The things you hear on Amtrak

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T

the Other Mike

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
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355
Location
New Orleans / Los Guanos
In bedroom E one night I heard people in the next room stop the conductor and ask:

"Don't tell me there are going to be blowing that horn all night ?"

I wanted to yell a smartassed comment but the conductor quipped

" mam, once you're asleep I'll tell them to lower the volume"

Turkey and coke all over the sink and wall when I heard that.
 
Brilliant!

Few days back I had a similar conversation on Twitter with a NIMBY from, well where else, Atherton. She tweeted "Hey Caltrain drivers, can you stop LEANING on that horn. Yknow people live near the tracks, so STFU"

I just replied to her tweet "Hey NIMBY, can you stop WHINING. Yknow the train tracks have been there since 1870. If you mind the noise, you can move somewhere else, so STFU"
 
Few days back I had a similar conversation on Twitter with a NIMBY from, well where else, Atherton. She tweeted "Hey Caltrain drivers, can you stop LEANING on that horn. Yknow people live near the tracks, so STFU"
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Wasn't there someone here who used to make the same, or at least a very similar, argument?
 
I was on 8 departing Seattle. A lady asked the sca if we would be on time into Chicago. He replied, " if I could predict the future, I wouldn't be here because I would have bought a winning lotto ticket."
 
A few years ago when I was doing the Columbus Loophole a few pax asked me where I was going first morning out on the Southwest Chief. I casually said Chicago and, of course, the train was westbound. The reactions I got were priceless as the curious tried to figure out why I was on a train headed to LA when I was going to Chicago. I calmly and methodically explained from LA there is a train to Portland and from Portland there is a train to Chicago. Needless to say most of the curious quickly fled and hid after hearing that (unless they were a railfan) :lol:
 
OlympianHiawatha said:
A few years ago when I was doing the Columbus Loophole a few pax asked me where I was going first morning out on the Southwest Chief. I casually said Chicago and, of course, the train was westbound. The reactions I got were priceless as the curious tried to figure out why I was on a train headed to LA when I was going to Chicago. I calmly and methodically explained from LA there is a train to Portland and from Portland there is a train to Chicago. Needless to say most of the curious quickly fled and hid after hearing that (unless they were a railfan) :lol:
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:cool: Happened to me also on the KWD-CBS Loophole!!! (and not just with a Passenger, Crew Members also! ;) )
 
What do you think passengers (not to mention AU members) think of me when I say I'm headed home to KIN while traveling on #421 (westbound) in MO, TX and AZ! They think I'm :wacko: - members here already know that! :giggle:
 
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the_traveler said:
What do you think passengers (not to mention AU members) think of me when I say I'm headed home to KIN while traveling on #421 (westbound) in MO, TX and AZ! They think I'm :wacko: - members here already know that! :giggle:
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Or that you're going from KIN to PHL via TX, CA, etc :eek:
 
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the_traveler said:
What do you think passengers (not to mention AU members) think of me when I say I'm headed home to KIN while traveling on #421 (westbound) in MO, TX and AZ! They think I'm :wacko: - members here already know that! :giggle:
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Dave,

I'd hope we members here at AU would know better than to cast stones from our houses Sightseer Lounges of glass... -_-

... at the PHS, of course! :cool: :D

I was talking to someone the other day while I was wearing an Amtrak 40th anniversary cap, and somehow Amtrak came up in the conversation. :rolleyes: They asked me about the best routes, which I told them IMHO are the CZ and CS. They asked me where I take Amtrak to. When I told them "I'll take Amtrak to wherever Amtrak goes for vacations;" they gave me a puzzled, funny look :blink: and said: "That's a new one!" :eek:

:giggle:
 
OlympianHiawatha said:
A few years ago when I was doing the Columbus Loophole a few pax asked me where I was going first morning out on the Southwest Chief. I casually said Chicago and, of course, the train was westbound. The reactions I got were priceless as the curious tried to figure out why I was on a train headed to LA when I was going to Chicago. I calmly and methodically explained from LA there is a train to Portland and from Portland there is a train to Chicago. Needless to say most of the curious quickly fled and hid after hearing that (unless they were a railfan) :lol:
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LOL I did the same thing when I got off the CZ in Emeryville, sitting at the station, I was asked where are you heading, I said San Diego via the CS northbound. People walked away from me. Of course I was going to SLM, EUG before SAN, but they did not need to know that.
 
I was riding the SL to New Orleans with the 2 Joe's, and this conductor/crew member was sitting at a table next to us. I asked him if he was happy to be heading to New Orleans to get some rest. That should have been a simple response right?

NOPE!!! he starts going off about politics, and war, and crime, and catching criminals in Alabama, I mean just off the wall stuff. I dont know if he was drunk or what, so I just let it slide, although the Joe's wont let me live it down for about 3 years. :D

Thats the last time I will ever ask a tired crew member anything ever. :p
 
As near as I can figure this character was a regular on the run that the staff seemed to know. Once you got him revved up, you were in for the long haul!
 
The funny thing was that I asked him one simple question and he spent most of the rest of the ride to NOL going on to anyone that would listen haha. Im glad I had a couple of beers, thats all I can say.
 
OlympianHiawatha said:
A few years ago when I was doing the Columbus Loophole a few pax asked me where I was going first morning out on the Southwest Chief. I casually said Chicago and, of course, the train was westbound. The reactions I got were priceless as the curious tried to figure out why I was on a train headed to LA when I was going to Chicago. I calmly and methodically explained from LA there is a train to Portland and from Portland there is a train to Chicago. Needless to say most of the curious quickly fled and hid after hearing that (unless they were a railfan)
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Last year, Ryan and I were going to ride the Great Dome on the Cardinal. We took the Capitol Limited from leaving Washington on Friday afternoon, laid over in Chicago on Saturday, and then took the Saturday evening departure of the Cardinal back to Washington.

So, Ryan and I were having dinner in the diner on the Cap, somewhere around Martinsburg, and our tablemates asked us where we were going, and I said, "Washington."

They looked puzzled, so we explained the situation.

I still refer to this trip as the time I "went to Chicago for lunch."
 
I've done a couple of those "loop trips" with no overnight stops myself - one last year ARB-CHI-WAS-BOS-TOL-ARB involving the Wolverine, Cardinal, #66, LSL, and a bus, and another just last week SAN-SBA-EMY-LAX-SAN for Tehachapi. Of course, I just ended up explaining it to people, though it would be funny to just say I was going to ARB/SAN at the beginning of those trips and see the reaction...

Anyway, I do remember a few somewhat-funny moments regarding destinations on our Tehachapi trip - once, I recall someone saying on the phone that we were closing in on San Luis Obispo (of course, we were many miles inland...), and I remember someone else flustered as to why we weren't stopping in San Jose despite the schedule saying so. That trip must have confused a lot of people - though they had mentioned that we were running non-stop to LAX (which itself wasn't technically true as we had a brief break at Bakersfield for a crew change), some apparently missed the announcement (or didn't understand what was involved).
 
I guess when we take the CONO/SWC/CS/EM/CONO in May/June, we should just tell people we are traveling to Jackson, MS. I've already been calling this our "trip to nowhere".
 
On an Autotrain trip a few years back, I heard a lady ask the SCA; do you have entertainment in the lounge. He replied "the guy who runs the bar tells good jokes".

One time at dinner a couple we were seated with asked our server, "do you have low salt cheese"

He replied, "not this week"
 
In November 2011 my traveling companion and I were on our first concert going trip together. I had been on an extended journey that started in Alaska and went as far as Florida by train and rental car. He joined me on the Capitol from Washington to Chicago. I awoke first and was out in the corridor getting coffee. He descended from the upper bunk, and since he is hearing impaired,often speaks louder than most people, without hearing aids.As he stood up in the doorway of the roomette, he let out a blood curdling noise, due to having a kink in his back. I frantically tried to shush him up, as it was still fairly early. A week or two later I informed my friend that there were reports that patronage on Train 29 had plummeted since that date, due to a madman shrieking in the sleeping car!

We are off on another concert going trip tomorrow, spending three nights in Chicago. This will be on United from Phoenix. We prefer trains, however, and in June will be on Amtrak when we travel again to Chicago.
 
the_traveler said:
June the Coach Rider said:
VentureForth said:
One of the weirdest things I heard from a fellow passenger in the Diner was "Do you need to see ID if I use a credit card?"
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Well they do ask for ID if you use a credit card, at least in the cafe car and for coach passengers.
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"Coach"? :blush: What's that? :giggle:
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It's one of the fellows wearing a suit on the sidelines at a basketball game. He's sometimes surrounded by the players and thus hard to see. :D
 
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