So what happens in a 4+ hour delay

[dn4192]

It is appearing that the Cardinal route going east is facing longer and longer delays as the past few trips are ending up 4+ hours dealyed by the time it hits the east coast. So on these delays is the train just sitting there shut down? Is it stopped at a station where you can get off and stretch, or are these stopped delays out in the middle of no where?

 

[MikefromCrete]

It is appearing that the Cardinal route going east is facing longer and longer delays as the past few trips are ending up 4+ hours dealyed by the time it hits the east coast. So on these delays is the train just sitting there shut down? Is it stopped at a station where you can get off and stretch, or are these stopped delays out in the middle of no where?

You're probably sitting in a siding in the middle of nowhere waiting for the coal trains to rumble by.

 

[Texan Eagle]

It is appearing that the Cardinal route going east is facing longer and longer delays as the past few trips are ending up 4+ hours dealyed by the time it hits the east coast. So on these delays is the train just sitting there shut down? Is it stopped at a station where you can get off and stretch, or are these stopped delays out in the middle of no where?

The train is not "shut down" as such. The locomotive will be running all the time (unless it fails) so there will be air conditioning and electricity available on the train even if it is just sitting stationary somewhere. Sometimes you may be lucky and the train might wait at a station for another train to cross, in which case you can get out and stretch, but in most cases the train will be "pulled over" into siding tracks for long freight trains to rumble past. In some countries where rules are not as strict as we have here you can get off the train and stretch out while the train waits in a siding but not on Amtrak. You'll have to be inside the train and wait for things to start moving again.

 

[OBS]

You may be moving the whole time, just at a reduced speed due to signal trouble from thunderstorms, following another train, etc.

 

[TCRT]

I was on a four hour late train 50 once, which included a two hour dead stop at Maysville, KY, due to mechanical problems on a CSX freight ahead of us. Fortunately, we were parked at the Amtrak station in Maysville and were allowed to detrain for that time if we so desired (seeing as how it was about 5am, I do not think anyone did).