Major Meltdown - Rocky Mount - Petersburg 1/8

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John Bobinyec

John Bobinyec

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92(7) lost about 2 hours in there.

80(8) lost over 2 hours in there.

79(8) lost about 2 hours in there.

89(8) lost about 3 hours in there.

91(8) SD after Richmond. Looks like it's parked north of Petersburg.

53(8) looks like it's parked behind 91.

Anybody know what's the trouble up there?

jb
 
John Bobinyec said:
Sure I am. Was the weather really all that bad up there?

jb
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HECK YES!! They are cancelling trains tomorrow!

Amtrak Modifies Service in the Southeast Region

Severe winter weather expected to impact service in Virginia and North Carolina

Amtrak adjusted schedules for trains operating on Sunday, Jan. 8 and Monday Jan. 9, due to severe winter weather expected to impact Virginia and North Carolina. At this time, service is as follows:

Sunday, Jan. 8• Piedmont Trains 73 and 74 (Raleigh - Charlotte) are cancelled.

• Northeast Regional train 88 (Norfolk, Va. to Boston) will operate between Washington, D.C. and Boston.

• Northeast Regional train 157 (Springfield, Mass. to Norfolk) will operate between Springfield and Washington, D.C.

• Northeast Regional train 194 (Newport News, Va. - Boston) will operate between Richmond and Boston.

Monday, Jan. 9

• Northeast Regional trains 110 and 111 (New York City - Washington, D.C.) are cancelled.

No alternate transportation will be provided.

This information is correct as of the above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions warrant.Passengers with travel plans can confirm their train's status, change their plans or review refund information using a range of tools – including Amtrak.com, smartphone apps or by calling 800-USA-RAIL. Service Alerts, Passenger Notices and other announcements are posted at Amtrak.com/alerts.

Follow @Amtrak on Twitter.
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Add in frozen switches, frozen equipment, broken rails and just bone chilling cold, I expect a lot more trouble over the next few days.
 
Sorry, I missed that. When I checked Amtrak's website earlier today, nothing was posted about it. On the other hand, no trains which were modified had anything to do with the area that I'm talking about.

jb
 
John Bobinyec said:
Sorry, I missed that. When I checked Amtrak's website earlier today, nothing was posted about it. On the other hand, no trains which were modified had anything to do with the area that I'm talking about.

jb
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If you look at this particular advisory, it states "Severe winter weather expected to impact service in Virginia and North Carolina. I believe the route between Rocky Mount- Petersburg passes through Virginia and North Carolina. So, even though they didn't cancel the long distance service (other than 89{7}/90{7} between WAS-SAV) and they didn't modify the particular trains you mentioned (and for the record, 90(8) is stuck in there too), they will likely encounter delays....since severe weather is expected to impact service in Virginia and North Carolina.

Eventually, the Auto Trains will enter the death cycle. One of them is spiraling towards the edge now. It will need a couple of good moves to get out if it.
 
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This is not related to the Southeast, but where's the alerts for California, Nevada, and the Northwestern States, if inclement weather forces Amtrak to publish alerts? It's severe enough out on the Pacific Sea Board as well (Donner Pass is on Avalanche Warning, and Flood Warnings and Watches are in effect for much of the Golden State, not to mention ice and winter storms in the Northwest, and it all looks more dire to me).
 
I came down from Jersey back home to DC yesterday on the Northeastern and it was late coming in to each stop, not too late into DC though, because of door malfunctioning (doors freezing?). The conductor the whole way had to keep reminding people at stops that if the door didn't open where they were they should find another one to get off. We were sitting at each stop a little longer than usual to allow people to find a door to exit. Some people weren't really listening (or maybe a door that was working earlier decided not to work anymore) it seems since there was a stampede of passengers past me at the Wilmington Delaware stop who waited at a door way too long and had to scramble to get off or keep on riding past their stop.
 
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I just heard yesterday's 97 pass through Orlando, over 9 hours late.

It is cold here, but nothing like the rest of the country, however, there are freezing temperatures in parts of Florida (not Orlando, although cold for here).
 
I know that today's #6 was annulled and returned to Emeryville attached to the very late #5. I know this because of many people Mrs. Blackwolf knows who were leaving Reno to the Bay Area from a convention there were on #5.

No word on tomorrow's #5 and #6, but I'm guessing more annulments are in order. It's a mess on both coasts right now.
 
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Blackwolf said:
I know that today's #6 was annulled and returned to Emeryville attached to the very late #5. I know this because of many people Mrs. Blackwolf knows who were leaving Reno to the Bay Area from a convention there were on #5.

No word on tomorrow's #5 and #6, but I'm guessing more annulments are in order. It's a mess on both coasts right now.
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If the #5 already departed CHI it would either get turned back at SLC (more likely) or at Reno (less likely). As for the #6, I suppose cancelations. (Better safe than sorry, to quote an old saying), but that would end if the storms are over. It is attributed by the flooding in the Sierras (not to mention high avalanche risks over there)
 
And the CZ being goobered up was probably just a boilerplate issue, not too significant to make it on the headline alert.

P. S. The Storm in CA and NV that is causing deluge is forcasted to be over by midweek, according to the Weather Channel (or let's at least hope it does)
 
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Thirdrail7 said:
John Bobinyec said:
On the other hand, no trains which were modified had anything to do with the area that I'm talking about.

jb
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Keep an eye on the website. That's likely to change. :ph34r:
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Looks like things are rather "fluid" at best.

There are two notices now, posted last night within 5 minutes of each other, and they are different. One of them states that the Carolinian, 79 & 80, are canceled altogether. However, the reservation system only has them canceled south of Washington.

jb
 
John Bobinyec said:
Thirdrail7 said:
John Bobinyec said:
On the other hand, no trains which were modified had anything to do with the area that I'm talking about.

jb
Click to expand...
Keep an eye on the website. That's likely to change. :ph34r:
Click to expand...
Looks like things are rather "fluid" at best.
There are two notices now, posted last night within 5 minutes of each other, and they are different. One of them states that the Carolinian, 79 & 80, are canceled altogether. However, the reservation system only has them canceled south of Washington.

jb
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That's probably because those two are attached to regionals north of D.C.
 
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What a mess. At 1700 ET Monday, 52 of yesterday hadn't even made it to Petersburg. Likewise 53 of yesterday hadn't made it to Palatka. Departures of today's 52 and 53 will be delayed by six to ten hours, I would say.
 
I am sitting on 91 just south of Petersburg. We got some unintelligible announcement that involved "manually throwing switches" and "a lot of backed up freight traffic" and then saw the conductors grab their jackets, gloves, and lanterns. We haven't moved for at least 20 minutes.

Making matters worse, we left DC just two minutes behind a delayed regional that kept us slow all the way down to Richmond. That mistake was avoidable.

This train is also absolutely packed.
 
53 of the 9th departed 9 hours 52 minutes late.
52 of the 9th departed 8 hours 8 minutes late.
Technically they're "of the 9th" but both started their runs after midnight.
At 10:00 am Tuesday, both trains were between Florence, SC and the SC-NC border.

These delays will take several more days of good running to subside.
 
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This morning (1/10) at 9 am, 52 was in the vicinity of Florence, approximately 9 hours late. Number 53 had not yet reached Florence. I don't know how late 53 was running, but probably 10 hours plus. The major delays had to do with frozen switches in the Richmond area, and perhaps other factors. This problem has grown incrementally over the past couple days. I have heard that there has been some discussion of annulment of the Auto Trains, but that has heen vetoed. I don't know how reliable that information is. Maybe just a rumor. Rumors tend to take on an unnatural life of their own in these cases.

Tom
 
That's what I was expecting to hear when I started this post. Does CSX have switch heaters? If so, how far south (on the A-line)?

Even if they do, the yard leads probably don't have them, so I wondered if freights were laying about on the mainline waiting to get into the yards.

jb
 
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