What's Delaying the Crescent?

[jebr]

I've been watching the performance of the NB Crescent lately, and it's been almost as painful to watch as my home train (the Builder.) Tonight it was three hours late into Atlanta, and it's been an hour or two late for the past few weeks.

I'm not too worried about it (I have a six hour layover built-in from my connection on the Crescent to the Card in CVS) but it would be nice to arrive for a nice layover in Charlottesville instead of nervously checking the clock to see if I'll make the connection or not.

 

[neroden]

Well, last I checked there were some severe dispatching delays just south of Birmingham. I'm not sure if there's anything *else* going wrong with the Crescent...

 

[me_little_me]

I brought this up weeks ago:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/60217-pretty-terrible-record-lately-for-northbound-crescent/

Yesterday's train was horribly late even into Tuscaloosa.

It's gotten worse and worse. We'll be taking it out of Greenville in a couple of weeks and it has been averaging 1 1/2 hours late for the last month or more with the last week being the worst.

Southbound is nowhere near as bad.

 

[tricia]

Does anyone have any idea whether/how this problem might resolve in the weeks or months ahead?

 

[neroden]

Well, maybe NS will change its dispatching (someone named "Rule G" said they're using "the Auto-Router", whatever that is, and that it doesn't do a good job). Or maybe they'll eventually build a passing siding south of Tuscaloosa. Those seem to be the two ways it might get fixed.

 

[Hytec]

An NS freight derailed near Lumberton, MS either Friday or Saturday which would have delayed, or even annulled the Crescent. From what I read It was pretty messy involving the engines and 10-15 cars in a remote densely wooded area, so could take a couple of days to clear. The engineer was taken to the hospital, though thankfully with non-life threatening injuries.

 

[Acela150]

Well, maybe NS will change its dispatching (someone named "Rule G" said they're using "the Auto-Router", whatever that is, and that it doesn't do a good job). Or maybe they'll eventually build a passing siding south of Tuscaloosa. Those seem to be the two ways it might get fixed.

While this is true. I'm not sure how much of their territory has it yet.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[Lamar]

I was on it last Thursday and Friday from NOL to WAS. We experienced some delays in Mississippi and a little outside of Tuscaloosa. It all added up to a two-hour late arrival to WAS. My train had do give an engine to one stranded in CVS.

Interestingly, the dining car was announced as not working shortly after we left NOL. Beef stew and other snacks were given for free. I was in coach, but do sleeper passengers get any kind of refund in that situation?

 

[Acela150]

Lamar, it's possible that Sleeper passengers were offered "free cafe food" with a limit of say $10-15. Just a guess..

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

There is a passing siding south of Tuscaloosa but its usually full.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

The real problem is the NS lines from Chattanooga and Atlanta combining at Birmingham and running as a mostly single track line until Meridian where the tracks spilt for Dallas and New Orleans. This is one of the busiest single track lines in the area if not the busiest. Double tracking as much as possible is the only real fix.