PO98-19 (Friday) dead engine Auburndale FL

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AmtrakWPK

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Just saw a story on the local news, then checked train status, looks like the Meteor must have been running with a single engine, which died, in Auburndale (north of Winter Haven, south of Kissimmee) today. Today was also HOT down here, low 90's with high humidity, so they had a lot of VERY uncomfortable passengers. The TV report said they bused passengers for Kissimmee and Orlando directly to those stations, but the rest of the passengers had to wait for a rescue engine, which I would guess probably came down from Sanford (SFA) but I don't know for sure.
 
Just saw a story on the local news, then checked train status, looks like the Meteor must have been running with a single engine, which died, in Auburndale (north of Winter Haven, south of Kissimmee) today. Today was also HOT down here, low 90's with high humidity, so they had a lot of VERY uncomfortable passengers. The TV report said they bused passengers for Kissimmee and Orlando directly to those stations, but the rest of the passengers had to wait for a rescue engine, which I would guess probably came down from Sanford (SFA) but I don't know for sure.
I was riding Silver Star on that day from Tampa to Raleigh and to my surprise we reached Silver Meteor before Kissimmee. They were waiting for us for 5 hours. One engine from Silver Star was given to Silver Meteor and then we were running side by side on parallel tracks, that was fun. :) The Meteor train was almost empty, it was running 6 hours late. Then at Sanford station another locomotive joined our train.

Silver Star was 2 hours late in Raleigh which was good for us (we got breakfast and slept longer ;-)
 
Thanks for the followup. Fortunately 92 DID have the two engines that they were all supposed to be running. I had assumed the rescue engine came down from Sanford but now understand 92 gave you one of theirs. I am a little surprised that they didn't just drop an engine off of 92 at the north end of the yard at the west end of Auburndale, which would have gotten 98 an engine about three-four hours sooner. The route that 92 takes is the same as 98 until just west of Auburndale, which is within perhaps a mile or so of where 98's engine died. 98 goes under a highway overpass and makes a sharp right turn eastbound through Auburndale. Instead of going under the overpass and heading east, 92 makes a sharp left and heads westbound towards Lakeland and Tampa, then in Tampa it turns around and comes back through Lakeland and then keeps coming eastbound through Auburndale.
 
Thanks for the followup. Fortunately 92 DID have the two engines that they were all supposed to be running. I had assumed the rescue engine came down from Sanford but now understand 92 gave you one of theirs. I am a little surprised that they didn't just drop an engine off of 92 at the north end of the yard at the west end of Auburndale, which would have gotten 98 an engine about three-four hours sooner. The route that 92 takes is the same as 98 until just west of Auburndale, which is within perhaps a mile or so of where 98's engine died. 98 goes under a highway overpass and makes a sharp right turn eastbound through Auburndale. Instead of going under the overpass and heading east, 92 makes a sharp left and heads westbound towards Lakeland and Tampa, then in Tampa it turns around and comes back through Lakeland and then keeps coming eastbound through Auburndale.

Maybe they didn't have the crew to do that
 
I thought the 97/98 ran with two engines. :huh: When a consist is put together on a LD train (25+ hours), why would they put on one engine and take the chance that it's going to run the entire trip without breaking down? If 97/98 are running a baggage car, diner, 3 viewliners, cafe and 4 coaches would that constitute the two engines? Less cars in the consist = 1 engine or more cars in the consist = 2 engines??? How does Amtrak determine whether to run one or two engines?
 
According to Amtrak's agreement with CSX to keep the train on time Amtrak is supposed to run two engines on the train. However, for many many years these trains ran with only one engine. One engine can handle the train, however you get much better acceleration and are less prone to stranding failures with two engines. However, if Ivy City or Hialeah do not have enough engines that are road worthy they are forced to send it out with just one unit. There are a number of things that can sideline a unit, way too many to list here. If there's three engines in Hialeah that can be sent out on a given day, they'll send 98 out with one engine because if it fails 92 will eventually catch up with it to drop one of its units to rescue the train.
 
According to Amtrak's agreement with CSX to keep the train on time Amtrak is supposed to run two engines on the train. However, for many many years these trains ran with only one engine. One engine can handle the train, however you get much better acceleration and are less prone to stranding failures with two engines. However, if Ivy City or Hialeah do not have enough engines that are road worthy they are forced to send it out with just one unit. There are a number of things that can sideline a unit, way too many to list here. If there's three engines in Hialeah that can be sent out on a given day, they'll send 98 out with one engine because if it fails 92 will eventually catch up with it to drop one of its units to rescue the train.
My husband's reply was "great"! :rolleyes: On the 97 to WPB, at which stop do they add the engine(s) out of NYP? I can see my huband jumping off the train to check! :rolleyes: He's more concerned with the trip going down than coming back.
 
They almost always change to diesels at Washington D.C. On occaision they change at Philadelphia, but that hasn't been done regularly in years.
 
Wendy and I were on 91 and 98 today and saw 97 (98 beat 97 to ORL by about 30 seconds) and all three trains were running with two engines. Didn't see 92, but it usually has two.

Also, both ORL and WPK now have Quik Trak machines, although WPK's was out of service.
 
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Wendy and I were on 91 and 98 today and saw 97 (98 beat 97 to ORL by about 30 seconds) and all three trains were running with two engines. Didn't see 92, but it usually has two.Also, both ORL and WPK now have Quik Trak machines, although WPK's was out of service.
Happy to hear that 97/98 were running with two engines. :) Hopefully, during Thanksgiving week, they'll run with two. :)
 
Thanks for the followup. Fortunately 92 DID have the two engines that they were all supposed to be running. I had assumed the rescue engine came down from Sanford but now understand 92 gave you one of theirs. I am a little surprised that they didn't just drop an engine off of 92 at the north end of the yard at the west end of Auburndale, which would have gotten 98 an engine about three-four hours sooner. The route that 92 takes is the same as 98 until just west of Auburndale, which is within perhaps a mile or so of where 98's engine died. 98 goes under a highway overpass and makes a sharp right turn eastbound through Auburndale. Instead of going under the overpass and heading east, 92 makes a sharp left and heads westbound towards Lakeland and Tampa, then in Tampa it turns around and comes back through Lakeland and then keeps coming eastbound through Auburndale.
If I could come back to this thread and ask how the 91/92 services go about reversing or turning around at Tampa.

I can understand the engine(s) running around to change ends, however wouldn't the carriages(seats) then face the opposite direction of travel for the remainder of the trip?
 
Thanks for the followup. Fortunately 92 DID have the two engines that they were all supposed to be running. I had assumed the rescue engine came down from Sanford but now understand 92 gave you one of theirs. I am a little surprised that they didn't just drop an engine off of 92 at the north end of the yard at the west end of Auburndale, which would have gotten 98 an engine about three-four hours sooner. The route that 92 takes is the same as 98 until just west of Auburndale, which is within perhaps a mile or so of where 98's engine died. 98 goes under a highway overpass and makes a sharp right turn eastbound through Auburndale. Instead of going under the overpass and heading east, 92 makes a sharp left and heads westbound towards Lakeland and Tampa, then in Tampa it turns around and comes back through Lakeland and then keeps coming eastbound through Auburndale.
If I could come back to this thread and ask how the 91/92 services go about reversing or turning around at Tampa.

I can understand the engine(s) running around to change ends, however wouldn't the carriages(seats) then face the opposite direction of travel for the remainder of the trip?
Amtrak turns the entire train on a wye first, and then backs into the Tampa station. That way when it's time to leave, they just pull straight out and go on their merry way. By doing things that way there is no need to uncouple an engine and run it around the train, or worry about the seats all facing backwards for any length of time. They are backwards for the 5 or 10 minutes that it takes to back into the station, but otherwise face forward for the rest of the entire journey.
 
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If I could come back to this thread and ask how the 91/92 services go about reversing or turning around at Tampa.

I can understand the engine(s) running around to change ends, however wouldn't the carriages(seats) then face the opposite direction of travel for the remainder of the trip?
Amtrak turns the entire train on a wye first, and then backs into the Tampa station. That way when it's time to leave, they just pull straight out and go on their merry way. By doing things that way there is no need to uncouple an engine and run it around the train, or worry about the seats all facing backwards for any length of time. They are backwards for the 5 or 10 minutes that it takes to back into the station, but otherwise face forward for the rest of the entire journey.
Thanks for the information Alan. All makes sense to me now.

-adam
 
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