abqdave
Train Attendant
BNSF freight train breaks a wheel causing a 2 hour delay for the SW Chief as it is stuck in ABQ.
It's funny how this calm description of a minor derailment (http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/environment/e...0812031813_rev1) is so different than what it was like to be there in person.
It was chaos and mass confusion in the Alvarado Transit Center downtown on my commute home tonight...there were hundreds of people gathered in front of and all over the station as the southbound NM Rail Runner and the SW Chief were still sitting there (at about 5:30pm MST). I am only in the station 10 minutes between bus route transfers so could only get fleeting details, but as I got off my bus and right into a crowd...with a woman yelling into her cell phone that a Rail Runner train in the south valley derailed and is blocking the track south of ABQ. Pushed through to where I was going to take a Rapid Ride bus (which are 60' articulated buses) with another unusually large crowd waiting, and the bus not arriving on time (which is very unusual). Up the street at the other end of the station, a Rapid Ride bus turns around in the station (which they never do) and what turns out to be Rail Runner passengers in a very long line start boarding where there is not a stop (this also never happens, they always only stop at special stations). I ask what is going on, a different person says the Rail Runner broke down and they are waiting for more buses to be taken south to Los Lunas and Belen. Ditched waiting for the Rapid Ride and took my usual bus home, if I had missed it I would have had to wait 20 minutes for the next one.
It just goes to show...rumors are wrong (both women were wrong about the train with the problem being a Rail Runner, both also wrong about what the problem was). It also shows the problems caused by lack of communication by transit officials...rail passengers didn't know what was happening and that they would be bused, unless they were lucky enough to stumble on a fellow passenger who found out. It also impacted us who use the city bus system...apparently the Rapid Ride buses were taken out of normal service, which made the commute home slower for lots of bus riders.
So much for the impression left by that calm media report. I also am not sure the news was correct about the SW Chief...if the BNSF train broke down south of ABQ, and the Chief was already in the yard, why would that have caused a delay to it if it was headed to Chicago?
It's funny how this calm description of a minor derailment (http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/environment/e...0812031813_rev1) is so different than what it was like to be there in person.
It was chaos and mass confusion in the Alvarado Transit Center downtown on my commute home tonight...there were hundreds of people gathered in front of and all over the station as the southbound NM Rail Runner and the SW Chief were still sitting there (at about 5:30pm MST). I am only in the station 10 minutes between bus route transfers so could only get fleeting details, but as I got off my bus and right into a crowd...with a woman yelling into her cell phone that a Rail Runner train in the south valley derailed and is blocking the track south of ABQ. Pushed through to where I was going to take a Rapid Ride bus (which are 60' articulated buses) with another unusually large crowd waiting, and the bus not arriving on time (which is very unusual). Up the street at the other end of the station, a Rapid Ride bus turns around in the station (which they never do) and what turns out to be Rail Runner passengers in a very long line start boarding where there is not a stop (this also never happens, they always only stop at special stations). I ask what is going on, a different person says the Rail Runner broke down and they are waiting for more buses to be taken south to Los Lunas and Belen. Ditched waiting for the Rapid Ride and took my usual bus home, if I had missed it I would have had to wait 20 minutes for the next one.
It just goes to show...rumors are wrong (both women were wrong about the train with the problem being a Rail Runner, both also wrong about what the problem was). It also shows the problems caused by lack of communication by transit officials...rail passengers didn't know what was happening and that they would be bused, unless they were lucky enough to stumble on a fellow passenger who found out. It also impacted us who use the city bus system...apparently the Rapid Ride buses were taken out of normal service, which made the commute home slower for lots of bus riders.
So much for the impression left by that calm media report. I also am not sure the news was correct about the SW Chief...if the BNSF train broke down south of ABQ, and the Chief was already in the yard, why would that have caused a delay to it if it was headed to Chicago?
Last edited by a moderator:
