John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Sat Jan 01, 2022 9:34 pmI hope you got your money back on that one, and complained to about five states about sanitary conditions on those trains. EW!STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 3:03 pm , they can dump the tanksOH REALLY!
Christmas, 2002. I took my son to see his grandparents at Disneyland. We took 3 KC-LA. Chicago didn’t empty the tanks. THE EFFING TRAIN FILLED EVERY LAST TANK TO OVERFLOW! I asked each conductor to call for a honey wagon. They would not … at Las Vegas, at Albuquerque, at Flagstaff, or even at San Berdoo.
Do not dare to talk about “they can dump the tanks.”
Railroad Forums
Stuck on a train vs. stuck at the airport
- Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman
STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 4:29 pmWorks really well if you have a cafe car attendant with you as they have cash on hand. Did it once while stuck on a siding in Upstate NY fortunately there was a bar restaurant right across the street ordered wings and pizza for the entire train. Now they have snack packs and a bottle water thats what I see on the short distance trains. Long distance used to be Dinty Moore beef stew and rice for emergencies. I think I see a LSA that I hired out with who works "first class" on the LSL tonight I will check with him.eolesen wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 3:39 pm At least an airport, you can Uber yourself to a hotel or find a restaurant.Well, there has been cases where the train staff ordered pizza for everyone.
Good luck ordering Uber Eats while stuck on a train.
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Green means GO Red means STOP Yellow your on YOUR OWN
Works really well if you have a cafe car attendant with you as they have cash on hand. Did it once while stuck on a siding in Upstate NY fortunately there was a bar restaurant right across the street ordered wings and pizza for the entire train. .....They still have cash on Amtrak? I believe I read that VIA is cashless.
The sanitary holding tanks issue: are there facilities other than L.A. and Chicago? Can they service in between other than adding water? Just wondering since I have not had an Amtrak trip in almost three decades.
Railjunkie wrote: ↑Sun Jan 02, 2022 12:11 pm . Long distance used to be Dinty Moore beef stew and rice for emergencies. I think I see a LSA that I hired out with who works "first class" on the LSL tonight I will check with him.On my delayed California Zephyr last year (freight train derailment), the coach passengers had Dinty Moore and rice..
urr304 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 02, 2022 1:54 pmThe sanitary holding tanks issue: are there facilities other than L.A. and Chicago? Can they service in between other than adding water?Things may have changed, but I remember a "honey wagon" draining the toilets from Amfleet cars at the Cincinnati Amshack in either 1977 or 1980.
I'm going to be unpopular and go with airport.
The train isn't bad per say, as long as the engine has fuel to keep the HEP available, but as mentioned, at the airport, you have a ton of food choices. You can walk around, plenty of bathrooms, and if you are delayed really bad you can leave the airport. Unless you find yourself on an internationally connecting flight and lack the needed visa to exit the terminal, you could leave the secure zone if your flight is delayed overnight, or even for a few hours. If overnight, you may be able to find a hotel room, esp if you are traveling with a credit card that offers trip delay insurance.
The train isn't bad per say, as long as the engine has fuel to keep the HEP available, but as mentioned, at the airport, you have a ton of food choices. You can walk around, plenty of bathrooms, and if you are delayed really bad you can leave the airport. Unless you find yourself on an internationally connecting flight and lack the needed visa to exit the terminal, you could leave the secure zone if your flight is delayed overnight, or even for a few hours. If overnight, you may be able to find a hotel room, esp if you are traveling with a credit card that offers trip delay insurance.
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Ave Atque Vale
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This traveler didn't seem too happy on a train for 28 hours
View: https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1478597124795338757
View: https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1478597124795338757
Train vs. Airport
I'm going to say that the answer depends on circumstances...
In October, I had the pleasure of being stuck at the airport in Atlanta for 12 hours due to a complete meltdown of the air network between ATL and Florida. I've also been stuck on a train for 12 hours on a Texas Eagle journey about 14 years ago when UP (I think?) was in the process of double-tracking part of the route.
Everyone was hoping to get out on standby, but by the time of the last flight, it was clear no one was going anywhere. Due to the size of the meltdown and late hour, there were no hotels available anywhere near the airport, and securing transportation to a remote hotel was impossible at midnight. All of the lounges were closed, so that meant sleeping in the terminal. We were fortunate to grab a couple benches that had no arm rests so we could sleep in shifts. Others had to sleep on the floor or while sitting up. During this, we learned that the lights and TV advertisements never stop, and we had to move a couple times to accommodate the cleaning crews. The next morning, we were in the 20s on standby for a flight along with 150 other people...for a 140 person flight. We gave up on flying, so we hustled to the car rental counter. National, Thrifty, and several others had no cars, but Hertz had about 10 left, so we grabbed one and drove the remaining 6 hours.
In contrast, in my 12 hour delayed Texas Eagle, I had a sleeper and didn't really notice the delay. For folks in coach, members of the crew secured a personal video device and had movie times for kids and even did story time reading. We we arrived at our destination, we hopped on a bus and ate some donuts and coffee provided by Amtrak, and caught up to our connecting train in a couple hours.
Somewhat ironically, the door to door time from Boston to our destination was about 30 minutes longer than the train schedule. On the plus side, I'll have a far easier time convincing the family to take the train next time.
Train vs. Plane
I've also had the distinct pleasure of being stuck on a train for 3 hours and on a plane for 3 hours on the same day on another Boston to Florida trip. This was the same day that Captain Sully landed in the Hudson. My Acela from Boston was constantly stopping due to freezing in the (air lines?). This included about 2 hours just before entering the tunnel to NYP. It was obvious I'd miss my connection and since this was a long weekend, I didn't want to overnight in NY, so I booked an afternoon flight from La Guardia. I made it to my flight just as boarding started. We pushed back on time, only to sit on the taxiway near the runway due to an engine issue. It took 3 hours to get the plane towed back to an empty terminal. (Meanwhile, cell phone's were buzzing and ringing as news of a plane landing in the Hudson spread). As it was a full flight and we had no engine power, there was no inflight entertainment and climate control was very lacking, so everyone was wearing full winter coats while stuffed into seats which made things very tight. å
In both cases above, being stuck on the train was far more pleasant, but as other posters have shown, "better" really depends on the circumstances.
I'm going to say that the answer depends on circumstances...
In October, I had the pleasure of being stuck at the airport in Atlanta for 12 hours due to a complete meltdown of the air network between ATL and Florida. I've also been stuck on a train for 12 hours on a Texas Eagle journey about 14 years ago when UP (I think?) was in the process of double-tracking part of the route.
Everyone was hoping to get out on standby, but by the time of the last flight, it was clear no one was going anywhere. Due to the size of the meltdown and late hour, there were no hotels available anywhere near the airport, and securing transportation to a remote hotel was impossible at midnight. All of the lounges were closed, so that meant sleeping in the terminal. We were fortunate to grab a couple benches that had no arm rests so we could sleep in shifts. Others had to sleep on the floor or while sitting up. During this, we learned that the lights and TV advertisements never stop, and we had to move a couple times to accommodate the cleaning crews. The next morning, we were in the 20s on standby for a flight along with 150 other people...for a 140 person flight. We gave up on flying, so we hustled to the car rental counter. National, Thrifty, and several others had no cars, but Hertz had about 10 left, so we grabbed one and drove the remaining 6 hours.
In contrast, in my 12 hour delayed Texas Eagle, I had a sleeper and didn't really notice the delay. For folks in coach, members of the crew secured a personal video device and had movie times for kids and even did story time reading. We we arrived at our destination, we hopped on a bus and ate some donuts and coffee provided by Amtrak, and caught up to our connecting train in a couple hours.
Somewhat ironically, the door to door time from Boston to our destination was about 30 minutes longer than the train schedule. On the plus side, I'll have a far easier time convincing the family to take the train next time.
Train vs. Plane
I've also had the distinct pleasure of being stuck on a train for 3 hours and on a plane for 3 hours on the same day on another Boston to Florida trip. This was the same day that Captain Sully landed in the Hudson. My Acela from Boston was constantly stopping due to freezing in the (air lines?). This included about 2 hours just before entering the tunnel to NYP. It was obvious I'd miss my connection and since this was a long weekend, I didn't want to overnight in NY, so I booked an afternoon flight from La Guardia. I made it to my flight just as boarding started. We pushed back on time, only to sit on the taxiway near the runway due to an engine issue. It took 3 hours to get the plane towed back to an empty terminal. (Meanwhile, cell phone's were buzzing and ringing as news of a plane landing in the Hudson spread). As it was a full flight and we had no engine power, there was no inflight entertainment and climate control was very lacking, so everyone was wearing full winter coats while stuffed into seats which made things very tight. å
In both cases above, being stuck on the train was far more pleasant, but as other posters have shown, "better" really depends on the circumstances.
Last edited by FatNoah on Thu Jan 06, 2022 9:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
And how does all of this compare to being stuck on I-95 during a blizzard?
JimBoylan wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:50 pm And how does all of this compare to being stuck on I-95 during a blizzard?Compare being stuck on I-95 in Virginia for all of Monday to being stuck on the Carolinian Monday into Tuesday.
Skipipng a rehash that's been all in the news, I'd like investigations into how things went very bad in both instances.
I live near that part of Virginia and had no thought of getting on the road that day. Other drivers, for one thing. The weather was exceptionally warm for the days preceding, but as soon as the heavy wet snow and wind started, trees started breaking - the last big storm was years ago. The forecasts were quite accurate. So why were so many people on I-95? It's a roller coaster up and down the Fall Line, and bridges freeze before roads.
So this call all around to investigate the government response seems over cooked. NOAA did its job!
So this call all around to investigate the government response seems over cooked. NOAA did its job!
kitchin wrote: ↑Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:30 am I live near that part of Virginia and had no thought of getting on the road that day. Other drivers, for one thing. The weather was exceptionally warm for the days preceding, but as soon as the heavy wet snow and wind started, trees started breaking - the last big storm was years ago. The forecasts were quite accurate. So why were so many people on I-95? It's a roller coaster up and down the Fall Line, and bridges freeze before roads.NOAA, yes. Amtrak and Virginia State? That's the issue!
So this call all around to investigate the government response seems over cooked. NOAA did its job!
I-95 is 10 seconds away from gridlock on a normal day. Why get in your car when the forecast maxes out right over Fredericksburg? How much can VDOT and the state police do when exit ramps are blocked by jack knifes? What can Amtrak do when trees are all over the tracks and, I believe, under a train? The CSX/Amtrak responders arrive by road also. This was a job for the Red Cross!
I think I'd trust a stuck train to still provide HEP for heat. My car, well yes...but I'd rather not be worried about fuel.. Close call, either way.
And in re: stuck in airport. The air-travel version of the I95 situation (and Carolinian, and John_Perkowski's execrable experience) is being stuck on the tarmac for hours.
And in re: stuck in airport. The air-travel version of the I95 situation (and Carolinian, and John_Perkowski's execrable experience) is being stuck on the tarmac for hours.
The outgoing governor of Virginia made a similar rant to mine on a radio interview: After chaos on Interstate 95, Northam says he is 'sick and tired' of criticism on government response.
