BNSF Mississippi River "Bridge Out" - Zephyr Detou

It appears that Col Perkowski has direct service to Denver, Reno (where he has reported his family resides), and Emeryville 'for the moment":

Associated Press

Brief Passage:

• DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A railroad bridge crossing the swollen Mississippi River in southeastern Iowa remained closed Friday, a day after it was struck by a grain-filled barge.....Amtrak's California Zephyr, which runs from Chicago to San Francisco, travels through Iowa. Eastbound passengers were taken by charter bus from Iowa to their destinations Thursday, while other trains have been rerouted, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

According to "The Hawk Eye", paper for Burlington Iowa, the bridge (and the auto bridge as well) are reopened for freight traffic although the barge is still wedged beneath the BNSF bridge.http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/bridge-webupdate-050208

Edit, apparently the paper goes by Hawk Eye, two words, rather then Hawkeye one word.

I don't know what the reroute is, but the WB California Zephyr just flew by my office in Elmhurst on the CNW West Line with a UP unit on the point. Not something you see every day on this line!

Interesting observation, Mr. Hicks.

The C&NW has been the detour customarily used by the Zephyr; I guess they needed time to complete whatever formalites were necess ary with the UP and it had to stay on BNSF rails until that was completed.

I thought something must have happened, since arrival times into Denver skyrocketed on Friday. That train was almost 12 hours late!

Question: How would the Zephyr get "back on track" after using the C&NW tracks across northern Iowa? I'm assuming they end up crossing the Missouri at Omaha but the map I saw showed the C&NW tracks going into west central Iowa with no connection to the river.

From Marriott Courtyard Carmel IN--

Mr. Rider, the C&NW has lines diverging at Missouri Valley IA; one such interchanged with the UP at Freemont NE, tho toher interchanges with the UP at Council Bluffs.

Now regarding Amtrak detours interchanged to the UP at Omaha, there could be a backup move there but I had best defer on that point to those with local knowledge.

At Chicago, the train would leave the C&NW at Tower A-4 near Western Ave. thence proceed on the MILW to CUS.

Somehow, Amtrak, you have misread the Iowa map. The UP line (the old C&NW) runs across all of Iowa -- the major towns are Clinton, Cedar Rapids, Ames, Boone, Dennison and Council Bluffs. It is all double track, and the UP is in the last stages of making all of it CTC with both way signaling. As Mr Norman notes, near Missouri Valley, there is a shortcut that can be taken to the UP at Fremont NB should there be no need to go into Omaha.

From a different board, it appears the difference between UP (C&NW) and BNSF (BN-CB&Q) qualified speeds on the line is creating major delays. Apparently 5 terminated/turned in Reno at least once since the bridge went out.

Dakguy201 wrote:Somehow, Amtrak, you have misread the Iowa map. The UP line (the old C&NW) runs across all of Iowa . . . [as] there is a shortcut that can be taken to the UP at Fremont NB should there be no need to go into Omaha.

Unfortunately the map I used is of less than stellar quality, so I'm not surprised I had some incorrect information. I will look at it again - or perhaps seek a better one. I'm assuming there is a board here which covers that older railroad, so I may also do a bit more reading about C&NW.

I know Amtrak makes a stop in Omaha, so I'm supposing they'd be likely to go through the backing up as described by Mr. Norman.

Thanks for the info.

If you want to use a good map of Iowa's rail lines I'd suggest this one.http://www.iowarail.com/railroads/maps/Service_07.pdf

joshuahouse wrote:If you want to use a good map of Iowa's rail lines I'd suggest this one.http://www.iowarail.com/railroads/maps/Service_07.pdf

Thanks for the link. The map I was using before shows the tracks west of Dennison as "abandoned". Your map will also be helpful with an earlier IA related story I have been following.

Most if not all states have a pdf map of their rail lines, unfortunantly some, like Illinois do not always open properly.

Amtrak has detoured 5 and 6 over the former C&NW numerous times in the past. I rode one such detour east from Omaha to Chicago in 1993, when flooding had closed many rail lines in Iowa.

From the former CB&Q in Omaha, it's a straight-ahead move on signal indication over to the UP bridge (which is adjacent), and then all the way to Tower A-5 in Chicago, where there is, again, a track connection to the former MILW into the north side of Union Station. All very straightforward -- although with slow orders for high water and having to run around many outlawed freight trains, it took us from 7 AM to 3 AM the next morning to get to Chicago!

Ride it if you can. The C&NW is an interesting piece of railroad. They use a UP engine on the point apparently because the Amtrak cab signal equipment is not compatible with whatever is used on the former CNW.

NellieBly wrote:From the former CB&Q in Omaha, it's a straight-ahead move on signal indication over to the UP bridge (which is adjacent), and then all the way to Tower A-5 in Chicago, where there is, again, a track connection to the former MILW into the north side of Union Station. All very straightforward --

A slight correction, that would be Tower A-2 ( A = Chicago -Minneapolis Mainline Mile Post 2) A-5 ( Pacific Junction) is where the Milwaukee Road line to Savanah ( the "B" line) split. At A2 UP Main 3 ties in to CP main 3 with a slip switch. Routing Train 5 to the UP at A-2 requires crossing over to Main 3 at Morgan Street from either Main 1 or 2 if not done at Lake Street, which is often not an option. Typicaly with a UP Detour Train 6 will arrive late enough in Chicago that train 8 has already gone to the Yard and will not be in the way (nor will the Metra Trains)