A borrowed BNSF Railway freight locomotive leads the eastbound Empire Builder out of Rugby, N.D. on Sept. 1, 2024, more than 13 hours after it was scheduled to depart. The ALC42 Charger locomotives failed east of Ephrata, Wash., and the train sat for 9 hours before continuing with the rescue engine. Dale Niewoehner

CHICAGO — Amtrak’s Empire Builder departing Seattle on Aug. 30 got off to an on-time start, but was spotted over Labor Day weekend exiting Rugby, N.D., 13 hours, 29 minutes late at 1:18 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 1 instead of 11:49 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31. It would lose more time because a borrowed BNSF Railway freight locomotive is not geared to attain 79 mph maximum speeds. The straggler rolled into Chicago Union Station Monday at 6:53 a.m., 14 hours, 8 minutes off the advertised. At least at that hour, Amtrak was spared the need to find holiday weekend Windy City hotel rooms for a trainload of passengers.

What happened? Both of the train’s ALC42 Charger locomotives became disabled east of Ephrata, Wash. Including the need to secure replacement motive power and most likely transport a fresh operating crew to the site, the train lost more than 9 hours stopped overnight.

The Builder breakdown, on the other hand, is one of the final entries in a register of lengthy delays compiled by News Wire nearly every day during August.




Plagued by mechanical issues, Amtrak’s Empire Builder departs Whitefish, Mont., nine hours late on January 2, 2023. Siemens says they are addressing hardware and software problems that have impacted Amtrak’s new ALC-42 Chargers this winter. Photo by Justin Franz.
By Justin Franz

CHICAGO — Nearly a year after they made their main line debut, Amtrak’s new Siemens Mobility ALC-42 “Chargers” are still having teething issues, especially in cold weather.