Amtrak trains and snow

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
O

Oreius

OBS Chief
Joined
Jun 5, 2012
Messages
696
I will riding a Keystone train next Saturday (1/10) to NYP. The forecast for that day calls for some snow (according to Accuweather) especially in the evening hours. How does snow affect Amtrak trains? Now, a lot can change in the forecast since 1/10 is more than a week away. We may end up getting no snow, or a major winter storm. Just curious so I can plan ahead....
 
Winter is my favorite time to travel on Amtrak. It's so nice to glide through a snowy landscape without having to worry anout road conditions or other drivers! I have been on Amtrak trains in many snow storms, an ice storm, and subzero weather. The only thing that slowed any of these trains appreciably was the ice storm, because it froze ice onto the switches so the train (Empire Builder in eastern WA) had to stop at each one, and the crew had to get out and throw each switch manually. Plain old snow has not even been an issue at all for train speed, in my personal experience.

Now, if we want to talk about the frozen shower drains... :giggle:
 
Unless it's a severe ice storm or an epic blizzard, you'll most likely do fine. Here's a video of Amtrak in the snow:

 
Not an issue in the NEC. It has a to be a major Nor'easter or Blizzard. Last winter was nasty in the NEC. This winter so far hasn't been bad. (Knocking on wood) I can only think of once where there was a chance my train would have been cancelled due to a nasty Nor'easter and by the time it was my time to travel everything had settled down. Of course things were a little hectic but nothing bad. That was 2010.
 
Serious blizzards can knock out the Lake Shore Limited -- when the lake effect snows at Buffalo or Erie start breaking the roofs of houses, the train may be disrupted. But ordinary snow is *nothing* to trains.
 
Last year there was a day I was taking the Keystone where they ran them all on diesels in the morning because of power issues. But everything was mostly on schedule.
 
I suspect the Keystones could have issues in the snow when the electrics are in push mode. The snow kicked up by the moving train can foul the pantograph of the trailing locomotive. To avoid that, the trains might have to be set up with the electric motor leading at all times requiring either wying or a run-around.

This problem is also an issue for Acela. The real power unit pantograph of Acela sets also gets fouled by blowing snow. Acela operating procedures in snow are to only use the lead power unit with the trailing unit shut down and the pantograph lowered. This limits Acela speed to about 100 mph and impacts trainset availability sometimes requiring cancelations.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
PRR 60 said:
.

This problem is also an issue for Acela. The real power unit pantograph of Acela sets also gets fouled by blowing snow. Acela operating procedures in snow are to only use the lead power unit with the trailing unit shut down and the pantograph lowered. This limits Acela speed to about 100 mph and impacts trainset availability sometimes requiring cancelations.
Click to expand...
Acela speed is not limited to 100 mph with the trailing unit shut down and paragraph lowered.
 
PRR, there have occasionally been issues with Acelas in the wrong kind of snow, snow ingestion through the cooling airflow. This can be severe in the trailing power head since it gets the brunt of the "blizzard" that we saw in the video above, and cause electrical problems. I have never heard of the pantograph problem that you speak of, or the operating procedure you mention. However, that of course b does not mean it does not exist. Perhaps someone from the Amtrak NEC operating folks, if around, can clarify.
 
jis said:
PRR, there have occasionally been issues with Acelas in the wrong kind of snow, snow ingestion through the cooling airflow. This can be severe in the trailing power head since it gets the brunt of the "blizzard" that we saw in the video above, and cause electrical problems. I have never heard of the pantograph problem that you speak of, or the operating procedure you mention. However, that of course b does not mean it does not exist. Perhaps someone from the Amtrak NEC operating folks, if around, can clarify.
Click to expand...
The Amtrak NEC operating requirement is called the "snow plan."
 
I remember taking the Lake Shore Limited the day after Christmas during a blizzard in 2007 (I think). The train was packed because flights were being canceled left and right. The weather quickly got worse after departure, and I started to consider getting off the train and heading home because I became concerned of us either getting stranded somewhere or possibly having the return trip canceled. Of course, I quickly realized that was easier said than done as this wasn't a line with trains leaving every twenty minutes, and I would likely need to find someplace to wait overnight before being able to get a ride home. It was also already way too far to ask someone to come and pick me up, even if there weren't blizzard conditions. There was no heat for most of the trip and the train came to a dead stop more than once during the night. I was actually colder than I had to be because I felt bad for the shivering woman seated next to me and gave her my blanket. The next morning another neighbor told me that he overheard some of the crew talking in the dining car during the night about how they may need to stop the train somewhere, but that never happened. We were several hours late, and at each stop newcomers came to the survivors and were asking what had happened, as once we stepped away from the coastal states the weather was clear, but the damage had been done. As I arrived in Indiana it struck me as odd that I was actually coming into better weather, as the previous time I made the trip the opposite was the case. That was actually the last time I rode in coach. The only reason I did was because the holiday blackout dates wouldn't allow me to use my points for a sleeper. Also while in Indiana I learned that most NJ Transit trains were being canceled as people dug out, and was relieved when I made the call and was told there were no foreseen problems with my trip back.

Oh, long story short, the trains can clearly handle snow.
 
PRR 60 said:
jis said:
PRR, there have occasionally been issues with Acelas in the wrong kind of snow, snow ingestion through the cooling airflow. This can be severe in the trailing power head since it gets the brunt of the "blizzard" that we saw in the video above, and cause electrical problems. I have never heard of the pantograph problem that you speak of, or the operating procedure you mention. However, that of course b does not mean it does not exist. Perhaps someone from the Amtrak NEC operating folks, if around, can clarify.
Click to expand...
The Amtrak NEC operating requirement is called the "snow plan."
Click to expand...
In some snow plans the trailing unit on Acela is shut down and panagraph lowered. But that does not limit the speed to 100mph.
 
I'm more concerned about the switches in extreme cold than I am the snow for my trip back to WAS on the CL tonight. Oh and being out tonight in crazy windchills to catch the train at Waterloo…heh.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top