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Manistique wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2023 5:46 pm

No 355 out of Pontiac past my house yet this afternoon. 350 ran and was pretty much on time so wonder what is up with 355?

It was delayed leaving Pontiac as CN train NB 515 had a GP38-2L, 4805, as power today and stalled on the Hill on Main 1 and had to be rescued by 5423 out of Pontiac before Amtrak could leave. Oops.

Did anyone happen to catch the number of the unit leading 350 on Sunday the 22nd? I got a photo of it but the number is blown out by the reflection of the morning sun.

Almost every westbound Amtrak on the Michigan Line seems to lose time between Dearborn and Ann Arbor. Is there trackwork/slow orders on that stretch, or are they getting dinged at the csx diamond in Wayne on a regular basis?

353 with IDTX 4609, an Amfleet cafe and 4 grimy Venture coaches (1 a business class car) departed just a few minutes late from Dearborn earlier. 350 is over 2 hours late from Chicago as most or all of its train was bad ordered.

350 just arrived in Pontiac around 5 pm, 2 hours and 45 minutes late with what looked like all old "Michigan" coaches today.

Amtrak 355 at Royal Oak. IDTX 4627. Had a baggage car and horizons.

Amtrak 355 left Pontiac around an hour late today for some reason. It had a Charger on both ends.

Amtrak 350 just went past MP 22.5 a few minutes late heading to Pontiac with a Charger on both ends, three Horizon coaches and two Amfleet cafe/business cars.

NS B25 od in Jackson. Has work in Chelsea today.

Amtrak 92 arrived in Lakeland, Florida at 4:05pm, with AMTK 205 and a 300 series ALC-42.

Train was heading to Tampa. WFLA TV was doing a live shot on possibly expanding SunRail to Lakeland when Amtrak arrived.

354 arriving in Kalamazoo.

355 by WMU at 2120.

350 is stopped east of Battle Creek with "mechanical issues" according to Amtrak's Train Status board. Should have been in Pontiac by now.

As of 6:50 pm, they are trying to originate 355 from Dearborn because of 350's earlier "mechanical issues" and Amtrak says they are awaiting for "equipment" to arrive there before it can depart. No idea if this is a new train set or a coach or locomotive or something for 355. My guess is that 350 maybe never arrived and 352 is bringing either it or a new locomotive or a whole trainset there to drop off tonight when it passes.

But I am usually wrong and overly pessimistic about these Amtrak doings. In the old days they would have handled this somehow from the shops at Kalamazoo or Battle Creek or Jackson but no such luxuries for Amtrak now a days. It all must come from Chicago and that is a long ways away.

I think this comment on Trainorders is an appropriate and sad commentary about Amtrak:
"Chicago is a pretty important place. I wonder if maybe they should locate a maintenance facility there."

Amtrak 350 passed MP 22.5 on the Holly at 2:20 pm with a P42 (#55) leading and a Charger on the rear.

Edit at 5:35 pm: 355 went by without the P42 so it left it at Pontiac as the spare/backup locomotive

Amtrak 355 had 55 today with the older horizon equipment.

Amtrak 350 passed the Dexter Library at 12:46 with it's normal train and the additional track inspection equipment attached on the end as well.

chapmaja wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 15, 2023 12:50 pm

Amtrak 350 passed the Dexter Library at 12:46 with it's normal train and the additional track inspection equipment attached on the end as well.

Passed MP 22.5 at 2:20 pm. The normal train was all old equipment again. The track inspection/business train had five cars I think, one was an open end observation car in the middle and the rear car was a glass-enclosed observation car with a guy sitting in the seat looking out. Two Chargers running elephant style.

Should be interesting what they will do with the train in Pontiac. My guess is they will wye it, they have plenty of time, and the glassed observation would remain on the rear to inspect from. If not, there is a spare locomotive at Pontiac facing south that could be put on 355's head end with another of the two Charger coupled to it We will see in a few hours.

355 past MP 22.5 on the Holly with the two chargers and Wolverine consist with Inspection/Business Train consist. They must have wyed the train in Pontiac as it looked in the same order as 350 this afternoon.

355-16 has at least two cars on the ground after hitting a tow truck in New Buffalo.