The Crescent was just in the wrong place at the wrong time yesterday; nothing was wrong with the train itself. Last evening, DC Union Station lost all air pressure to switches in the station yard and couldn't switch trains in and out of the terminal in a timely fashion. The Crescent arrived from Baltimore just as things were really getting clogged in the station. It ended up departing DC at 8 PM and then had to following a bunch of VRE trains south out of DC through Manassas as a result and just never recovered. The service disruption tag was probably thrown onto the train status at DC when Amtrak didn't know when it was going to be able to route the train south.
So, Washington Union Station oviously still has the archaic air over electric swtich machines. Their sole advantage is that they throw instantaneously whereas a straight electric switch motor requires a few seconds (under 10, I think) to throw.
The Silver Meteor fell into the same hole as the Crescent and didn't depart WAS until 9:24, almost 2 hours late. It recovered slightly, and rolled through WPB yesterday around 6:30 PM, about 1 hour 40 mins late.What happened in DC Union Station yesterday, was the Silver Meteor affected which was due into WPB today at 4:54 PM? Hopefully, everything is running back close to normal. I don't want to even think we'll have another "delay (5 hrs)" like we did two years ago, since we're leaving tomorrow.
Jack;
