bobnjulie
Lead Service Attendant
I will never remember this and I don't want to forget the craziness of this night...
So the California Zephyr has almost always made it home early and so I got us unreserved tickets for a Capitol Corridor ticket for the 3:50... only we got to Emeryville at 4:10... 20 stinking minutes... The funny part is that we were talking about jumping off in Sacramento to get the train but decided to stay and relax on the train.... oh the price we paid.
So we were waiting for the 5:35 train when about 5:15 there is a status that it's going to 10 minutes late... and then... later and later.... I go up and ask the guy and he says that he has notice about a freight train and trespasser... Finally announced about 5:45 that all trains have been halted around Richmond. Now I'm pacing and I go up and ask about rental car places... So it's Year's Eve and everything was shut down and the Amtrak employee said it's a fatality. I know what that means. Hours delay. I asked cab driver about fare to Oakland Airport... $60.... so I go back and ask about Bart. Oh yeah, there is a free shuttle to Bart. Go up and over the bridge and down to the other side. So we do.... and ask an employee at a store when the shuttle is and he says it's shut down because it's New Year's Eve so we turn and we see a bus and we say "Do you go near the Bart station" and he says "Yes the Macarthur" and so we hop on and we have no idea what the heck or where the heck he is taking us but we are moving. The time is around 6 pm.....
We get to the Bart station and admit our ignorance.... Where are we and what do we do? We run in to our 3rd angel of the night.. a Bart employee who basically -besides paying cash for our ticket - does everything else. Do this, do this.... we finally get in, go up the escalator and hit the yellow line for SFO and Millbrae - where I sit next to the sweetest boy who I hope is not puking his guts out now.
Meanwhile, I am using my Kindle to figure out when Caltrain is running since that is our connection..... so the Baby Bullet hits Millbrae at 7:15... and it's 6:45... ummmmm.... so I ask a 4th angel and she says look up 511.... and I do and we are expected to hit Millbrae at 7:10... oh crap... here we go again.
Train actually pulls in at 7:10 and I'm runningish to the main exit and I exit and as I do I realize that we need to maybe not get out since we have to be on the other side so I stop my husband from coming out... Now he's still trapped in Bart without a ticket and our 5th angel and she says you have to go up and then over and then down... and I'm runningish and my husband can't figure how to get out without a ticket and he runs in to our 6th angel - a BART policeman who is running and shows him a working escalator and I'm going up on the outside with a NON-working escalator and we hit the top about the same time and it's 7:14 and here is the train and if we miss it, the next train is 45 minutes later and it's a LOCAL.... and I'm screaming run and we are running down the stairs and the suitcase is bumping down the stairs... and we might make it but where is Bob and he's trying to buy tickets and I'm GET ON!!! and he does and we make it but we haven't paid our fare.
So we are sitting there - like zombies and I'm coughing because my virus is sitting in my chest and I'm wheezing and finally I see a conductor and I'm like "Talk to him" since CalTrain is prepaid and we have NOT prepaid and so we do... and we meet our 7th angel of the night and we go in to our explanation and since he's a train guy - he knows about trespassers and fatalities....and he is good and sweet and kind and he says "After 8 pm, all rides are free. I'll get you to San Jose" and we are humbled and grateful and I'm ready to cry and so we sit.... and we make it to San Jose... and we find out that the trains started running about 7:55 and it was 8:05 and so we hop in a cab and meet our 8th angel and he takes us to the daily parking lot of Terminal B at the San Jose Airport and our car is there and it starts and we go to In N Out burger for dinner since we last ate at 11:30 on the train and we get home and our home is in one piece and our cat is here and his food is all over the stove but he's here and my mom dropped off our crab - which was supposed to be tonight's dinner but will be tomorrow's lunch-dinner and that is the end of our tale.
So the California Zephyr has almost always made it home early and so I got us unreserved tickets for a Capitol Corridor ticket for the 3:50... only we got to Emeryville at 4:10... 20 stinking minutes... The funny part is that we were talking about jumping off in Sacramento to get the train but decided to stay and relax on the train.... oh the price we paid.
So we were waiting for the 5:35 train when about 5:15 there is a status that it's going to 10 minutes late... and then... later and later.... I go up and ask the guy and he says that he has notice about a freight train and trespasser... Finally announced about 5:45 that all trains have been halted around Richmond. Now I'm pacing and I go up and ask about rental car places... So it's Year's Eve and everything was shut down and the Amtrak employee said it's a fatality. I know what that means. Hours delay. I asked cab driver about fare to Oakland Airport... $60.... so I go back and ask about Bart. Oh yeah, there is a free shuttle to Bart. Go up and over the bridge and down to the other side. So we do.... and ask an employee at a store when the shuttle is and he says it's shut down because it's New Year's Eve so we turn and we see a bus and we say "Do you go near the Bart station" and he says "Yes the Macarthur" and so we hop on and we have no idea what the heck or where the heck he is taking us but we are moving. The time is around 6 pm.....
We get to the Bart station and admit our ignorance.... Where are we and what do we do? We run in to our 3rd angel of the night.. a Bart employee who basically -besides paying cash for our ticket - does everything else. Do this, do this.... we finally get in, go up the escalator and hit the yellow line for SFO and Millbrae - where I sit next to the sweetest boy who I hope is not puking his guts out now.
Meanwhile, I am using my Kindle to figure out when Caltrain is running since that is our connection..... so the Baby Bullet hits Millbrae at 7:15... and it's 6:45... ummmmm.... so I ask a 4th angel and she says look up 511.... and I do and we are expected to hit Millbrae at 7:10... oh crap... here we go again.
Train actually pulls in at 7:10 and I'm runningish to the main exit and I exit and as I do I realize that we need to maybe not get out since we have to be on the other side so I stop my husband from coming out... Now he's still trapped in Bart without a ticket and our 5th angel and she says you have to go up and then over and then down... and I'm runningish and my husband can't figure how to get out without a ticket and he runs in to our 6th angel - a BART policeman who is running and shows him a working escalator and I'm going up on the outside with a NON-working escalator and we hit the top about the same time and it's 7:14 and here is the train and if we miss it, the next train is 45 minutes later and it's a LOCAL.... and I'm screaming run and we are running down the stairs and the suitcase is bumping down the stairs... and we might make it but where is Bob and he's trying to buy tickets and I'm GET ON!!! and he does and we make it but we haven't paid our fare.
So we are sitting there - like zombies and I'm coughing because my virus is sitting in my chest and I'm wheezing and finally I see a conductor and I'm like "Talk to him" since CalTrain is prepaid and we have NOT prepaid and so we do... and we meet our 7th angel of the night and we go in to our explanation and since he's a train guy - he knows about trespassers and fatalities....and he is good and sweet and kind and he says "After 8 pm, all rides are free. I'll get you to San Jose" and we are humbled and grateful and I'm ready to cry and so we sit.... and we make it to San Jose... and we find out that the trains started running about 7:55 and it was 8:05 and so we hop in a cab and meet our 8th angel and he takes us to the daily parking lot of Terminal B at the San Jose Airport and our car is there and it starts and we go to In N Out burger for dinner since we last ate at 11:30 on the train and we get home and our home is in one piece and our cat is here and his food is all over the stove but he's here and my mom dropped off our crab - which was supposed to be tonight's dinner but will be tomorrow's lunch-dinner and that is the end of our tale.