weird move on Empire Builder

I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago on June 13 and we made a weird move at the Cascade Tunnel. After stopping on the main, we were passed by a freight on the siding. After the freight passed, we reversed direction, then proceeded east through the siding, with another freight passing us on the main. Is this a usual move for BNSF? We lost about an hour on the schedule from this move, but that was made up in Spokane. Most of the trip was on time until we ran into more freight delays in ND that had us an hour late in MSP. We arrived in CHI 30 minutes late, which wasn't bad in my opinion.

That does sound weird. I was on a train once between Seattle and Portland where we made a similar move waiting for a freight north of Vancouver, WA. I don't think Amtrak trains take priority the way they do in the Northeast out there. But these could have also just been two uncommon and coincidental moves.

First Mr. PC, you stated you were traveling Eastward on #8. I presume both the freights were traveling WW. I'd guess the second freight was too long to take the siding.

Those around here who have been Train Dispatchers might find grounds to "Monday Morning QB" that handling on the strength of your report. However, in all likelihood there were reasons beyond what one could observe. BNSF surely had their reasons to give those two freights "the Iron". Maybe one or both had crews about to die; tying up a train on a mountain road has its perils (think Megantic), maybe one or the other had lading such as Containers that had to connect with a sailing, or whatever.

With some roads, you might wonder; but BNSF has a good reputation when it comes to handling Amtrak trains.

PC: Just curious: Which side of the Cascade Tunnel was the Builder stopped on?

I recall from my only westbound ride on the Builder back in the Fall of 2000 I was able to watch out the rear window for the entire almost 8 mile ride through...
My train had roadrailers on the rear which were removed at Spokane otherwise this rear-end view may have not been possible...
What is fascinating is how the Cascade Mountains separate the wet Pacific Coast climate from the much more arid regions to the immediate east...

MACTRAXX

MACTRAXX wrote: What is fascinating is how the Cascade Mountains separate the wet Pacific Coast climate from the much more arid regions to the immediate east...

That's the Rain shadow

Penn Central wrote:I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago on June 13 and we made a weird move at the Cascade Tunnel. After stopping on the main, we were passed by a freight on the siding. After the freight passed, we reversed direction, then proceeded east through the siding, with another freight passing us on the main. Is this a usual move for BNSF? We lost about an hour on the schedule from this move, but that was made up in Spokane. Most of the trip was on time until we ran into more freight delays in ND that had us an hour late in MSP. We arrived in CHI 30 minutes late, which wasn't bad in my opinion.

Was the consist of the freight that took the main crude oil tank cars? When I took the Builder last August I noted my train taking sidings. I spoke to a conductor and he mentioned that due to the volitile nature of the crude, the preference is to avoid diverging moves via sidings to lessen the chance of derailment and potential fire/explosion if containment is breached.

The maximum grade around Cascade Tunnel is 2.2%, in the tunnel it's 1.56%. I''ll be surprised if a freight train ever took a siding and waited for a passenger train near this tunnel because it's far easier to start a relatively much shorter and lighter passenger train from a dead stop than a longer and heavier freight train.
I believe expecting a freight train to take a siding and stop for a passenger train is reasonable on level grades, but that is not a reasonable expectation where there are steep mountainous grades.

MACTRAXX wrote:PC: Just curious: Which side of the Cascade Tunnel was the Builder stopped on?

This was on the west side of the Cascade Tunnel. We were heading east and both the freights were westbound. The one that passed us on the siding was a stack train while the one on the main was a mixed consist. I know that neither one was oil. In fact, on the entire trip to Chicago I didn't see us pass any oil trains although that could of happened at night when I was sleeping, especially on the second night when we fell an hour behind the schedule. The trip through the Cascade Tunnel was interesting. You could hear the fans screaming on the east end.

Oil trains typically do not move via Stevens Pass, instead running normally through the Gorge. It is part of the traffic pattern BNSF calls the Iron Triangle, which gives them maximum capacity on current infrastructure.