J
Jon Parker
Guest
I'm scheduled for train 5 from CHI to EMY on JULY 25th...should i be worried?
No, unless there are more heavy thunderstorms over the Mississippi River watershed (upper areas).I'm scheduled for train 5 from CHI to EMY on JULY 25th...should i be worried?
We were on the eastbound #4 last Wednesday-Thursday and had the bussing from KC to Chicago. It took closer to 9 hours for the journey. Not fun, but it got us there.I would bu curious to hear from someone who has actually completed this journey in the last week. Anyone?
I presume the SWC resume was last Saturday, which I don't believe happened. Fingers crossed for this Thursday... one way or the other I will get to Chicago!AMTRAK TO RESUME
Amtrak said Thursday it will resume service Saturday to Fort Madison on its Southwest Chief passenger train, operating between Chicago and Los Angeles.
Service was suspended Tuesday.
Amtrak service remains halted between Chicago and Denver on the long-distance California Zephyr train. The shutdown means there is no passenger service at Iowa stops in Burlington, Mount Pleasant, Ottumwa, Osceola and Creston. The Zephyr's service was suspended June 13 because of flooding on the BNSF Railway route in Iowa.
We arrived into KC just about on time. There were several busses that left around 8:00 AM. Our did not get away until 9:30 because we were waiting for all the checked luggage. We arrived in Boston around 7:00 pm. We made only one stop which was for dinner at McDonalds. We stopped maybe 45 minutes.Thanks for letting me know. What time did the train pull into Kansas City and roughly what time did the bus depart Chicago bound? Was it direct also?
Found this updated article as of June 20th:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs...200370/0/NEWS04
I presume the SWC resume was last Saturday, which I don't believe happened. Fingers crossed for this Thursday... one way or the other I will get to Chicago!AMTRAK TO RESUME
Amtrak said Thursday it will resume service Saturday to Fort Madison on its Southwest Chief passenger train, operating between Chicago and Los Angeles.
Service was suspended Tuesday.
Amtrak service remains halted between Chicago and Denver on the long-distance California Zephyr train. The shutdown means there is no passenger service at Iowa stops in Burlington, Mount Pleasant, Ottumwa, Osceola and Creston. The Zephyr's service was suspended June 13 because of flooding on the BNSF Railway route in Iowa.
This is good news for anyone using the SWC from LA to Chicago.Southwest Chief, Empire Builder and California Zephyr Midwest Flooding Disruption Update
June 24, 2008
8:00 am CDT
Amtrak has been notified by BNSF Railway it has restored service through the affected areas on the Los Angeles-Chicago route of the Amtrak Southwest Chief, effective June 24. However, BNSF and Canadian Pacific (CP) railways are still working to restore passenger train service on two other routes disrupted due to flooding on the Mississippi River and its tributaries in Iowa and Wisconsin.
BNSF and CP host these trains on tracks they own, maintain and dispatch. Amtrak is planning to operate limited alternate transportation through the affected areas for these trains until further notice, while hoping to restore rail service soon.
Through June 27, passengers are urged to call Amtrak at 800-USA-RAIL if they have travel plans through the affected areas of the San Francisco Bay-Chicago route of the Amtrak California Zephyr and the Seattle/Portland-Chicago route of the Amtrak Empire Builder.
Those passengers with telephone contact information in their reservations are being called by Amtrak and offered options including future travel dates.
Southwest Chief, Trains 3 & 4
Service by the Southwest Chief between Kansas City and Chicago, suspended since June 17 due to flooding on the BNSF Railway route in Iowa, is restored, with the exception of the Fort Madison, Iowa, station.
Passengers ticketed at that stop are being offered travel at other Amtrak stations in LaPlata, Mo., or Galesburg, Ill., or on other Amtrak trains, until the station can reopen following the flooding.
I was using AT&T's Edge network when I was posting updates from the Empire Builder. It was a bit dodgy, and completely unavailable for much of Montana, North Dakota, and (the detour through) western Illinois, which is to say for most of the run it was either not there at all or extreeeeeeeeeeeemely slow. East of the Mississippi it seems to work great. I've used it on the NEC between NYP and WAS, the CL from WAS to CHI, and the LSL from CHI to NYP. Likewise great on the Cascades between PDX and SEA and on the EB PDX to SPK.I have AT&T and other than on the EB, I've had pretty good results with getting on the internet while on Amtrak. I can't stay on all the time, but always around most cities and even sometimes in the rural areas. I was online for well over an hour last night on the Auto Train while running through North Carolina.
So I've got no complaints about AT&T.
And beware:In regards to the CZ, I just got this information from a gentleman at BNSF
"Trackage just east of Burlington, Iowa, is still under water; we won’t be able to estimate a re-opening time until the water recedes and we’re able to assess the damage. Wish I could be more definite, but that’s just not possible given present conditions"
Sounds to me Amtrak is being very optomistic to think things will be back to normal by next week
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/flood-railroad-062608As heavy vehicles roared in the background Wednesday, workers from R.J. Corman Railroad Group unloaded tons of rock and large sections of railroad wood ties and readied equipment at a staging area at the BNSF Railway railyard in Burlington.
Since last week, about 50 employees from Corman have camped out in Burlington as they worked to repair railroad tracks damaged by flooding from a Mississippi River that reached record high levels.
Most likely because of freight traffic congestion. With the BNSF line closed, the UP line is probably grid-locked....Regarding the California Zephyr, my local Amtrak agent told me today that it might be running again by July 3... but also mentioned it's more likely to be at least 2 weeks out. I wonder why they can't detour it over the Union Pacific since their line has been active now for a week?
In the case of my train last week, we were delayed waiting for the bus to arrive from Omaha.Also, why have the California Zephyr be even later?
The weather forecast here in southern Wisconsin is for more rain later today (Friday 6/27/2008) and again on Saturday. I very much doubt that the normal route will be open by Sunday.I'm scheduled to arrive in CHI on the Lake Shore Limited on Sunday 6/29 and will be leaving for Montana on that same day via the Empire Builder. Should I have any hope that the line (or at least the BNSF detour) will be open by Sunday?
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