darien-l
OBS Chief
Thought I'd share this exciting Amtrak experience from the spring of '06 when I was threatened with an arrest by an Amtrak employee:
One day I decided to surprise my wife with a two-day getaway to Old Orchard Beach from Boston. We drove to North Station (because we couldn't figure out where to return the rental car -- long story), and hit absolutely horrendous traffic approaching North Station, where we sat for almost an hour, effectively missing our train. When we finally got to North Station, everyone was funneled towards the parking garage, and the parking attendant wanted to charge us $50 or something to park for the evening. Apparently, there was a big game going on in the Garden that shares the building with North Station. When we refused to pay, the parking attendant got annoyed, but eventually found a way for us to leave the sea of cars. I eventually parked semi-illegally some distance away from the station, left my wife in the car, and went inside.
When I tried retrieving our tickets from a QuikTrak machine it said "Error -- see agent," probably because we missed our train. I went to the ticket window, but it was closed and the agent was nowhere to be found. At that point I just noted the departure time of the next train (the last of the day), and decided to return later.
When we returned to the station several hours later, it was sheer chaos. Apparently, the game had just ended, and the station was filled to the gills with people. The QuikTrak machine gave the same error, and the ticket agent was still nowhere to be found. I finally called Amtrak (I know, I should've done it earlier), and was curtly told that the next train was sold out and that we should go home and return tomorrow morning. This would've meant the loss of a pre-paid hotel room in Old Orchard and half of our vacation, so I was desperate for alternatives. I asked whether I could maybe get onboard and work something out with the train conductor, and this is when the agent said, with utmost seriousness: "Sir, if you try to board that train without a ticket, YOU WILL BE ARRESTED."
That did scare me... for about 5 minutes. Then I thought about it, decided it was BS, got onboard the train, found the conductor, and politely requested if there was any space at all. His reply -- "no problem, I can sell you tickets, as long as you don't mind standing or sitting on the floor until the first stop, where someone is bound to get off." So in the end, it all turned out all right: we just sat on the floor for a bit, which was actually pretty spacious (see photo below), and after about 20 minutes the conductor found us seats.
Anyway, this story got me thinking today -- are there any Amtrak trains where you can't buy a ticket from a conductor? Why on Earth would the Amtrak agent think that getting on a train without a ticket would result in an arrest? Do the conductors generally sell standing-room space on sold out trains, or was our guy just extra-nice to us?
Photo: Sitting on the floor wasn't that bad...
One day I decided to surprise my wife with a two-day getaway to Old Orchard Beach from Boston. We drove to North Station (because we couldn't figure out where to return the rental car -- long story), and hit absolutely horrendous traffic approaching North Station, where we sat for almost an hour, effectively missing our train. When we finally got to North Station, everyone was funneled towards the parking garage, and the parking attendant wanted to charge us $50 or something to park for the evening. Apparently, there was a big game going on in the Garden that shares the building with North Station. When we refused to pay, the parking attendant got annoyed, but eventually found a way for us to leave the sea of cars. I eventually parked semi-illegally some distance away from the station, left my wife in the car, and went inside.
When I tried retrieving our tickets from a QuikTrak machine it said "Error -- see agent," probably because we missed our train. I went to the ticket window, but it was closed and the agent was nowhere to be found. At that point I just noted the departure time of the next train (the last of the day), and decided to return later.
When we returned to the station several hours later, it was sheer chaos. Apparently, the game had just ended, and the station was filled to the gills with people. The QuikTrak machine gave the same error, and the ticket agent was still nowhere to be found. I finally called Amtrak (I know, I should've done it earlier), and was curtly told that the next train was sold out and that we should go home and return tomorrow morning. This would've meant the loss of a pre-paid hotel room in Old Orchard and half of our vacation, so I was desperate for alternatives. I asked whether I could maybe get onboard and work something out with the train conductor, and this is when the agent said, with utmost seriousness: "Sir, if you try to board that train without a ticket, YOU WILL BE ARRESTED."
That did scare me... for about 5 minutes. Then I thought about it, decided it was BS, got onboard the train, found the conductor, and politely requested if there was any space at all. His reply -- "no problem, I can sell you tickets, as long as you don't mind standing or sitting on the floor until the first stop, where someone is bound to get off." So in the end, it all turned out all right: we just sat on the floor for a bit, which was actually pretty spacious (see photo below), and after about 20 minutes the conductor found us seats.
Anyway, this story got me thinking today -- are there any Amtrak trains where you can't buy a ticket from a conductor? Why on Earth would the Amtrak agent think that getting on a train without a ticket would result in an arrest? Do the conductors generally sell standing-room space on sold out trains, or was our guy just extra-nice to us?
Photo: Sitting on the floor wasn't that bad...