This happened to me about 8 years ago. I decided to take the following trip. Chico, CA / Seattle / Chicago / New York / Philadelphia / Washington / Chicago / Sacramento / Chico, CA. I had 1 day stops in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington.
There were no problems until my return trip from Washington to Chicago. The train kept stopping for some reason during the night and by the time it arrived in Chicago I had missed the train from Chicago to Sacramento. Amtrak decided to fly me to Omaha where I would catch the train. So after cashing a voucher I got a taxi to the airport, flew to Omaha, and took a taxi to the deserted station in Omaha. Seems like it is closed until just before train arrival.
When the station personal finally arrived they anounced that the train was late and would check on the matter. It turned out that the train could not cross the Mississippi River due to flooding and had returned to Chicago.
After a few hours they took us to a motel and said they would let us know in the morning what would happen. What they finally did was to stop the eastbound train and reverse it in Omaha. About 24 hours later than scheduled we were finally headed west.
I swore I would never ride a train again. I am going from Chico / Sacramento / Chicago / New Orleans and return June 2004. Wish me luck.
There were no problems until my return trip from Washington to Chicago. The train kept stopping for some reason during the night and by the time it arrived in Chicago I had missed the train from Chicago to Sacramento. Amtrak decided to fly me to Omaha where I would catch the train. So after cashing a voucher I got a taxi to the airport, flew to Omaha, and took a taxi to the deserted station in Omaha. Seems like it is closed until just before train arrival.
When the station personal finally arrived they anounced that the train was late and would check on the matter. It turned out that the train could not cross the Mississippi River due to flooding and had returned to Chicago.
After a few hours they took us to a motel and said they would let us know in the morning what would happen. What they finally did was to stop the eastbound train and reverse it in Omaha. About 24 hours later than scheduled we were finally headed west.
I swore I would never ride a train again. I am going from Chico / Sacramento / Chicago / New Orleans and return June 2004. Wish me luck.