Cell Phone Headache

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zepherdude

zepherdude

OBS Chief
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
564
Location
Redding California
Amtrak made an unscheduled stop outside Salem. Oregon to kick off a 39 year old lady that had been talking on her cell phone since Oakland, California. The article stated she ignored requests not to use her phone and became confrontational. She calmed down as police escorted her off the train.

It must have been the Coast Starlight on the way to PDX and SEA.

I have observed passengers around me doing the same. On a train from SAS to DFW, a person talked the whole time about her trip, her husband, her sons, her club duties, her dinner party and her friends and did not understand why the train was stopping so much. If she would have shut up long enough to hear the track work announcements, she would have known. I finally went to the bar car to consume heavy drink as I was seated right behind her. I came back with a cane borrowed from a passenger up front only to find she was gone.

I had a sales manager once make a presentation to me once. His phone kept ringing and he kept taking the calls. I stood up finally and said, "when you have time for me, call me and I will listen." I have never owned a cell phone until this year and have managed quite well. I do not know my number.

http://www.kmtr.com/...AQ.cspx?rss=191
 
I do not feel that the problem is the mobile phone itself. Rather, I believe it is the ignorant and arrogant people who use them inappropriately. I came to this conclusion after several very quiet train rides in Japan. Everyone was communicating with their mobile phone, but not a single person was talking or otherwise disturbing the peace.
 
I usually travel coach in the Quiet Car between WAS and KIN. One time I traveled BC, because it was part of an AGR sleeper award. Just after boarding, a large number of people (10-15) began using their cell phones - while we were still at the station! The thing is - this train began in WAS!
blink.gif
 
It's quite easy to use a cell phone on a train in a quiet and respectful manner. If this person didn't have a cell phone, she would have found another way to be obnoxious. Annoying people are always annoying.
 
zepherdude said:
Amtrak made an unscheduled stop outside Salem. Oregon to kick off a 39 year old lady that had been talking on her cell phone since Oakland, California. The article stated she ignored requests not to use her phone and became confrontational. She calmed down as police escorted her off the train.

It must have been the Coast Starlight on the way to PDX and SEA.

I have observed passengers around me doing the same. On a train from SAS to DFW, a person talked the whole time about her trip, her husband, her sons, her club duties, her dinner party and her friends and did not understand why the train was stopping so much. If she would have shut up long enough to hear the track work announcements, she would have known. I finally went to the bar car to consume heavy drink as I was seated right behind her. I came back with a cane borrowed from a passenger up front only to find she was gone.

I had a sales manager once make a presentation to me once. His phone kept ringing and he kept taking the calls. I stood up finally and said, "when you have time for me, call me and I will listen." I have never owned a cell phone until this year and have managed quite well. I do not know my number.

http://www.kmtr.com/...AQ.cspx?rss=191
Click to expand...
That's 16 hours. 16 HOURS!! :eek: And she was on her cell phone all that time? Unbelievable...
 
Hats off to Amtrak for kicking her off. That's just more reason those things should be completely outlawed. And as you can obviously guess, I do not have one.
 
These are very illegal, but a cell phone jammer would do wonders in such rail cars. And no, I don't have one. Wish I did, but I travel in the sleeper so I don't need one.
 
daxomni said:
I do not feel that the problem is the mobile phone itself. Rather, I believe it is the ignorant and arrogant people who use them inappropriately. I came to this conclusion after several very quiet train rides in Japan. Everyone was communicating with their mobile phone, but not a single person was talking or otherwise disturbing the peace.
Click to expand...
Exactly this.

And as another poster mentioned, you can take away the cell phone, but you can't take away the annoyance. Rude and inconsiderate is rude an inconsiderate, cell phone or not.
 
If someone on the train did have a cell phone jammer, it would disrupt the whole train - including the sleepers, the credit card machines from the cafe and Dining Car, and the Conductor who calls ahead or calls Amtrak to obtain an onboard upgrade!
rolleyes.gif
 
the_traveler said:
If someone on the train did have a cell phone jammer, it would disrupt the whole train - including the sleepers, the credit card machines from the cafe and Dining Car, and the Conductor who calls ahead or calls Amtrak to obtain an onboard upgrade!
rolleyes.gif
Click to expand...
LOL, you saying an 800MHz phone jammer will wipe out the entire radio spectrum all the way down to the VHF frequencies the railroads use?
rolleyes.gif


I dont think the technology is that powerful. It doesn't take much to over ride a 800MHz cell signal.
 
daxomni said:
I do not feel that the problem is the mobile phone itself. Rather, I believe it is the ignorant and arrogant people who use them inappropriately. I came to this conclusion after several very quiet train rides in Japan. Everyone was communicating with their mobile phone, but not a single person was talking or otherwise disturbing the peace.
Click to expand...
This is partly why I always try to travel in a roomette - at least I can close the door to get away a bit from the cell phone users. I also carry ear plugs with me and would not be at all averse to very OBVIOUSLY and OSTENTATIOUSLY putting them in if I were in coach sitting next to a cell-phone addict. Or other obnoxious people. Back before Amtrak forbade people bringing their own booze on board, I remember a couple guys (this was in coach) emptying a bottle of Southern Comfort between the two of them. They got louder as the bottle got emptier. I kept hoping they'd fall asleep but no such luck.

Seriously, I don't get the constant cell-phone use. I don't have that much stuff I want to say. Even to my family, which I love A LOT.
 
zepherdude said:
Amtrak made an unscheduled stop outside Salem. Oregon to kick off a 39 year old lady that had been talking on her cell phone since Oakland, California.
Click to expand...
Surfing the net, among the 6 trillion items suggested you put in your carry on, was a pair of ear plugs.

I think I'll make the investment. :)

I should buy a pair for all around me, as I've been told I snore like an old grizzly. :giggle:
 
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bobnabq said:
zepherdude said:
Amtrak made an unscheduled stop outside Salem. Oregon to kick off a 39 year old lady that had been talking on her cell phone since Oakland, California.
Click to expand...
Surfing the net, among the 6 trillion items suggested you put in your carry on, was a pair of ear plugs.

I think I'll make the investment. :)

I should buy a pair for all around me, as I've been told I snore like an old grizzly. :giggle:
Click to expand...
I can just mute my hearing aids or take them out. :giggle:
 
Glad to read this loud, obnoxious person got tossed, and sweet that she was arrested for disorderly conduct. Another "I'm-the-most-important-person-in-the-world syndrome." Society, courtesy and manners continue to disintegrate.

Like others have posted, I, too, always take Roomette or Bedroom. Once on Empire Builder westbound in 2006 from Chicago I had to ask conductor to please get nearby roomette pax to turn down volume on their portable DVR player which was very loud and annoying as heck.
 
Yes, I agree - hats off to Amtrak!! I just can't understand why the everyone else had to suffer all the way from Oakland to Salem!! That must have felt like days of unnecessary agony.

I have dreamed of train travel most of my life (now 61) but our first trip was recently. (Portland to Vancouver BC).

I was so pleasantly surprised to hear this rule announced and that people obeyed. If only Amtrak's civility could spread to every public place.

Someone mentioned rude people will be rude with or with cell phones. True. But meanwhile, we only aid and abet the problem by sitting silently and passively on the side.

ch
 
While I have no particular sympathy to someone who acts so rudely, I'm a little surprised at reports that train

personnel reportedly told ALL passengers to cease using their cell phones:

Police say she had reportedly been on the phone almost continuously since boarding in Oakland, Calif., even though operators had repeatedly asked riders not to use their cell phones.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a case of Amtrak personnel making up policy "on the go."

That said....here's a link to the "walk of shame"

http://salem.katu.com/news/crime/police-stop-train-after-complaints-about-passenger-talking-phone/440466
 
fairviewroad said:
While I have no particular sympathy to someone who acts so rudely, I'm a little surprised at reports that train

personnel reportedly told ALL passengers to cease using their cell phones:

Police say she had reportedly been on the phone almost continuously since boarding in Oakland, Calif., even though operators had repeatedly asked riders not to use their cell phones.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a case of Amtrak personnel making up policy "on the go."

That said....here's a link to the "walk of shame"

http://salem.katu.co...ng-phone/440466
Click to expand...
Cool Clip, Thank You!
 
HotlantaAl said:
the_traveler said:
If someone on the train did have a cell phone jammer, it would disrupt the whole train - including the sleepers, the credit card machines from the cafe and Dining Car, and the Conductor who calls ahead or calls Amtrak to obtain an onboard upgrade!
rolleyes.gif
Click to expand...
LOL, you saying an 800MHz phone jammer will wipe out the entire radio spectrum all the way down to the VHF frequencies the railroads use?
rolleyes.gif


I dont think the technology is that powerful. It doesn't take much to over ride a 800MHz cell signal.
Click to expand...
No...he's saying that if the conductor calls Amtrak regarding an on board upgrade (i.e. uses a cell phone) that will be disrupted. The credit card terminals operate over a cellular connection, too. Obviously the power the jammer would affect it's range, but the point is that it could disrupt other services on the train. Additionally, as trains become equipped with WiFi, it would have the possibility to knock out internet for the train, which is delivered over a cellular connection (except in particular NEC stations, where Amtrak's system uses the station's WiFi for backhaul of data).
 
ch said:
Someone mentioned rude people will be rude with or with cell phones. True. But meanwhile, we only aid and abet the problem by sitting silently and passively on the side.
Click to expand...
I don't support the passive aggressive stuff like jamming transmissions, but neither do I think anyone should simply sit back and take it. It's up to all of us to speak up if our rights are being infringed upon. If the offending person or group looks too threatening to you then go get a car attendant or conductor to do the talking for you. If the perpetrator(s) still won't stop then find some other passengers who will back you up and ask the conductor to kick them off. There are lots of things you can to do to turn this tide without having to ban or jam every phone and without having to suffer in silence. The OP story itself would appear to be proof of that. If anyone chooses to suffer in silence that's their decision and nobody else's.
 
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transit54 said:
HotlantaAl said:
the_traveler said:
If someone on the train did have a cell phone jammer, it would disrupt the whole train - including the sleepers, the credit card machines from the cafe and Dining Car, and the Conductor who calls ahead or calls Amtrak to obtain an onboard upgrade!
rolleyes.gif
Click to expand...
LOL, you saying an 800MHz phone jammer will wipe out the entire radio spectrum all the way down to the VHF frequencies the railroads use?
rolleyes.gif


I dont think the technology is that powerful. It doesn't take much to over ride a 800MHz cell signal.
Click to expand...
No...he's saying that if the conductor calls Amtrak regarding an on board upgrade (i.e. uses a cell phone) that will be disrupted. The credit card terminals operate over a cellular connection, too. Obviously the power the jammer would affect it's range, but the point is that it could disrupt other services on the train. Additionally, as trains become equipped with WiFi, it would have the possibility to knock out internet for the train, which is delivered over a cellular connection (except in particular NEC stations, where Amtrak's system uses the station's WiFi for backhaul of data).
Click to expand...
Thank you!
hi.gif
That's exactly what I meant, not the railroad frequencies!
rolleyes.gif
 
Doesn't sound like the real issue here was the cell phone it sounds like the issue is the way it was used. If someone uses a cell phone and talks in a quiet voice it doesn't bother me at all. I rode on Greyhound beside a lady who used her cellphone most of the trip and I barely noticed. I will have my phone with me when I leave tomorrow but will use it discretely and talk in a respectable tone so not to bother other passengers.
 
fairviewroad said:
While I have no particular sympathy to someone who acts so rudely, I'm a little surprised at reports that train

personnel reportedly told ALL passengers to cease using their cell phones:

Police say she had reportedly been on the phone almost continuously since boarding in Oakland, Calif., even though operators had repeatedly asked riders not to use their cell phones.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a case of Amtrak personnel making up policy "on the go."
Click to expand...
This was an overnight trip (the Coast Starlight leaves Oakland at 9:42 p.m.). On the Empire Builder the coach attendant generally reminds passengers not to use cellphones in the coaches after 10 p.m. Perhaps the Coast Starlight has a similar policy. Seems reasonable to me, since passengers who want to make calls can go to the Sightseer Lounge, where they won't bother sleepers. Well, except for the lounge lizards.

It seems odd, though, that they let her talk all night, and then threw her off the train the next afternoon.
 
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fairviewroad said:
While I have no particular sympathy to someone who acts so rudely, I'm a little surprised at reports that train

personnel reportedly told ALL passengers to cease using their cell phones:

Police say she had reportedly been on the phone almost continuously since boarding in Oakland, Calif., even though operators had repeatedly asked riders not to use their cell phones.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a case of Amtrak personnel making up policy "on the go."

That said....here's a link to the "walk of shame"

http://salem.katu.com/news/crime/police-stop-train-after-complaints-about-passenger-talking-phone/440466
Click to expand...
Awesome! It warms my heart to see this! Notice that they didn't even bother to put out the portable step for her, as it can still be seen hanging on the wall behind her in the vestibule. I wonder if she gave the car attendant a decent tip despite that...............
 
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