Service Disruptions

metraRI wrote: UP held all trains on all lines for about 2 hours. BNSF did the same for a shorter time period.

Oh well that's very interesting, and I stand corrected. I wonder if METX upper brass will be having a meeting with local UP/BNSF managers on this. Guess it depends on whether there was a legitimate signalling/track problem preventing the running of trains or just some higher up who decided it wasn't going to happen. The former seems unlikely in the UP's case given that all three lines shut down, except if an issue cropped up right in or outside of Oglivie.

UP's special instructions book states that if a tornado warning bulletin is issued to a train, it must stop, and that the crew must "seek shelter". I realize what a WORLD of sense this instruction makes, but nevertheless, it's there, and last I checked there was not an exemption for passenger trains.

Some trains were held up departing CUS, since the train directors were evacuated from their posts at 14th St. for a time. (That's the story I got, anyway.) Things started moving again by about 7pm.

metraRI wrote:

ohioriverrailway wrote:I can see how ME would have problems, but on the other lines -- does METRA take pro-active measures and hold trains at stations if they know the storms are going to be particularly violent, or do the crews/dispatchers just play it as the scene develops?

During severe weather, dispatchers will relay flash flood warnings and/or high wind warnings from the NWS to train crews (between milepost X and milepost Y), and instruct the crews to apply the appropriate rules governing these situations as needed. When the NWS issues tornado warnings, UP dispatchers will stop all traffic in the area until the warning expires (as Eric said), which is why I sat on UP/W train 47 for about 90 minutes yesterday while on my way home (got held up around MP 21, would have been home in about 5 minutes!) Once the warning expires, they'll try to get a track inspector out ASAP just to make sure everything is cool (i.e., ROW free of obstructions, and no standing water above the rails) before the dispatcher releases the trains. I got home about 7pm, turned on my radio, and it wasn't long before I heard that the storms had caused problems at Proviso; specifically, the fire alarms had gone off in the building that houses the terminal dispatchers, causing an evacuation. These dispatchers control UP/W from CP Kedzie to CP Park (Elmhurst) and nothing was lined up in either direction for almost an hour, so that just added to the fun. During the aftermath of the bloody mess, UP commuter control spent the better part of the evening trying to put the service back together again, resulting in a hodgepodge of cancellations, equipment moves, and crew reassignments...

BNSF halted all traffic between Brookfield and Cicero (this was one area where a tornado warning was in effect). This affected runs after 5:45pm as equipment heading back east were halted. Once rail traffic was allowed to move again, speed restrictions were put into place.

Anyone know what happened on the Up-W line on July 4??

I was visiting family at Elmhurst, and the 11:13 back to Chicago, OTC didn't show up until about 11:42, and come on the opposite track.

7express wrote:Anyone know what happened on the Up-W line on July 4??

I was visiting family at Elmhurst, and the 11:13 back to Chicago, OTC didn't show up until about 11:42, and come on the opposite track.

Yes, service was indeed a quagmire last Sunday, though I still never found out the real reason, since I was out of the area most of day. I'm not sure if it involved 511 (the 8:40 out of OTC) or one of the westbound extras, but my guess is the delays were due to either equipment problems, freight train interference, or some combination of both perhaps. In any case, 514 (the 11:13 back to the city) actually didn't get to Elmhurst until sometime after midnight, and the 1240 from OTC was likely delayed as well, probably not getting to Elburn until well after 2am. Late-night Metra at its best.

Glad you enjoyed your visit. Come back soon, and bring a friend next time...

Let's leave the service disruption notices to official sources for now...

-otto-

As bones pointed out yesterday, 105 ran on SWS yesterday.. without apparent flaw. Tonight was not so flawless. 105 was on train #829 and had mechanical problems I'm guessing after leaving CUS. The train was eventually cancelled. At first Metra said passengers would board the following train, #831.. later changed to #833. Fitting #829 and #831's passengers onto a five car train would have been tough anyway. 105 and train made its way to 179th Street before the arrival of #833, at which point it held the main. Seems like whatever issues they had were fixed as #833 did not continue to Manhattan as Metra stated, instead ran as usual ending at 179th Street after which 105 and train backed into 179th Street to pick up passengers who were on the train to begin with.

They should have held 829 at 143rd, and ran me (833) around him, then had him follow me to 179th. Actually the should have DOUBLE-HEADED 105 FOR ABOUT A WEEK. Com on mechanical, what's wrong with you? Here's another tip: REMOVE THE COMPUTERS AND THE ENGINE WILL RUN JUST FINE. They ran the first 33 years pretty much without a hitch.

I experienced a fairly interesting commute home on train #611 on the Rock today. Train left on time and all was normal until we began approaching Englewood crossing, slowing down to a crawl, until ... the passenger in front of me had a seizure! Most of the car noticed it right away so we were quickly able to deduce what was going on, and the conductor was summoned immediately. He radioed the dispatcher, gave them the lowdown and requested an ambulance to meet the train at Gresham. By now the train is stopped at Englewood, waiting for what I can now see is a slow NS intermodal train. After someone yelled through the car if there was a nurse, etc, a rider stepped up, said she was a nurse, and began assessing the seizure victim's condition. I had hypothesized right off the bat that with a seizure victim, you're generally supposed to simply let them go through it without interference (unless there's a threat of head injury) and it turns out I was right, as per the nurse (who was soon joined by another from an adjoining car).

Finally, that NS intermodal train got out of the way and the train got moving again. Right as the train pulls into Gresham, the rider "snaps" out of her seizure, albeit in a state of confusion and with some obvious memory loss (no answers to the questions "do you know where you are?," and "can you tell me your name?"). Another rider kept her watch going - the seizure lasted for about 8 minutes. CFD paramedics were on the platform within minutes of pulling in and were able to get the still-disoriented seizure victim off the train using some sort of collapsible chair. A couple of Metra police cars were also there (the right-of-way is wide enough for a service road on the east side of the tracks). The assistant conductor was required to stay behind on the platform with the paramedics while they were tending to the seizure victim (who appeared to be doing better from my vantage point inside the car, but was still not in any condition to go straight home). I did notice that the paramedics were having a little trouble getting the victim off the train through the vestibule and its standee poles. This was a 7200 series car (I think 7275?) and the two vertical bars looked to be making things hard for the paramedics, although they of course eventually did get the victim off. I'm 6'2" and no thin rail and can only imagine how hard it would be to get someone of my stature with a medical issue out of one of those older bilevels.

Between the medical delay and the blocked diamond at Englewood, we only lost 20 minutes of time! Great job by Metra getting the situation adequately taken care of and getting the train on its way again (hope the seizure victim is doing well too).

byte wrote:Between the medical delay and the blocked diamond at Englewood, we only lost 20 minutes of time! Great job by Metra getting the situation adequately taken care of and getting the train on its way again (hope the seizure victim is doing well too).

I hope they are fine as well ... sounds like everyone did what they should have done well.

(And thanks to grant money the diamond problem will be fixed with a three track overpass. Construction will cause a few temporary delays but the future is good.)

The motive power on train 2151, the 7:35pm from Chicago to Fox Lake, went tits-up at Northbrook on Friday night. I know not what the problem was, but when they went to leave, the engine wouldn't load. Said the engineer to the conductor on the radio: "it doesn't have the 'go' power!"

Nos. 342, 341, 2158, CP 291 all went by, but in the end it sounded like the disabled train got a "push" from no. 2153.

La Salle St got a protection unit last night, for some reason. My outbound train #614 pulled into the station late, with an idling #406 on the cab-car end. This was uncoupled and left in place after the train left. Then this morning, as my inbound train pulled in, I noticed a 47th-bound deadhead leaving with 406 coupled onto the rear.

The UP-W was interesting today due to the new signals around Glen Ellyn being cut over. All Metra inbound trains were boarding from the middle track all the way from West Chicago to Elmhurst, causing major delays. Outbound trains were minorly delayed due to speed restrictions around Glenn Ellyn and Lombard.

Next Friday may see some delays on the BNSF, as new signals are supposed to be cut over between West Lisle and Route 59. All old signal bridges along the stretch will be removed from service at that time also.

Here's a picture of what the area around West Naperville looked like last weekend, the new signals have since been turned towards the tracks. http://www.flickr.com/photos/eje665/5154871854/

The Heritage Corridor was suspended this morning due to a oil leak between Lockport and Lemont, near where the new Romeoville station is being built.

http://www.suntimes.com/2845379-417/amt ... spill.html