Railroad Forums 

  • Wildfire along Coast Starlight service suspended SAC-KFS 6/29/21-7/1/21 (possibly longer)

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1574805  by danib62
 
Per @AmtrakAlerts on twitter:
SERVICE DISRUPTION: Coast Starlight Train 11, departing SEA on 6/29 through 7/1, will operate as a bus bridge between Klamath Falls (KFS) and Sacramento (SAC) due to wildfires on the route. Customers scheduled at intermediate stations, please call or text 1-800-USA-RAIL.
Based on photos I've seen elsewhere of the Hotlum Trestle this looks like it might be a much longer disruption... Are there any realistic possibilities for rerouting the CS around it? I'm supposed to take the CS from PDX to EMY at the end of next month...
 #1574808  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Well, once upon a time, the UP had a Portland-LA train named the "West Coast" as competition to the SP. The route was the LA&SL (Amtrak-era "Desert Wind") to Ogden, thence (Amtrak-era "Pioneer") to Portland.

But save those thoughts, UP got those lines free of passenger trains; and I'm sure that's how they intend to keep 'em.

https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2009 ... oneer.html

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/ ... 20from%20U
 #1574835  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Agree Mr. Rockingham; more direct, but either stiff detour charges or a division of the bill would be expected by the BNSF. "Route of the West Coast" would be all UP.

No matter what routes are chosen, they will be "overflowing" with the freight traffic being detoured away from the Shasta Route; there will simply be no room to consider handling any passenger train.

Best accept that the "busteetoot" will be in place "for the duration".
Last edited by Gilbert B Norman on Thu Jul 01, 2021 6:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #1574851  by RRspatch
 
BNSF was in the process of installing CTC on the Gateway sub when I retired in 2017 so I assume the signals and switches are working now. As for the UP they're probably sending most of their detours over their own lines via Ogden. Once the backlog from detoured UP (at the last minute) trains is cleared you'll probably see the Coast Starlight going via Gateway. The only problem would be the location of the fires in relation to the Gateway sub.
 #1574866  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Mr. West Point, cancelled means cancelled!!

As of a few moments ago, the website is not showing any "busteetoots". Those reported were simply to recover any passengers from the trains that were en route and for which there was a transportation contract being executed.

While I'm certain a ride over the Inside Gateway route would be very interesting, it was passenger train free since 1952 and likely longer with the possibility that a passenger train never operated over the route:

https://www.american-rails.com/western.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1961/02/08/arch ... ol-of.html

The Western Pacific, while being a road like "my MILW" Lines West that should have never been built - and was without any land grants - it nevertheless represented the only competition to the "octopus", otherwise known as the SP that "welcomed" competition to the same extent as do "the FAANG" (you Geeks around here know who) today.

During my "coming of age" years, the WP was in a bitter "control" battle between the ATSF and the SP. The East-West route of the Zephyr was secondary to the Inside Gateway which was an interline ATSF-WP-GN routing that was the only competition to the SP's Shasta and San Joaquin (or Coast) routing. The SP wanted to "gobble up" the WP for the obvious and ATSF wanted anything else. That control battle went nowhere beyond the ICC, but alas, all became moot when the SP essentially "went under" and was taken over by the UP.

https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cg ... text=wlulr
 #1574923  by danib62
 
dgvrengineer wrote: Thu Jul 01, 2021 6:09 pm The bridge I saw burned is a steel bridge. Only the ties burned. So I'm sure they will check the steel structure for any damage from the heat. Then it's just a matter of replacing the timbers and maybe the rail. Shouldn't take too long as long as the superstructure isn't damaged.
This pictures seems to show structural damage, not just burnt ties.
Image
 #1574940  by danib62
 
Here is the latest from Amtrak:
Amtrak Coast Starlight Trains Canceled

Between Seattle and Sacramento until mid-July

Amtrak Cascades Trains Provide Substitute Transportation Seattle-Eugene



Trains 11 & 14 are unable to operate between Seattle and Sacramento due to a temporary track closure by the Union Pacific Railroad. Until on or about July 14, these Amtrak Coast Starlight trains will operate only between Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Customers booked between Seattle and Eugene are welcomed aboard Amtrak Cascades trains. No other substitute transportation is available. Refunds are being provided.
 #1574960  by electricron
 
Other modes of transportation; air, roads, and sea; almost always have a detour route that can be used on short notice, but not Amtrak. Setting up detour routes often takes Amtrak more time to qualify engineers and conductors on the detour routes than it takes the host railroad to repair the routes Amtrak usually uses.
Of course, since Amtrak has cancelled the trains through the damaged area entirely, the trains will not be considered late.
 #1575018  by Pensyfan19
 
danib62 wrote: Thu Jul 01, 2021 11:01 pm
dgvrengineer wrote: Thu Jul 01, 2021 6:09 pm The bridge I saw burned is a steel bridge. Only the ties burned. So I'm sure they will check the steel structure for any damage from the heat. Then it's just a matter of replacing the timbers and maybe the rail. Shouldn't take too long as long as the superstructure isn't damaged.
This pictures seems to show structural damage, not just burnt ties.
Image
When was that photo taken? It looks a bit old with the shading.