Pacific Surfliner Breakdown Saturday 8/21/10

[hmy1]

Was anybody on the north-bound Pacific Surfliner trains this past Saturday night 8/21? I was south-bound on 590 when we encountered what appeared to be a combined 587/591 just south of San Juan Capistrano. Our conductor said that they were having mechanical problems and had to back out of the station for us to pass. Man, a double mechanical.

Checking train status online, it looks like they made it to Union Station with 595. That sucks for those on 587 -- a 5 1/2 hour trip that should have been 2 1/2 hours.

 

[sportbiker]

I wasn't on the recent one, but I was on a similar clusterf*** a couple of years ago in which a one hour trip from Irvine to LAUS turned into a three hour marathon. Of course, that was on a day when I was on a very tight schedule in L.A., so the delay was like throwing not a monkey wrench but the entire tool kit into my plans! It was not a train (two trains, actually) filled with happy campers, I'll tell you that. :blink:

 

[LA Resident]

Was anybody on the north-bound Pacific Surfliner trains this past Saturday night 8/21? I was south-bound on 590 when we encountered what appeared to be a combined 587/591 just south of San Juan Capistrano. Our conductor said that they were having mechanical problems and had to back out of the station for us to pass. Man, a double mechanical.

Checking train status online, it looks like they made it to Union Station with 595. That sucks for those on 587 -- a 5 1/2 hour trip that should have been 2 1/2 hours.

Just be glad that there are so many Surfliner trains--almost every hour during certain time periods--that you aren't stuck for that long a time. On most Amtrak routes, you'd be stuck for a day or bused after a long, long wait.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Just be glad that there are so many Surfliner trains--almost every hour during certain time periods--that you aren't stuck for that long a time.

That's not 100% true. There was a case where a surfiner or pacific surfliner broke down and passengers were stranded for HOURS while other trains of the same type just went by over and over. Someone dropped the ball in that case.

 

[LA Resident]

Just be glad that there are so many Surfliner trains--almost every hour during certain time periods--that you aren't stuck for that long a time.

That's not 100% true. There was a case where a surfiner or pacific surfliner broke down and passengers were stranded for HOURS while other trains of the same type just went by over and over. Someone dropped the ball in that case.

When was this? It's hard to understand as much of the line is single-track and trains could not simply run around a stalled consist.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Just be glad that there are so many Surfliner trains--almost every hour during certain time periods--that you aren't stuck for that long a time.

That's not 100% true. There was a case where a surfiner or pacific surfliner broke down and passengers were stranded for HOURS while other trains of the same type just went by over and over. Someone dropped the ball in that case.

When was this? It's hard to understand as much of the line is single-track and trains could not simply run around a stalled consist.

It happened back in 2009. the pacific surfliner was stranded for 8 hours.

http://laist.com/2009/10/26/amtrak_leaves_passengers_stranded_o.php

 

[LA Resident]

Just be glad that there are so many Surfliner trains--almost every hour during certain time periods--that you aren't stuck for that long a time.

That's not 100% true. There was a case where a surfiner or pacific surfliner broke down and passengers were stranded for HOURS while other trains of the same type just went by over and over. Someone dropped the ball in that case.

When was this? It's hard to understand as much of the line is single-track and trains could not simply run around a stalled consist.

It happened back in 2009. the pacific surfliner was stranded for 8 hours.

http://laist.com/2009/10/26/amtrak_leaves_passengers_stranded_o.php

Thanks for finding the posting in response to my question.

Although the posting is from a blog, not a media site, I won't act the petulant type, like some on this forum who pooh-pooh any story they don't like and go about trashing the media instead and ignoring the larger issue.

The incident, I believe, is a rare case of Amtrak/Caltrans obviously screwing up re the Surfliner. Hard to understand, but the fact that there are no postings anywhere to contradict the blog recital makes me think it indeed happened close to how it's described.

Perhaps in response to this and other engine breakdowns--I had to wait for the next train to push us along to San Diego when we broke down in Oceanside once--Amtrak now stations a spare locomotive in San Diego to speed up response times when for whatever reason the next train isn't an alternative. (Before, an engine had to be sent from LA no matter where the breakdown occurred.)

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Just be glad that there are so many Surfliner trains--almost every hour during certain time periods--that you aren't stuck for that long a time.

That's not 100% true. There was a case where a surfiner or pacific surfliner broke down and passengers were stranded for HOURS while other trains of the same type just went by over and over. Someone dropped the ball in that case.

When was this? It's hard to understand as much of the line is single-track and trains could not simply run around a stalled consist.

It happened back in 2009. the pacific surfliner was stranded for 8 hours.

http://laist.com/2009/10/26/amtrak_leaves_passengers_stranded_o.php

Thanks for finding the posting in response to my question.

Although the posting is from a blog, not a media site, I won't act the petulant type, like some on this forum who pooh-pooh any story they don't like and go about trashing the media instead and ignoring the larger issue.

The incident, I believe, is a rare case of Amtrak/Caltrans obviously screwing up re the Surfliner. Hard to understand, but the fact that there are no postings anywhere to contradict the blog recital makes me think it indeed happened close to how it's described.

Perhaps in response to this and other engine breakdowns--I had to wait for the next train to push us along to San Diego when we broke down in Oceanside once--Amtrak now stations a spare locomotive in San Diego to speed up response times when for whatever reason the next train isn't an alternative. (Before, an engine had to be sent from LA no matter where the breakdown occurred.)

yeah all sources for this incident are from blogs Google is not showing any news sites. I think i learned about this incident on this forum lets see if i can find the thread.

 

[attendant]

Was anybody on the north-bound Pacific Surfliner trains this past Saturday night 8/21? I was south-bound on 590 when we encountered what appeared to be a combined 587/591 just south of San Juan Capistrano. Our conductor said that they were having mechanical problems and had to back out of the station for us to pass. Man, a double mechanical.

Checking train status online, it looks like they made it to Union Station with 595. That sucks for those on 587 -- a 5 1/2 hour trip that should have been 2 1/2 hours.

Are there AMTRAK cafe Attendants aboard the Pacific Surfliner?

 

[Trogdor]

Are there AMTRAK cafe Attendants aboard the Pacific Surfliner?

Yes, and why must you revive a year-old thread about a mechanical breakdown to ask that question?