All Things Empire Builder

In a sit-down interview with Forum News Service at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, BNSF Executive Chairman Matt Rose said the railroad still has 6,800 past-due railcars for shipment of agricultural products in North Dakota, down from a peak of 8,200 in March.

While some additional capacity will come online this summer, the bulk of it will be in place by October, “and it’s going to be extremely helpful,” Rose said.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/435429/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Tallgrass Pony Express pipeline is also expected to come on line in August, adding 240,000 barrels per day of capacity between Gurnsey, WY and Cushing, OK. I expect that approximately 100,000 additional barrels per day will be piped from Alberta, 100,000 bpd from North Dakota, and about 40,000 bpd from Wyoming and Colorado. That should reduce BNSF's oil business at least temporarily for the 4th Quarter of 2014.

Meanwhile, BNSF reports that their new growth business is shipping 240 shiny new pickup trucks per day to Fargo.

I thought of this earlier: How close does the Empire Builder get to Mount Rainier? I know Mount Rainier is 60 miles from Seattle.

Also, does Amtrak have any plans for if Mount Rainier starts to show signs of waking up?

The closest the EB gets to Mt Rainier is Seattle, though the Talgos and Coast Starlight get a little closer with their stop at Tacoma. ("Tacoma" being a variant on one native name for the mountain prior to European explorers.)

Regarding volcano preparation, all the tracks Amtrak uses in proximity to Mt Rainier (or Baker, St Helens, Adams) are owned by Burlington Northern while those near Mt Hood are either BN (Empire Builder Portland section, which passes near Mt Hood on the Washington State side of the Columbia River) or UP south of Portland (ex-SP in the Willamette Valley) so there is nothing Amtrak can do to prepare for a volcano. As with the Mt St Helens eruption in 1980 (or for that matter the frequent landslides which happen nearly every winter) Amtrak service depends on when the BN re-opens the tracks.

Amtrak access: Company announces plans to make Williston station more friendly to those with disabilities -- Williston Herald

Local advocates for people with disabilities praised planned changes to the Williston Amtrak station Tuesday during a visit by two of the company’s executives, who explained upcoming renovations and fielded questions about their practicality.

Improvements include accessible bathrooms, better marking for accessible parking spots, a curb cut outside the station for wheelchairs and walkers, and an entrance ramp that isn’t as steep as the existing one.

...

He added that while there is a plan in place to address the gap between the platform and the train, the company is working toward a solution. Currently, passengers who can’t make the step up use a lift attached to the train.

The changes, which come with a $1.7 million price tag and are expected to be complete by the spring, are aimed at bringing the station into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I'm not 100% this is the right thread, but I came across this brief article.

Officials Meet to Discuss Second Amtrak Train -- KSTP

Minnesota community officials met in Red Wing Thursday to discuss the future of the state’s high-speed rail line.

The Minnesota High-Speed Rail Commission says their focus is to add a second Amtrak train to the existing river route to Chicago.

...

The commission's goal for the project is 2018.

It sounds like the commission needs a different name. A second train to Chicago certainly is not HSR. It's not even HerSR.

Aside from improved otp getting a second train as far as the twin cities may be one of the most important, feasible improvements available to the route. Not only would it generate ridership for both the builder and the other long haul routes st paul expense would be shared across a larger pool of users

I'm not too sure it would generate lots of connecting passengers at Chicago for this reason: the train would need to be running several hours apart from the schedule of the Empire Builder, it seems to me. So, a 1 PM departure [roughly] from MSP and an 8 AM departure from Union Station. Failing that, perhaps 10 PM departures from both cities on a fairly leisurely schedule with a sleeping car and no food service. Just my thoughts on the matter.

Rockingham Racer wrote:I'm not too sure it would generate lots of connecting passengers at Chicago for this reason: the train would need to be running several hours apart from the schedule of the Empire Builder, it seems to me. So, a 1 PM departure [roughly] from MSP and an 8 AM departure from Union Station. Failing that, perhaps 10 PM departures from both cities on a fairly leisurely schedule with a sleeping car and no food service. Just my thoughts on the matter.

You're correct, a train displaced in time by 6 to 8 hours from the Empire Builder would miss almost every other long distance train leaving Chicago, the sole exception might be the Lake Shore Limited, which leaves Chicago very late. That's the main reason why the Empire Builder is scheduled to run as it is, to make all those train connections in Chicago.
Is there two time slots available for two more passenger trains a day (one in each direction) on the existing single track route between St. Paul and Chicago? How much will it cost to upgrade the corridor to make room for more passenger trains?

There seems to be a broader ADA push along the Empire Builder stops.

Detroit Lakes

St. Cloud

Fargo

You can add Williston to the list. They're also doing track work thru the station in Grand Forks, but I'm not sure if ADA work is in the picture there.

electricron wrote:

Rockingham Racer wrote:I'm not too sure it would generate lots of connecting passengers at Chicago for this reason: the train would need to be running several hours apart from the schedule of the Empire Builder, it seems to me. So, a 1 PM departure [roughly] from MSP and an 8 AM departure from Union Station. Failing that, perhaps 10 PM departures from both cities on a fairly leisurely schedule with a sleeping car and no food service. Just my thoughts on the matter.

You're correct, a train displaced in time by 6 to 8 hours from the Empire Builder would miss almost every other long distance train leaving Chicago, the sole exception might be the Lake Shore Limited, which leaves Chicago very late. That's the main reason why the Empire Builder is scheduled to run as it is, to make all those train connections in Chicago.
Is there two time slots available for two more passenger trains a day (one in each direction) on the existing single track route between St. Paul and Chicago? How much will it cost to upgrade the corridor to make room for more passenger trains?

right but the builder is only one train per day which is a high cost low production model. What if I don't want to arrive in Minneapolis at 11 pm (if I'm lucky)? If there's a second train I take the morning train to msp which allows me to return on the morning eastbound builder. You swap the lsl with the Capitol plus through cars to nyc then you just made an important connection possible.

Yep, an 8am departure from CHI (yes, fighting Metra, I know) would allow a 4pm arrival at MSP, and a 2pm departure from MSP means a 10pm arrival at CHI. Both of those would be reasonable acceptable to me. I don't mind missing connections if I'm only going TO Chicago, as many Minnesotans are, or staying overnight there.

mtuandrew wrote:I don't mind missing connections if I'm only going TO Chicago, as many Minnesotans are, or staying overnight there.

It seems to me that a lot of discussions around CHI get hung up on where people will connect to rather than on the potential for origin/destination traffic.

Here's the feasibility report: http://www.mnhighspeedrail.com/images/d ... report.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Agreed. I've only connected through Chicago once coming from STL, and that involved a trip to Milwaukee. If people want to connect to another train, they can stick to the Empire Builder, but I think the second train would be well patronized just serving traffic between the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and Chicago.