Flooding on route to New Orleans

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Early this week, Amtrak tried NOL to MEM & CHI to CDL with a bustitution MEM to CDL... that didn't work.

Next they tried those two rail routes and then reverse to accommodate local pax... that didn't work.

Now the announcement on the radio 4X per hour in the CDL listening area is CONO is cnx until further notice with hopes to get back on schedule next week. Meantime, "find another way" is the radio quote.

The Ohio River is projected to crest next Wed or Th (May 4 or 5) provided there is no more precipitation. BUT, the Ohio River valley is predicted to get 2 inches of rain over the weekend.

I am using the 'find another way' option for my 5 May CONO res to CHI.
 
Grandpa D said:
Try reserving from NOL to CHI tomorrow or Sunday.. No go. Then try NOL to MEM tomorrow or Sunday. OK.

I think they're still running COLO in two parts -- NOL to MEM and CDL to CHI. And of course the reverse.
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When I attempted this it said Saturday and Sunday were both sold out. It would let me book for all of next week though. :hi:
 
Flooding along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers is shutting down train

travel between Memphis and Carbondale.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says service was shut down earlier this week on

the City of New Orlean, which runs between Chicago and New Orleans. He says for

the time being, passengers will have to find another way.

Magliari tells WSIU Radio there just isn't a way to reliably get between the

cities by rail. He says it also didn't seem prudent to charter buses because of

the flooding, so they'll be giving customers refunds instead.

It isn't clear when Carbondale-to-Memphis travel will resume. Magliari says

they're hoping to be back on the rails sometime early next week

http://www.wmctv.com/story/14534136/flooding-stops-memphis-carbondale-trains
 
TacoMan said:
When I attempted this it said Saturday and Sunday were both sold out. It would let me book for all of next week though. :hi:
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I think the "sold out" flag is their way of saying it isn't running. :wacko: And they probably don't do that more than a couple of days in advance, just in case the waters go down.

But for your trip May 18 and Pat Harper about mid May, it probably will be OK. The Army Corps of Engineers is trying to get permission to open a levee to let some of the water flow over the farmland in Missouri. Better the farmland than the city of Cairo.
 
the thing bugging me is that amtrak's website has NO advisory that i can find, no article, no service advisory link on the availability booking screen, NO NEWS whatsoever about what is running and not. only note on train status is that info is unavailable and to call amtrak, this seems to be even for the portion that runs only in illinois when i tried just using illinois cities.

my ticket agent friend in (zzz) told me that there was no service south of carbondale, no bustitution south of carbondale either. he didnt mention anything about mem-nol, but he doesnt tell everything to me either i know, and i didnt ask either.

he also said that 21/22 texas eagle having cancellations too, but since that was not his route, about all he told me he knew was no service south of st louis. also, just news media in general have been reporting that 7,000 residents (of 17,000 total city size) in poplar bluff mo proper are in danger of flooding, so it would see logical that amtrak should have difficulties or cancellations, but no news media are reporting on amtrak.

so then i wonder if they are at least running a san antonio-little rock stub train or not? and then if the tracks are flooded and the train is canceled, what will happen with amtrak's previously announced service plans of detouring the texas eagle in illinois stl-chi via uprr/villa grove, and all the time changes from malvern, walnut ridge, poplar bluff, and st louis that were announced? if there is no long-distance train from texas to detour, would they just cancel the stl-chi stub texas eagle, since they are not selling seats for local travel anyway?

there are 2 trains, multiple possibilities of stub trains or annulations.

BUT AMTRAK HAS NO OFFICIAL NEWS, ADVISORIES ON ITS OWN WEBSITE, NOR PRESS RELEASES!

come on amtrak - own up to the problem and put the news out there. im trying to make reservations for the poplar bluff-chicago train on may 5 and dont know if it will run or not. as well, im trying to get to memphis this week, and availalbility is just showing sold out with no advisory, with not a peep about the train actually not running, and with no estimate of date for me to look at to book an alternate date and make other plans with my friends.

come on already - get official news up amtrak!
 
no, i dont think the flood waters went down, they are still rising. and cairo now has mandatory evac by 12mid tonite for all residents. they also got judge to issue injunction to allow army corps of engineers to blast levee on missouri side to flood farms and take pressure off of cairo levee, but i dont think they blasted yet.

im pretty sure that the train status for chicago arrival is just a stub train that originiated in carbondale the same morning, and only operated for Illinois passengers.
 
It may not be posted but, If you read the thread on the CONO and Poplar Bluff you will see there is pretty much disaster everywhere on the southern portion of the TE and CONO. Neither is a safe bet and both are unable to get thru due to flooding and other damages over the last week.

Do not expect it to change before the middle to end of the week if the media is correct.(3-7 May)

EDIT - Correction - I am advised the TE is running again. (How I have no idea given the mess that is out there!)
 
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TacoMan, I am just as invested as you are in seeing the CONO back running (5 May res) but I wouldn't put too much hope on your Weather Channel link. I notice it doesn't even include Cairo, IL which is at an all time flood stage right now and bound to go higher. I live about 40 miles from both the Ohio and Miss. rivers... we got 3 more inches rain last night and another 3 to 4 inches predicted for today. I think the railroad bridge at Cairo is not in any danger but the runup for many miles both north and south are VERY iffy.

I am afraid my 29 April post on this thread is still in play.
 
After looking at that again I realize it is for last years flooding. Sorry about that. I was exhausted when I found that and I guess I just overlooked the date.

I am still praying by the 18th it will be running again. The last river is expected to crest on May 8 if I read the outlook correctly. Once the last river has crested from what I understand water levels should start going down. The explosion planned for tonight should help Cairo see some relief immediately from what I understand, and should bring a little relief to points further south.

I am just playing the waiting game. Don't think I will consider changing anything to at least next week.
 
Just heard on the weather channel that both the Ohio and Mississippi will be back below flood stage at Cairo by early next week.
 
I got the dreaded call from Amtrak last night. Cono between CDL and CHI is cnx... NOL to MEM is running kinda like local service. I am in full 'find another way' mode for my 5 May trip.

Taco Man and Pat Harper... hope you have better luck in a couple of weeks.

BTW, the Corps breached the Bird's Point levee last night and the water level at Cairo dropped one foot by this morning but points up river such as Paducah and Shawneetown do not crest until Thursday. Regretfully, the water problems for Amtrak are not at Cairo but further south in the Ky - Tenn basin.

Also, be careful what you hear about flood stages... The flood stage at Cairo is 40 feet, the point where the river leaves its natural banks. Today the water level is at an all time crest of 61.5 feet. The Miss. river will take quite a while to drain off 21 feet of 'extra' water. Another point-- the problems the Empire Builder is having right now are a part of the same watershed and that water will be down in this area in a couple of weeks.
 
It appears from all reports that the worst flooding will be south of Memphis by the 18th when I am suppose to leave from Brookhaven. That raises a few questions in my mind though. If the flooding is effecting New Orleans at that time where will the Northbound CONO originate from? I know that's not a question anyone here can really answer yet probably.

I have a rail pass and all 12 segments are currently planned. If I see the CONO is not going to run on the 18th or is not likely too, would they let me change some of my reservations to take the Crescent from Meridian MS to Washington and then go from Washington to Chicago to connect with the California Zephyr, and just purchase a separate ticket for my trip to Oregon?

:hi:

Hoping i don't have to worry to much about all this but I have to admit I am concerned about this because I really need to be in California no later than the 22.
 
Tried to call and see if anything could be done now like changing my route to insure i get there and they basically refused to discuss it right now told me to give it at least 4 more days and call back. :wacko:
 
I was supposed to leave this Thursday on the Texas Eagle headed to Tucson, AZ, I've had to reschedule my trip for May 12th. Do any of you think the weather will cooperate for my departure? It's supposed to be sunny for an entire week, and my agent at Amtrak said trains are scheduled to run again this Saturday the 7th. I've been planning my trip since last year and I really miss my parents.
 
I was originally booked to leave Iowa on May 1st, take the Zephyr to Chicago, and then head to New Orleans on the CONO on May 1st.

Of course, I got the cancellation/no alternate service available notice for the CONO leg a few days before that.

So I rescheduled to May 10th. Which, of course, made it necessary to reschedule my return trip as well.

So I really hope the Amtrak agent LadyGoingWest spoke to was telling the truth.

If not, I guess I'll just cancel the whole rail trip and fly instead. I'm going to visit a friend who can't keep asking his boss to reschedule his vacation days.

I hope, once the CONO is running the full route again, someone posts it here. It's more than a bit unsettling having travel reservations yet not knowing if they're worth anything.
 
Tim said:
We are sheduled to travel from Chicago to New Orleans on Wed 4/27 leaving Chicago at 8PM. We received a call tonight from Amtrak that there may be flooding which could cause our trip to be delayed or canceled. I can't find any more detailed information on news searches, Amtrak.com, etc... Anyone know specifically where the problem is along the route? I know there is a lot of rain in the area with potential flooding but not sure what portions of the rail line may be affected.
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I am booked on the (EB connecting to) CONO CHI-NOL June 5. I sure hope this mess is resolved by then.

If it isn't, it looks like I could take the EB west, CS south to LA; overnight, then the SL to NOL via the southern route. Correct?

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Route_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245650939
 
Jaylah said:
So I rescheduled to May 10th.
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That should be safe enough. I'm due to leave on the CONO from New Orleans on the 11th and haven't heard anything yet. As far as I know the trains should be running by Monday at the latest.

If I get the dreaded call from Amtrak, I'll let you know. If I don't hear anything, I'm heading for NOL the morning of the 11th. Will try to post what I find out from the Magnolia lounge.
 
I'm planning a trip from Austin to Chicago on May 25 on the Texas Eagle. Does anyone have an educated guess about whether or not the route will be open and safe by then?
 
I've never yet seen a Service Alert on Amtrak's website about the disruption of service on the CONO.

It might have been nice if they'd put something about that up there, and then updated it when the CONO returns to normal service.

Why even have that on their website if they don't use it?
 
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I just read an article that said the NWS has warned Memphis to expect flooding through out May. Does anyone know if it is possible for the CONO to detour around Memphis? It appears by the middle of next week that Memphis will be the only major flood issue along the route. How will they deal with this?

I agree more info directly from Amtrak would be helpful.
 
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