PTC Issue Results in Amtrak Cancellations

Positive train control issues continued to cause service cancellations over the weekend, affecting long-distance and Midwest corridor services alike.

The runs of the westbound Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited that were to have departed their eastern terminals on Sunday afternoon and passed through Northeast Ohio on Monday morning were cancelled.

The westbound Cardinal that was to have departed New York on Sunday morning and passed through Cincinnati and Indianapolis early Monday was scrapped.

Also cancelled on Sunday were most corridor trains operating between Chicago and Michigan points, and other Midwest cities. Two westbound runs of the Wolverine Service and the westbound Blue Water were cancelled on Sunday.

Although the early Sunday morning departure of the Wolverine Service to Detroit (Pontiac, Michigan) was cancelled on Sunday morning, the remaining trains operated as scheduled as the server issue was resolved.

As reported by Trains magazine on its website, the cancellations began Friday when a server issue would not allow Amtrak locomotives to initialize their positive train control system before leaving their initial terminal.

The report said the error didn’t allow data from an Amtrak server to be shared with servers of the host railroad.

Other trains affected by the cancellations included the City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, California Zephyr and Texas Chief.

In some instances the cancellations, which will extend into Tuesday, are due to lack of equipment being in place due to earlier service cancellations.

Trains reported that the PTC issues primarily affected trains serving Chicago because data is transmitted from there to the host railroads.

Capitol, Lake Shore Consists Shrink Further

Amtrak has further reduced the consists of its Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited trains this month.

Nos. 29 and 30 are operating with four cars, a sleeper, food service car, a coach, and a Viewliner baggage car. The sleeper, coach and food service car are Superliners.

Although the reduced consists have not been announced by the passenger carrier, Amtrak has in past years reduced the number of cars assigned to some trains during the winter due to lower ridership.

The Capitol Limited had been operating with two sleepers, two coaches and a food service car. It has not routinely carried a baggage car in the past year.

The Lake Shore Limited consist has shrunk by two Amfleet II coaches. Nos. 48/448 and 49/449 is assigned three Viewliner sleepers, a Viewliner dining car open only to sleeper class passengers, three Amfleet II coaches, an Amfleet food service car, and a Viewliner baggage car.

Motive power assignments for all trains remain unchanged with the Capitol usually assigned one P42DC and the Lake Shore having two P42 locomotives.

Both trains have in the past year operated with smaller consists than usual due to Amtrak having a shortage of serviceable equipment. The issue has been traced to the passenger carrier sidelining numerous passenger cars during the COVID-19 pandemic when ridership fell dramatically.

Once ridership began to rebound Amtrak lacked enough mechanical personnel to get the sidelined equipment back into service in a rapid manner.

Amtrak Fall Foliage Two for Tuesday

I’ve been focusing on seeking trains and fall foliage in the past couple of weeks because we are in the peak color period of October.

Last Sunday I made a trip to the Chicago Line of Norfolk Southern to find autumn colors. Here are a couple images of Amtrak and fall color.

In the top image, the westbound Capitol Limited is nearly on time as it charges through Chesterton, Indiana. The train had six Superliner cars, which was one more than its usual five. The sixth car was a transition sleeper on the rear.

On the point is a lone P42DC, which also is the norm for Nos. 29 and 30.

In the bottom image, the westbound Blue Water passes a colorful stand of trees in Porter, Indiana. Train 365 originates in Port Huron, Michigan, and runs with a locomotive on each end to avoid having to turn the train in Port Huron.

The consist is six Horizon fleet cars, including a food service car. The motive power is an SC-44 Charger, which has become the standard motive power for Midwest corridor trains.

No. 365 It is on Amtrak-owned trackage and the signal visible on the left protects the junction with the NS Chicago Line at the CP 482 interlocking plant.

The signal also marks the end of Amtrak ownership of the line, which extends from Porter to Kalamazoo, Michigan. This is the longest stretch of Amtrak-owned trackage outside the Northeast Corridor.

The heritage of this track is Michigan Central. Amtrak’s Chicago-Detroit (Pontiac) Wolverine Service trains also use these tracks.

Amtrak Allowing Checked Bikes on Capitol Ltd.

Amtrak has resumed accepting bicycles for transport aboard the Capitol Limited between Chicago and Washington.

In a news release, Amtrak cited high demand for accepting reservations of up to 12 full-six bikes aboard Nos. 29 and 30.

The fee to take a bike aboard the train is $20 per bike. The bikes cannot exceed 50 pounds and be no greater than 70 inches in length, 41 inches in height and 8.5 inches in width.

The train’s route runs along some popular trails in Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, including the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage.

One popular point for bicyclists is Cumberland, Maryland, which is 146 rail miles from Washington and 153 miles from Pittsburgh.

Amtrak to Restore LSL to Daily Operation in May

Amtrak will restore daily operation to four long-distance trains the week of May 23, Trains magazine reported Tuesday.

Resuming daily operation will be the Chicago-New York/Boston Lake Shore Limited, the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief, the Chicago-Seattle/Portland Empire Builder, and the Chicago-San Francisco Bay California Zephyr.

Starting May 2 Amtrak will end a joint equipment sharing plan involving the Chicago-Washington Capitol Limited and the Chicago-San Antonio Texas Chief.

Consequently, the Texas Chief will resort to its previous schedule because there will no longer be a need for a long layover in St. Louis to inspect the equipment.

However, Trains reported, the New York-Miami Silver Meteor will remain suspended through Sept. 11. The Chicago-New Orleans City of New Orleans and the New York-New Orleans Crescent also will remain five-day-a-week trains for now.

The Chicago-New York Cardinal will get a marginal boost in capacity when unused sleeping car accommodations in a crew car will begin being sold to the public.

Those accommodations are in a dorm-baggage car that runs on the rear of the train.

The southbound Chicago to Carbondale, Illinois, Saluki, and northbound Carbondale to Chicago Illini will remain suspended through Sept. 11. Both trains were suspended in late January.

The Trains report cited a planning document that it obtained.

That document also indicated there will be additional trains added in the Northeast Corridor.

The document said some train consists are being adjusted to account for lower than expected passenger car availability and continued onboard service worker shortages.

In a statement provided to the magazine, Amtrak acknowledged the additional services and cited increased demand for business and leisure travel.

To read the article visit https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/amtrak-to-restore-four-long-distance-trains-to-daily-service-in-late-may/

Amtrak ‘Day One’ Charger Passes Through

Amtrak’s “Day One” Siemens ACLC42 Charger locomotive headed east on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in the motive power consist of the Capitol Limited.

Amtrak’s possession of the second of 75 ACL42 units that the passenger carrier has ordered won’t be official until No. 301 reaches Wilmington, Delaware.

No. 301 trailed behind P42 No. 142 on Train 30, which had a Superliner consist of a dormitory car, a sleeper, a Cross-Country Café and two coaches, one of them a baggage-coach.

Nos. 29 and 30 are not operating currently with Viewliner baggage cars or Sightseer Lounges.

The journey of No. 301 to Chicago was hindered by mechanical problems with the motive power on the eastbound California Zephyr

No. 6 suffered a locomotive breakdown in Nebraska and had to be assigned a BNSF locomotive to continue to Chicago, where it arrived at 3:28 a.m. Tuesday, more than 12.5 hours late.

Accelerating in Waterloo

Amtrak’s westbound Capitol Limited is picking up speed as it accelerates away from its station stop in Waterloo, Indiana, one hour and 15 minutes late.

It is the first image I’ve made of the Capitol in well over a year and getting this photograph took good timing and fast acting.

Before leaving home I had checked the status of Amtrak trains through Waterloo. There wasn’t enough time to get there before the Lake Shore Limited arrived and chances were good I would miss No. 29 by 15 minutes or so.

It had been reported out of Cleveland an hour and 20 minutes but Amtrak’s website projected No. 29 would make up a good chunk of that and arrive in Waterloo 59 minutes late.

If that held, I had no chance. But I also knew Amtrak can get delayed between Waterloo and Toledo.

As I neared Waterloo I checked the Amtrak website again. No. 29 was now projected to arrive in Waterloo at 7:46 a.m. I figured to miss by that about five minutes.

The exit ramp for Waterloo onto U.S. Route 6 from Interstate 69 is just beyond the bridge over the Chicago Line of Norfolk Southern.

As I passed the exit signs for Route 6 it was 7:47 a.m. on my car’s clock. I slowed for the bridge and exit ramp and looked toward the east. No headlight was in sight.

That was a good sign This just might work after all.

Nearly a month earlier as I had driven over that same bridge I had seen the headlight of a fast approaching Amtrak 49. I was going to fast to get to the side of the road in time to try to get a grab shot and a pickup truck also getting off at the exit was right on my tail.

So close and yet so far away.

This time I drove to a road that crosses the Chicago Line at grade shortly after I got onto Route 6. The gates were up. Another good sign.

I checked the Amtrak website and saw No. 29 was now projected to arrive in Waterloo at 7:53 a.m., three minutes from now. Did I have time to get to the station?

I began driving down a road that runs parallel to the tracks. Then there it was up ahead. I immediately pulled to the side of Lincoln Street, grabbed my camera and dashed into the weeds to make this image.

There was no time so think about what I wanted to do. I barely was able to get all of the train in the frame.

Photographing the Capitol Limited is a challenge because much of its journey occurs at night. On the western end of the route the train is always operating in the wrong light. Only on the eastern end can you get 29 or 30 in good light.

In Northeast Ohio, No. 30 is scheduled into Cleveland at 1:45 a.m. and No. 29 at 2:53 a.m.

Still, you can get an interesting image on the western end of the route if you work it right.

The glint off P42DC No. 190 was happenstance but I also knew that this time of year the early morning light would favor the north side of the train.

I’m hoping it won’t be another year before I can photograph the Capitol Limited again.

Article and Photograph by Craig Sanders

Amtrak Now Operating Daily in NEO

Amtrak is now operating daily through Northeast Ohio. For the first time since last October the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited ran in both directions early this morning as Amtrak implemented the second phase of its resumption of daily service of long distance trains.

Last week the Texas Eagle, California Zephyr, Empire Builder and Coast Starlight resumed daily operation on May 24.

On May 31, the Capitol and Lake Shore along with the Southwest Chief and City of New Orleans resumed daily operation.

The next round of trains to go back to daily service will be the Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Crescent and Palmetto on June 7.

The Cardinal and Sunset Limited will continue to operate tri-weekly as they have for many years.

In a related development, the Rail Passengers Associated reported it has learned traditional dining car service will return to Amtrak’s western long distance trains on June 23.

On its own website, Amtrak reports only that traditional dining has been suspended through June 30.

More details on the revamping of Amtrak’s dining service are expected to be released this week.

Lounges to Remain Absent from Amtrak’s Capitol Limited

Sightseer Lounge cars won’t be returning to the Capitol Limited next week when the train returns to daily operation.

The Rail Passengers Association reported on its website that it has been told by Amtrak that the absence of the popular cars from the Capitol Limited and Texas Eagle is temporary.

“While temporary, we do not yet have a defined timeline for increasing Sightseer Lounge availability, and have placed the other five Western [long distance] routes at a higher priority for deploying these popular cars,” said Larry Chestler, Amtrak’s vice president of the Long-Distance business unit. “We also are maintaining the Sightseer Lounge on the City of New Orleans due to our long-standing axle count requirements in Illinois.”

That means the Capitol Limited and Texas Eagle will will continue to operate with a single food-service car.

Chestler said Amtrak has a shortage of the lounge cars due to coronavirus contingencies. He said the cars will be restored once it’s possible to do so.

The Capitol Limited is scheduled to return to daily operation on May 31 while the Texas Eagle will resume daily operation today (May 24).

In a related development, Amtrak expects to resume full-service dining aboard Western long distance trains as early as June. Last May it switched to the contemporary dining model as a response to COVID-19 pandemic.

The passenger carrier is recalling furloughed workers and getting them qualified.

RPA said it was told that once traditional dining returns to the Western trains, Amtrak will begin work on “improvements to dining services on other [long-distance] routes, including the Eagle.”

CSX Track Work May Disrupt Capitol Limited

CSX track work may affect Amtrak’s Capitol Limited through July 2.

In a service advisory, Amtrak said that work is taking place between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. between Pittsburgh and Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

If the eastbound Capitol would be more than 30 minutes late leaving Pittsburgh, it will terminate in Pittsburgh and passengers will be put aboard a bus that will make all intermediate stops en route to Washington.

In the event that No. 30 terminates in Pittsburgh, westbound No. 29 will originate in Pittsburgh the same day.

Passengers who would have boarded between Washington and Pittsburgh will instead ride a bus.

On days when bus service is substituted for train service the bus will only discharge passengers at intermediate points. It will not provide originating local traffic between those points.

Amtrak said trains traveling through the work zone may be delayed up to 30 minutes.