Stupid Amtrak Tricks

[Zazu]

This is my favorite subject ever on SGT! Where is Zazu? He loves trains! I bet he has taken a few trips on some, and not just the DL or WDW ones. ;) Maybe Zazu has some stories to share about trains and train trups. Oh Zaaaaazuuuuuuu!!!! Regale us with stories of trains!

Yeah, I could do that. Moved it here as it seemed the most likely forum.

:amtrak:

Travelling on the Chief one evening, I was headed downstairs to the lounge so I could read while SWMBO slept.

For those not familiar with Superliner equipment, there are two floors. The upper floor is full length and has doors to permit passage to adjacent cars. The lower floor is only the center of the car, so a stairwell is needed in each car. These stairways make two sharp corners -- they aren't a straight shot.

As I headed down the stairs, an elderly gentleman followed me. (Note: "Elderly" means 20 years older than I am at any given moment.) Something told me to walk slowly so he would be right behind me. I still don't know why, but I'm glad I did.

He didn't make it around the first corner.

Instead, he tripped and fell on top of me. I was halfway expecting it, so was able to catch him and let him down easy. Now he was laying in the middle third of the stairway, head lower, and showing no signs of any effort to get up.

Fortunately, I wasn't the only person on the train who was hearing voices in his head, as before I could decide what to do about this, the Onboard Chief of Services (head of Amtrak staff, not the Conductor) stuck his head around the corner to see what was going on.

"I'll grab his head, you grab his feet, and we'll put him in a booth down here," I suggested.

"Good idea, thanks!" he replied, and we did so, seating him (right side up) in one of the lounge booths downstairs.

At this point I got my drink and sat at a far table to watch the fun. It soon became evident that he was both drunk and married. The former because he had trouble sitting up and speaking at the same time; the latter because she showed up at the Chief's insistence and she was Not Happy.

She got even more Not Happy when the Chief put both of them and their luggage off at the next stop, which was in Nowhere, Kansas, about 1:30 am. She wasn't saying anything, but I could tell from the look on her face that as soon as he sobered up, he was going to need another drink!


Amtrak not only sells wine and beer on board, they also let you bring on your own supply of alcohol if you have a bedroom. They really don't care if you get roaring drunk as long as you're quiet, keep the booze in your room, and don't create Code Vs. Of course, fail one of these points, and you'll be standing on the next station's platform wondering what hit you.

And with "City Hall" in Washington, I suspect very few complaints get back to Amtrak staff.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Moved from another thread to this one!! I was posting about the southern route from L.A. to Orlando that I was trying to book, and was told that a major portion of the trip would be by bus, unless I went through Chicago, to Washingto, then down to Orlando. Was told the track was not working, or out.

The track was repaired promptly. Then after it was fixed, Congress gave CSX Transportation money to rebuild. Amtrak just never started running passenger trains again. It's a matter of no small dispute, presently working its way through the courts.

It makes no sense that they wouldn't run passenger trains over that route. I am sure a lot of people would pay a reasonable fare! I know from travelling by train in Alaska, that if you have the time, it is a great way to go! I sure as heck wouldn't mind the cost. The southern route would seem to be a better paying one also, as passegers going on vacation would want to have a direct route, rather than going through Chicago.

Good story on the drunk, I didn't know they would do that!! I can imigine them trying to find alternate transportation! I also make the assumption that if you are put off, you forfeit the fare?

[mechurchlady]

1998 september and I took the orlando to DC to chicago to LA route. The food was greate but screw any disable service. rude bitchy and caused me to fall. witch claimed it was my fault because of flip flops, hrmph. she came up behind me in between cars and distracted me. could not wait for me to cross over. I love amtrak but I do not like begging to have the bed made, for a promised newspaper, for disabled services, or the rude staff i met. most staff were very nice but got got the witch from the slums of hades.

someday maybe someone can transfer my 1998 footage to digital and online. where are they? my trip was fine until that fall in new mexico, it hurt and was very big bruises.

sorry if not too coherent but am ill from food and sorry if not cohesive.

hugs
laurie

[CMGUY89]

Uggh I was on a regional train between Philly and NYC and there was this woman literally SCREAMING into her cell phone. For some reason they didn't offer a quiet car on that train which I would have very quickly moved to. But knowing some SG on Amtrak they would sit in the quiet car and talk on their phone.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

The trips I have had on trains has always been very plesent, of course I don't count the D.C. Metro as a train, and that was for work anyway. The one I remember most was of course, the Alaska one, Nice thing about that was if there was an SG, you could just throw him or her off and let them deal with the wildlife!!! The conductor left the top door open so you could get a good photo shot without the window being in the way!! Of course, like any moving public transportation, when you are walking around you have to be carefull of your footing! DW learned the trick of carrying a cup of tea on a moving train!

I have taken the San Diego to L.A. a couple of times, and upgraded to the business section, that was nice as I could set and actually read the paper and have a cup of coffee, instead of fighting traffic!!

I have taken a few other train rides, but mostly they were just point to point tourist kinds of rides!!

[Belgarion42]

In October of last year, my wife & I took the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Chemult, OR and back. We really enjoyed the whole trip, and we're looking forward to it again.

But since this thread is Stupid Amtrak Tricks, I will share the one biggie. Ont he way back down, we were going through central California. A truck driver in a lettuce-picker had crossed the train tracks and was waiting to go through the intersection just on the other side (instead of waiting to cross until it was clear for him to proceed all the way through the intersection. This meant that the back 10 feet or so of the truck was in *our* way.

The conductor tried to stop and/or get him to clear the tracks (hit the horn, emergency brake, etc.) but it didn't work. We nailed the back portion of his truck. Destroyed both the back of the truck and the front engine. So we waited out in the middle of nowhere for 3 1/2 hours for the investigation to complete and for us to get a new conductor (for obvious reasons, ours was very shaken up and couldn't continue). Then we limped the rest of the way down to LA with one engine (and a couple brief power outages). We got home 4 hours late. (Going up we were only 12 minutes late and if it weren't for that moron--who has almost certainly lost his job as a result--probably would have been about the same coming back.)

The staff was good about trying to keep us as comfortable as possible. Not that it stopped some people (including one guy who thought he knew *everything* and felt compelled to share it with everyone in earshot) from complaining. But I was very impressed.

I have pictures of some of the damage, btw (to the truck, sadly none of the engine).

[ktulu]

My favorite train experience was riding the Musashino Line from Tokyo Station to Maihama station. It was even fun on the return trip aboard the Japanese "sardine train" :D:

Nothing like seeing familiar buildings coming into view in an unfamiliar place!

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Wow!, That guy is lucky he didn't loose more that just the rear of the truck!!
Every once in a while, you see a story of some moron SG that graduates to "Darwin Award" status by going around a lowered rail crossing an meeting up with a fast moving, thousands of tons of train to his piddley little vehicle!

WE were thinking of taking that train all the way up the coast, San diego to L.A., switch trains and continue up to Vancouver. Did you have get a berth?

[Notatourist]

If the US treated rail service 1/4 of the way it is treated in Japan we would have a real working rail system.

I love Japan Rail.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

If the US treated rail service 1/4 of the way it is treated in Japan we would have a real working rail system.

I love Japan Rail.

Very true, I was stationed there for two years in the 70's, the first thing they teach you is how to take the trains and read the kanji signs for the right train! (and how to order beer!!) They have the mass transit thing perfected!!

The only weird part is that I remember that they used to have school kids jumping in front of them if they messed up on a test! Not all the time but I remember it seemd to happen about once ever couple of weeks! They take grades very seriously!!