SWC #3, departed CHI 12/8

[pianocat]

I started tracking recent arrival/departure times for the SWC between CHI and RIV for the last several days and discovered that the #3 that left CHI on Monday Dec. 8 became 14 hours late between Williams Junction and Kingman, AZ on the 9th. Does anyone know what might have caused such a delay at that particular spot on the route? Thank you.

 

[the_traveler]

In that segment, the tracks roughly parallel old Route 66 and I believe cross the AZ Divide, but it's the BNSF trans-con which is at least double tracked. My only guess is a derailment or a locomotive breakdown.

 

[greatcats]

Hear ye! Hear ye! Here is the answer to that situation. It was the train that departed Chicago on Sat., Dec. 7. Tonight, returning from a day long drive to Page Arizona and Navajo National Monument, I stopped in Flagstaff station to visit the evening agent, my friend Carol. That train arrived Flagstaff at 11:45 am on Monday and arrived LA 9:36 pm. Cause: Bad locomotive out of Chicago. No standbys enroute, such as Albuquerque. Incidents like this certainly do not enhance the image of Amtrak, do they? If I had known about it and did not have any committments, such as choir rehearsals, I would have hopped on it for a daylight ride to LA, which ran into nighttime, anyway. ( Anybody passing through Flagstaff on Sunday come on over to my choir concert at Northern Arizona University. )

 

[JeffW]

( Anybody passing through Flagstaff on Sunday come on over to my choir concert at Northern Arizona University. )

(I'm completely off topic, here!) Great to hear of another musician on the forum--I'm a pianist that dabbled a bit with singing (I'd best stick with accompanying them). Sadly, I won't be able to make it since I'm well over halfway across the continent...

Hope all goes well at the concert!

 

[Carolyn Jane]

I'm also a chorister. Savannah Philharmonic chorus. Our Christmas concerts are this weekend, Friday and Sat. nights in the cathedral. Sorry I can't invite you, as they have been long sold out. CJ

 

[greatcats]

We are the Master Chorale of Flagstaff. #3 on time tonight. Cheers.

 

[pianocat]

Thanks for the explanation of the delay, greatcats. Glad to know it's not a regular occurrence, rather, a bad engine. I'm sure there are more of us musicians on this forum, very nice to hear about a few~! Best with the choral concert Sunday...will it all be traditional Christmas fare or some classical nuggets thrown in too?

 

[greatcats]

Our concert is called " Christmas in the Mountains, " a pops concert, which has more popular appeal. I am accustomed to doing more serious music, so this one is a bit different for me. I am also in the smaller Chamber Singers group within the larger chorale, known as the Arizona Mountain Singers.

Somewhat off topic, but getting back to trains, the Flagstaff Master Chorale will be doing concerts in May and June a tour to Bulgaria and Turkey, Brahms " Requiem " and the premiere of some Bulgarian music, between Sofia and Istanbul. We will travel by bus. Following this, I am setting up my own itinerary, with the aim of visiting northern Italy, Switzerland, and Norway. Having checked into train service out of Turkey, I find that the overnight train requires getting off the sleeper in the middle of the night at the Bulgarian border for Customs. Never mind that idea. I likely will fly Istanbul to Venice, then use trains. I like the looks of the City Night Line train from Basel, Switzerland, to Copenhagen, Denmark, which has sleeping cars. The connections to Norway through Sweden look a bit cumbersome, so am looking at the overnight ferry Copenhagen to Oslo, then perhaps train to Bergen or other places, with some type of boat trip through the Norwegian fjords. I have the plane ticket back from Oslo to Phoenix.

Also, have another concert going trip planned, ten days in Aptril to Scotland and England. I was last there in 2002. I was not too impressed with British trains at that time. Maybe there has been some improvement.

No Amtrak trips in the works at this time.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Nice Trip, You Will Really enjoy the Train from Italy to Copenhagen! (and those Border Crossings in the Middle of the Night in Cold War Era Puppet Countries Can Still be a Hassle! Good call to Skip that!) Happy Holidays, I Admire and Appreciate People with Musical and Artistic Talent Since I have None Myself! I'm a Big Fan!

 

[greatcats]

Happy Holidays to you, too, Jim! My previous experience crossing into Cold War countries was in 1995, from Vienna to Prague to Krakow in a couchette sleeper. At the border crossings the idiot leftover Communist goons would bang on the door and snap, " Passport. " We then shut the door, only to have two other officials come by demanding the same thing. I felt like throwing something at them, but that probably would have been a lousy idea. :angry2: