Holiday Travelers Stymied by Weather - NYTimes.com

Cliff Cole, a spokesman for Amtrak, said there were service disruptions at railroad stations from Chicago to the Northeast because of the harsh weather in the Midwest.

A combination of high winds, heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures spurred equipment delays and left numerous ice-covered locomotives in need of thawing out, causing “a domino effect,” Mr. Cole said.

One of the more problematic lines was the Lakeshore Limited, which runs between Chicago and New York. “In that area they’ve had extremely cold weather, a lot of snow and windy conditions,” he said. “It’s causing problems with equipment, and when trains run inordinately late, we have re-crewing issues because crews can’t work more than 12 hours.”

Obamas begin Christmas Eve with workout, Marines

Obama, his family and his close friends are spending 12 days on the island of Oahu, staying at a rented $9 million beachfront estate.

WHITE CHRISTMAS FOR HALF THE COUNTRY...