Fire collapses portion of railroad trestle in Sacramento

[wkaemena]

Comparing with 17.6 miles by normal route, this adds 59.6 miles to the run.
Speeds limits on these subs in the parts used for the detour are 50 to 65 mph on the Valley Sub, and 70 mph for the most part on the Sacramento Sub, so with slow moves through the junctions probably something like an extra hour to 75 minutes run time, plus who knows how much additional delay due to meets. Best guess, 90 minutes plus additional time.

George

I am wondering why #5 is today on time in Sacramento ( so far) and even the estimation for Reno is almost on time ! What is going on??? normally 3-5h late!

 

[Torgo90]

I'll tell you why they're on time at those stops: bustituting.

Got the call about 5pm, they are starting/ending at Roseville and bussing to stations west. It's a good move, was not looking forward to the additional detour delay... although I did want to see the emergency connection track work they are doing. I read somewhere that they are taking the empty trains around the detour to EMY to service and turn. Dosen't a pax train take up more "blocks" for safety concerns? Maybe UP wants the CZ empty so they can dispatch it like a freight and move it through faster?

Amtrak lady was super nice as always and said everyone she called was cool about it and wasn't giving her grief. She did take the time to make sure she put down UP for being a-holes to Amtrak. I am still on the fence on whether or not Union Pacific is evil. They really do have a bad-ass-cool-looking paint scheme and font.

Supposed to be in a Roomette, wonder if they will comp something for the bus trip portion. I am not going to ask for anything and wait and see what they do. Hoping to get a call from Cust. Service - I will hit her up for business contacts over there rather than money / vouchers.

And of course, this is the portion of my trip where I convinced a friend to try Amtrak. Now aint that "Murphy's Law".

We are off to Martinez to catch the bus (ahem, motor coach) in a bit. Should be fun, wish us luck.

 

[AlanB]

Dosen't a pax train take up more "blocks" for safety concerns? Maybe UP wants the CZ empty so they can dispatch it like a freight and move it through faster?

No, it takes the same number of blocks as a freight train. After all, the signals can't tell which type of train just rolled over the contacts, they only know that a train entered their block

Supposed to be in a Roomette, wonder if they will comp something for the bus trip portion. I am not going to ask for anything and wait and see what they do. Hoping to get a call from Cust. Service - I will hit her up for business contacts over there rather than money / vouchers.

Since the cost of the roomette from EMY to Chicago is the same as it is from Roseville, it's hard to say what they might do. I suppose that they might offer some small compensation to everyone in a sleeper, read under 50 bucks in the form of a voucher. I wouldn't bet on the Cust. Service rep knowing who you could contact at Amtrak to talk about getting business out of them.

 

[PRR 60]

...She did take the time to make sure she put down UP for being a-holes to Amtrak. I am still on the fence on whether or not Union Pacific is evil. They really do have a bad-ass-cool-looking paint scheme and font.

The Union Pacific allowed Amtrak to use the detour route even though the route will be jammed with both normal traffic and the diverted and detoured traffic. The UP also put it's units on the CZ to facilitate the reverse move until the Binney Junction connection was re-established. If the UP really wanted to be "a-holes" they could have told Amtrak to stay off the railroad until the bridge was fixed. Amtrak would have then had to cut back the Zephyr to Denver since they do not have servicing facilities between Denver and Oakland. So despite what the Amtrak CSR told you, the UP is going above and beyond to accommodate Amtrak while their own operation is seriously disrupted.

 

[AmtrakFan]

Posted on another board.

The detours are off. Train 5 will reportedly terminate at Roseville for

the duration, turning there to Train 6.

Alternate transportation provided.

The delay to the trains, in excess of 2 1/2 hours, and the cost of

leasing a Union Pacific engine to pull the consist in reverse between

Emeryville and Binney Jct., were too much.

ALSO, the Reno Fun Trains have been annulled for the remainder of their

season.

The Fun Train Bear, a big, white stuffed bear that rode the front

coupler of the lead locomotive on these trains, gets to go back into

hibernation early. Henry Luna of tour operator Key Holidays gets to

send back all the money he took in for two weeks' worth of sold-out

trains.