CHICAGO — Lack of standby equipment and the inability of Amtrak mechanical forces to sufficiently prepare cars and locomotives for service led to the cancellation of one pair of Chicago-based trains and departure delays to 11 others on Thursday, Feb. 2.
The cancellation of one Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha round trip, and the cumulative delays to the other trains of 15 hours, 4 minutes, followed earlier issues in the week in which a line blockage in Detroit may have contributed to the annulment of the morning Michigan-bound corridor round trip out of Chicago [“Equipment issues, derailment lead to Wolverine cancellations,” Feb. 1, 2023].
Snow remained on the ground from a storm the preceding weekend, but the day was sunny with temperatures ranging from 23 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Thursday morning began with trains on four routes sustaining substantial delays from their advertised departure times:
Train Destination Scheduled Departure
329 Milwaukee 6:10 a.m. 7:47 a.m.
350 Pontiac, Mich. 6:45 a.m. 7:24 a.m.
301 St. Louis 7:15 a.m. 8:14 a.m.
381 Quincy, Ill. 7:40 a.m. 8:17 a.m.
Occurring at the beginning of the work day, pervasive delays like these can have a significant impact on repeat business. In addition, a 45-minute late arrival of the first Hiawatha from Milwaukee caused the next departure, No. 331, to leave 44 minutes late at 9:09 a.m. The same equipment that left the Windy City on No. 329 returned to Chicago more than 2 hours late, so train No. 333, a scheduled 11:05 a.m. departure, was cancelled.
Putting additional strain on mechanical forces was the overnight arrival of two trains from the West Coast that should have come in the previous afternoon: the California Zephyr, 11 hours, 28 minutes late at 2:18 a.m., and the Empire Builder, 12 hours, 45 minutes late at 5:30 a.m.
Both trains had to contend with a late departure from their originating terminal, inclement weather, and freight congestion on their way to Chicago, but the major source of delays were “mechanical issues.” The Zephyr and the Builder each lost four hours —the Zephyr at Denver, and the Builder between Milwaukee and Glenview, Ill., to equipment failures.
The most significant Chicago departure delay was the eastbound Lake Shore Limited, which slunk out of town at 2:35 a.m. on Feb. 3, more than 5 hours late. The equipment’s morning arrival as train No. 49/449 from New York City and Boston was 34 minutes early, so that wasn’t the problem. But maintenance personnel were playing catch-up into the evening, as the day’s departing Zephyr, Builder, and City of New Orleans all left more than an hour late.
Amtrak does not routinely disclose the nature of its trains’ mechanical problems. Sources tell Trains News Wire cold weather has adversely affected both the state-owned SC44 and long-distance ALC42 Siemens Charger locomotives and caused inoperable toilets on Horizon coaches and cafe cars.
There have been repeated instances during the last three weeks of trains returning to Chicago Union Station after leaving on time, an indication that all necessary maintenance may not have been completed.
Another chain reaction
When the Empire Builder that left Chicago on Jan. 30 arrived in Minot, N.D., one of two Superliner coaches in the section going to Portland, Ore., was removed for “thermally damaged wheels,” according information relayed to passengers by the train’s conductor.
It had departed Chicago more than two hours late due to “engine problems” and a burned-out marker light on a Viewliner II baggage car substituting for the normally assigned coach-baggage Superliner. Following the 2½-hour Minot stop and a broken air hose changed out at Chester, Mont., where operating employees had to be recrewed instead of at the normal crew-change point 42 miles west in Shelby, Mont., the train was 6 hours late at Spokane, Wash., and into Seattle.
After servicing, the eastbound Builder scheduled to depart Seattle Feb 1 at 4:55 p.m. didn’t leave until 12:34 a.m., more than 7½ hours late. Leaving St. Paul at 5:38 p.m. instead of 8:50 a.m. on Feb. 3, the out-of-slot train lost another 2 hours stuck behind a disabled freight and arrived into Chicago more than 10 hours late at 3:20 a.m. on Feb. 4. Despite the Builder’s nocturnal arrival, Chicago shop forces managed to get that day’s westbound Builder, Zephyr, and Southwest Chief all out on time.
Share this article
