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Is it just me? Or have I heard a lot less, really nothing about sun kinks on rails in 2005? Seems like this was a hot topic in prior years. Amtrak was derailed or slow ordered due to problems with rails kinking due to high heat. 2005 was just as hot, if not hotter, as prior years, so...? Questions: 1)Are the rails in better shape? 2)Are the RR companies doing a better job with their rails? or 3)has Amtrak track adjusted itself to handle this situation? WHATSUPP!?
jgart56 Member # 3968
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Robert L
According to Trains magazine November 05, CSX still slows all commuter and passenger trains when the temperature gets above 80 degrees. NS does not seem to worry about it. I think it has much to do with MOW and the amount spent to keep things in shape.
Amazingly, during an incredibly hot summer in the Midwest and East, there did not seem to be any derailments (passenger-wise that is) caused by sun kinks. Unless I totally missed something somewhere!
train lady Member # 3920
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In mid June we returned from Charleston, SC. When we got to Fredricksburg, Va the train suddenly slowed way down. The conductor said it was because the temperature was near 90 and CSX have given us slow orders.It crawled all the way to DC. Three years ago on the Cardinal we were slowed because of a tornado alert near Mannasas Va. and we got to Alexandria several hours late.
notelvis Member # 3071
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quote:Originally posted by train lady: In mid June we returned from Charleston, SC. When we got to Fredricksburg, Va the train suddenly slowed way down. The conductor said it was because the temperature was near 90 and CSX have given us slow orders.It crawled all the way to DC. Three years ago on the Cardinal we were slowed because of a tornado alert near Mannasas Va. and we got to Alexandria several hours late.
Frozen switches, frozen signals, overheated signals, potential flooding, high temperatures, high wind, hell, high water, mosquitoes, plague alerts, and general pestilence.....
ALL of these have been offered as reasons why Amtrak trains I've ridden on CSX have managed to arrive 6-8 hours late.
OK......so I'm kidding about the mosquitoes and plague......the general pestilence is, I believe, CSX's lack of confidence in their physical plant.
Not even rides on an 8 hour late 'Coast Starlight' or delayed train poster child 'Sunset Limited' have been as frustrating as trips I've had over CSX aboard the 'Cardinal', 'Carolinian', and even the 'Auto Train'.
I book Amtrak travel on trains that utilize CSX only as a last resort nowadays. I would sooner fly to Chicago, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Spokane, or Denver (and have done ALL of those) to catch a train then I would to ride a 'Silver Service' train or spend a full day on the 'Carolinian' now.
train lady Member # 3920
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David,you are absolutely right. I have a real grudge against csx.Our trip down to Charleston is referred to by the family as the trip from Hades. Months after I bought the tickets we discovered that csx would be doing track work and we would therefore be bussed from Richmond to Rocky Mount and entrain again there to Charleston. The engine blew a gasket or something in Fredricksburg and after waiting in the hot sun for almost an hour they put us on a bus . The bus had no working AC( this was June) and kept breaking down. So we stopped in Richmond for another bus. After all the luggage was onloaded and we were all on it was discovered again no AC. So off we came and luggage and people were loaded on to still another bus after standing in the sun again for an hour. This one also no Ac but they just kept going. You can imagine how irrate everyone was. We finally got to Rocky Mt over 3 hours late. Again there ws a long wait. I went over to the nearest Amtrak employee and had him take the 3 of us out to the train in the electric car so at least we could wait in comfort.theconductor ,who had been on our bus and was vey angry(muttering under his breath about csx) demanded the club car be stocked and ready to serve when we arrived.The upshot of all this was we got to Chs at 1:30 AM instead of 6:45 PM. You can bet I gave Amtrak an earful the next day.As you can understand csx is not on my list of people I like
notelvis Member # 3071
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Hi Train Lady,
I have a degree of confidence that trains operated over NS and BNSF will be expedited reasonably well.....not all of the time but more often than not....NS does seem to have trouble with the 'Lake Shore' between Chicago and Cleveland. As to CSX, the now single track 160 mile section between Rocky Mount, NC and Petersburg, VA is simply a black hole. I've ridden trains that were within 15 minutes of on-time going into that section and still managed to come out 2 hours late on the other end. Just compound that for a train already 2 hours late when it starts down that gauntlet.
jgart56 Member # 3968
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After riding a 5 hour late LSL out to MA and a 3 hour late LSL back to Chicago, I suspect that CSX does the minimum to keep their track in shape. I wish Conrail was still around...I don't remember trains ever being so regularly late when they owned the lines.
train lady Member # 3920
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BNSF does quite well going west to Denver. Coming back is a different story. Freight traffic has backed us us as long as 9 hours.We very seldom get to chi on time. The rails between McCook and Denver are in such bad shape you hesitate to even stand up for fear of falling. Coming south from Ct. last week the train rocked so much we thought it would go off the tracks. So no I do not think the rails are any better.
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