Capitols Have A Bad Day, Monday

[AlanB]

Monday October 27, was NOT a good start to the Week................ For those of you on (or awaiting) trains #520, #522, #526 and #527, I extend an apology and an explanation. It seemed everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Not everything did go wrong, actually, but it sure seemed that way.

The full story from The Capitol Corridor's site.

Even Amtrak's manager for the Capitol's had a bad day.

In addition, since all this started early this morning, I had to cancel my regular doctor's appointment (probably a good thing, as I am sure my blood pressure was off the chart!), and I drove into the office, trying to get through the morning and be in Sacramento for a noon meeting. Well, things got worse. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper into Oakland (as it usually is on I-580) and between phone calls and text messages on my cell phone, I Iooked up a bit too late and rear-ended the car in front of me. Some damage to both cars, but thankfully no one was hurt. 95% of the time I take BART to work, and I either walk or take BART to the Capitol Corridor trains when I go back-and-forth to Sacramento (a regular occurrence). Today reminded me why I take BART and the train.

 

[tp49]

Having once been stranded on a train between the Carquinez Bridge and Fairfield/Susisun station for over two hours due to a mechanical issue and having to wait for a mechanic to drive to our location from Oakland it would be nice to have mechanics on board the trains. This is especially due to the lack of reliability of the F59PHI's as they have a tendency to break down often.

 

[battalion51]

It's a very expensive thing to have a mechanic on board at all times. There a very few instances (like the Turboliners) where they carry a mechanic, and that's only because it's new technology. In all reality, a good engineer should be able to troubleshoot with Chicago, and get that beast running before someone has to come work on it. You have to have massive engine failure (faulty alternator, air compressor etc.) before a Mechanic is needed. Half the time the issues an engine faces when it "dies" (there's another term to use here, but it's semi inappropriate) is a computer failure, which is usually easy to remedy.