Quentin
Originally posted by mloik Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply ironhorseman Member sinceAugust 2002 From: Memory Lane, on the sunny side of the street. 737 posts Posted by ironhorseman on Saturday, December 31, 2005 8:45 AM I was trying to figure out what the big deal was about this delay when they had it on NBC's morning show. My impression was 'OK, Amtrak delayed, so what else is new?' But the lady they interviewed for the MSNBC article, Eleanor Meyer, was also on the Good Morning America show today and the big deal was passengers were not informed they had an option to get off and find another mode of transportation. But that was only at Savannah and she has 4 kids to look after and even if she knew she could leave she had no where to go anyway. She said they were told that stop was just 5min for smokers or to stretch your legs. The other thing Meyer pointed out was Amtrak did give everyone on board a free meal around 11PM last night, which, she said, "ironically [contained] a Subway sandwich." I the anchorlady didn't catch on but I remember reading the Trains Newswire under November 30th titled: "Union opposes Subway food service on New York Amtrak trains." (Sorry, no link available, Trains.com took it down, but I copied and saved it the other day.) I can't say my Amtrak experiences are worse than this one. Being stuck on Amtrak for 20+ hours with food running low, toiletries running low, and train not in motion is pretty bad. The longest 2 hours I ever spent on a train was when it motionless at De Soto, KS (just outside Kansas City, my destination) to do the 1,000 mile inspection and to switch out the roadrailers. In that time I had breakfast, a conversation with some people from Connecticut (I think that's the state) and lots of pacing and sitting in the observation car. I ran out of things to do that I started correcting all the typos in the SW Chief's on board brochures. My impression of Amtrak has been that they're always at the ready when something is needed. The Newton, KS station has been called upon in the middle of the night to resupply the SW Chief with food or other supplies in the middle of the night with only a few hours notice. It's unfortunate they had to cut the number and staff and hours there. There's also the chance to meet many interesting people on Amtrak. For instance, the Amish use Amtrak extensively, probably setting distance records for travel by train. One group one summer had traveled from South Bend, Indiana to San Diego for a reletives wedding and heading back home again. I don't think there's been a single Amtrak ride I've been on where I havn't met someone Amish on board. Also, one summer the Boy Scouts were using Amtrak to go to the Grand Canyon. It seemed like more and more were boarding at each major stop. If I were caught in a situation like what happened to Train #98 the last couple days I'd probably, given the option, stick with the train, because riding the train is the whole point of travel for me. Even if I were in a derailment and survived uninjured I'd say, 'put me on the next train!' Train travel is not a way of getting there, but a way of going. yad sdrawkcab s'ti Reply upchuck Member sinceAugust 2004 263 posts Posted by upchuck on Saturday, December 31, 2005 8:57 AM [wow]Next trip I'm packing a roll of toilet paper... Reply ironhorseman Member sinceAugust 2002 From: Memory Lane, on the sunny side of the street. 737 posts Posted by ironhorseman on Saturday, December 31, 2005 9:12 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by upchuck [wow]Next trip I'm packing a roll of toilet paper... And I forgot to write in up there a backpack full of snacks. I always travel with some kind of nonperishable food. yad sdrawkcab s'ti Reply eolafan Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Aurora, IL 4,515 posts Posted by eolafan on Saturday, December 31, 2005 9:40 AM You would think they could have found a way to run the power around the train, go in the opposite direction until they found an alternate route around the derailment...all of this would likely not have taken twenty hours. Eolafan (a.k.a. Jim) Reply SchemerBob Member sinceJuly 2005 From: Northeast Missouri 869 posts Posted by SchemerBob on Saturday, December 31, 2005 10:26 AM WHAT ARE THEY THINKING.....?? Just another thing the media can badmouth Amtrak about. Long live the BNSF .... AND its paint scheme. SchemerBob Reply cnw4001 Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Eastern Ohio 615 posts Posted by cnw4001 on Saturday, December 31, 2005 11:01 AM Amtrak has demonstrated more than once they cannot deal with something out of the ordinary. Second guessing after the fact is always easy but clearly after a couple of hours and a couple of "false starts" somebody should take whatever steps are necessary to get the situation resolved. None of the stories I've read indicate if there was any recrewing, wonder if there was? If not wonder what the plan was to move the train with an outlawed crew? Reply Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Saturday, December 31, 2005 11:40 AM ....I agree "it is a way of going" as stated above....but from what I've read Amtrak sure mishandled these situations this time at least....Stopping the train "in the woods" with no way to get anyware as one person indicated....If true, why would this happen. Again as I noted before and others too...why not figure out a way to get the train BACK to where it can find another route to get around the derailment, etc....That sure shouldn't be impossible. An emergency requires some action at times other than what is written into contracts....Surely, when people's well being is involved. Also how about informing the passengers what is really happening and not a bunch of misleading statements. Quentin Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 31, 2005 12:39 PM Amtrak tried in vain to get busses for a bus bridge but couldn't find enough. Someone made a big error when tehy let the train leave Jacksonville. Reply Edit BaltACD Member sinceMay 2003 From: US 25,292 posts Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, December 31, 2005 12:48 PM Reliable informants -(doesn't that sound sinister) report that Amtrak was informed of the derailement and it's anticipated time for resumption of service of 20+ hours of delay and AMTRAK decided not to provide alternative means of transport (busses) as had been a common happening in these situations under David Gunn and all prior Amtrak administrations. Additionally, AMTRAK did not provide any food service for those who had run out of cash due to the length delay. Providing complementray food service under extenuating circumstances had also been a common occurence as means of attempting to provide 'Customer Service' during trying time. It would appear that the current Amtrak 'management' is doing it's best to antagonize passengers, thus reducing ridership and bringing about the demise of Amtrak. Never too old to have a happy childhood! Reply traintownofcowee Member sinceJune 2005 From: Franklin, NC 166 posts Posted by traintownofcowee on Saturday, December 31, 2005 1:38 PM Why didn't they take the passengers off the train and put them on a bus to another station to get on another train? It wasn't Amtrak's fault. Lots of people in this country hate Amtrak, and they can't wait for it to go out of business or bankrupt. But as us railroaders, we need to keep Amtrak running. Plus, we need to fix the problems which causes derailments. Who knows, maybe people who hate trains caused this. ??? Ya Neva Know. [:)][8D][:D][^][:(!][B)][xx(][:(][?][:O][8)][:P][;)][alien][X-)][%-)][(-D][swg][:-^][{(-_-)}] Well... Take a Ride on the Scenic Line! Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 31, 2005 3:58 PM There wern't enouhg buses avabialbe. Arrived New York 28 Hours late.. Reminds me when I saw a 25 Hour late Southwest Chief at least 14 of those Hours were in the Station waiting. Reply Edit Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 31, 2005 5:56 PM There are alot of pissed off Passengers that won't ride Amtrak ever again. Allan. Reply Edit overall Member sinceDecember 2001 From: US 1,475 posts Posted by overall on Saturday, December 31, 2005 6:02 PM The story was just on the NBC nightly news with John Sigenthaler. As Allan says, they were very unhappy. One lady said people take Amtrak because they don't like to fly and a lot of Flers were made by Amtrak in this incident.I can't beleive something like this would have happened had David Gunn still been there. Amtrak is being destroyed from within by it's puppet board. George Reply cnw4001 Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Eastern Ohio 615 posts Posted by cnw4001 on Saturday, December 31, 2005 6:09 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by BaltACD It would appear that the current Amtrak 'management' is doing it's best to antagonize passengers, thus reducing ridership and bringing about the demise of Amtrak. If it's not intentional, it sure is accomplishing that end. The current state of heightened uncertainty over Amtrak's future could well have created a climate of "I'm not putting myself at risk." People on the front line are frequently unwilling to do something out of the ordinary if they feel there won't be support from above. Is that right? No.However it's what happens when the front line people feel there's not support from above. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 31, 2005 7:13 PM From the statement given by the Amtrak rep on NBC News tonite, the only option Amtrak evidently explored was chartering enough busses to accommodate all the passengers to their final destinations. The rep stated that due to the holidays, there were insufficient buses available to accompli***his. That was as far as they evidently went. Obvioiusly, they released the train from Jacksonville prematurely (probably due to an overly optimistic estimate from CSX). What I find inexcusable was why Amtrak didn't resupply that train during the 12+ hours it was being held at Jacksonville!!!! Someone really fumbled the ball and badly. Reply Edit UPTRAIN Member sinceJune 2002 From: Independence, MO 1,570 posts Posted by UPTRAIN on Saturday, December 31, 2005 7:56 PM Something else for them to b**** about Amtrak for, something that was out of their control, and you know the God....dang news media picked out the worst horror stories for use in the article. They didn't talk to somebody like me who would have responded like, "Oh, I'm not worried, I'll take a nap!" And they talk about "tired, scared and stranded". Let me address that in order: Tired: Take a fricken nap Scared: OF WHAT!? Stranded: You're parked on a siding...not fricken lost in the woods, the train knows it's way out...it follows tracks... It sickens me... Pump Reply Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Saturday, December 31, 2005 7:58 PM Totally.....Fumbled it all...!! With communications we have {everywhere in the world today}, why wasn't the correct info passed to Dp down the line to hold such and such at such proper point....Wth the pictures of the derailment {on Nightly News}, anyone could tell it would be a long delay....So The trains should have been held at a proper point {Jacksonville..??}, so they could have figured an alternate route for them to get around the derailment....Surely this isn't rocket science for all involved....What a shame for all the passengers and....Amtrak itself. That played right into the hands of current Adminstration of wanting to eliminate the system....I'm sure it moved the cause along... Quentin Reply UPTRAIN Member sinceJune 2002 From: Independence, MO 1,570 posts Posted by UPTRAIN on Saturday, December 31, 2005 8:05 PM Good ole news media...title makes it sound HORRIBLE...THOUSANDS...and it was a whole...2 thousand...my God...I'm still sickened! http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/31/national/31train.html Pump Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 31, 2005 10:42 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by ironhorseman [br The Newton, KS station has been called upon in the middle of the night to resupply the SW Chief with food or other supplies in the middle of the night with only a few hours notice. Hmmm.... Maybe i found myself a new job [:p] Reply Edit beefmalone Member sinceDecember 2005 From: Raymond, MS, CSA 94 posts Posted by beefmalone on Sunday, January 1, 2006 12:29 AM "But despite those reports, Amtrak 98 passengers said at 6 o'clock last night that they still had not been offered...a rest stop of more than five minutes to stretch their legs." Stretch their legs??? Their on a TRAIN, not a pinto! I was 10 hours late once on the Texas Eagle, but fortunately I was already in first class so I just got a couple of extra free meals. :) Not sure how the other guys fared. Reply daveklepper Member sinceJune 2002 20,096 posts Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, January 1, 2006 3:24 AM BRING BACK DAVID GUNN THIS FAILURE IS MINETA'S FAULT AND NO ONE ELSES. Reply Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, January 1, 2006 7:29 AM ...Mineta probably has been preforming very well....for his boss, that is....But as far as being the steward of good passenger rail in this country I believe we pretty much agree he has not promoted that cause much at all. If in fact he did want to move the effort along for our passenger system he has failed to stand up to the Administration to do anything. I believe the Amtrak board has been a sorry bunch as well, but perhaps their hands have been rather tied or....they are just political appointees there to mimic the effort going on above them....Now we see some results of that kind of management....As stated above, bring back the real manager and RUN the Co. like a real railroad should...and one that has the purpose of the passengers in mind.... Quentin Reply jeaton Member sinceSeptember 2002 From: Rockton, IL 4,821 posts Posted by jeaton on Sunday, January 1, 2006 9:23 AM Mineta is just an empty suit. He probably does not have anything to do with anything. At the Congressional Hearing on Amtrak Governance, Amtrak Chairman Laney stated that he is keeping the WhiteHouse "posted". Laney had generated a completely legal $100,000 contribution to the Bush 2000 campaign. It has been reported that he hoped be appointed Secretary of Transportation, but the job went to the token Democrat, I do not know if Laneystill has an interest in a more important assignment with the Bush administration, but I do know this for sure: If he wants something more, he better not cross the likes of Andy Card and Carl Rove. To say the least, those guys will but a serious hurt on anybody who is not with the program. As for this incident, there certainly could have been better options. As some suggested, even just holding at Jax may have been prefered. Now it would seem that like the old arrow logo, Amtrak is itself is headless. Shortly after Gunn took the job, I asked him if he liked all the stress of the job. He replied that he wasn't stressed, rather he was the one that put out the stress. Jay "We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 1, 2006 4:22 PM I don't see many people laying the responsibility for some of this disaster where it belongs, namly CSX and its dispatching- that train didn't leave JAX without the approval of CSX and its dispatchers who should have known the time it was going to take to clear the wreck. (Unless they were being BS'd too by those on site- I have seen that happen, also). I can only assume that there were a dozen or more freights backing up behine #98, too. Mr. Ward has sure been quiet about all of this. He is the one that should be out front apologizing. Reply Edit railfan619 Member sinceMarch 2004 From: Somewhere near the tracks 927 posts Posted by railfan619 on Sunday, January 1, 2006 6:00 PM I know it was dumb to keep people on a train for up to 20 hours but if the train crew knew there was a problem up ahead couldn't they have stopped and then reversed the train to go back to the nearest station and unload the passengers and put them up in hotels or onto a bus and as soon as the problem was clear dead head the train to meet up with those passengers at the next station and continue with the trip. Reply Modelcar Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania 13,456 posts Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, January 1, 2006 6:52 PM ...As a post indicates above...CSX must carry some of the blame....The trains should have been held at an appropiate place that options would have been available for the trains involved. Quentin Reply PBenham Member sinceJuly 2005 From: In the New York Soviet Socialist Republic! 1,391 posts Posted by PBenham on Sunday, January 1, 2006 8:15 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by BNSFrailfan. There are alot of pissed off Passengers that won't ride Amtrak ever again. Allan. It did not take that much to drive me off[:(!]! Had I been on that train, I would have found a way to get off, then use my cell phone (Hang the extra charges[}:)]) and gotten some thing arranged right there and then. I know a bunch of railfans who are of the same mindset.[:-,] When I was stranded on an NS steam trip way back when, I stuck it out, but one enterprising employee of a now-gone carrier, got out his radio, called the dispatcher on his employers railroad, and caught a freight home! To top it all off-[:-,]HE GOT PAID!!!(what a racket[;)])[wow][yeah] Reply 123 Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login » Register » Search the Community Newsletter Sign-Up By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub
yad sdrawkcab s'ti
QUOTE: Originally posted by upchuck [wow]Next trip I'm packing a roll of toilet paper...
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Take a Ride on the Scenic Line!
QUOTE: Originally posted by BaltACD It would appear that the current Amtrak 'management' is doing it's best to antagonize passengers, thus reducing ridership and bringing about the demise of Amtrak.
Pump
QUOTE: Originally posted by ironhorseman [br The Newton, KS station has been called upon in the middle of the night to resupply the SW Chief with food or other supplies in the middle of the night with only a few hours notice.
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
QUOTE: Originally posted by BNSFrailfan. There are alot of pissed off Passengers that won't ride Amtrak ever again. Allan.
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