My report from #8(12).
On time out of PDX/SEA. 15 minutes early into Spokane, 13 minutes early into Whitefish, 25 minutes early into Shelby, MT. That's almost an hour of padding that should be moved farther east.
20 minutes lost between Havre and Malta due to two long 25 mph sections (tie replacement project)
14 minutes lost between Malta and Glasgow, stopped to meet a grain train
22 minutes lost between Glasgow and Wolf Point, stopped to meet a grain train, then slowing to follow a Z train (priority intermodal) and a stack train.
16 minutes lost between Wolf Point and Williston, as the two trains ahead of us pulled into sidings to let us pass.
No delays between Williston and Minot, made up 20 minutes due to padding at the Minot stop
18 minutes lost between Rugby and Devils Lake, presumably due to the track raise construction (I was asleep)
43 minutes lost between Grand Forks and Fargo. 20 due to slow track, 25 more because we arrived in Fargo at the same time as #7 and had to wait for them to pull clear of the station.
No time lost between Fargo and St. Paul, made up 53 minutes at St. Paul to depart 65 minutes late. That is where I got off, so I can't say why it was two hours late again by Chicago.
All in all a very smooth run, with no mechanical problems or freight breakdowns. The main problems are:
1. Temporary slow orders related to track construction. These total around 40 minutes of time lost, and should be going away as we head into winter.
2. Permanent slow orders between Grand Forks and Fargo. All trains lose at least 20 minutes on this stretch, due to lowered speed limits on very rough track.
3. Freight congestion. This is worst on the long single track between Malta, MT and Williston, ND. Between Glasgow and Wolf Point we followed two freights and every available passing siding had a waiting westbound, leaving no sidings for us to pass the trains in front.
Freight traffic on the line is (by my estimation) about 50% grain, 25% intermodal (containers and trucks), 15% mixed manifest (boxcars, lumber, etc.), 5% coal, and 5% oil. At least in the western section the oil boom can't be blamed for the congestion. We did pass one westbound train of crude oil headed to a Tesoro refinery in Washington (per scanner chatter).
My suggestions for improvement:
1. Stop blaming BNSF. Their dispatchers do a pretty good job keeping #8 moving. Most stretches in Montana require steady 79 mph running with all green lights in order to avoid losing time. To me, that is too much to ask given the amount of freight traffic and limited number of passing sidings.
2. Trim ~45 minutes of padding from the western padded stops (Spokane, Whitefish, Shelby) and add ~45 minutes of schedule padding into Fargo. #7 has better distribution of schedule padding and so has fewer late endpoint arrivals despite experiencing the same delays en route.
3. Restore the track from Fargo to Grand Forks to 79 mph speed instead of the current 50 mph for much of the distance, or adjust the scheduled running time to reflect present speed limits.
4. Add 30-60 minutes to total running time, with most of that added in eastern MT and western ND. This is to reflect the reality of increased freight traffic on the line.
This was my first time traveling in sleeper, and my dad's first time on Amtrak. His only complaint was that rough track (especially in ND) made it difficult to sleep. Also, roomettes are very small.
~Mark
And the one hasn't even hit Minot yet where it could drop 4 more hours.
