Hanno
OBS Chief
As I posted before we were traveling with a total of 8 people, my wife and I and my three sisters and their husbands. We left from BWI Amtak Station (we parked our cars here as we would be flying home) on time and arrived at WAS with no problems. Our bags were checked thru to FLG and we boarded the CL for an on time departure of 4:00 PM. Then things did not go as planned.
First we were delayed about 30 minutes for signal problems about an hour out of WAS. Near Cumberland, MD the train stopped in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere and we waited and waited. We happened to be in the upper part of the lounge car when we saw a police car arrive. Shortly thereafter a man was removed from the train in handcuffs. He was obviously intoxicated and we heard he had assaulted someone. The other person involved in the altercation apparently "hid" somewhere on the train and it took another half an hour to find him. He was not removed. All in all we lost almost two hours. I was not overly concerned as we still would have plenty of time in Chicago even if we did get in two and a half hours late.
Then during the night we had heavy rains. Due to the fear of flash floods our train was put on restricted speed, 15 mph. We stayed at 15 mph for hour after hour after hour. What was difficult to understand (and no explanination was given) was why the frieght trains that passed us were all moving at what appeared to be normal speeds. We had a connecting train in CHI, the SWC which was to depart at 3:15 PM. We were beginning to worry about making the connection when we were told that we would be taken off the train in Hammod, IN and taken by bus to CHI to catch the SWC. Shortly after that announcement was made another announcement said the speed restiction was being lifted and the bus would not be necessary. However it took almost another hour before we were moving at a normal spped. To make a long story (and day) short, we arrived in CHI at 3:25 PM. The SWC, and other connecting trains, were being held. So off one train and immedialtey on the other. Now things got much better.
When we got on the SWC and got to our bedroom we were surprised to see the sink full of ice with two glasses and a carton of orange juice chilling for us. Shortly thereafter our sevice attendand showed up with hot towels for each of us. Yes you heard correctly, hot towels with lemon to refresh ourselves. What a surprise. Two of my sisters who were in different cars didn't get anything but we lucked out and had the most fantastic service attendant possible. His name is Victor Kral and he has 32 years of service on Amtrak. He did an absolutley great job in every way. He stopped by often and asked if he could do anything for us, he gave narration about the areas we traveled through, and on another occasion he gave us hot towels again. A great guy and a real credit to Amtrak!
The meals were all good with no complaints from anyone. We also had meal excellent service!
We arrived in FLG about a half an hour late. In spite of the problems with CL we had a wonderful trip. Plus we have some stories to tell!
Bob
First we were delayed about 30 minutes for signal problems about an hour out of WAS. Near Cumberland, MD the train stopped in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere and we waited and waited. We happened to be in the upper part of the lounge car when we saw a police car arrive. Shortly thereafter a man was removed from the train in handcuffs. He was obviously intoxicated and we heard he had assaulted someone. The other person involved in the altercation apparently "hid" somewhere on the train and it took another half an hour to find him. He was not removed. All in all we lost almost two hours. I was not overly concerned as we still would have plenty of time in Chicago even if we did get in two and a half hours late.
Then during the night we had heavy rains. Due to the fear of flash floods our train was put on restricted speed, 15 mph. We stayed at 15 mph for hour after hour after hour. What was difficult to understand (and no explanination was given) was why the frieght trains that passed us were all moving at what appeared to be normal speeds. We had a connecting train in CHI, the SWC which was to depart at 3:15 PM. We were beginning to worry about making the connection when we were told that we would be taken off the train in Hammod, IN and taken by bus to CHI to catch the SWC. Shortly after that announcement was made another announcement said the speed restiction was being lifted and the bus would not be necessary. However it took almost another hour before we were moving at a normal spped. To make a long story (and day) short, we arrived in CHI at 3:25 PM. The SWC, and other connecting trains, were being held. So off one train and immedialtey on the other. Now things got much better.
When we got on the SWC and got to our bedroom we were surprised to see the sink full of ice with two glasses and a carton of orange juice chilling for us. Shortly thereafter our sevice attendand showed up with hot towels for each of us. Yes you heard correctly, hot towels with lemon to refresh ourselves. What a surprise. Two of my sisters who were in different cars didn't get anything but we lucked out and had the most fantastic service attendant possible. His name is Victor Kral and he has 32 years of service on Amtrak. He did an absolutley great job in every way. He stopped by often and asked if he could do anything for us, he gave narration about the areas we traveled through, and on another occasion he gave us hot towels again. A great guy and a real credit to Amtrak!
The meals were all good with no complaints from anyone. We also had meal excellent service!
We arrived in FLG about a half an hour late. In spite of the problems with CL we had a wonderful trip. Plus we have some stories to tell!
Bob
