Amtrak has added to its previously announced list of storm-related cancellations for today (Thursday, Feb. 3; see “Winter storm brings cancellations …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 2, 2022), while also modifying schedules for trains in New England today and Friday and adding one Friday cancellation in the Midwes
Added to the previously list of cancellations are Thursday’s City of New Orleans departures from both Chicago and New Orleans, and the Oklahoma City-Fort Worth, Texas Heartland Flyer. Changes include the Vermonter, which Thursday and Friday will terminate or originate in New Haven, Conn., and the Ethan Allen Express, which will terminate in Albany, N.Y., Thursday and originate there on Friday.
One cancellation has been announced for Friday: the eastbound Missouri River Runner between Kansas City, Mo., and St. Louis.
Check this advisory on the Amtrak website for details and updates.
When I lived in Japan, there are northern areas where snowfall is plentiful, yet JR Rail operates trains with little or no difficulty, the employees seem to go over and beyond to keep trains running, don’t get me wrong, sometimes rail service is disrupted, but only temporary, overall the train workers there care deeply about their jobs when if a train is late by a minute, the railroad places a full page ad apologizing to riders.
Great photo!!
Back in the 1940’s and 1950’s my great grandfather was the hostler at a small terminal. Getting to work everyday day involved walking down the driveway, across the street, past the station and across the mainline and he was at work. I suspect the few employees left today generally don’t live near the tracks anymore. I also think weather is a convenient excuse to cancel trains they don’t really care about for a few days. I live within earshot of the mainline and every time the Crescent is cancelled due weather the NS freights continue to roll through seemingly unaffected.
Over the past week there have been several enlightening comments (see above) on the issue of cancellations — that railroads no longer have enough boots on the ground to keep running in the snow or in other adverse events.
To run a railroad, you need people where the trains are running. Years ago in TRAINS MAGAZINE it was reported that CSX couldn’t run trains in Michigan because the dispatching center was closed due to a hurricane — in Jacksonville, Florida. In contrast, another TRAINS article claimed that BNSF had a contingency plan in place to dispatch out of Topeka if anything happened to the dispatch center in North Fort Worth.
On another of today’s topics, people wonder if the railroads can pick up customers in Canada while the truckers demonstrate in Ottawa. Really? Does anyone actually think that CNR and CPR have enough employees to implement such a policy? Shippers don’t talk to marketing people, because there are no marketing people. Shippers talk to a web site.
This has now gone way too far in terms of cancellations for essentially any snow event. Obviously the “all weather mode” is no more–but Amtrak by its inability to operate its system raises real questions about our need to sustain it. Amtrak is useless if it can’t find a way to run in the snow.
The company was badly embarrassed by the fallen trees/ice blockade of the CRESCENT this winter just north of Lynchburg–but that debacle was manifoldly compounded by the failure of Amtrak management to respond for many hours by moving the train to a point where it could be accessed and by failing to get food and beverages on-board.
With the diner withdrawn from the route and the lounge car down to only a one person staff I’m sure it was challenging to respond, but if the crew felt empowered to serve their riders someone could have made the needed calls to Subway, or KFC or whatever. Who knows–for 200+ meals they might even have been willing to deliver.
As far as I’ve heard, there has been absolutely no blow back for that Crescent debacle on Mr. Gardner and his management “team”. And no one seems to care that Nos.19&20 are operating without a diner. Or that Nos. 21&22 have had their Sightseer Lounge withdrawn. Regarding the latter, a poster at Trainorders had the letter in his post he received from Amtrak on his complaint on the Lounge disappearance. It was nothing but a slimy double-talk dodge. I don’t know how long this stuff can go on. The problem is that no one in local or federal government rides. FRA administrator Amit Bose, another of “Corridor Joe’s” all-stars went to CHI a few months ago, gave a pep talk in the CUS Great Hall citing up all the great things that would be coming to the Chicago Hub with the passage of the IIJA. But he didn’t ride the train to get there nor did he on his return. But I think that’s his job to ride on such trips. It’s “Trains for thee but not for me” from these folks. Too bad he wasn’t on the Crescent on that snowbound trip or on the #48-31 that departed CHI with no cafe car.
Gee, MARK, are we ready to write off LDs on Amtrak and VIA? In effect I already have. Between 1972 and 1986, if I pieced together my LD Amtrak and VIA trips in all directions from my homes in Michigan or Wisconsin, that would be big chunks of the two countries. Since 1986, I can’t remember any LD Amtrak, and I can’t recall a single kilometer on VIA, either corridor or LD.
The most part recent of that period, the past 12 years since January of 2010, even my corridor journeys have contracted to just two routes, Milwaukee to Chicago, and Chicago to Effingham.
Joey and Pete have, to pick a number, about one year to save the LD’s. If Joey and Pete don’t act within a year, it won’t matter that there’s no food service on 48/49/448/449, because those trains won’t exist.
Look for more cancellations, might rain next week.
I remember riding the train from New York to Villanova PA back in a snow storm in 1971. When I got off the train there was at least a foot of snow on the ground with the wind blowing. The MP-54 Paoli Local just kept humming along with no problems and the GG-1 powered express just flew by. Boy have times changed.
Amtrak is (surprise surprise) being run like an airline by airlne execs. They have for many years cancelled multitudes of flights when any adverse weather threatened. Some of us are old enough to remember when trains were the default transportation mode in bad weather. Some railroads even advertised it.
AMTRAK — more and more irrelevant. In fairness, though, I suspect a lot of the difficulty in keeping trains running in bad weather is due to drastic reduction in field personnel — the people who kept the switches from freezing, who took the plow trains out. Also, I suspect it is due to railroad reliance on road vehicles for crew to get to starting points and to relieve crews who have run out of hours.
Yes James. I live in northwest New Jersey. The old Erie- Lackawanna had something like a 97% on time record. Still remember seeing the fires on the switch heaters and crews cleaning platforms and flange way at road crossings. I was at the end of the electrified line. The old Edison electric’s were kept in the yard here between runs an they may have been old but were out in all kinds weather earning there keep an doing it ON TIME!