Thanks for the link & article.
Bill H
--- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, William Barber <clipperw@...> wrote:
>
> Leo,
>
> Here is an Associated Press article from USA Today about the snowbound
> trains. Seems the BNSF should have been more prepared. They could have run
> some light units to keep the line clear, knowing Amtrak trains were expected.
> Would have avoid some bad press and a lot of expense to re open the line.
>
> Bill Barber
> Gravois Mills, MO
>
>
> More than 500 passengers who spent the night aboard three Amtrak trains
> stranded in snow in Illinois were finally headed by bus Tuesday morning to
> Chicago, rail line officials said. All of the passengers were expected to
> arrive in Chicago by early afternoon.
>
> The trains ? the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles, the Illinois Zephyr from
> Quincy and the California Zephyr from the San Francisco Bay area ? were
> halted starting around 3:30 p.m. CT Monday between Princeton and Mendota,
> about 80 miles from Chicago, said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. He said
> that drifting snow and ice made the tracks impassable. No injuries were
> reported.
>
> Some passengers told news outlets by cellphone that conditions on their train
> deteriorated and that they went long periods without food. "The conditions is
> cold; we're wearing coats. And my husband is a diabetic. He hasn't had any
> food all day," Laurette Mosley told ABC News. "The bathrooms are flooded. The
> sinks are full with water and the toilets are flooded."
>
> However, another passenger, Sarah Johnson, 19, told The Chicago Tribune and
> WGN-TV that passengers on her train were fed a meal of beef stew and mashed
> potatoes with a dinner roll and coffee or water around 6:45 p.m. She said the
> staff was pleasant and trying to make people comfortable, although no one was
> able to tell them what was happening from about 10:30 p.m. until about 6 a.m.
> "The staff of the train have really been trying to make everyone as happy and
> comfortable as possible," she said.
>
> Magliari said two of the trains, the Southwest Chief and the California
> Zephyr, were full-service trains with café cars. The Illinois Zephyr, which
> had about 60 passengers aboard, "had only one food service option," a snack
> bar, he said.
>
> Magliari said, "There were always working toilets on all the trains." He said
> some toilets might have malfunctioned, but "We were never without toilets."
>
> About 300 passengers spent the night on two of the trains near Mendota. The
> 217 passengers on the third train, the California Zephyr, spent the night at
> a rail yard in Galesburg. "We were unable to charter buses to take the
> passengers to Chicago (from Galesburg)," Magliari said.
>
> He said the other two trains were stuck in a remote area of Bureau County
> where "the tracks go through sort of a trench" that made it difficult to
> remove passengers at the time.
>
> "So we felt it was safer to shelter in place with light and heat and toilet
> systems than transfer passengers through the trench in the snow at minus-5
> temperatures," Magliari said. He said that emergency workers and medical
> personnel were standing by through the night if they had been needed.
>
> Passenger Bryan Plummer told ABC News that people on his train were given
> dinner but no snacks during the 15 hours they were stranded. "I inquired
> about breakfast service and they stated that at this time there was none
> planned. When the sheriff's officer that was on board here, when he left
> around 3 a.m. this morning. He stated that the Red Cross was involved and was
> trying to get us some meals."
>
> Amtrak canceled nearly two dozen trains in Illinois on Tuesday because of the
> cold and lingering snow from a weekend storm that dumped more than a foot of
> snow in some areas of Illinois.
>
> Contributing: The Associated Press
>
> On Jan 7, 2014, at 5:05 AM, CBQ@yahoogroups.com wrote:
>
> >
> > 3 Amtrak trains stalled near Mendota
> > Mon Jan 6, 2014 8:28 pm (PST) . Posted by:"Leo" leophillippTonight's Chgo
> > news reports 3 Amtrak trains stalled near Mendota,due to "blowing snow".
> >
> > Any one have details ?
> >
> > As a veteran of the battles of the 77-78 and 78-79 winters that have been
> > documented as colder with far more snow and of longer duration I find this
> > hard to understand. We didn't have any Amtraks stuck back then.
> >
> > I rode #5 at the height of the 78-79 storm from Aurora to Omaha to attend a
> > union general committee meeting. We certainly ran late but ran. We did have
> > a pair of SD 40s or 45s running ahead of as a snowplow.
> >
> > Leo Phillipp
>
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