Running 8 hours 44 minutes behind schedule, Amtrak train 3, the westbound Southwest Chief, is now only about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Fullerton, its next (and next-to-last) stop on its journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.
So, why is this train so late? As I understand it, this train departed Chicago with two P42DCs (77 and 151), pulling a 11-car train (cars 61058, 39035, 32022, 32000, 38049, 33042, 34073, 34057, and, deadheading, 33016, 33004, 39001). Somewhere enroute, two of the three rear cars were set out.
Then, while passing over Raton Pass in New Mexico, P42DC 151 had issues and, when the train arrived in Albuquerque 5 hours 20 minutes behind schedule, they swapped those two diesels and added P42DC 15, which had been set out there a while ago from an eastbound train 4 (the Southwest Chief heading to Chicago) as a protection unit, to the lead. And, unsurprisingly, that took a while, and AMTK train 3 departed ABQ 6 hours 26 minutes late. And, as the old saying goes, "Late trains get later!"
