CHICAGO — In a change from recent operations, Amtrak was able to put together a makeup trainset to prevent cancellation of the westbound Empire Builder that departed Chicago on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
Significant long-distance train delays have often resulted in cascading cancellations for lack of equipment since Amtrak lost nearly complete Superliner sets to devastating derailments in 2021 (the westbound Empire Builder at Joplin, Mont.) and 2022 (the eastbound Southwest Chief at Mendon, Mo.), while still attempting to return to service equipment sidelined during the COVID-19 pandemic.
If the eastbound departure of either the Builder or Chief was dropped for some reason, the westbound train leaving Chicago three days later would usually be cancelled as well, because there were not enough Superliner coaches, diners, sleepers, and lounges in the Chicago coach yard to form a complete set without raiding stand-by substitutes for malfunctioning equipment or cars scheduled for overhauls.
Wednesday’s move indicates that scenario may finally have changed. The westbound Empire Builder that left Chicago on Sept. 26 arrived on time into Seattle two days later, but the Portland, Ore., section — splitting off at Spokane with a Sightseer lounge, two coaches, and a sleeping car — was badly delayed west of Pasco, Wash. It arrived in Portland more than 3 hours late on Sept. 28, only a few hours before the same equipment was to depart eastbound.
There may have been other reasons why the eastbound Builder of Sept. 28 was cancelled completely rather than depart hours late, as the train often does in such situations. “A cancellation is always the last choice,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari tells Trains.com., adding, “We try to manipulate the equipment assignments to support regular operations, if possible, in such cases.”
No Chicago arrival of multi-day trains like Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, or California Zephyr has generally meant the next day’s westbound departure shows “sold out” or “cancelled” on the Amtrak website ticketing system days in advance. That never happened this time.
So the westbound Empire Builder departed Oct. 1 on time with a make-up set, and as of 8 a.m. CT today (Oct. 3), is slated to arrive ahead of schedule in both Seattle and Portland. Amtrak’s once-a-day trains serving vast swaths of rural America need to operate every day to remain relevant as transportation options, so given the company’s constrained equipment situation, this is a long-overdue positive development.
