Amtrak Service Cancellations Continue

Amtrak has continued to cancel trains in the Midwest and East amid the effects of a winter storm that swept across the country and disrupted travel generally.

Several Midwest corridor trains did not operate on Saturday and will not operate today.

The latest service advisory posted on the Amtrak website shows the following trains will not operate on Christmas Day.

Lincoln Service Trains 300, 301, 302, 305 and 306 between Chicago and St. Louis; Missouri River Runner trains 311 and 316 between St. Louis and Kansas City; Trains 318 and 319 between Chicago and Kansas City via St. Louis; Hiawatha Service Trains 329, 332, 333, 336, 337, 340 and 343 between Chicago and Milwaukee; Wolverine Service Trains 352 and 353 between Chicago and Detroit (Pontiac); Blue Water No. 365 from Port Huron, Michigan, to Chicago; the Pere Marquette from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Chicago; Illinois Zephyr No. 382 from Quincy, Illinois, to Chicago;

Several trains did not operate on Christmas Eve and have not yet been posted as cancelled for Christmas Day.

They include Lincoln Service Train 307; Hiawatha Service Train 341; Saluki Trains 391 and 382 between Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois; Wolverine Service Trains 350, 351, 354, 355, 364 and 365; and Pere Marquette Train 370 from Chicago to Grand Rapids.

Trains 318 and 319 have already been cancelled for Dec. 26.

In the East, the New York-Toronto Maple Leaf was cancelled between Syracuse and Niagara Falls on Saturday.

Empire Service Nos. 280, 281 and 283 were cancelled between Niagara Falls and Albany-Rensselaer on Saturday while No. 284 is cancelled on Sunday between Syracuse and Niagara Falls.

In the long-distance network, the Capitol Limited did not depart its terminals in Chicago and Washington on Saturday.

The Lake Shore Limited will not originate in Chicago, Boston or New York on Saturday or Sunday.

The Chicago-New York Cardinal did not operate on Saturday. Its next scheduled trip is out of New York on Christmas Day.

The Empire Builder between Chicago and Seattle/Portland continues to be suspended through Sunday.

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.

Amtrak Says CP Will Allow Passenger Expansion

Amtrak said in a brief filed with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board that Canadian Pacific has agreed to back the passenger carrier’s efforts to expand service in several locations, including Michigan.

The brief was the final filing by Amtrak in the proposed merger of CP and Kansas City Southern.

CP has agree to allow Amtrak to institute new service between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, that would connect at the latter with trains of VIA Rail Canada. The service would use a tunnel under the Detroit River that is owned by CP.

No details about that proposed service have been released nor is there a timeline for its implementation.

Amtrak’s current Wolverine Service between Chicago and Detroit continues northward to suburban Pontiac. One or more of those trains would have to be diverted to Windsor.

The existing Detroit Amtrak station is not located on the route into Windsor.

Amtrak’ s brief described CP as a “reliable partner in working with Amtrak to provide safe, efficient and effective passenger-rail services.”

The brief said CP also agreed to allow Amtrak to add other additional or new services including:

• Expansion on the CP-owned portion of the Hiawatha Service route between Chicago and Milwaukee;

• Between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, on lines owned by CP; 

• Between New Orleans (IC Junction) and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on a KCS line.

CP also has agreed to participate in a study with Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and various governmental agencies of implementing new service between Dallas and Meridian, Mississippi.

Hiawatha in Northbrook

A Hiawatha Service train blasts through Northbrook, Illinois, without stopping on May 20, 1998. City officials have explored establishing an Amtrak stop here. Currently Metra trains stop in Northbook at a station build by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific. Amtrak might be reluctant to stop in Northbrook because it already stops a few miles away in Glenview.

See the Horizon in Glenview

Milwaukee-bound Hiawatha Service No. 334 has an all Horizon equipment consists as it prepares to depart Glenview, Illinois. Note the differing liveries of the two coaches. On the point is a GE-built P32-8 locomotive.

Grant Released for 2nd Chicago-St. Paul Train

State departments of transportation in Wisconsin and Minnesota have received a federal grant of $31.8 million that will be used toward development of a second Amtrak train between Chicago and Twin Cities.

The funding will used to pay for station and rail segment improvements on a Canadian Pacific route also used by the Empire Builder and Hiawatha Service trains.

The new Chicago-St. Paul, Minnesota, train is expected to begin service by 2024 although officials said it could be sooner.

A news release said the funding will ease rail traffic congestion, modernize some sections of track, and speed the movement of freight trains along the 411-mile route.

Studies have projected a second train between Chicago and St. Paul would draw more than 124,000 passengers during its first year of operation.

The grant funding comes from the FRA’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program.

Trains in the Chicago-St. Paul corridor are expected to depart in the morning and midday.

Profile of an F40 Cabbage

Amtrak converted 22 F40PH locomotives into what are officially known as non-powered control unit, but which some referred to as “cabbage cars.” The name was a reference to the fact the units had been converted to cab cars and also had a baggage compartment where the primer mover used to be.

The conversion process involved removing the prime mover and all other engine components, including the head-end power equipment, and adding ballast for weight.

An F40 NPCU could only be used in push-pull mode. Typically, these NPCUs were used in corridor service in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and in Downeaster service.

No. 90219 began life as F40PH No. 219 in April 1976. It was converted to a NPCU in December 1997. Amtrak’s practice was to add the prefix “90” in front of an F40’s roster number.

The 90219 is shown on a Hiawatha Service train at Sturtevant, Wisconsin, on May 20, 2006.

Hiawatha in Milwaukee

P42DC No. 71 will serve as a trailing unit for a Hiawatha Service train that will be departing from Milwaukee in about another hour. The image was made on March 18, 2004, and was scanned from a slide. The view is at the west end of the train shed.

In From Milwaukee

An Amtrak Hiawatha Service train reposes at Chicago Union Station after arriving from Milwaukee. When this image was made on May 22, 1998, Hiawatha trains used former F40PH locomotives transformed into non-powered cab cars and P42DC locomotives. The latter pulled trains to Milwaukee from Chicago and pushed them back. Although the F40 cab cars had doors for a baggage compartment, I don’t know if those were ever used on the Chicago-Milwaukee route. I do recall seeing them used on Chicago-Detroit trains for a time .

Pushing Out of Sturtevant

Amtrak P42DC No. 128 catches some spring morning sunlight as it pushes Hiawatha Service Train 332 out of Sturtevant, Wisconsin, on May 20, 2006. Chicago-Milwaukee trains over the years have typically operated in push-pull service with a control cab on the south end and a locomotive on the north end. The train is on Canadian Pacific track once owned by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific. The train’s consist is pure Horizon fleet.