Amtrak Expands Cancellations Due to Storm

Amtrak has expanded the scope of its service cancellations in the Midwest as a winter storm bears down on the region that is forecast to bring subzero temperatures and heavy snow.

For the period of Dec. 22 through Dec. 25, the following trains will not operate:

Trains 300, 301, 305 and 306 (Lincoln Service) between Chicago and St. Louis; Trains 311 and 316 (Missouri River Runner) between St. Louis and Kansas City; Trains 329, 332, 333, 336, 337, 340 and 343 (Hiawatha Service) between Chicago and Milwaukee; and Trains 352 and 353 (Wolverine Service) between Chicago and Detroit (Pontiac).

Some trains will be canceled on certain dates. They include Train 370 (Pere Marquette) from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Dec. 22, and Train 371 from Grand Rapids to Chicago on Dec. 23.

Trains 390 and 391 (Saluki) between Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois, will be cancelled on Dec. 23 while Buses 3280 and 3381 between Chicago and Quincy, Illinois, are cancelled on Dec. 23 and 24.

Some long-distance trains originating or terminating in Chicago also are being cancelled. This includes Train 3 (Southwest Chief) originating in Chicago on Dec. 23; Trains 7/27 and 8/28 (Empire Builder) originating in Chicago, Seattle and Portland during the period Dec. 21-23; Trains 29 and 30 (Capitol Limited) originating in Chicago and Washington on Dec.22 and 23; and Trains 48/448 and  49/449 (Lake Shore Limited) originating in New York, Boston and Chicago on Dec. 22 and 23.

Train 50 (Cardinal) will not originate in Chicago on Dec. 22 and 24 while Train 51 will not originate in New York on Dec. 21 and 23.

No alternative transportation is being offered for long-distance trains that are being cancelled.

In the case of routes from Chicago to St. Louis, Quincy, Carbondale, Milwaukee, and Detroit (Pontiac) some scheduled trains on all routes will operate on all days covered by the cancellations.

In a service advisory, Amtrak said it acted after consulting with state transportation departments, host railroads, emergency managers, and weather forecasters.

Good Morning Indiana

Amtrak’s westbound Cardinal is on the money as it approaches Linden, Indiana, on June 30, 2022. No. 51 is operating as P051 on the CSX Monon Subdivision. The sun has been up for less than an hour and creates a warm glow on the side of the train. The engineer of P42DC No. 17 is giving me a little wave as his train rushed past.

Ferry Day for Beech Grove Shops

Amtrak typically shuttles equipment from its Beech Grove shops to Chicago on Monday. The refurbished and rebuilt rolling stock and locomotives is moved to Indianapolis Union Station where it is attached to the front of the westbound Cardinal.

This gives Train 51 the appearance of being two trains in one. Usually, equipment bound for Beech Grove moves on No. 50 on Saturday nights.

Shown is the Chicago-bound Cardinal near Linden, Indiana, on May 30. The consist being ferried includes a Viewliner diner, Viewliner baggage car and two Superliner cars.

Safe Travels Redbird

It’s just another trip for Amtrak’s westbound Cardinal as it passes a signal south of Linden, Indiana, on the CSX Monon Subdivision. Train 51 had a clear here and was running on schedule. The image was made in late May.

Cruising Out of Crawfordsville

Amtrak’s Chicago-bound Cardinal is running two hours off schedule as it departs the station in Crawfordsville, Indiana, during the July 4th weekend. I don’t know why the train was running late.

The track here is the Monon Subdivision of CSX and the Amtrak boarding site it located by the former Monon passenger station, which is now privately owned and used by a catering company.

On the Rear

It’s a Saturday morning near Linden, Indiana. I’m waiting for Amtrak’s westbound Cardinal to come along en route to Chicago.

Train 51 has a consist that seldom varies. It includes two Amfleet coaches, an Amfleet food service car, a Viewliner sleeper and a Viewliner baggage-dorm car. The latter is always the last car on No. 51.

For some reason the baggage-dorm car intrigues me. Maybe it is because it is a throw back to an earlier time when trains carried what were known as combine cars.

Typically those were half baggage and half coach. The Viewliner baggage-dorm cars are the only passenger cars Amtrak has had to my knowledge that resemble combines.

It doesn’t have that many of these cars so they are not all that common of a sight.

Earlier this year the news broke that Amtrak would sell some of the space in the Baggage-dorm car on the Cardinal to revenue passengers. Presumably, that practice has since begun.

In the image above, the Cardinal is passing the intermediate signal at milepost 138.4.

Flying With the Cardinal

Amtrak’s westbound Cardinal cruises on the CSX Monon Subdivision north of Crawfordsville, Indiana, on May 28 under cloudy skies. The road on the left formerly was U.S. Route 231 until it was relocated as part of a bridge project. Train 51 has its standard consist of a P42DC locomotive, two Amfleet coaches, an Amfleet food service car, Viewliner sleeper and Viewliner baggage-dorm car.

This article has been corrected to show the correct highway route number.

3 Trains Were Most Delayed, FRA Says

Three Amtrak trains led the list of most delayed trains during the fourth quarter of 2021, the Federal Railroad Administration said on Monday.

In a report showing performance and service quality of intercity passenger train operations, the Cardinal (Chicago-New York), Sunset Limited (New Orleans-Los Angeles) and Texas Eagle (Chicago-San Antonio) had the most delays.

The FRA used standards and metrics that it issued in November 2020 to compile the report.

The agency found Amtrak trains experienced more than 1.2 million minutes of delay during the fourth quarter, up 37 percent from the previous quarter.

Delays system-wide rose 33 percent at 8,168,324 train-miles. The FRA rules track delays by 40 categories, but the top three during the fourth quarter were those attributed to a host railroad, those attributed to Amtrak and those attributed to a third party. The latter includes weather-related delays.

The FRA said freight train interference accounted for 22 percent of delay minutes, an increase of 36 percent from the previous quarter.

Delays by train included the Cardinal (87,123 minutes), Sunset Limited (67,300 minutes), and Texas Eagle (42,965 minutes).

The report also found Amtrak ridership increased 48 percent during the fourth quarter to 5.1 million passengers.

New ALC-42s Move East on Capitol Limited

Two new Siemens ALC-42 locomotives operated eastbound on the Capitol Limited today behind P42DC No. 188.

An online report indicated that the 305 and 304 were being delivered from the Siemens assembly plant in California. Both units wore the Phase VI livery.

Reportedly Amtrak is training crews in Chicago in the operation of the new ALC-42 locomotives, which are slated to begin replacing P42s in Amtrak’s national network this year although P42s will continue to work for a few more years as Amtrak takes delivery of its ALC-42 fleet.

Nos. 29 and 30 in recent days have been operating with four cars, a sleeping car, dining car and two coaches. During the holiday travel season the Capitol Limited had been assigned an additional sleeping car.

In an unrelated development, Amtrak continued to have equipment and weather-related issues last weekend.

The eastbound Cardinal departed Chicago on Saturday night more than seven hours late due to what Amtrak described on its Twitter feed as equipment and mechanical issues.

Also running late in recent days have been the California Zephyr and Empire Builder.

Trains magazine reported on its website that a westbound Zephyr last weekend was delayed by more than seven hours after hitting a track obstruction east of Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

The Empire Builder continued to be plagued by weather woes with the train that departed Chicago last Friday canceled in Minot, North Dakota, due to weather-related operating conditions.

The westbound Builder from Chicago was canceled on Saturday and Sunday while its eastbound counterpart was canceled from Seattle and Portland on Sunday and Monday.

Saturday’s eastbound Empire Builder had originated in Spokane, Washington, rather than Seattle.

Adverse Weather Prompts Service Cancellations

Adverse weather conditions have led to a spate of Amtrak train cancellations.

Heavy snowfall in West Virginia was cited by Amtrak for multiple cancellations of the Chicago-New York Cardinal this week.

Trains magazine reported on its website that on Tuesday night Train 50 was terminated after reaching Rennselaer, Indiana, with passengers returned to Chicago by bus.

The westbound Cardinal was cancelled on Wednesday and Friday. The eastbound Cardinal was canceled on Thursday.

On Saturday morning the Amtrak website was showing Train 50 as still set to depart later that evening for New York.

Amtrak could have operated the Cardinal Thursday night to Indianapolis and then had that equipment turn Saturday morning to return to Chicago. But it elected not to pursue that option.

The Trains report said about 8 inches of snow fell in the region around Charleston, West Virginia, on Thursday and four more inches was expected in Northern Virginia on Friday morning.

Heavy snow that downed tree limbs across tracks led to operational issues that led to passengers being marooned for hours aboard trains in Virginia earlier this week.

Elsewhere, Amtrak cancelled the Chicago-Seattle/Portland Empire Builder trains that were to have departed Thursday from Portland and Seattle.

Stalled BNSF freight trains were blocking the route and also prevented the westbound Empire Builder on that day from getting through.

Saturday morning Amtrak posted on Twitter that today’s westbound Empire Builder from Chicago has been canceled due to severe weather.

The Empire Builder that was to have originated in Seattle on Friday instead originated in Spokane, Washington.

Mudslides near Kelso, Washington, prompted Amtrak to cancel all service between Seattle and Portland on Thursday through Saturday. The cancellations did not affect trains operating between Portland and Eugene, Oregon.

In the east, Northeast Regional 171 to Roanoke, Virginia; No. 93 to Norfolk, Virginia; and train 85 to Richmond, Virginia; were canceled on Friday along with their counterparts from the same destinations, trains 176, 84, and 86.

The Silver Meteor from Miami to New York was canceled on Friday along with the southbound Meteor that was to have departed New York on Friday.

Eight additional Northeast Regional trains were cancelled Friday. Trains that did operate were subject to hours-long delays between Washington and Richmond.