CHICAGO — Amtrak has cancelled Empire Builder departures in both directions scheduled for today (Feb. 15, 2025), as well as the eastbound Borealis and one westbound Wolverine. Two Northeast Corridor trains have also been cancelled.
The reasons for the cancellations differ. According to posts on the Amtrak Alerts feed on X.com, the Empire Builder slated to depart Chicago at 3:05 p.m., and the sections of the eastbound Builder scheduled to leave Portland, Ore, at 4:45 p.m. and Seattle at 4:55 p.m., have been cancelled because of “impending severe weather conditions.” The eastbound Borealis, slated to leave St. Paul, Minn., at 11:50 a.m. CT, is cancelled because of “equipment/mechanical issues,” while Wolverine No. 351, the 5:43 a.m. departure from Pontiac, Mich., was cancelled because of “equipment unavailability.”
On the Northeast Corridor, Acela No. 2251, a 7:40 a.m. departure from Boston for Washington was cancelled because of “equipment unavailability,” as was the New York-Philadephia portion of Northeast Regional train No. 155. These cancellations followed communications issues that halted all traffic in and out of New York Penn Station beginning about 9 p.m. ET on Friday. Those problems were reported resolved by about 12:30 a.m., although with residual delays of up to two hours, according to the Amtrak Northeast feed on X.com.
The track separation at Brookfield/Elm Grove has long been a photo favorite. Probably been bi-directional signaled for a century.
A church, a mosque, a large park, business, a school, homes, a bike path, and a small cemetery between the tracks.
I have seen passenger trains use either track but as far as I can know freights keep to the right.
A couple of days ago, I saw Superliners on the Borealis. Maybe ‘cuz the Empire Builder wasn’t running.
Maybe admit reality and just run Memorial Day to Labor Day, equipment and weather permitting. Double check with some tourist railroads to make sure.
That doesn’t work for the Adirondack. It gets cancelled for the entire summer.
Can’t say I blame them if you look at the temp forcasts for Minot & Havre -20 to 30’s below Sunday night through Wed that old equipment & Siemens delicate equipment would never make it. I’m sure BNSF will have their hands full with their own problems.
Poor management. I understand the weather issues with the Builder because BNSF is struggling to run trains. But equipment unavailability and mechanical issues all fall back on the lack of solid leadership. After reading how Via is going about its search for new equipment Amtrak should be ashamed.
Here’s an idea. Want to save Taxpayer money? Outside of various Corridor operations, just make Amtrak a seasonal railroad, operating from March to November, with certain trains running over selected holidays. Can’t be any worse than what they have been doing lately.