Tropical storm Andrea, Will it stop the train?

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TraneMan

Conductor
Joined
Mar 16, 2008
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1,147
Location
Rochester, MN
Just watching The Weather Channel, and see the storm is heading our way.. We are boarding on Silver Meteror in Orlando on Thursday afternoon, and it looks like the storm may be follow is up to DC.

This something I have not done before in a storm like this!
 
It will probably all depend on the flooding. If there's a lot of flooding, there may be issues, but there might not be a lot of flooding.
 
Just watching The Weather Channel, and see the storm is heading our way.. We are boarding on Silver Meteror in Orlando on Thursday afternoon, and it looks like the storm may be follow is up to DC.
This something I have not done before in a storm like this!
If the storm does indeed head your way and chase you up the coast, the good news is that it won't develop into a hurricane.

As someone mentioned it is an extremely wet storm and could cause flooding, but you will have passed through the area before any real flooding is likely.

But you can say that you survived the first hurricane of the year which should impress people in Rochester and may even be good for a few beers ;) You never know.

--

Bud
 
We have seen some squalls come through with winds of 35 - 40 and we're a long way east of the center, so it is a big wet storm and should not be trivialized yet.

the first hurricane of the year
Tropical Storm.

Virtually no chance she turns into a hurricane.
We're working the bar for drinks, remember? It was the storm of the Century! Tipped over everything but the Locomotive!! We were luck to get out alive, I tell ya!!!

--

Bud
 
Nah, just lots of rain. I suppose there might be some flooding, but nothing large-scale. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if NHC discontinues advisories on Andrea tomorrow.
 
There are tornado watches in Central Florida this (Thursday) morning. I think at the very least, it will be a very wet day today.
 
One other factor to take into account is the winds from the storm. Once the winds exceed 50 MPH, the RRs (in this case, CSX and possibly the CFRC/SunRail) have to start removing crossing gate arms at road crossings. They do this so the gate arms don't turn into dangerous projectiles if the wind rips them off the gate mechanisms.

Once the arms are removed from the gates, trains have to stop at each crossing and have a crewmember flag traffic at the crossing until the train moves across. This process, repeated at every crossing, takes so much time that it's nearly impossible to operate anywhere near to on-time.

The good news is that I have not seen any public information from Amtrak or CSX regarding any curtailments, shutdowns, or service disruptions. Your trip should be fine, and I hope it's a great one!
 
The winds aren't really forcast to get all that crazy. But you are looking at up to 8 inches of rain. It's Thursday morning before the OP leaves and much of the already-sea-level-and-saturated route between ORL and JAX has been soaked, and expecting more. Quite frankly, I find that the flooding will be more of an issue than the winds in this storm.

And, correct - this isn't a hurricane. It's the first named tropical storm. It actually started as a Pacific storm that came across Mexico and regenerated in the Gulf of Mexico.

Back to TraneMan... Be vigilent - keep checking with Amtrak or checking the website. Of course, if there is a major service disruption, you should be getting a call...
 
Just woke up, and see it only light rain shower outside..

I've been keeping an eye on Amtrak's web page, and took my phone out of silent mold.
 
I'm in Pinellas County (ST Pete/Clearwater) & currently sitting on my carport (covered) eating breakfast. It's raining pretty darn hard but not very windy!
 
I know Tri-Rail greatly reduces speeds on the South Florida Rail Corridor anytime there is a flood advisory (which thankfully, we do not have this morning). This would normally impact Amtrak.

Even with the couple tornadoes we had earlier this morning, it looks like Tri-Rail is running on-time, and #98 is as well (so far).
 
The NWS issued a Tropical Storm Warning at 06:04 this morning covering an area stretching from Savannah south through Jacksonville to Palatka.

Rainfall amounts of 3" to 6" are expected along with 35-45 MPH wind gusts and storm tides of 1'-2' above normal, plus isolated tornadoes.
 
Tornado watch extended to 10pm in Central Florida. However, it is not raining quite as hard RIGHT now.

BTW, almost everything gets moldy in Florida. :giggle:

Traneman, I hope you enjoy your trip on the Meteor. It looks like it is more or less on time.
 
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TraneMan's post reminded me of that English electro-rock band of the 80's, DEPECHE MOLD!

Carrying on in wet Ocala, FL.
 
I've been keeping an eye on Amtrak's web page, and took my phone out of silent mold.
Boy, you must not use your phone very much if its growing mold. :eek:

:lol: :lol:
But he's in FL with a tropical storm...
I get particularly worried about silent mold. Silent but deadly mold.

Note: 98 left 38 minutes late today. Traneman will sure be in for a ride! I think most of the wind will be pushing the train. To bad it won't help with their ground speed! :eek:
 
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This looks to be a very wet storm. It has downpoured here for a week while the storm was forming. It is still raining despite the fact that the storm center is over 300 Miles to our north.

Expectations are for 3 to 6 inches of rain along the path of the storm with isolated rainfall amounts of up to 10 inches. I don't know if Amtrak is prone to flooding at these levels of rain, but I suspect that some areas will be as soggy as we are now.

--

Bud
 
we had 3+ inches of rain in Orlando today.
 
Just woke up, and see it only light rain shower outside..
I've been keeping an eye on Amtrak's web page, and took my phone out of silent mold.
If it is especially wet outside, you might indeed get mold on your phone.
 
Anderson says that he's on 97, and that it's "pouring." They lost 2+ hours at RVR due to a derailment south of them, and it's now 3+ hours late.
 
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Anderson says that he's on 97, and that it's "pouring." They lost 2+ hours at RVR due to a derailment south of them, and it's now 3+ hours late.
Per the other thread, it might have been a trespasser rather than a derailment. Either way, if this rain was in the NW, it would be mud slide, not trespasser. :eek:
 
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