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I apologize for the necro-posting on this one, I just found this now while researching that line. I ride that route frequently to and from St. Louis from college here in Chicago, and I do have an idea of who that conductor is, and I can say she isn't the most congenial person to ever be on a train. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her on the train in over a year. Perhaps she did get sacked for losing her cool. As I'm sure most of you know, that route isn't exactly heavily trafficked. Once you get out of Joliet, the switches down to around Springfield don't have heaters on them, so I can picture them getting frozen in place easily. I've been on train 303, stopped between Bloomington and Springfield while our conductor (who, on this trip, was also a pompous donkey) and engineer cleared the switch and had to throw it manually. That was about a half hour delay due to switch problems in the snow (about two weeks before the ice storm) lining it for the siding to meet 22, the Texas Eagle. I know some of the crews on that route, and find it hard to believe that they would just let the passengers sit there. THe one crew I know well usually goes out of their way to explain things and keep passengers calm. And yes, they do carry cellphones, and they're constantly on them talking to UP's dispatchers. That line's in the middle of nowhere for most of the run, and Amtrak most of the time is the only train that runs through there to see what the track's like. I have to say, it's rather interesting riding through there when the weather's stormy out. I agree with the gentleman who posted above me that this probably is due to a miscommunication. After talking to one of the conductors, it seems like the train crew is usually the last group of people to learn about a situation on the tracks. And that storm did hit quickly, and sent a lot of people up you-know-what's creek.
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