FWIW, I was caught in the delays yesterday on southbound train 145: boarded in PHL more or less on time at 2:17 pm, saw the storm pass over Delaware/Maryland, started slow running when leaving Baltimore. At BWI (about 4:15 pm) an announcement was made that the signals were down along the NEC, forcing the slowdown. Then, near Odenton, MD, a fallen tree pulled down the catenary, and we had to wait for that to be cleared up... finally arrived in WAS a little after 8 pm (our original arrival was to be about 4:15). I felt bad for the passengers continuing on to Lynchburg!
We still had power & AC the entire time, and in the Quiet Car, things were generally calm and peaceful. Not so in the Cafe Car, which remained mostly stocked but had a long line... It seems that everyone prone to drama was sitting back there, upset about the conditions, the lack of information (what other information do you need, really?), and that there was only one LSA working the cafe. ("How come all these other people who take tickets are just sitting around and not helping?") One even suggested that the situation was manufactured to help the LSA get rid of inventory. Nothing like serving the public, right?
Once in DC, the entire train board read "Delayed," and an announcement was made that there would be no need to exchange tickets--all tickets would be honored on the next available train. (I would have hated to see that!)
Anyhow, I'll be spending more trips in the Quiet Car in the future.
