Sunday’s southbound Starlight departed Eugene 15 minutes late. Less than an hour later, near Oakridge on its climb into the mountains at 6:19 p.m., the lead locomotive struck a tree that had fallen across the tracks and became disabled. The train continued to have head end power for heat and light. Closed highways made evacuation impossible.
The plan was to pull the Starlight back to Eugene, but one of the 184 stranded passengers told CNN that according to an announcement from Amtrak personnel, a UP plow train needed 11 hours to clear 9 miles of track on Monday.
The Starlight was stocked for another day of dining car and cafe car meals and all long distance trains always carry an emergency supply of food, usually beef stew. According to Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari, passengers were given complimentary meals throughout the day Monday, but by Tuesday morning passengers told news outlets that food had run out. The rescue locomotive arrived overnight Monday and by early Tuesday morning had coupled on to the rear and is pulling the train back to Eugene
“We sincerely regret the extended delay customers on the southbound Coast Starlight experienced due to extreme weather issues while traveling with Amtrak. With more than a foot of heavy snow and numerous trees blocking the track, we made every decision in the best interest of the safety of our customers during the unfortunate sequence of events. With local power outages and blocked roads, it was decided the safest place for our customers was to remain on the train where we were able to provide food, heat, electricity and toilets,” Amtrak Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Scot Naparstek tells Trains News Wire. “Amtrak crews worked with local resources and the train is now enroute north to Eugene, Oregon. We will be contacting customers to provide refunds and other compensation as appropriate.”
The Coast Starlight will operate Tuesday and Wednesday only between Los Angeles and Sacramento and Amtrak Cascades trains have been cancelled south of Portland to Eugene through Thursday. However, a Tuesday fire on BNSF Railway’s Portland, Ore., Columbia River bridge casts doubt on the return of the entire route.
Looks like the train has arrived! pic.twitter.com/Ik5A1h6BQe
— Audrey Weil (@audreytweil) February 26, 2019
when you let lawyers and Beano counters run the line this is the crap that happens. I’ll bet not ONE manager had the ball to make a decision to help the train after the 1st report came in because they let the idiots up in the office make the call to as to protect
their jobs.
Heard one commentator on news this morning blame this on Washington and poor infrastructure instead of a snowstorm
Your comment has as much validity as your name.
I can’t believe Amtrak was able to run the engines for two days to keep HEP heat and light working! Congrats on that, Amtrak.
Something that has bothered me all my life is why so many people think they have solved life’s problems as long as they can BLAME someone. When you screw up, hasn’t it always given you comfort when a friend or loved one has said “If you’d only done so and so, this wouldn’t have happened.” One of the reasons I think I was divorced from my first wife is that I imagined myself lying in the street after being hit by a car, with her berating me for not looking both ways. I’ve tried not to live my life that way. Sorry, reading these posts touched a nerve.
Am I the only old enough to remember this? http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Stranded_Streamliner_1952/
But I’m sure we’ll see an enterprising lawyer — or two or three — suing at least Amtrak, the State of Oregon, Union Pacific, the train crew, the dispatcher, and whoever else they can think of.
Gary…well, we could always blame the snowstorm on Amtrak, and there would be precedent for doing so. I have heard from several sources over the years that the big Japanese earthquake of … 2011, was it? was due to the nuclear reactors at Fukushima.
People believe what they want to believe, and oftentimes this belief is impervious to reason. Just shows to go ya…
The above comments are general in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn lawyer.