Posted on 08/03/2007 7:05:44 AM PDT by Bean Counter
Amtrak has announced a major disruption of train service in the Pacific Northwest.
Only train no. 510 and 517, which run between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., will operate. All other Cascade trains between Eugene and Vancouver are cancelled due to safety concerns. An Amtrak representative this morning said the disruption is undefinite.
Rail authorities said a recent mechanical inspection of some Cascades trains led to the decision to suspend service so all Cascade trains can be inspected.
Amtrak officials say they are contacting passengers to alert them of the cancellations. No alternate transportation is being provided. An Amtrak representative said passengers holding unused tickets will receive refunds.
The Coast Starlight, which runs between Seattle and Los Angeles, will operate on its normal schedule.
Passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com for additional information and train status updates.
Developing...
"Undefinite"????
undefinite
Indefinite or unidentified?
Do these Amtrak trains use a bridge not also used by freight trains?
Undefinite is not in my dictionary?
The Amtrak press release indicated it was the train equipment which required inspection.
Beat me to it - ah, the product of our modern university journalism programs. Just makes ya proud, don’t it?
Colonel, USAFR
Terrorist threat???
Who’s going to bother blowing up a few trains in remote Canada?
Now if only everyone on the Internet realized there is no such word as “definAtely”.
It’s not the bridges - or rail. It’s the trains.
Many of the bridges are honestly, very well engineered. I’d say better than the cheap quick garbage put up in our generation. Paint isn’t necessary; and how do you know it’s not a rust coat?
Yesterday they announced $100 in free booze, and now this. Maybe they expected something and wanted the riders plastered when it happens so they won’t feel it so bad....
Eugene OR population 150,000
Vancouver, BC population 700,000
Hardly remote villages.
It’s relative. There is virtually nothing between them and 1-2000 mi away to the east.
Bottom line: terrorists would not be interested.
Guess they didn’t use Rearden Metal
“Undefinite is not in my dictionary?”
Inless you spell it different.
undefinable??
indefinitive
underfinity
innersanctity?
instability?
bad reporting?
C- in journalism?
Publius Rail Ping - Do you know anything about this?
If only Amtrak got government subsidies, it wouldn’t be in such bad shape.
“Hardly remote villages.”
Right you are. I believe there may be a Hudson’s Bay Company outpost in Vancouver and perhaps a salmon cannery.
When the railroads decided to get out of the passenger business in the 1950s and 1960's, they used to charge the entire cost of maintaining the mainline to the passenger trains that were on that route (e.g. Western Pacific's California Zephyr had to pay the entire cost of maintaining their main line from Oakland through the Sierras to Denver, the Coast Daylight and the Lark split the cost of the line from San Francisco to LA, etc.) It was a great way to show the passenger trains were losing money, even though they made money of a marginal basis and even if they were allocated only their share of maintenance including the freight traffic.
Out in the bush, eh?
hmmm, so terrorists are only interested in trains that go between major cities that have large populations between them??? I suppose Seattle is not large enough??
No need to respond, I was just speculating.
"I just happened to be on duty at Centennial Station (Olympia) Thursday evening and received word from the Vancouver (WA) agent that a structural crack was found this morning in the Talgo trainset meant for Train 501. That train was pulled from service this morning for repair. A decision was then made to recall all Talgo trainsets to Seattle for inspection and repair. Trains 501 and 507 were cancelled today with no substitute bus service, but substitute buses were assigned to cover for 509 this evening. All afternoon northbound Talgo runs from Portland to Seattle were run, but Train 516 was terminated at Seattle with substitute buses continuing to all stations north to Bellingham.
"For Friday, buses will be substituted for all trains, except Coast Starlight trains 11 and 14. I have been told by 508's conductor this evening that equipment is being drawn in from elsewhere in the system as quickly as possible to resume the Cascades train runs. We can expect anything from Heritage Fleet on up at this point.
"There has been no determination made as to when the Talgo sets will return to service as of right now."
Bottom line: Cracks were found in the Talgo trainsets owned by WSDOT and operated by Amtrak. They have been taken out of service, and Amtrak is scrambling to find spare equipment from back east to fill in the gaps. No one knows yet how bad the problem is, how or whether it can be fixed easily, or when the trainsets will again be available for service.
Nice, but again, it’s far removed from anywhere else in Canada. The vast majority of population in Canada is on the east side.
Sorry, it’s just not a prime target.
This is just like the MN bridge. People speculating about terrorists. It’s highly unlikely, as the city itself is just plain not a prime target for any reason.
They struck the WTC and the Pentagon - and aimed for the Capitol/WH - for a REASON. They weren’t stupid - and not merely “symbolic” (if they wanted symbolic, why choose the boring albeit big WTC vs. the nearby SOL?). They were great targets to bring down - national government/military, economic center. Not mere symbols.
They still basically exist, so they’d still be top tier.
As I said in the MN thread, these other things would be like 10th-tier. After all the bigger and more important centers are blown up.
Much thanks! I knew I’d come to the right source! Now I’m off to get ready, I’m joining the inaugural s.o.w. d-train run to Kapowsin this morning :)
Also, these trains pass through Portland, OR, and Seattle, WA.
You may recall that the portion of the former California Zephyr between Denver and Salt Lake City continued to be operated by the Denver & Rio Grande for a number of years after Amtrak was created because that private railroad didn't want the government operated Amtrak screwing up schedules through the mountains.
Yes, but I wouldn’t put those very high up either.
Of course, Seattle - or very near - does have the submarine base.
The population of the City of Vancouver proper is only 700k or so, but if you factor in the metropolitan area, the population soars to over 2 million. It’s also a major port. It’s in direct competition with Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and L.A.
Off the top of my head, I can think of 4 more cities within 700 miles all with populations over 1 million, 2 of them in Canada. If we go to cities of 250k or more, you can add another 5, 3 in Canada.
BTW, the “alternate Capital” (should DC disappear or become unusable) of the USA is a sleepy little town of 20k population that is 40 miles from where I sit.
You might want to read a slightly newer than 1850’s population distribution chart. Yes, there are long stretches of unpopulated land, but have you ever driven the Nevada desert?
Your statement would have been far more accurate had you said the about 75% of the Canadian population lives within 200 miles of the US border.
That’s too bad. I’ve ridden the Cascade a couple of times between Seattle and Portland. The coaches are modern, comfortable and had AC power to run your laptop. Much better than driving if you’re going city center to city center.
OK, so the distribution is a bit better than I thought.
That still doesn’t change my mind that these places are not prime targets (seems everyone is anxious to prove their place is prime target material - or at least, as in PC world, all places are equal), neither Vancouver nor Minneapolis.
Doesn’t mean the jerk-offs wouldn’t do it just for fun; it’s just not bloody likely to be high on their priority lists.
It’s clear in the US the prime targets are DC and New York. It should be intuitively obvious why, regardless of 9/11. They were pretty smart and went beyond even just population matters never mind symbols, although those are part of it.
Vancouver: major port and financial centre.
Edmonton: key staging area for oil and gas production and exploration.
Calgary: business and financial centre for the oilpatch in Canada (the USA’s single largest trade partner, BTW).
Nope, not significant at all. Until the oil stops because someone blew something crucial up.
Fort Lewis, McChord AFB, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Naval Station Everett (Carriers), Bangor Sub Base (Boomers and Attack), Keyport Undersea Warfare Laboratory, Command 13th Naval District, Whidbey Island NAS, USCG Station Seattle (plus several smaller ones), Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (Command Maritime Forces Pacific), CFB Comox (AFB)... I’m sure there are others.
Piling on. From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest
“Most of the population of the Pacific Northwest is concentrated in the Vancouver-Seattle-Portland corridor. This area is sometimes seen as a megacity (also known as a conurbation, an agglomeration, or a megalopolis). This megacity stretches along Interstate 5 in the states of Oregon and Washington and BC 99 in the province of British Columbia. As of 2004, the combined populations of the Greater Vancouver Lower Mainland, the Seattle metropolitan area and the Portland metropolitan area totaled almost nine million people.”
Do you think he gets it yet? Nice tag line.
"Undefinite"????
The exact date the repairs will be completed is incertain.
Of course, Seattle - or very near - does have the submarine base.
You never know, maybe they have a grudge against Microsoft in Redmond, WA, (right next to Seattle).
unalienable....
an oops
According to the stats I’ve seen, Vancouver is the second most populous city on the west coast.
It truly is a beautiful place.
And them Canadians love their bakeries! Yum!
I do recall that, though I didn't realize the effect on scheduling was the reason. The Zephyr was my favorite of the transcontinental trains. The last time I rode the Zephyr was on my way back East to college in 1966 - first time I had a Pullman bedroom to myself. It was a glorious trip, and once the crew found out I was a rail buff, they went out of their way for me - bringing me up to the engines, serving me wine with my meals, making sure I had my dining car seating (with window seat) at the best sight-seeing times (there is NOTHING like having fresh trout (loaded at Rifle, caught that morning) with a 1959 Johannisburger Doktor Kabinett while descending down into Denver at Sunset - or fresh Dungeness Crab heading through the Feather River Canyon). 'Twas a memorable trip. At Chicago, I changed to an NY Central train to Cincinnati. They had sold me a Pullman ticket all the way through, but the train (the James Whitcomb Riley) was all coach -- until they put the Pullman observation car on for me.
The only SP trains I ever like were the Daylights (Coast and Shasta) which we used to take to LA and to see relatives in Oregon.
On weekdays the trains run from 1/3 to 1/2 of a full load. This is because -- thanks to the timing of the slots available on the BNSF main between the cities served -- there is little train service geared to the business traveler.
But on weekends the trains sell out, sometimes weeks in advance. Amtrak has taken to selling overflow space in the bistro car to handle the load. This weekend should see full trains booked, and now there aren't any cars to run them. This what is called "bad for business".
I always thought it was a little odd that they were relying on Spanish technology.
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