JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Severe flooding that hit the Cumberland, Md., area on Tuesday has shut down key CSX routes, the railroad said in a customer service alert today.
Among the routes affected: The former Baltimore & Ohio main line linking Baltimore and Pittsburgh, which has taken on increased importance as a detour route for traffic affected by the Feb. 1 closure of the Howard Street Tunnel for a clearance project. The line also carries Amtrak’s Chicago-Miami Floridian.
“CSX has plans in place to keep shipments moving, though some delays are expected,” the railroad said, noting that teams are working around the clock to restore service.
The Keystone Subdivision, the former Baltimore & Ohio main line between Cumberland and Pittsburgh, suffered a 200-foot washout affecting both tracks 7 miles west of Cumberland, putting the route out of service between Cumberland and Connellsville, Pa.
The line carries 20 trains per day and is the railroad’s main route linking Baltimore with the Midwest. It also has been serving as a detour for merchandise and coal trains, which bypass the Howard Street Tunnel by going around the horn on a Cumberland-Pittsburgh-Buffalo-Selkirk, N.Y.-Philadelphia routing.
The Cumberland Subdivision, which carries traffic between Cumberland and Brunswick and Baltimore, is out of service due to flooding at Stuart Tunnel, which is 34 miles east of Cumberland.
In neighboring West Virginia, landslides have shut down the Mountain Subdivision between Grafton and Keyser, an important route for trains carrying export metallurgical coal.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says that train No. 40 that left Miami on Monday and train No. 41 that departed Chicago on Tuesday are delayed due to the track closure. To account for these delays, tonight’s Chicago departure and Saturday’s Miami departure of the Floridian have been cancelled.
The flood-related disruption comes as CSX has been struggling to clear congestion that built up due to a combination of a string of harsh winter storms, spring flooding in the Midwest, the closure of the Howard Street Tunnel, and the rebuilding of the hurricane-damaged Blue Ridge Subdivision.
It’s been years since I lived in Maryland, but is the old Western Maryland RR from Baltimore up to York, then on to Harrisburg and PHL long gone? That routing doesn’t use the Howard St. tunnel and would be a useful detour for CSX freight trains. Of course D.C. to Perryville to Harrisburg makes too much sense for today’s railroad management to comprehend.
Ah yes: blooming flowers, the return of migratory birds, the emergence of insects and flooding in Maryland. It’s springtime!
So many alternate routes from the past no longer exist. NS between DC and Harrisburg then west to Pittsburgh ? Even that you run into the possibility of the lack of Amtrak crews or NS pilots. Not sure what the running times would be even if you ran to Philadelphia then west. Would it even be possible to arrive in Philadelphia to be tied on to the Pennsylvanian ?
Eastbound Pennsylvanian at Pittsburg no problem. would need to delay west bound Pennsylvanian about 4 – 5 hours which might be a scheduling problem with the NYP East rive tunnel bore work.
If the Perryville – Harrisburg route was available ( probably not) then that would enable Pennsylvanian maybe only 3 – 4 hours later depending on how late #40 was at WASH. unknown if enough ground mechanics at HAR to make a speedy connection westbound,
How long the routes are out of service will determine the crew situation. Dual or more routes qualified crew might take a short assignment to back up crew shortages on various detour routes both ND and CSX, It will be “VERY INTERESTING”
There are a number of ways the Floridian could be detoured around the washout if Amtrak management wanted to try. The problem is that the needs, wants, comfort, and convenience of the customers are not decision making factors. Back in the day, railroads had mutual aid detour plans ready for deployment.
And why couldn’t the Floridian been detoured north to Philadelphia and then west to Pittsburgh?
Because Amtrak has long lost all institutional experience related to running a passenger railroad. Because the lawyers seem to “rule the roost” and don’t give a Damn about their passengers, they just want to “avoid ANYthing that is not considered normal…” Because it would involve cooperation, coordination, and just “doing the right thing.
That was this poster’s thought as well. A problem would be having enough qualified Amtrak crews as any NS pilots will be used for CSX detours. Maybe combine the Floridian with the Pennsylvanian at PHL??
OR, run the FLORIDIAN via the CARDINAL route and use existing Amtrak crews!