Following article appeared in the NY Times on 8-25-08.
Amtrak Train Runs Out of Fuel
By REBECCA CATHCART
Published: August 25, 2008
LOS ANGELES — An Amtrak train traveling from here to San Diego ran out of fuel on Sunday night, an Amtrak spokeswoman said.
“It’s not uncommon for trains to run out of fuel here,” the spokeswoman, Vernae Graham, said. “It happens from time to time.”
This summer, a locomotive traveling on the same Pacific Surfliner route ran out of fuel, Ms. Graham said, as did a train in the Pacific Northwest last year.
“They are fueled once a day,” she said. “Once the train leaves in the morning, generally there is sufficient fuel for the entire day.”
The six-car train on Sunday night slowed to a halt 15 miles north of downtown San Diego at a station that serves the city’s light rail system, which had stopped running for the night. Another Amtrak train pushed the stalled train the remaining 15 miles down the coast, Ms. Graham said.
The trip, which normally takes two and a half hours, stretched to four. Many of the 83 passengers got out at the light rail station and called friends and relatives to pick them up there. Those without other options arrived downtown just before 1:30 a.m.
Technicians in San Diego are inspecting the six cars and a locomotive that ran on diesel fuel to see if mechanical problems caused its tank to drain prematurely, Ms. Graham said.
While Amtrak trains in the Northeast corridor are electric, those in most of the rest of the country are fuel driven. All Amtrak locomotives in California run on diesel, she said.