A while back I had asked about flag stop stations with regard to an Amtrak trip we were taking. I also said I'd post a summary of this as it was our first long distance rail trip, Boston to Picayune MS. Well here it is.
We boarded the Northeast Regional at 128 Station just south of Boston and had a comfortable but uneventful run to Penn Sta in NYC. We had an hour and 45 minutes to kill before the Crescent departed Penn Sta for New Orleans so after grabbing some fresh air ( NYC + fresh air?? ) out on the sidewalk we decided to have lunch at the Nathan's concession in the Penn Sta food court, deluxe cheeseburgers or something like that and very good. After navigating through the helter skelter mayhem of Penn we boarded the Crescent train 19 and off we went. A layover in DC to change from electric to diesel power provided a chance to get off and walk around but not far enough to be able to watch the power swap. The train crew was polite and happy to assist in any way requested during the 30 plus hour trip and the engineer crews kept it rolling either right on schedule or slightly ahead of the schedule. All in all a very nice journey.
An enjoyable 5 day visit with our son & his family and it was time to head home. Boarded the Crescent train 20 in Picayune and was pleased to see the same train crew that brought us down. Several of the returning passengers were also from the ride down so it was like old friends all around.
10 minutes or so out of Picayune the train went into emergency and stopped. Several minutes later the train attendant came through and announced there was a "trespasser" on the track and they were waiting for law enforcement to arrive. Turns out some yahoo ran a protected grade crossing with a pick up and some sort of utility trailer. Made the first gate but not the second and reportedly didn't want to damage his 18 year old rusty truck by crashing the gate so turned alongside the track embankment. Truck cleared but trailer didn't. Train was able to stop but needed about another foot or so and made minor contact with the trailer. Total delay 45 mins and then off we go again. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes later another emergency stop but not before slicing and dicing a small tree that had fell across the track during the tornado that passed that way during the early morning hours. Happened on a curve so not much reaction time from the engine crew. Inspection of the entire train by all of the crew revealed some paint damage and a ditch light broken. An hour or so later they got clearance to proceed to Hattiesburg. Another 10 or 15 minutes out of Hattiesburg and back into emergency again! This time on a long straight stretch ( thankfully ) and in time to avoid 3 very large trees across the track. An hour or so later a truck with 4 guys and 1 chainsaw arrive to clear the trees. Total delay for this event is almost 4 hours between the tree job and awaiting orders. Amtrak decides the lead engine has to come off for safety reasons. Closest place with a siding is back in Hattiesburg so we back all the way there, drop the engine and now running so far behind schedule have to wait for a scheduled NS freight to pass and the Amtrak train that is following about 1/2 hour behind it. Add another 1 1/2 hours to the clock!!!
Conductor informs me we won't be getting another engine and will be running all the way up to DC on only 1. He says it won't be much of a problem except through some hilly areas in the Carolinas where we all might have to get out and push. They finally decide to put all the passengers that will change to the Northeast Regional off in DC rather than NYC to insure nobody misses the Regional's departure. Total time behind schedule from Picayune to DC was 8 1/2 hrs. Add on a 3 hr layover in DC until the Regional departed and instead of arriving back at 128 Sta at 9:30 on Sunday night we got there at 7:25 Monday morning.
To be honest none of this was Amtrak's fault. In fact once we finally left Hattiesburg for the second time they provided free coffee, donuts, beef stew, and even had Subway deliver a truck load of subs on Sunday when we stopped somewhere in the Carolinas to service the train and change the engine crew. With all that happened on the Crescent there were no injuries, derailments or anything problematic other than the time lost. Everyone of the Crescent crew from the engineers down to the dining car dishwasher was professional, polite, and cheerful throughout the odessy and is a credit to Amtrak and train personnel everywhere.
We'd do it again and probably will but not during tornado or hurricane season down that way.
We boarded the Northeast Regional at 128 Station just south of Boston and had a comfortable but uneventful run to Penn Sta in NYC. We had an hour and 45 minutes to kill before the Crescent departed Penn Sta for New Orleans so after grabbing some fresh air ( NYC + fresh air?? ) out on the sidewalk we decided to have lunch at the Nathan's concession in the Penn Sta food court, deluxe cheeseburgers or something like that and very good. After navigating through the helter skelter mayhem of Penn we boarded the Crescent train 19 and off we went. A layover in DC to change from electric to diesel power provided a chance to get off and walk around but not far enough to be able to watch the power swap. The train crew was polite and happy to assist in any way requested during the 30 plus hour trip and the engineer crews kept it rolling either right on schedule or slightly ahead of the schedule. All in all a very nice journey.
An enjoyable 5 day visit with our son & his family and it was time to head home. Boarded the Crescent train 20 in Picayune and was pleased to see the same train crew that brought us down. Several of the returning passengers were also from the ride down so it was like old friends all around.
10 minutes or so out of Picayune the train went into emergency and stopped. Several minutes later the train attendant came through and announced there was a "trespasser" on the track and they were waiting for law enforcement to arrive. Turns out some yahoo ran a protected grade crossing with a pick up and some sort of utility trailer. Made the first gate but not the second and reportedly didn't want to damage his 18 year old rusty truck by crashing the gate so turned alongside the track embankment. Truck cleared but trailer didn't. Train was able to stop but needed about another foot or so and made minor contact with the trailer. Total delay 45 mins and then off we go again. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes later another emergency stop but not before slicing and dicing a small tree that had fell across the track during the tornado that passed that way during the early morning hours. Happened on a curve so not much reaction time from the engine crew. Inspection of the entire train by all of the crew revealed some paint damage and a ditch light broken. An hour or so later they got clearance to proceed to Hattiesburg. Another 10 or 15 minutes out of Hattiesburg and back into emergency again! This time on a long straight stretch ( thankfully ) and in time to avoid 3 very large trees across the track. An hour or so later a truck with 4 guys and 1 chainsaw arrive to clear the trees. Total delay for this event is almost 4 hours between the tree job and awaiting orders. Amtrak decides the lead engine has to come off for safety reasons. Closest place with a siding is back in Hattiesburg so we back all the way there, drop the engine and now running so far behind schedule have to wait for a scheduled NS freight to pass and the Amtrak train that is following about 1/2 hour behind it. Add another 1 1/2 hours to the clock!!!
Conductor informs me we won't be getting another engine and will be running all the way up to DC on only 1. He says it won't be much of a problem except through some hilly areas in the Carolinas where we all might have to get out and push. They finally decide to put all the passengers that will change to the Northeast Regional off in DC rather than NYC to insure nobody misses the Regional's departure. Total time behind schedule from Picayune to DC was 8 1/2 hrs. Add on a 3 hr layover in DC until the Regional departed and instead of arriving back at 128 Sta at 9:30 on Sunday night we got there at 7:25 Monday morning.
To be honest none of this was Amtrak's fault. In fact once we finally left Hattiesburg for the second time they provided free coffee, donuts, beef stew, and even had Subway deliver a truck load of subs on Sunday when we stopped somewhere in the Carolinas to service the train and change the engine crew. With all that happened on the Crescent there were no injuries, derailments or anything problematic other than the time lost. Everyone of the Crescent crew from the engineers down to the dining car dishwasher was professional, polite, and cheerful throughout the odessy and is a credit to Amtrak and train personnel everywhere.
We'd do it again and probably will but not during tornado or hurricane season down that way.
