National remain closed. Philly, Dulles, JFK, and Newark reported open but with mega cancellations. Philly and Newark for all intent and purposes really are closed, nothing is taking off and landing. However a plane in trouble could still land there.
 
Boston - No delays reported, yet.
Not rail, but ferry service was cancelled and would be suprised if the subway surface lines ran into delays.
As for the snow in the vestibules some one mentioned earlier, it is actually a pretty neat effect. As the train is traveling, a partial vacuum is created between the cars and the snow is "pushed" in up off the tracks through the cracks on the diaphrams filling in the vacuum. As my 8th grade science teacher said - "Scinece doesn't suck." B)
 
I'm surprised about no MidTOWN DIRECT service on NJT. At least it (and Amtrak) are still running to some degree.
 
Here's what Gene Poon Posted at Train Orders as far as the specs for cancellations, etc.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: 02-17-03 00:33

Re: Today's cancelled trains

Author: GenePoon

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AS A RESULT OF SEVERE WEATHER ON THE EASTCOAST THE FOLLOWING SERVICE

MANIPULATIONS AND CANCELLATIONS ARE NECESSARY:

AT 1220PM-ET, CSX SHUT DOWN THE RAILROAD SOUTH OF WAS. NO ESTIMATE (FOR

RESUMPTION OF SERVICE)

TRAINS 52/53(16) ARE CANCELLED - CSX SHUTDOWN RF&P.

TRAIN 80(16) TERMINATED AT RGH - PSGRS ON TRAIN TO HOTEL.

PSGRS WILL BE HOUSED ON EQUIPMENT IF NECESSARY.

TRAIN 74(16) CANCELLED - NO ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION

TRAIN 98/92(16) - WILL ONLY OPERATE TO JAX - PASSENGERS NORTH OF

JAX WILL BE ****NOT**** BE PICKED UP. THIS EQUIPMENT

WILL BE TURNED AT JAX TRAIN 98(16) WILL OPERATE

SOUTH ON 17FEB AS TRAIN 91(16).

TRAIN 92(16) WILL OPERATE TO JAX AND EQUIPMENT WILL TURN AND OPERATE

OUT OF JAX SOUTH AS TRAIN 97(16) JAX-MIA.

TRAIN 89(16) - WILL BE TERMINATED AT WAS AS A RESULT OF CSX RF&P CLOSURE

TRAIN 91(16) WILL BE TERMINATED AT PHL AS A RESULT OF CSX RF&P CLOSURE.

TRAIN 90(16) WILL OPERATE MIA-JAX AND TURN TO REPRESENT TRAIN 89(16)

JAX-MIA.

TRAIN 20(16) WILL OPERATE AT NORMAL ROUTE

TRAIN 19(16) WILL OPERATE NORMAL ROUTE

TRAIN 90(15) WILL OPERATE THRU TO NYP

TRAIN 79(16) TERMINATED AT WAS - RETURN PASSENGERS TO ORIGINATING POINT.

TRAIN 97(16) SERVICE SUSPENDED NYP-JAX

TRAINS 88(16), 92(15), AND 90(15) WILL OPERATE NORMAL WITH DELAY.

TRAIN 194(16) TERM. AT RVR/ PSGRS TO TRN 90(15) OR RETURN TO POINTS

OF ORIGIN.

TRAIN 87(16) AND 99(16) TERMINATED AT WAS. NO ALT. TRANSP.

TRAIN 147(17) IS CANCELED.

TRAIN 88(17) IS CANCELED RVR-WAS. NO ALT. TRANSP.

TRAIN 51(16) HAS BEEN CANCELLED AS A RESULT OF SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS

THERE WILL BE NO ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION.

TRAIN 66(16) IS CANCELED NPN-WAS. ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION

WILL NOT BE PROVIDED.

===========================

DUE TO EXTREME WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS, FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS, AND

DOWNED TREES EAST OF HUN, TRAIN 50(15) WILL STOP IN HUN AND NOT PROCEED

EAST UNTIL THE RAILROAD IS OPEN. PASSENGERS ON BOARD WILL BE ACCOMODATED

UNTIL EITHER THE TRAIN IS ABLE TO PROCEED OR UNTIL ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION

IS AVAILABLE.

-Source: AMTRAK
 
The Silver Service is about what we were expecting so that the crews down here are kept in the right rotation.
 
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