Two things you don't see at the Amtrak station every day...

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

Last night my wife and two little boys and I were driving home from some ice cream (frozen yogurt, actually). We drove past the local Amtrak station to see if there was a train to see (don’t we all do that?).

As we were approaching, the crossing guards came down on the street, and there had just stopped an Amtrak train, being pulled by a UP locomotive. Has anyone ever seen that? (That was item #1)

Here’s item #2:

So we pulled into the station, and I was hoping to casually ask someone if they knew what the UP locomotive pulling the train was all about. We were able to park near the train, and I was going to ask one of the Amtrak employees from the train, as there was one standing outside the train at each opened door.

My older son and I got out of the car, so that we could go talk to one of them. But as we were approaching, we heard the “all aboard” call, and decided to not approach the train and forget about asking.

The Amtrak people started closing their doors. Then some girl starts running on the concrete towards the back of the train. She was late getting back to the train - the train was ready to leave. She starts knocking on the train door, and the amtrak employee must have been telling her she was too late, and cannot get on the train. She did not speak english, and was pleading to get on the train. She appeared to be a student from another country. They weren’t having it, as the train was about to pull out.

Sooo… the train starts pulling out, and she starts running next to the train. Then, she begins to actualy hold onto the train while she’s running. I was in disbelief. The Amtrak employee was pleading for her to let go, and she didn’t. (his window was still open, and she was holding onto the window opening). The train had now moved a couple car lengths.

The amtrak employee got on his radio, and the brakes were applied, the train slow

2

you left out one…the train being there ON TIME…

csx engineer

3

I re-read my post. I referred to her as a girl, but she looked to be age 20-25.

4

Of course, in some parts of the world, riding on the outside of a train is entirely normal! [:D]

5

Why’d you be getting off the train at a station stop in the first place if its not your stop?

Especially if you don’t speak English well …

6

Amtrak must have had to borrow a UP loco because of an engine failure. Was there another Amtrak unit trailing the UP engine? They would need at least one unit with an HEP generator…

7

Hmm, looks familiar. That’s a Lexington Line 6 train, morning rush, right? Those guys look like they’re stuck on with Velcro.

8

In this country you aren’t even allowed to ride an open car on an excursion anymore, at least on a major railroad. And they do this…

9

The Customer Service Reps for all the computer service centers on their way to work in Delhi and Bombay!

10

She was probably confused and scared to death. She did not do the smart thing, but the Amtrak people did. It is good that this ended in a good way.

11

CP,

I think I can understand a bit. When I traveled on Amtrak on my way to New York from the southeast, I’d sometimes get off the train at major stations just to get a “look see” at the town we were in. It was part of the fun of train travel. I’d always stay near that vestibule door and listen for that "All Aboard!" yell that would coax me into climbing back onboard in about 3 milliseconds.

At Washington D.C, the train stayed about 30 minutes as the diesels were swittched out and electric(s) were coupled on. On my last two trips I spent time walking around Washington Union Station. Got within 2 feet of idling AEM-7’s and E60s on my last trip back in the 90s.

I’m sure that this young lady is going to be a lot more careful in the future!

12

The Boone and Scenic Valley has an open gondola that passengers ride in during excursions.

13

[(-D]

14

Why didnt the amtrak employee just open the door and let her on in the first place?

15

cpbloom- similar thing happened to my mother-in-law last time she came up here to Chicago from San Antonio by train. Train was running late into Dallas and they weren’t boarding many new passengers so they cut the stop short to make up time. She was standing out on the platform taking a smoke break as the conductor walked by, climbed up in the train and shut the doors. Next thing she knows the train is leaving without her. Conductor didn’t even give an “All Aboard!” call despite having already talked to her on a couple occasions aboard the train. Thankfully a maintance crew was nearby and radioed for the train to stop. The conductor never even really apologized. Just told her they were trying to make up time.

And she only speaks English (not even with a Texas twang![C):-)])

16

Too bad the railroad I work for doesn’t have that policy of sticking to a time table. There have been times when we have sat a station for more than 15min because people keep coming in and buying tickets. The engineer and I were about ready to just walk away and get lunch. I guess that is what you get when you work for a tourist line.

About the passengers not riding in an open air car, we have that policy as well. Only crew are allowed on the observation car’s platform, even when we are sitting still, and we do not have any open gondola cars.

17

I guess that in the US you still get lucky to have trains with manual operating operating doors. Her in my country all long distance trains have auto doors, so when time cames to leave the station, who ever is outside and wishes to board, really loses the train. It is understandable, since these trains i’m talking move at speeds betwen 100 and 140 mph.

But the incident with the foreign passenger just takes me to place a question. Do these trains have some sort of safety device that locks the door in a ‘enclosed / locked’ position when moving at speed or someone can just open the door like that ? If that happens, it is something really dangerous in lines such as the old Santa Fe main, or in the NEC where speeds are high. The only traind I know wher that is possible here are 1st generation Talgo Pendular trains, in wich doors are not autolocked, and it is perfectlly possible to open doors even if the train is doing 100 mph.

18

If she was from India, its all in a daily commute:

19

The amtrak LD trains all have doors anyone can open. The “corridor” trains (california, and acela for sure… i have no idea about amfleets though) have equipment with automatic doors that need a key to activate a control panel where buttons control the doors.

20

On the eastern trains:

The Heritage coaches and sleepers had Dutch Doors. The upper half was openable. Except for a few sleepers that were temporarily brought back into service, heritage sleeprs and coaches have been retired.

Amfleet II - One piece sliding door that remains closed til the train is stopped. However, the door window slides down.