September 11th.
Ulrich and OzJim ... Thanks for the international tribute regarding 9/11.
OzJim Thumbs up and prayers for your cousin in Afghanistan.
Our journey (Shelley and I) began on September 9, 2001. We flew via American Airlines from Nashville, TN to Halifax, NS. Canada with a change of planes in Boston, MA. On September 10th, we had a bus tour that including seeing a cemetery where some of the Titanic victims were buried. We went to Peggy's Cove which is a coastal fishing village named after a little girl who survived a ship wreck at that location in the 1800's. We were told the site of the Swiss Air disaster was nearby. Later, back in Halifax, we learned about the WWI munitions ship explosion that killed about 3,000 people in Halifax.... We learned of those tragedies not knowing about the 9/11 tragedies coming the next day. Our change of planes in Boston was where two of the hijacked aircraft departed on 9/11.
Early on 9/11, I watched the CNN news in the hotel. It was one of those slow news days, and I nearly turned off the TV. At that moment however, the regular program was interrupted with a news flash from New York City. They said a business jet hit the World Trade Center.
The TV camera showed the burning hole in the building. Obviously it was no small plane. The wing span was as wide as the building. I was somewhat familiar with the World Trade Center, because I had stayed at the hotel there for business trips to Lower Manhattan. I knew how huge the buildings were.
We spent the day watching the horrors. Seeing the people who jumped from the upper floors to the ground was terrifying. I knew how tall the buildings were.
All US airports were closed, and about 50 trans-Atlantic flights were diverted to Halifax that day. Of course, that jammed the airport. Thousands of people from European flights were stranded there.
We, too, became stranded. We tried to figure out how to get home. We asked the car rental company about driving one way to the USA, and learned it would be over $3,000. Some people were grouping together to charter busses, and we were considering that. Then I called Via Rail. We would have to wait a few days, but I worked out a trip on three trains via Montreal and Toronto to Windsor next to Detroit, MI.
We spent a few days in Nova Scotia. Canadians were so gracious and sympathetic. They flew a lot of American flags, and it was good to see Old Glory there. We met many Europeans who had been stranded there on the diverted planes.
The first train was Via's "Ocean' which departed early afternoon, and arrived in Montreal the next morning. The entire train was refurbished Budd cars including dome cars. It was almost like riding the original California Zephyr. As the train arrived in Montreal. I noticed a hand made US flag in the window of the switch tower.
In Montreal, we had only about an hour wait for the train to Toronto. It, too, was all refurbished Budd cars. In Toronto we checked into the Royal York Hotel next to the station, and planned to catch the train to WIndsor the next day.
We watched TV to catch the latest news. It prompted us to make another change in our travel plan. We intended to take a taxi from WIndsor to Detroit, but we learned the border crossings were taking about 12 hours. We decided to stay at the hotel for a second night. We changed our reservations to take Amtrak's "International" which crossed into Michigan at Port Huron. We made reservations to Flint and also made one-way car rental reservations to Nashville, and it was a reason able price.
We boarded the train in the second Toronto morning, and the trip was uneventful until we stopped in Sarnia, ON at the border with Port Huron, MI. .... Ooops ... All passengers were instructed to get off the train and board chartered buses parked nearby. We had to go though customs and Immigration by bus crossing over a bridge into Michigan. Meanwhile, the train would run empty through the tunnel and wait for all buses to meet it in Port Huron.... Well, That added a few hours to the trip. We got to Flint, and rented the car. Briefly, we visited family in Detroit, and then we drove to Nashville. We picked up our car at the Nashville airport, and we drove home back in KY.
Below are photos from the Dome car on the "Ocean".