This was not in the middle of the Prairies 50 miles from the next inhabited place. It was just 3 miles from RVR. A relief crew could walk over along the track before the other crew timed out
Heck they could even borrow an entire engine with a crew if needed out of Acca Yard 5 miles away!
I'll give them a Dollar for it provided they can haul it to my backyard. But then I'd have to convince the neighbors and the City it's just a Storage Shed :unsure:
Before taxing you for a restaurant!I'll give them a Dollar for it provided they can haul it to my backyard. But then I'd have to convince the neighbors and the City it's just a Storage Shed :unsure:
I hear Amtrak-lovers here saying they would not mind sitting in their comfortable roomettes and sleepers on a stationary train for 12 hours, but if it was me, after 3 or 4 hours, I would probably ask the conductor to let me off the train and walk 3 miles to the station, and since I know they would not allow this, the other option is to "call sick", then they would dispatch an ambulance or cop car something, I can get off the train, take first-aid for exhaustion etc and be on my way. Sitting 12 hours in an idle train is way beyond my tolerance level.
That's incredibly uncool, and not fair to the person that actually might need that ambulance for a real emergency.
True this, it may even be against the law, filing a false report!
We'll have to agree to disagree about the Ambulance but you are right about that *#***** Mica!! No point in giving Charlatans like that Ammunition!
No, I don't think asking the conductor's permission is the right way to do it. He's just going to say no. If you're bailing, just take your bag and leave, not saying a word to anyone. Maybe tip the SCA to close the door behind you, if you're in a sleeper. What's the conductor going to do, if he even sees you leave the train? Run after you, tackle you, and drag you back on the train? Of course, now you're on foot, at night, in a place you don't know, next to a busy main line, but we're just talking ways and means, not whether leaving the train is a good idea.
I grew up not far from where the train sat and know enough to stop look and listen when crossing tracks. I would have bailed and hauled a$$. Judging from the reports it looked like there was a sizable police presence so I would have spent the next 14 hours or so in the lockup anyway.
Yeah, ERs are no fun. Was just in ours the wee hours of this morning with my daughter who had a very painful earache, which perforated while we waited. Checked in at 3 am, finished the "paperwork" & triage by 4 am. Wasn't taken back to a room until after 6 am. And the waiting room wasn't that busy. All we needed was for a dr to look at her ear & then prescribe the antibiotics. Still, it was better than waiting to be able to call her ENT & waiting till she could get in to see him. A bit more expensive too.
It's not torture, but people do have schedules to keep, and a twelve hour delay can easily throw that out the window.
It doesn't sound that way from all the stories I read here on Amtrak Unlimited. Actually, it sounds like most Amtrak employees are empowered to provide really good customer service. Amtrak has had all kinds of weird service disruptions and handled them well. This is unusual... not good, of course, but not typical.
The airlines lack competition and that's a fact. Where there is competition they bleed customers.
I was on an MBTA train (rapid transit) that got stopped between stations. The third rail had shorted. It was not really safe to evacuate and the T thought they could fix it, so we were stuck. It was hot out and the air wasn't working (no power) so it wasn't long before somebody on that long train hit the emergency button because she had an anxiety attack and was hyperventilating. The driver had to come down and help her out.
