long delay on ca zephyr

[tahoejeff]

the wife and i rode the cal zephyr from chicago to reno. arrived last night over 9 hours late. we were actually within an hour of scheduled stops around salt lake city. when crossing over the nevada border at 70mph, we possibly hit a homeless person on the tracks near wendover NV. i woke up at 3am wondering why we weren't moving. there were people shining floodlights and flashlights under the train looking for something. next, a fireman using an infrared thermal imaging device normally used to find hotspots in buildings was searching under the train for "hot spots". trucks were driving all over the desert looking for the guy (they never did find anyone while we were there). while we waited we went downstairs and talked with the conductor. he said the engineer saw the guy on the tracks walking. as the train approached, the guy turned around and looked up at the engine, then began stepping off the tracks. the engineer is pretty sure he must have clipped the guy. apparently there is a homeless camp made up of tents near the area we may have hit him. there are bottles everywhere around the tracks.

the conductor shared some of his past stories. he has been onboard for 18 "kills". i'll spare you the gruesome stories he shared.

they had to drive a new engineer out to us from salt lake city, as ours was pretty shook up. all in all around a 5 hour delay.

the rest of the trip, had very many low speed zones where i'd guess we were going 30mph on flat desert land. another conductor told us there were bad spots in the track requiring the lower speeds. what is required to fix these and why isn't it happening? i'm guessing they have to replace some of the gravel and possibly the ties. can this work be done in winter?

although i always love my time on the train, it was frustrating. many unhappy people. near the end of the trip, the car attendant came around telling everyone to come to the dining car for free dinner. it was some pretty good stew. i'm guessing they did this as damage control, to keep the complaints down.

off to the craps tables, and ski slopes for now. hopefully i won't have anything to report from the ride back next weekend.

 

[PerRock]

Ya, some companies (UP I think) don't like it when AMTK gets off schedule and makes it very hard form them. others (BNSF) help out.

I was taking the train from Portland, OR to Chicago, IL and somewhere in Montana we almost hit a car. some drunk guy had thought a track maintenance shed's light was a crossing; had bumped over one rail realized his mistake and got stuck on the tracks. luckily we had gotten a bunch of yellow signals and wasn't going top speed. when the engineer saw the car. but it took them about three hours to call a tow truck and get the car off the track. then since the track had been slightly bent, the whole train (we had mail, and road railers too) had to pass the spot at walking speed. they did this so smoothly that none of the passengers that I talked to had noticed. BNSF was nice and gave us right-of-way all the way to Chicago.

peter

 

[Doc58301]

I am going on the CZ on March 03rd from Denver to Reno. I have already purchased My ticket, however, I am just agonizing over the trip. I go on the Amtrak website every morning to see how the CZ is doing into Reno and it is always al least 5 hours late. Right now it is over 7 hours late getting in Reno. I read on a different thread that UP is doing this on purpose cause they don't want the CZ on their tracks. I will take the trip and try to make the most out of it, but it is going to be along ride into Reno.

 

[tahoejeff]

I am going on the CZ on March 03rd from Denver to Reno. I have already purchased My ticket, however, I am just agonizing over the trip. I go on the Amtrak website every morning to see how the CZ is doing into Reno and it is always al least 5 hours late. Right now it is over 7 hours late getting in Reno. I read on a different thread that UP is doing this on purpose cause they don't want the CZ on their tracks. I will take the trip and try to make the most out of it, but it is going to be along ride into Reno.

our conductor told us the exact same thing, that up doesn't want amtrak on their tracks.

instead of stressing over being late, just accept it and plan on it. i ride the train because i enjoy being on it. that way in the rare case that they are on time, you will enjoy it all the more.

 

[VentureForth]

It all depends on when you're sitting around doing nothing. If you're in an urban area near steel recycling plants at high noon, that'd peeve me greatly. On the other hand, it really is easier to sleep at night if you're not moving. Heh heh. You also get to see scenery you wouldn't have because it was dark when the train was supposed to pass through...

If everything always goes as planned, it's boring.

 

[caravanman]

I took the same trip both ways on the Zephyr a couple of weeks ago, and it is frustrating to be delayed so much. It wont matter to most passengers WHY the delays happen, they will just add to the annoyance felt towards Amtrak.

I don't care if its the controllers, the check in staff or the baggage handlers fault if my flight is late, it puts me off the airline I am on, same for train travel.

I am a fan of rail travel, and enjoyed a two week rail pass tour, but I do feel bitter that I was robbed of an evening out in New Orleans, and lost pretty much whole days in both Reno and Chicago through late trains..

I guess if one has to sit and look out, the Zephyr has some stunning scenery.

Ed B)

 

[had8ley]

the wife and i rode the cal zephyr from chicago to reno. arrived last night over 9 hours late. we were actually within an hour of scheduled stops around salt lake city. when crossing over the nevada border at 70mph, we possibly hit a homeless person on the tracks near wendover NV. i woke up at 3am wondering why we weren't moving. there were people shining floodlights and flashlights under the train looking for something. next, a fireman using an infrared thermal imaging device normally used to find hotspots in buildings was searching under the train for "hot spots". trucks were driving all over the desert looking for the guy (they never did find anyone while we were there). while we waited we went downstairs and talked with the conductor. he said the engineer saw the guy on the tracks walking. as the train approached, the guy turned around and looked up at the engine, then began stepping off the tracks. the engineer is pretty sure he must have clipped the guy. apparently there is a homeless camp made up of tents near the area we may have hit him. there are bottles everywhere around the tracks.the conductor shared some of his past stories. he has been onboard for 18 "kills". i'll spare you the gruesome stories he shared.

they had to drive a new engineer out to us from salt lake city, as ours was pretty shook up. all in all around a 5 hour delay.

the rest of the trip, had very many low speed zones where i'd guess we were going 30mph on flat desert land. another conductor told us there were bad spots in the track requiring the lower speeds. what is required to fix these and why isn't it happening? i'm guessing they have to replace some of the gravel and possibly the ties. can this work be done in winter?

although i always love my time on the train, it was frustrating. many unhappy people. near the end of the trip, the car attendant came around telling everyone to come to the dining car for free dinner. it was some pretty good stew. i'm guessing they did this as damage control, to keep the complaints down.

off to the craps tables, and ski slopes for now. hopefully i won't have anything to report from the ride back next weekend.

I'm truly sorry you did not enjoy your trip. Maybe if I explain some of the policies involved you might have a better understanding. Many Amtrak engines are manned by only one man~ the engineer on runs of six hours or less. The stress factor of running in snow or fog can be extraordinary. It got so frustrating sometimes that I would write down what color the signal was that I just passed in order not to get by a red signal. Now for my point; the railroads have a policy of granting "relief" (a new engineer) if the person requests same after a tramatic incident such as he experienced. It's tough going home after hitting a car full of people and watching them being shoved down the track a half a mile or better while your train is in emergency brake application. One time we were going 20 mph and approached a gated crossing. I found it odd that a little Chevrolet did not cross as the gates were still up. When we got to within 50 feet of the crossing the fellow driving the car proceeds to crawl across the track. We broadsided him and shoved him about 200 yards. The horror of the story was we found a back window broken out and a baby's car seat laying on the right of way. We searched for three hours for the baby we thought was in the seat. The driver was incoherently spaced out on drugs and the local sheriff found his wife who showed up with the baby who was supposed to be in the car seat. You can't imagine the relief our crew had after seeing the young baby safe and sound. By the way, I witnessed 21 railroad employees (and I'm not counting crossing accidents with outsiders) lose their lives in head-on and rear end collisions, coupled up between cars, etc. The worst was a light engine and caboose that hit an 8,000 gallon tank truck full of aviation fuel. Only one man survived on the crew. I hope this helps in understanding your delays.

 

[frj1983]

the wife and i rode the cal zephyr from chicago to reno. arrived last night over 9 hours late. we were actually within an hour of scheduled stops around salt lake city. when crossing over the nevada border at 70mph, we possibly hit a homeless person on the tracks near wendover NV. i woke up at 3am wondering why we weren't moving. there were people shining floodlights and flashlights under the train looking for something. next, a fireman using an infrared thermal imaging device normally used to find hotspots in buildings was searching under the train for "hot spots". trucks were driving all over the desert looking for the guy (they never did find anyone while we were there). while we waited we went downstairs and talked with the conductor. he said the engineer saw the guy on the tracks walking. as the train approached, the guy turned around and looked up at the engine, then began stepping off the tracks. the engineer is pretty sure he must have clipped the guy. apparently there is a homeless camp made up of tents near the area we may have hit him. there are bottles everywhere around the tracks.

the conductor shared some of his past stories. he has been onboard for 18 "kills". i'll spare you the gruesome stories he shared.

they had to drive a new engineer out to us from salt lake city, as ours was pretty shook up. all in all around a 5 hour delay.

the rest of the trip, had very many low speed zones where i'd guess we were going 30mph on flat desert land. another conductor told us there were bad spots in the track requiring the lower speeds. what is required to fix these and why isn't it happening? i'm guessing they have to replace some of the gravel and possibly the ties. can this work be done in winter?

although i always love my time on the train, it was frustrating. many unhappy people. near the end of the trip, the car attendant came around telling everyone to come to the dining car for free dinner. it was some pretty good stew. i'm guessing they did this as damage control, to keep the complaints down.

off to the craps tables, and ski slopes for now. hopefully i won't have anything to report from the ride back next weekend.

I'm truly sorry you did not enjoy your trip. Maybe if I explain some of the policies involved you might have a better understanding. Many Amtrak engines are manned by only one man~ the engineer on runs of six hours or less. The stress factor of running in snow or fog can be extraordinary. It got so frustrating sometimes that I would write down what color the signal was that I just passed in order not to get by a red signal. Now for my point; the railroads have a policy of granting "relief" (a new engineer) if the person requests same after a tramatic incident such as he experienced. It's tough going home after hitting a car full of people and watching them being shoved down the track a half a mile or better while your train is in emergency brake application. One time we were going 20 mph and approached a gated crossing. I found it odd that a little Chevrolet did not cross as the gates were still up. When we got to within 50 feet of the crossing the fellow driving the car proceeds to crawl across the track. We broadsided him and shoved him about 200 yards. The horror of the story was we found a back window broken out and a baby's car seat laying on the right of way. We searched for three hours for the baby we thought was in the seat. The driver was incoherently spaced out on drugs and the local sheriff found his wife who showed up with the baby who was supposed to be in the car seat. You can't imagine the relief our crew had after seeing the young baby safe and sound. By the way, I witnessed 21 railroad employees (and I'm not counting crossing accidents with outsiders) lose their lives in head-on and rear end collisions, coupled up between cars, etc. The worst was a light engine and caboose that hit an 8,000 gallon tank truck full of aviation fuel. Only one man survived on the crew. I hope this helps in understanding your delays.

Had8ley,

Thanks for sharing the perspective of the engineer...it helps to put life, and Amtrak delays, in perspective! And I think Alex Kummant is right for at least raising the issue of public monies and rail capacity. I believe the pinchpoint was reached long ago and can only get worse!