Only two routes suffered cancellations: two St. Louis-Kansas City Missouri River Runner morning trains in each direction on Saturday, Jan. 12, and the Indianapolis-New York segment of the Cardinal the following day.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari tells Trains News Wire that the Missouri cancellations, “were a consensus decision reached after consulting with the host railroads and our state partners, and reviewing information from our private meteorology firms.” He says the Cardinal decision was made early Sunday morning when heavy snowfall was predicted in isolated areas of West Virginia. The westbound train leaving Chicago Saturday night had been delayed about two hours en route to Indianapolis near Lafayette, Ind., owing to a mechanical problem.
Despite more than a foot of snow from central Illinois to Kansas City, Mo., a Trains News Wire analysis reveals most Lincoln Service, Hiawatha, Chicago-Carbondale, Ill., and Chicago-Quincy, Ill., trains ran on time. The major exception was Saturday’s Southwest Chief, which lost three hours between Galesburg, Ill., and Fort Madison, Iowa; it arrived four hours late into Los Angeles on Monday.
Further east, the most significant delays occurred south of Washington, D.C., Sunday, where both the southbound Palmetto and Carolinian lost more than two hours. The northbound Silver Star was combined with an already-tardy Carolinian out of Richmond, Va.. Other delays cropped up Sunday evening at Washington with the southbound Crescent, Silver Meteor, and Richmond-bound train no. 87 all delayed making the engine change from electric to diesel; the Meteor departed almost three hours late.
Meanwhile today (Wednesday) in California, Interstate 80 has been closed to westbound traffic at Truckee due to spin-outs, according to the California Highway Patrol, as a storm that might being more than three feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada mountains moves in. Amtrak’s California Zephyr is operating through the area in both directions; however, no coach seats —only roomettes — are available on the eastbound train departing Sacramento.
The storm, which is bringing heavy rain and accompanying mudslides to the southern coast along the Pacific Surfliner corridor, is set to move across the country through the end of the week. A blast of arctic air will follow, testing Amtrak and host railroad crews again.
