CZ Service Disruption?

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joelkfla

Engineer
Joined
Oct 16, 2018
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3,774
Location
12 miles from Walt Disney World
Just checked CZ status out of CHI for today (5/30) and it shows:
"Status is currently unavailable due to a service disruption"

Does anyone know whether CZ has been affected by flooding on the route again, or possibly storm damage? A Google search for news on "California Zephyr" or "Amtrak Chicago" turns up nothing relevant.

I'm scheduled to ride it next Wednesday, so I've been following the weather problems in the area and hoping it wouldn't be a problem. My trip starts in FL on Saturday, so if I need to cancel I have to decide by tomorrow. I wouldn't really want to do the trip on the Meteor & CL just as far as CHI.
 
Posted this morning on Train Orders: “Disruption of the California Zephyr continues. 6(28) is running via UP's ex-C&NW.
(departed Omaha 2 hr 36 min late after substantial extended dwell time)
but according to a report last night, passengers were to be kicked off the train
at Omaha and put on buses...reason unknown; perhaps water is getting so high
on the UP detour route that taking passengers was considered too risky.”

Don’t know if that helps any....
 
I'll be taking the Zephyr from EMY to CHI next month. Hoping the flooding subsides in the coming weeks, but if it doesn't, would Amtrak accommodate me on another train? Changing to the Starlight and Builder would add another day and significant cost compared to the fares when I booked this in January.
 
According to Amtrak Alerts on Twitter, flooding around Omaha is requiring them to bus passengers, though there was also a Tweet that suggested to me that one direction or the other "no alternative transportation is provided" though that might just be to stations on the cancelled part of the train line.
 
It looks like CZ and the Missouri River Runner are currently the affected runs. I've been nervously watching because I have a trip on the Texas Eagle on Tuesday (back home to Oklahoma via Mineola) and am keeping my fingers crossed it's a train all the way and not a bus for part/all of the way. I remember a bustitution in 2010 or thereabouts that was miserable, and a less-bad one in early 2015.

(I'd be tempted, if I knew it was going to be a bus, to just extend my vacation...I'm on summer break. But it's also hard to know when a bustitution ENDS)
 
I’m currently in Glenwood Springs, and booked on tomorrow’s #6 eastbound from GSC to CHI, with a connection at CHI to ARB. This has me a bit nervous - if they cancel east of DEN, will they cancel my whole ticket or just the DEN-CHI-ARB part? If it is only running to DEN, I may want to switch to coach for that segment if they’ll give a refund for the sleeper (don’t need a sleeper for a few hour trip), and fly home from there. Or I may look at going the other way and flying from SLC, depending on flights and the timekeeping of 5 versus 6 tomorrow morning (or perhaps just go to Aspen and fly from there). I just hope the flights don’t cost too much....
 
Posted this morning on Train Orders: “Disruption of the California Zephyr continues. 6(28) is running via UP's ex-C&NW.
(departed Omaha 2 hr 36 min late after substantial extended dwell time)
but according to a report last night, passengers were to be kicked off the train
at Omaha and put on buses...reason unknown; perhaps water is getting so high
on the UP detour route that taking passengers was considered too risky.”

Don’t know if that helps any....
Thanks. Sad that this info doesn't seem to be available anywhere on the Amtrak site. The only alert is for service between KC & STL, which wouldn't affect the CZ.

I haven't decided whether to cancel, or take a chance on it running by Wednesday. I don't mind the train taking the alternate route, but I'm not a fan of long distance bus rides. I'll have to see what I can find about flooding forecasts. I think the rain has mostly passed, but it often takes several days for rivers to crest, and if there's roadbed damage, who knows?
 
There is also info on the Amtrak Alert Twitter page. I don’t subscribe to Twitter but access it by searching (googling) the words AMTRAK Alerts Twitter and then click on the link.
 
I talked to a phone agent on 800-USA-RAIL, who was sympathetic but not very encouraging for Wednesday. I asked if high water was the problem, and he replied that it was a lot of things, including mud on the tracks.

He recommended that I at least wait to see what the situation is tomorrow.
 
I saw on Facebook the route will be up and running again starting tomorrow.

I think the buses for #6 at Omaha were for passengers destined to intermediate stations in Iowa and Illinois. Passengers destined for Chicago would stay on the rerouted train. Passengers destined for Naperville were advised to ride #6 to Chicago and take a METRA commute train from there to Naperville.
 
The post I saw was from someone who is a train manager for the CZ. The post was made on the Friends of the California Zephyr page and he has been very accurate in his info in the past. I should have mentioned that in my prior post; just saying "I saw it on Facebook" doesn't always mean much. :p;):D
 
Just got to the Glenwood Springs station to wait for #6. So far, there has been no indication that the train will terminate in Denver - fingers crossed that we’re all good to go. Wondering if the terminations in DEN were just to get the trains back on schedule after the lengthy delays of the past few days... I am a little concerned with the flooding that I’ll miss my Wolverine connection in Chicago - that’s definitely better than terminating in Denver, though I figure they will try to put me on the Thruway bus arriving home at 4am (and staying overnight in CHI would be on my own dime).
 
Pictures I saw on the "Friends of the California Zephyr" Facebook page showed the train operating *through* floodwaters in Burlington, IA today. The situation only seems to be getting worse, not better. One of my friends is a meteorologist in Omaha and he agrees with that sentiment, that the flooding will only get worse over the next few weeks.

I called Amtrak yesterday to ask what the situation would be for the trip I have coming up in two weeks. I'm traveling with my mom in a handicap room, and the agent said it's on an hour by hour basis, and that if the train does get suddenly annulled or cancelled, we "could be stuck in Denver or California for *weeks* at Amtrak's expense until a H room opens up on an alternate train". This agent checked with at least three departments before saying that to me.

I was looking at other trains, and at minimum I'd be looking at an extra $900 in points to book an alternate routing in a regular room (Emeryville-Portland-Chicago on the Starlight and Builder, or Emeryville-Denver-Raton-Chicago on the Zephyr, thruway bus and Chief). Their advice was to take the gamble and see what happens.

Is there any chance of a viable detour? Bustitution?
 
I was on #6 today, and we indeed went through floodwater. In Burlington you couldn’t see land on either side of the train in areas near the river (including near the station, which we did not stop at). Surprised we didn’t turn around and do a detour or bustitution, though I’m happy we made it through (and even made my connection to Michigan). I’d be worried there could be cancellations or bustitutions in the future, though - glad I did my trip this week and didn’t postpone as I considered doing (for non-flood reasons).
 
As I remember per looking at Amtrak service alerts, SW Chief briefly had some bustitution issues between KC and Topeka in the last week or 2. Not sure if that's still going on, but I seem to recall noticing per the alerts that MO River Runner was still being affected. I hope the flooding issues, don't start to head north and then affect the Empire Builder. Fingers crossed, since I was thinking I may do an EB trip to Glacier National Park in early July.

Too bad the flooding issues, were also starting to affect the CA Zephyr. I know there was a brief part somewhere north of Lafayette on the Cardinal/Hoosier State route(when I rode that just over a week ago), where I was surprised at the amount of standing water somewhere on the side of the tracks. Think that wasn't far from Rensselaer, IN where I noticed that standing water just off the side from the tracks, and was thankful it wasn't higher.
 
I have a friend (he works for Amtrak, on the San Joaquin route) who wanted to visit New York Upstate (it's his hometown) with his family for a reunion gathering. They left Sacramento late last week (a few days ago), and was turned back at Denver, due to disruptions preventing their train from going any further, not to mention flight cancellations. They will try again later this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them, so that they will get to see their loved ones on the other side of the country.
 
I have a friend (he works for Amtrak, on the San Joaquin route) who wanted to visit New York Upstate (it's his hometown) with his family for a reunion gathering. They left Sacramento late last week (a few days ago), and was turned back at Denver, due to disruptions preventing their train from going any further, not to mention flight cancellations. They will try again later this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them, so that they will get to see their loved ones on the other side of the country.

That sucks, that the CZ flooding disruption east of there (maybe in Iowa?), may prevent him from making that event. Hopefully it is restored very soon, so that he doesn't have to consider flying east from Denver to make this event.
 
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