354 stuck for eight hours in KAL

[NSSD70ACe]

https://wwmt.com/news/local/amtrak-trai ... &fs=e&s=cl

I don’t know if this is Amtrak’s side or something on the CN and it was decided to not leave Kalamazoo and effectively strand folks on the train.

Still, you can talk trains by red signals. You can’t go as fast but you don’t just have to sit there….

[DaveO]

Left Chicago 40 minutes late.
Why bother with a schedule?
Just tell the customers the trains leave when they leave and arrive when they arrive.

[AARR]

It’s been a few years since I read Amtrak’s metrics but at that time the Detroit Chicago trains were on time 60-70%. And that score is based on a curve of adding something like 15 minutes per 100 miles so Amtrak could arrive in Chicago 45 minutes after its scheduled time and still be considered on time for Amtrak’s performance metrics.

It’s possible they measure different now

[CSXBOY]

I actually got so screwed here. I have been taking Amtrak to railfan locations like Battle Creek and Waterloo from the area where I live at due to it being a cheaper way to combat the insane gas prices. Took 351 to BC in the morning and I was supposed to take 354 back home to Ann Arbor. But that never happened. I told my parents to come get me and thank god they did. MDOT probably did not get a maintainer out there until 5 am to fix those signals. I doubt I will ever take any Amtrak train on the Michigan line after this. I would rather take my chances on Amtrak on class ones. I may be two hours late due to freight traffic. But at least I am not waiting over 5 hours for a lazy state maintainer to get there. This is a big memory and a lesson learned. CN does not own the line where the signals went out and if they did they would have gotten a maintainer in an hour or two. MDOT owns the Michigan line which is owned by the State government and you know the way they do things

[CSXBOY]

Left Chicago 40 minutes late.
Why bother with a schedule?
Just tell the customers the trains leave when they leave and arrive when they arrive.

When I travel by Amtrak. I just use the ASM transitdocs website. Helps a ton...

[1TrackMind]

Power was out in parts of Kalamazoo. Thats why the signals and radios were down.

[justalurker66]

Power was out in parts of Kalamazoo. Thats why the signals and radios were down.

And radios? That makes it a little harder to talk trains past red/dark signals. Plus there is little for the maintainer to do than to say "yep, the power is out". Yell at the state or the nearest windmill for not having a generator for the radio bases.

[Jim_c]

Generators at the transmitter sites is fine for the radios. Something I do not know, I'm sure some else does, would this outage affect grade crossings? If so, I can see why talking through signals would be risky. Just one car-train crash at a grade crossing and the lawyers would descend on that like flies to aging hamburger.

[GRHC]

Power was out in parts of Kalamazoo. Thats why the signals and radios were down.

And radios? That makes it a little harder to talk trains past red/dark signals. Plus there is little for the maintainer to do than to say "yep, the power is out". Yell at the state or the nearest windmill for not having a generator for the radio bases.

Yes I also blame the windmills. It is definitely the M F’in windmills fault. windmills windmills windmills

[Steve B]

...MDOT probably did not get a maintainer out there until 5 am to fix those signals...But at least I am not waiting over 5 hours for a lazy state maintainer to get there...MDOT owns the Michigan line which is owned by the State government and you know the way they do things

Check your facts before posting. MDOT owns the line between Kalamazoo and Dearborn but Amtrak hires & employs the signal maintainers.

[NSSD70ACe]

I actually got so screwed here. I have been taking Amtrak to railfan locations like Battle Creek and Waterloo from the area where I live at due to it being a cheaper way to combat the insane gas prices. Took 351 to BC in the morning and I was supposed to take 354 back home to Ann Arbor. But that never happened. I told my parents to come get me and thank god they did. MDOT probably did not get a maintainer out there until 5 am to fix those signals. I doubt I will ever take any Amtrak train on the Michigan line after this. I would rather take my chances on Amtrak on class ones. I may be two hours late due to freight traffic. But at least I am not waiting over 5 hours for a lazy state maintainer to get there. This is a big memory and a lesson learned. CN does not own the line where the signals went out and if they did they would have gotten a maintainer in an hour or two. MDOT owns the Michigan line which is owned by the State government and you know the way they do things

What the hell are you talking about? Amtrak has operational control over the line and they maintain it.

And for the record, I’ve found MDOT to be a professional agency who is communicative and is at least trying.

[NSSD70ACe]

Generators at the transmitter sites is fine for the radios. Something I do not know, I'm sure some else does, would this outage affect grade crossings? If so, I can see why talking through signals would be risky. Just one car-train crash at a grade crossing and the lawyers would descend on that like flies to aging hamburger.

Grade crossings and signals usually have a battery backup to deal with commercial power loss

[Saturnalia]

Generators at the transmitter sites is fine for the radios. Something I do not know, I'm sure some else does, would this outage affect grade crossings? If so, I can see why talking through signals would be risky. Just one car-train crash at a grade crossing and the lawyers would descend on that like flies to aging hamburger.

Grade crossings and signals usually have a battery backup to deal with commercial power loss

At grade crossings, they would post “activation failures” and then all trains would stop to flag the crossings.

Do we know how long the passengers actually sat? I presume they ordered busses eventually? If so, it is likely that the passengers had significantly less delay than the actual train.

Also, for those that want to trash signal maintainers, know that if they fail to respond to a call there’s a definite disciplinary process for that and I’m certain no maintainer would simply fall into that over “laziness”. These people take their job seriously, don’t just assume they have a bad work ethic because something went wrong.

What could have happened is whatever maintainer was responsible for the territory went dead on hours of service and they had to call somebody else from a nearby territory. Signal maintainers do fall under hours of service.

So there are any number of possibilities here and perhaps a combination thereof. Did dispatch lose comms with the system entirely? Were there trees down on the line? Perhaps it started with signals and then was held up for that.

[Steve B]

My source indicates that the whole dispatcher board from Kalamazoo to Townline shut down completely. Screens 100% dark, no radio.

[Buster Manning]

Ding, Ding, Ding,.......we have a winner for the Amscam/MDOT Blame Game....

[NSSD70ACe]

My source indicates that the whole dispatcher board from Kalamazoo to Townline shut down completely. Screens 100% dark, no radio.

That would do it…

Ding, Ding, Ding,.......we have a winner for the Amscam/MDOT Blame Game....

Amscam? This can happen to any railroad. It HAS happened at mine at least twice in the last month on a particular desk.

Blame all you want, sh!t happens. No different than an airline computer system crashing. People will scream and cry and whine about how they’re never flying such an antiquated airline ever again and then two months later are purchasing tickets on the same carrier.

[CSXBOY]

[quote="Steve B" post_id=498653 time=<a href="tel:1658685841">1658685841</a> user_id=434]
My source indicates that the whole dispatcher board from Kalamazoo to Townline shut down completely. Screens 100% dark, no radio.

That would do it…[quote="Buster Manning" post_id=498657 time=<a href="tel:1658687465">1658687465</a> user_id=1017]
Ding, Ding, Ding,.......we have a winner for the Amscam/MDOT Blame Game....
[/quote]

Amscam? This can happen to any railroad. It HAS happened at mine at least twice in the last month on a particular desk.

Blame all you want, sh!t happens. No different than an airline computer system crashing. People will scream and cry and whine about how they’re never flying such an antiquated airline ever again and then two months later are purchasing tickets on the same carrier.
[/quote]

crap that will most definitely do it. Never thought of that. I mean it wasn’t that bad. It couldive been worse. I couldive been involved in that Missouri wreck with that dump truck collision and died. Traveling has been crap ever since March of this year. Whether your flying or riding a train or driving you’re dealing with more crap than you have to.

[Saturnalia]

crap that will most definitely do it. Never thought of that. I mean it wasn’t that bad. It couldive been worse. I couldive been involved in that Missouri wreck with that dump truck collision and died. Traveling has been crap ever since March of this year. Whether your flying or riding a train or driving you’re dealing with more crap than you have to.

Re-read this to yourself and decide if you still want to say it...yikes

[justalurker66]

For the record ... 354(21) "departed" Kalamazoo 59 minutes late and made it to Battle Creek at 6:09am - 8 Hours and 34 minutes late.
354(21) arrived Ann Arbor at 7:34am (making up 10 minutes) and arrived in Pontiac just under eight hours late.

CSXBOY, I am glad that your parents were able to rescue you.

[LansingRailFan]

crap that will most definitely do it. Never thought of that. I mean it wasn’t that bad. It couldive been worse. I couldive been involved in that Missouri wreck with that dump truck collision and died. Traveling has been crap ever since March of this year. Whether your flying or riding a train or driving you’re dealing with more crap than you have to.

Re-read this to yourself and decide if you still want to say it...yikes

He who throws rocks at CSX in Deshler does not haveth bestestheth grammarreth