Stopped at New Orleans UPT today to check out the Exhibit Train. Had pretty much the same table exhibitors from National Train Day in the concourse along with a Large Lionel layout and a Chuggington area for the kids. My 3yr daughter made a beeline for the playset, heh.
The Sunset Limited was...
Follow up story:
http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2012/01/norco_father_son_killed_in_ken.html
Victims were father and son said to be on their way to get a king cake. It's presumed they took the private road to avoid local traffic. It'll never be known if they even saw/heard the train or...
:( This is about 2 miles or so from the house. Here's a local story on it:
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/01/one_person_has_been_killed_in_1.html
http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Two-dead-after-train-hits-car-near-Kenner---St-Charles-line-137994768.html
Occurred on private road, so...
My first ride was shortly after Katrina in 2005. I needed to return to New Orleans by myself for a few days from Houston so I took the opportunity to take a roomette on the Sunset Limited home (and the return the trip too).
My first "trip" was in 2010 when I took the Crescent from New Orleans...
Yup. The SSL only runs from Houston to San Antonio on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I checked every MWF from today forward and I get the trip to Dallas with bussing from Fort Worth until Feb 1st. After the 1st the Texas Eagle goes all the way to Dallas.
Oh god. I couldn't agree more.
Ride home from Chicago last year I got sandwiched between two people. Quite an uncomfortable dinner. I need my happy space/elbow room. Those tables get pretty small too once you get 3 people's worth of plates on them.
I took an Amtrak weekend trip in 2010 and stopped off for a few hours in Washington D.C on National Train day. Boy was it crowded. I mainly was interested in the equipment display so it was cool getting to walk through an Acela for the first time.
For 2011 I stopped at Union Passenger Terminal...
I stopped at a Giordano's during a layover in Chicago last year. Best deep dish I've ever had. Too bad my roomette didn't have a mini fridge for leftovers!
That might be your cup of tea, but not mine. I go to the diner to eat, not socialize with strangers. You don't sit at table with strangers when you go out to a restaurant do you? If I had the choice I'd dine alone in the dining car if I could.
But regarding the topic, I've ate several times...
This articles says people are/were trapped in the burning cars and that the truck driver and a Conductor died.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20110624/NEWS/110624012/Passengers-trapped-semi-truck-driver-Amtrak-conductor-killed-150-injured-Churchill-Co-crash-?odyssey=nav|head